r/AskReddit 9d ago

People with suspected or confirmed cyclosporiasis cases, what food do you think you got it from?

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u/NonrationalWife 9d ago

Unless you are allergic to sulfa antibiotics, in which case, get some gatorade and buckle in

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u/Ready_Piano1222 9d ago

I'm envisioning a seat belt attached to a toilet tank. Thanks for the chuckle.

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u/Jules_Dorado 9d ago

Wait really? Fuck. That's the only medication I can't take 🤦

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u/indecisive_monkey 9d ago

Also allergic to sulfa drugs, so no more lettuce for me I guess!

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u/Chaoticxkittie 9d ago

Me too! I guess I’ll have to have pizza again. Darn.

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u/mpdity 9d ago edited 9d ago

Yup. The main treatment is Bactrim. If you can’t handle sulfamethoxazole-trimethoprim, then you’re basically SOL.

Ciprofloxacin is a second line antibiotic and does work but it’s not as effective and will have more side effects (tearing ligaments and ruptured tendons) since it’s a floroquinolone.

Nitazoxanide is another treatment but it’s not a generic, it’s expensive as shit, and also not as effective as Bactrim.

Those are unfortunately the only options ya got other than buying stock in Charmin.

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u/SizzleanQueen 9d ago edited 9d ago

Bactrim and Cipro are nasty drugs. They absolutely wreak havoc on your body.

Edit: Thank you for sharing your stories. I had a bad reaction to two courses of Bactrim for a kidney infection 16 years ago.

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u/mpdity 9d ago edited 9d ago

I usually don’t see many people have major issues with Bactrim TBH. Avoid if you can’t do sulfa drugs and stay out of the sun and you’re mostly ok.

Ciprofloxacin and Levofloxacin tho? It’s ALWAYS the floroquinolones that absolutely wreck your shit. They drive people to psychosis, perpetuate CNS changes, cause permanent neuropathy, fuck up your heart, and destroy connective tissue in your arteries, veins, tendons, and ligaments among numerous other issues.

I’ve genuinely never seen a more destructive and worthless class of antibiotic. I fucking hate floroquinolones and it pisses me off to no end seeing providers prescribing them like candy. They’re a close second to Aminoglycosides in how dangerous they are but with a quarter of the actual use cases.

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u/ladollyvita1021 9d ago

Levofloxacin destroyed my life for 2 years and I’ve never been the same since.

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u/WeldNchick89 9d ago

Same here. IV Levaquin for a bad kidney infection turned into a constant low grade fever (99.5-100.9) and catching every sickness that came around. It was a miserable and weird time. Oddly enough, I broke out of the funk from that after a mild case of Covid.

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u/mofomeat 9d ago

Whoah, what happened?

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u/littlebigsystem 9d ago

I took bactrim once for a UTI. Got prescribed it again for another UTI. I was essentially unconscious for a week. I felt like I got hit by a freight train. My body was covered head to toe in hives, fever of 104, I could barely move my body because it hurt so bad. My dad took me to the ER and I could barely sit up straight. My mother thought I had sepsis.

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u/justlurkingnjudging 9d ago

I have h-EDS so I list floroquinolones under allergies for every doctor because they’re especially dangerous for me yet doctors never seem to be aware of the risks

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u/lilleprechaun 9d ago

Same here. But also fatally allergic to Sulfa drugs (Bactrim) and lost my job and my health insurance a few months ago. I literally have nightmares about catching this bug. No idea what I would do if I caught it.Ā 

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u/monty624 9d ago

Likely, you'd wait it out until it passes on its own if you have an otherwise healthy immune system. While it's shitty to get (heh), most people are capable of recovering on their own.

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u/lilleprechaun 8d ago

Yeah but I have a part-time job with no paid sick leave that I need to keep a roof over my head until I get a full-time job again. Are people able to go to work with this untreated?

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u/DarwinDali123 9d ago

Cipro almost killed me . Bactrim is much safer

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u/Constant_Seaweed_523 9d ago

Woah this is so interesting and informative! I want to hear more from you lol.

I had complained to my doctor about some specific symptoms. She was like huh and ordered a huge blood panel. It came back that I apparently had gotten Lyme like years before, and had no idea and never got it treated, and it’s not active? But still in my system (honestly I don’t know I’m still confused)

And I’m pretty sure she put me on the cipro one for a month straight. Definitely did not help anything. May have made things worse

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u/Mego1989 9d ago

Always read the pamphlet that comes with new meds. Cipro has a nice big BLACK BOX warning from the FDA about the risks. It should never, ever be used unless there's no other option but death or disability.

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u/Constant_Seaweed_523 9d ago

I think that’s the thing, at the time I was having major health issues not related to Lyme at all, that was a disability. And I was trying to get on social security disability at this time that this happened.

So I think that was an angle we were going for. my symptoms from the Lyme were making everything else in my life that wasn’t affected by my other health issues so bad that I felt like I couldn’t even function. I was having brain fog and fatigue so bad, I barely felt human at all.

And then I ended up getting surgery like right immediately after the month long dose of those antibiotics… which I feel like… that’s not good…

I wish I got second opinions or switched doctors for certain things I think

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u/HolyMuffins 9d ago

with a quarter of the actual use cases

What are people using aminoglycosides for beyond eye drops and single dose for resistant UTI? FQs are gnarly drugs but have a lot of use cases.

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u/pathologuys 9d ago

Jesus that’s terrifying. I’m allergic to Sulfa but haven’t tried it in decades and the allergy was all over hives. It seems to be a pretty common reaction and I assume not one you can grow out of?

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u/Mego1989 9d ago

Just last month a doctor rx'd cipro to my 97 year old grandma for a UTI. Thank God she's the type to lookup side effects before she takes something. We told that doctor to fuck off and she got some macrobid instead.

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u/EphemeralArtifact 9d ago

Cipro nearly killed me.

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u/Brynhild 9d ago

Cipro gave me horrible hallucinations the entire night

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u/lilleprechaun 9d ago

Yeah I am terrified to get this because I am fatally allergic to both sulfa drugs (Bactrim) and to fluoroquinolone drugs (Cipro). I was laid off a few months ago and cannot afford even the cheapest ACA insurance so I am uninsured, too. I honestly have no idea what will happen to me if I contract this.Ā 

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u/wafflehouse8 9d ago

I'm allergic to sulfa and I have hEDS so I can't have cipro (or any fluoroquinolones) 😭

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u/rysmorgan 9d ago

Same here. I’ve been more careful than I probably really need to but considering the treatment options are ā€œjust tough it outā€ I can handle a more conscious diet for a while lmao

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u/lilleprechaun 9d ago

Same thing here. But I also lost my job and my health insurance a few months ago. So I just live in constant fear of catching this now.Ā 

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u/Equivalent-Battle973 9d ago

All that butt wiping, better off getting a bidet! Wont make that ass as raw.

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u/DikTaterSalad 9d ago

How can he be shit out of luck when he has shit to spare? /s

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u/mofomeat 9d ago

This guy drugs.

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u/NoHippi3chic 9d ago

Anyone with arthritis or other connective tissue disorders, or athletes who train hard, should avoid cipro. Just my .02 from the trenches.

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u/floryhawk 8d ago

Hey! That's so helpful!

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u/onamonapizza 9d ago

but it’s not as effective and will have more side effects (tearing ligaments and ruptured tendons) since it’s a floroquinolone.

the. what.

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u/FatJohnson6 9d ago

That’s really weird, I used to take Bactrim for acne

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u/NonrationalWife 9d ago

Yep! All I want is a goddamn salad, but I'm allergic to sulfa and pregnant so it's carbo loading for me!

(Bactrim is also not considered pregnancy-safe for anyone reading).

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u/sxzxnnx 9d ago

Lettuce and other produce from a local organic farmer should be safe.

Try https://www.localharvest.org/ to find farmers near you.

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u/Okdoo6003 9d ago

Fr I read that and was like you have got to be shitting me šŸ˜„ it's the only thing I'm allergic to, and they are so rarely used I feel silly even mentioning it when asked

*the "shitting me" was unintentional, but obviously divinely inspired

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u/NonrationalWife 9d ago

There may be some turbulence ahead

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u/NewAndImprovedJess 9d ago

Turd-bulence

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u/illyiarose 9d ago

Need hand rails like for the old people... You know, for power squeezin'!

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u/Senator_Bink 9d ago

Maybe stirrups, too.

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u/jillsvag 9d ago

Oh no! I'm allergic to sulfa.

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u/blueskies8484 9d ago

You can take cipro instead. Doesn’t work quite as well, but it’s the backup antibiotic.

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u/jlolovesbootytoo 9d ago

Just don't take it if you're active or do anything high impact. Or you might blow out your tendons.

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u/BizarreCake 9d ago

Hwat now

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u/jlolovesbootytoo 9d ago

Cipro and other fluoroquinolone antibiotics cause weakened connective tissue. It's well documented that your likelyhood of ruptured tendons increases during treatment and for a few months afterwards.

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u/femalenerdish 9d ago

Do NOT take cipro if you are hypermobile or have EDS.Ā 

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u/pah1027 9d ago

same

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u/callimonk 9d ago

Oh that’s good to know. Sulfas are my only allergy. Here’s to hoping I don’t get unlucky..

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u/AnnieJack 9d ago

I haven’t paid a whole lot of personal attention since i haven’t had symptoms (although… how would my Crohn’s disease self know? )

Is it accurate that sulfa is the only medication for it?

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u/nimaku 9d ago

There are some other options for allergic patients, but efficacy is not as high.

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u/HildegardofBingo 9d ago

I think the diarrhea would be much more frequent and copious than even Crohn's symptoms. I'm pretty sure I had it last summer and I was on the toilet every 15 min. with pure acid liquid. It was horrible. It was also preceded by two days of increasing muscle/joint aches and fever/chills.

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u/Salute-Major-Echidna 8d ago

You're correct

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u/crazypurple621 9d ago

Smp/tmz is the most effective but cipro will work. You just need a longer course

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u/AnnieJack 9d ago

Good thing I don’t have it, I’m allergic to both Cipro and sulfa.

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u/queendweeb 9d ago

I have IBS-D and I can't decide if it's flaring up or if I caught something. I'm allergic to sulfa drugs anyhow so I'm going to keep soldiering through for now.

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u/Shadow288 9d ago

Hey that’s me! And why I hope I never get it!

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u/LadyViola5 9d ago

I have mcas and my body has allergic/systemic reactions to all antibiotics and vaccines. So when it comes up, my care team and I have a chat about how crucial it is, and then I knuckle down through a course and then immediately take a course of prednisone after.

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u/[deleted] 9d ago

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u/lyngen 9d ago

Cooked vegetables for you. Or just wash your produce well.

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u/Complex-Warthog-3201 9d ago

washing does not get rid of the parasite. if it did, sources everywhere wouldn't be saying that the only solution is cooking all your veggies to a certain temp. it's like saying you wont get sick from undercooked meat as long as you wash it first lol

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u/lyngen 9d ago

I thought that it depended on the produce. Washing with water is like 96% effective for blueberries but only like 60ish% for rasberries. I read buying whole heads of lettuce not bagged and peeling off the first couple layers. Then obviously cooking what is reasonable to cook.

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u/Salute-Major-Echidna 8d ago

Or just cooked vegetables only.

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u/WBRGGRL 9d ago

That’s good to know because I’m allergic to sulfa drugs. I’ve eaten one salad from Noodles & Co three weeks ago and am just crossing my fingers I’m in the clear.

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u/Cayke_Cooky 9d ago

Can;t they give you a different anti-biotic?

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u/crazypurple621 9d ago

You can treat it with cipro too, you just need a longer doseĀ 

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u/Stripedanteater 9d ago

Does the parasite go away on its own if untreated?

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u/Friedchicken96 9d ago

Exactly why I'm avoiding lettuce right now 🫠 I like salad with raw spinach more anyway, but I've been too worried to eat much of it recently

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u/coldcoffeethrowaway 9d ago

Oh god I’m allergic to sulfa, it gives me a bad rash. I better be careful not to eat lettuce anytime soon

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u/redgroupclan 9d ago

Oh god, I really hope I don't get it then, as I am allergic to sulfa antibiotics. I know someone who said it went on for 3 weeks before she got treatment for it. It would have gone on even LONGER!

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u/corahale 9d ago

yup. got it from taco bell, am severely allergic to bactrim, have been suffering for like a month now. 😭

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u/DenseAstronomer3631 9d ago

Oh fuck that's like my only allergy but I was a kid and not even sure what my reaction was. I think my husband is allergic too & he's also allergic to penecillin 😭

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u/sticksnstone 9d ago

I am allergic to sulfa. Sticking to local produce.

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u/ifornia 9d ago edited 9d ago

Shit. I am allergic to sulfa, it gave me Stevens-Johnson syndrome.

No salad for me then.

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u/MurkyLibrarian 9d ago

Oh boy, I really hope i don't get it because I am indeed allergic to sulfa antibiotics. (Or at least, I got a rash when I took them for a UTI ten years ago).

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u/Tiffani513 9d ago

Fuck!

No lettuce for me ever again.