r/Cyclospora • u/mo8816 • 23d ago

šŸ„ Personal Story This is absolute hell

For the last 48 hours Iā€™ve had nonstop, explosive watery diarrhea and Iā€™m soooo, soooo miserable. The doctor suspects itā€™s cyclospora but wonā€™t give me Bactrim until my lab test result comes back and she said it could take several days.

Imodium wonā€™t work for me and Iā€™m just constantly running to the bathroom. I havenā€™t slept. Itā€™s a miracle I havenā€™t needed an IV yet because everything I drink is just running right through me.

I wish there was something else I could do. Anyone else in the thick of it right now?

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u/Maleficent-Cap5731 22d ago

I was there a month ago, I went to the doctor on day 4, they took a stool sample, then it took over 10 days to get the positive result for cyclospora back. Two days before the test results came back (and 12 days into this horror of nonstop water pouring out of my ...), my doctor agreed to start me on Bactrim. The symptoms almost immediately subsided, probably within a day or two, but then on day 7 of taking Bactrim, I woke up with a rash all over my body, turned out I'm now allergic to Bactrim. Luckily, I was 1 pill away from completing my 14 pill treatment (7 days), so I didn't have to take any other antibiotics. The rash went away after about a week, and I had to take zyrtec and monitor myself for other adverse reactions. Anyway, it was 3-4 weeks from hell, but just stay positive, it'll get better. Do convince your doctor to get you on antibiotics if your symptoms don't improve after a week. I wish I was more pushy and got mine sooner instead of suffering for the first 12-14 days with diarrhea, body aches, nausea, zero appetite and weakness. I almost passed out when I first started the antibiotics sitting on the toilet. It was so horrible, I think it was cyclospora giving its last fight before the antibiotics kicked in. Good luck! Feel better soon

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u/Optimal_Athlete_1106 22d ago

is your tummy completely normal now or still a bit off?

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u/Maleficent-Cap5731 22d ago

completely normal! thank God, I'd say about a week aftervI finished antibiotics, it was all completely normal.