Liquid Vanco

[Allisa35]

It's been awhile since I've been on the site; things have changed. Hope I'm doing this right.

I'm just wondering if anybody on here is familiar with liquid vancomycin? My dr. has prescribed it for me. A few weeks ago I cultured MRSA and was put on bactrim since it was sensitive to that. But now that I"m off of it, I'm feelilng bad again. He wants another sputum done (which will be done tomorrow) and I'm to start up the bactrim again along with the liquid vanco. I'm a little nervous about taking it since I've never had it before in any form. Just curious if anybody out there has had it and what I can expect as far as side effects (although I know side effects can vary from person to person). Thanks!!

 

[2005CFmom]

Are you going to neb the vanco? If that is what you are talking about my daughter has been doing vanco nebs for almost a year, every other month. She hasn't experienced any negative side effects from it. But she normally handles meds very well. Best of luck, I hope it works for you.

 

[Allisa35]

No, actually I have to take it orally. It say to mix it with about an oz. of water. I'm sure it will probably taste horrible. Thanks for the info though.

 

[ev1er2ly3]

I get a really bad reaction to liquid vanco, I get something they call 'red mans'.. It's a rash over my body and itches very very bad! They give Benadryl for it, I was up to 75mg, but decided to stop vanco all together.. Was just too bad, hope it works out for you!

 

[coltsfan715]

I have had IV "liquid" vancomycin before and I get red man's syndrome with that, but the red man's is alleviated with one of the following options:
pre medicating with benadryl and infusing over the normal "recommended" time frame
OR
doubling the infusion time - so if recommended time is 2 hr infusion I do it for 4hrs. If recommended time is 1hr I normally do 3 hrs.

IF you are truly talking about liquid vanco that you take orally, by what I have been told by my docs it isn't absorbed through the stomach lining. That being said a doctor prescribing it for you to treat a lung infection is prescribing it for no reason. I am currently taking oral Vanco (which does come in pill form by the way) but I am taking it as a C. Diff preventive. It is used to treat C. Diff because for whatever reason the medication (as mentioned before) does not get properly absorbed through the stomach lining. That being said, I take it every 6 hours and do not have any side effects at all. Since it doesn't get absorbed the same way in the body it doesn't produce really any side effects when taken orally.

I would double check with your doc why he is prescribing oral Vanco honestly. I am post transplant and I have Vanco listed as an allergy because my reaction is so severe with red man's syndrome. I still had to take it pre transplant, but since my transplant have been MRSA free. When my docs prescribed oral Vanc to treat C. Diff a few months ago I asked about it because I was hesitant to take it, and my doc explained the lack of absorption issue to me. That is why it is so good for C. Diff because it just hangs out in the digestive tract and kills whatever is in there with it.

As for the taste it is a funky taste but not the worst medication I have ever had. I don't dillute it before taking it though. I take the 250mg liquid and chase it with water, also I only have to take it when I am inpatient. As outpatient I know Walmart pharmacies will order the pill because I have taken it that way before - like a medium sized gel cap.

Either way good luck I hope that you start feeling better.

Also I know to treat MRSA they have Oral Zyvox - which is AWESOME. I alternated between Zyvox and Vancomycin before my transplant, to treat MRSA. I never had any side effects with Zyvox and it always made me feel so much better than when I took Vancomycin.

Lindsey

 

[JENNYC]

Yep, Abby get's "red man's" really bad when she takes the IV form. They just give her benedryl before she takes it and it seems to work fine. It just makes her itch really bad if she doesn't get benedryl first.

Abby took Zyvox as well...very pricey and it upset her stomach...you also have to be careful what you eat while taking it. And she said it tasted awful as well....and it didn't seem to do much for her but maybe it was just my stinker

 

[Allisa35]

Thanks for the reply guys. Well, there was a slight mix-up with the medicine. For the same reason Lindsey stated, I wondered how it would work for me if it wasn't absorbed by the body and stayed in the intestines. I guess there was a misunderstanding between my dr. and the pharmacy. He didn't actually want me on the liquid (I think maybe pill form is what he was shooting for). My PCP discussed it further with my cf doc and they doubled my dose of bactrim and also added rifampin. My culture was sensitive to those. My sister has been on the iv vanco before and also got the Red Man's Syndrome. Thanks for the info. Hopefully this will do the trick.