Diverticulitis Support Group

I was on it for 10 days last month after being hospitalized with my first attack (first day was IV, then 9 days by mouth). I was also on Levaquin at the same time. Diarrhea, upset stomach and felt completely wiped out.

hello - i have had four bouts of divertic in less than a year (this past year) and one 7 years ago. each time i was treated with cipro and flagyl. together they tend to wipe out the infection. one without the other (according to docs i've seen) is not completely competent. the flagyl is awful (for me) making me feel worse than the divertic. cipro doesn't seem to bother me at all. taking them both seems to work but right now there doesn't seem to be an explanation as to why i've had so many infections within one year even with those two powerful antibiotics being prescribed.
good luck in trying different meds.

I am not an expert, but I quote statistics I have gathered through the years. My numbers may be wrong. I have no direct way of knowing what is right and what is junk. The numbers I through out there are what have stuck in my brain as I try to wander through the maze of information that often contradicts itself from one article to the other.

I am on Cipro / Flagyl now and always get the same meds. (except when I was slow to respond the first time I got gentomycin - a nerve killer). I feel by the end of the Cipro / Flagyl treatment that I am working on an ulcer. Bad taste in my mouth and terrible stomach. I consider the effects mild considering what would happen if I did NOT have these wonderful drugs. I would be dead. All the Docs I have talked to say Cipro/Flagyl combo is the best. If you take a drug that fails to stop the bacteria from burning through your colon you get a colostomy (mostly not reversible) and a 50/50 chance of death, so I would be careful about not using the best whatever that drug maybe and regardless of the side effects that are not permanent Death is a very bad side effect of an in-effective medical treatment. Continued life and 10 days of terrible discomfort with no long term effects - not a bad trade-off.

All the Best!

Whoa there. My surgeon said almost ALL colostomies are reversable. Let's not scare people unnecessarily. Depends on how much colon needs to be removed, but it's usually in the 12-18 inches range, which leaves LOTS of functional colon.

Where we get in trouble is when we try to self-prescribe, or not take our meds as directed, or quit taking them too soon. Yes, Flagyl is nasty, but it's necessary. Tough it out! My doc told me to stay on soft/bland or clear liquids and eat a cup of yogurt (w/o fruit) every day to prevent C.Diff infection.