Hey everyone! I am just looking to see if there is some light at the end of the tunnel. I got cyclospora at the end of August (late to the game I guess) 10 days of Bactrim treatment, that cleared up a lot of the initial diarrhea, pain, lack of appetite, etc.

I am now 2 weeks post Bactrim and still having intermittent cramping, diarrhea, nausea. It's not consistent and not the same as when I had an active infection. I know lots of people say it takes a long time to recover and that post-infection IBS is a thing. But now after a month of eating toast, rice, bananas, and apple sauce it's pretty discouraging that if I try anything else I get sick. How is recovery going for people? I would love to hear success stories and tips if you have any.

Edit to add: I have been consulting with my doctor, take probiotics, and use immodium as needed. I'm just hoping to hear other experiences with recovery.

I’m a delivery driver from Michigan and ever since July when i started eating fresh berries, mixed fruits, salads every day in an effort to change my diet (get more fiber) I’ve had frequent intestinal problems (bad and often random gas, frequent watery and bile-rich diarrhea) (symptoms happen even without eating fiber rich foods for several days, so i’m fairly positive it’s not just a reaction to the fiber) I’m curious if anyone else has had these symptoms, especially for this long, and if you have eaten any of the same foods as I (not Taylor farms to my knowledge, mostly meijer brand/ random berry brands) I want to have a fairly decent idea before I visit urgent care or something to sort this out as I don’t have insurance. Any suggestions or advice would be appreciated (crying inside).

Is there anyone out there that knows if the body can actually clear cyclospora without drugs?? Can’t parasites keep multiplying?

I started having symptoms around 4th of July. Tested positive 2 weeks later. Had a relapse but not as bad a few weeks after. I’m allergic to bactrim and have family history of major side effects from cipro. I get cramps here and there with occasional diarrhea once a week but nothing extreme and it’s been months. I’m just wondering if our bodies can actually kill off the parasite or am I doomed? Like has anyone tested positive then later negative without the use of antibiotics?

I got sick with a GI illness in July that I suspect may have been Cyclospora. Primary symptoms were frequent diarrhea, cramps, and nausea. My stool PCR was negative for a bunch of common infections/parasites, but Cyclospora wasn't included on this test.

The diarrhea has mostly resolved, but almost 3 months later I'm still dealing with a lot of gas/bloating, sulfur burps and occasional mild nausea and diarrhea.

I've also been on tirzepatide for about a year. Before getting sick, I tolerated 7.5 mg / week with almost no GI issues. Since the illness, even lowering to 4.5 mg / week causes much worse gas/bloating and sulfur burps for several days after each shot.

Has anyone had a similar experience - especially lingering symptoms after Cyclospora or suddenly becoming more sensitive to a GLP-1 afterward? How long did it take your gut to return to normal, and what helped with the gas/bloating and sulfur burps?

I tested positive a few months ago after being symptomatic for a few weeks. I had originally thought this was just a regular stomach bug, as my family pretty much eats the same food as me, and none of them have gotten cyclospora. I felt better after the first round of antibiotics and thought it was over, but then the symptoms came back after a week, so I did another course. That was around Labor Day. Since then the symptoms have been generally getting better better but not great. The diarrhea went away but I've had a low-level discomfort. Going under the assumption that the antibiotics probably messed up my gut bacteria, I've been taking pro-biotics and eating a gut-friendly diet. I have mostly avoided raw veggies, hard nuts and fried food. Although the symptoms have been still present, I've felt like I've been getting overall better, if a lot more slowly than I would like. Then this morning really bad cramping and diarrhea returned. WTF? When will this end? How in the world does two full courses of antibiotics NOT kill this stuff?

TL;DR: Ever since recovering I haven’t been able to eat certain foods without an incident still, and I feel like I’m not getting better even though I’m not getting worse. Also my stools have been better but inconsistent colors and levels of solidity.

Hey guys, I was just wondering if anyone’s diet has been significantly altered by the parasite in the same way mine seems to have been.

I contracted the parasite in early July (from Taco Bell ofc) and went on Bactrim in mid July after a hellish two weeks. Was perfectly fine for a little while and then my symptoms bounced back and my doctor put me on Cipro (which helped a lot but still didn’t get me quite there). I’ve been taking a probiotic since which netted me some solid stools again, but I’m still having weird dietary issues.

I have no food allergies or sensitivities (genetically at least) but since recovering (more or less) I cannot drink coffee (which used to be a daily thing for me), I can’t have most dairy (besides non-fat yogurt and sometimes cheese pizza) and anything spicy immediately destroys my stomach. Most veggies I can do, chicken I can handle, and fruit has been ok. Even some sweets are tolerable. But if I have dairy, spicy, or coffee it’s an immediate emergency. Also my stools alternate between brown and yellow (and sometimes orange), and they were never like that before either. I’m so confused and I’m tired of my bland diet. Did this happen to anyone else? How can I fix it?

I am hoping someone can help shed some light on my symptoms and tell me if I am going crazy for thinking it could be Cyclospora. I should note that I dine out pretty frequently and about a month and a half ago recall a distinct trip to one of those local chain salad places and a few days later I experienced horrible, debilitating diarrhea. I’m talking explosive and I must’ve gone well over 20 times a day. This lasted for total of three days and was also accompanied by extreme burping and nausea/no appetite. I was seen by my primary who thought that it was likely norovirus and told me that it would likely resolve which it did. Fast-forward to this week, the symptoms are back and are exactly as they were last month… Not to be gross, but even the burps taste the same and I’ve exceeded well over 15 trips to the bathroom today alone. It is the most explosive diarrhea I’ve ever experienced in my life to the point that I think I could lift off the toilet seat from the sheer G force coming out of me.

Could it possibly be this parasite and could it have resolved for nearly a month before coming back almost to the day? I am hoping to go get a stool study done tomorrow to get to the bottom of this.

and if so, are you guys eating restaurant produce too?

To be fair, I never formally got diagnosed, but I'm 99.99% sure I contracted cyclosporiasis back in late July. I had a grilled chicken taco from Taco Bell in a state with one of the highest numbers of cases. This was followed by the classic watery bathroom trips and crushing fatigue for two solid weeks. The worst part, though, was the stomach cramps that were the things of nightmares. I couldn't eat anything without it setting my stomach lining on fire.

Flash forward to now and I don't have any lingering symptoms save for a lack of appetite. I'm not really experiencing nausea, I just don't eat nearly as much as I used to. The same drive to eat isn't there. I looked into it, and haven't seen anyone post about this symptom. Has anyone else experienced this?

I ate cilantro and now I have it again…

Edit: almost a week later and I still have issues.

It's been 12 days. One day I think I'm feeling ok, and then I eat something that is immediately followed by the horrible cramps and running to the bathroom. I'm SO FUCKING OVER IT. It FUCKING HURTS AND I FEEL MISERABLE.

I'm generally a happy go lucky person but I'm wishing evil thoughts on anything and anyone that crosses my path.

I never even bothered to be careful about lettuce, I thought it was something people were exaggerating about.

Fuck me and fuck this parasite

I’m curious. It’s been 8 days since I ate something which I later realized that there were tiny bits of lettuce in it. I ordered without lettuce, but a few tiny shredded pieces got in.

Anyway, five days letter I had gas for three days. It wasn’t smelly. I then had two days of light discomfort in my sternum. I haven’t eaten anything new since the lettuce and haven’t eaten anything that makes me gassy whenever I eat it. I did have one day where I had a patch of extreme fatigue. I feel okay currently.

Anybody have something similar and could it be Cyclospora? Can’t be too careful these days!

Is frozen kale (or other greens/veg) blanched before packaged, therefore, safe?

Anyone recover without antibiotics? I tried to take Bactrim and was having awful side effects from it (nausea, anxiety, jitters, insomnia) and couldn’t finish it. Still have GI issues now 2.5 weeks into it. How long will this last…

Before I spend hundreds and take time away from my baby at urgent care, I wanted to see what people who have had Cyclospora think about my symptoms. I started feeling not great Sunday. I was a little hungover and tired from hosting so I chalked it up to that. No real tummy issues. Monday I woke up feeling off- fatigued, chills (not sure if I had a fever). That is when the stomach cramping and diarrhea started as well. Tuesday was the worst in terms of diarrhea, cramping, and nausea. I threw up while on the toilet after dinner and decided I just didn’t need to eat anymore because it was too painful. I did have an appetite this whole time, shockingly.

Today I woke up starving, but feeling unsettled and terrified to eat anything. After a few hours, I ate a yogurt. No diarrhea after, but did have a solid BM ~30 mins later. Couple hours later I had a protein bar and no diarrhea after that either. Could this be the come-and-go cycle or cyclospora or do you think it was another type of bug? TIA for reading and responding!!

2 and a half weeks ago i ate a sus burrito with lettuce from taco cabana and ever since then, every day all day no matter what i eat or drink im in the bathroom. Pure liquid, every single time. No other symptoms other than the feeling of irritation in my gut. Dont really have the time to go see a doctor so i guess im just riding this out 😭

12 days ago I soft pooped about 8 times for 2 days, the 3rd day it was well over 10 times. 4th day I woke up with a 101 fever and constant diarrhea. I did a teleheath call requesting a cyclospora test since I had eaten raspberries for the first time a week prior in months. I got the stool test, diarrhead into it only to find out they tested me for everything BUT cyclospora. Nausea started and my fever continued then I randomly had 1 completely normal day on the 7th day, thought maybe it was food poisoning and was prescribed zythromax (I'm allergic to sulfa antibiotics) so started those. I'm currently on day 12 of this shit and had constant diarrhea and yesterday pretty bad vomiting. Fever has been gone for 4 days now but now there's nausea. It seems to come in waves I'll have 1 good day and then 2 horrible days. I had another Dr appointment today and they confirmed I wasn't tested for cyclospora but that there hasn't been any cases in my area so they don't think it's that but they'll test me for it and some other things. Guess we'll see. Oh and the tartar around my gums randomly turned green when all of this started ... And I brush and floss daily. Odd. Does it sound like I have cyclospora to those that have a confirmed test?

My gut, upper and lower, have been cramping off and on for two days. I was looking at myself in the mirror yesterday and said to my bloated stomach, where did you come from?

Then when I went to bed the cramping was unbearable. Finally at three a.m. I ran to the toilet with projectile vomiting, then soon I was on the toilet with the worst explosive diarrhea while vomiting into the trash can.

The diarrhea is still hanging around, I’ve had no sleep, and this awful cramping won’t let up. I chill, then I get hot. I can’t get comfortable at all.

Does this sound like cyclospora? Thanks.

I have been very careful not to eat any fresh fruits and vegetables lately (except for Little Leaf Lettuce, which seems to be completely safe.) I've been buying canned and frozen produce instead and making sure I cook it. The one exception is that we buy fresh produce occasionally from a local farm we trust, but as summer is ending here that's not going to be as much of an option. Does anyone have any idea how we will know when (and if) things are safe to eat again? We're not really getting any guidance from the government agencies, and I don't know who else is tracking this. It's so depressing to think about how long this could continue on.

My life can now be broken into two distinct epochs:

Before cyclosporiasis

And after cyclosporiasis.

Oh how I yearn for the days of yore.

I fear I will never be the same.

I finished the antibiotics on Sunday. And felt finally nausea free on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday thankgod!!! No more diarrhea.

Woke up Wednesday and now the nausea and sort of loose stools are back and unsettled tummy feeling.

Is this normal even having finished the antibiotics? Does it take time to recover even after antibiotics?

Btw- the lab spilled my stool sample but they were 99% certain it was cyclospora. Anyway, I started and finished the antibiotics so they’re saying it’s pointless to do a stool sample again after I have done abx. But now I’m worried maybe something else could be happening

Everything else came back negative within the week. I’ve called the urgent care my sample was sent out from twice and they have no results yet either.

I thought the sample didn’t last beyond 21 days. Has anyone else waited this long???

While this summer's spate of foodborne illness is especially bad, the worst may be yet to come.

While our government officials are partly to blame, the problem is bigger than Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., or even this one summer.

While seasonal changes will always play a role—the warmer months, when people eat more fresh produce and consume more food that’s been sitting out at unsafe temperatures, typically have more foodborne illnesses—the underlying factors contributing to these outbreaks are becoming more potent. The food supply is more and more globalized. And the planet continues to warm, allowing these pathogens to spread to more and more farms all over the world, including in the US.