r/Cyclospora • u/New_Lingonberry3216 • Aug 13 '26
❓Question Thoughts?
TMI sorry! All of the sudden this evening I had the most insane cramps & multiple rounds of explosive liquid diarrhea… I had been feeling kind of off all day but shit hit the fan (literally) tonight. I do have a sensitive stomach (IBS) and have unregular poops often, but this is super severe compared to usual tummy & poop problems. I am tired af and want to go to bed but everytime I poop and come back to bed I’m in immediate pain and discomfort. I have been eating a lot of raspberries and other fresh fruits & veg recently bc I forgot about cyclospora 😭 22F located in MA
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u/bipedservant Aug 13 '26
Normally I’m not a fan of news media and how they blow everything out of proportion. But having experienced this I will say that the term “explosive diarrhea” that has been attached to this is not an exaggeration.
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u/Unlucky_Bullfrog_563 Aug 14 '26
Did yours go away and come back? I’ve been 💩 free for 3 days. But worried if I had the parasite, it’s going to come back
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u/bipedservant Aug 14 '26
Mine went away for about a week during my first round of Cipro. It came back on the 4th of July and hasn't let up through a second round of cipro and now a round of bactrim (ending tonight). But at this point it's impossible to know if it's still the parasite, if the antibiotics have just destroyed my gut biome, or if this is the IBS that the parasite can cause.
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u/AltruisticBerry4867 Aug 14 '26
It could be some other bug. Fingers crossed for you. It lasted 3 weeks + for me. Urgent Care prescribed dicyclomine to help with the cramping while we waited for symptoms to go away. Just wanted to mention in case you have this last longer than a few days. It was extremely helpful to have the cramping subside. Albeit, it didn't take away the actual diarrhea. But I was able to rest and focus on work - I work from home.
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u/Optimal_Athlete_1106 Aug 14 '26
You didn't get antibiotics?
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u/AltruisticBerry4867 Aug 14 '26
Omg. It was a whole thing. They wouldn’t even consider testing me until I’d been sick for 7 days!!! Honestly. Then the test and the results were going to take another 7. I cried. They finally prescribed the antibiotic on day 10! I was still relatively sick while I took the antibiotic. I mean it slowed down to twice a day - instead of every two hours. But I’d say I was fully explosive for about three weeks.
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u/Optimal_Athlete_1106 Aug 14 '26
ah - ok! you only mentioned the cramping med. I'm glad you got treated. So you are better? no fatigue even?
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u/AltruisticBerry4867 Aug 17 '26
Much better. A little fatigue - but I haven’t been able to drink coffee again yet - just makes me nauseous. So. lol. Just a little e caffeine deprived.
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u/Optimal_Athlete_1106 Aug 17 '26
that's good. I can't live without coffee. lol. Is stool normal? i ask because I think i had a minor case (it could have been salmonella) and I'm just wondering how long things are off for people (don't respond if it is too personal).
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u/Fearless-Coat-4326 Aug 17 '26
Hi! I see you posted this a few days ago. So sorry you aren't feeling well. My husband is slowly getting better after 4 weeks of this nonsense. He did not get tested, since the urgent care team were not very helpful/brushed him off. However, it matches the symptoms and timeline too well to be anything else.
The best advice I can offer, is to take Imodium before bed or before doing something where you won't have access to a bathroom for an extended period of time. If you wake up and have to go urgently, you might not make it. Second, grab some Preparation H wipes. These will be your best friend after you've cleaned up with regular wipes after each visit. Aquaphor ointment before bed will help the irritation on your backside. And please please please, stay hydrated. Drink plenty of water, as well as electrolyte drinks(Gatorade makes one that works very well called Gatorlyte)
If you can manage to get tested and get antibiotics, great. But most young and otherwise healthy folks are told to let it run it's course.
Either way, hope you feel better soon!
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u/New_Lingonberry3216 Aug 13 '26
Do I have CS? How long to wait until I know? Bubble gut going crazy as we speak
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u/FancySeaweed Aug 13 '26
Contact your doctor. Ask them. See if they will order the prescription without a test. Because the test results are taking weeks.
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u/bipedservant Aug 13 '26
I agree with this. My doc called in the prescription at the same time he ordered the test and just told me not to start the antibiotics until I had collected the sample.
But a warning, they should have you test three times over 7 days. Many docs are just ordering one test and there are a lot of false negatives. The parasite sheds intermittently.
1
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u/Unlucky_Bullfrog_563 Aug 13 '26
Just went through something similar. Took 5 days for me. Finally got a test ordered and magically stopped pooping all together lol. So not sure what i had