Ciprofloxacine and Calprotectin

Hi.

Last year I was struggling with constant abdominal pain and bloating. At the time I didn’t know about SIBO existence. I did numerous stool and blood (IGM/IGG) tests for parasites, bacterias, fungi. Everything was negative, endoscopy was fine (just gastritis). But they found increased Calprotectin levels, around 100 µg/g. I repeated the test multiple times during 6 months period and it was elevated all the time. I took 2 two courses of Rifaximin which improved the symptoms for short term, but they returned later.

After that my GI prescribed me Ciprofloxacin 500mg x 2 times x 7 days. At the time I didn’t know that it is a very dangerous antibiotic, so I took it as prescribed. Lucky for me, I didn’t have any side effects. The symptoms actually improved. Not completely, but quite significantly. And the most interesting part is that Calprotectin return to normal level < 30 µg/g.

Later this year my symptoms returned in a different form (last year I had constant abdominal pain, but now it is only related to bowel movements). I was tested positive for H2 SIBO. Xifaxan didn’t really work.

I wonder what bacteria or infections could increase calprotectin levels, but not be killed by Rifaximin and be killed by Ciprofloxacin? Maybe there is less dangerous antibiotic that could help me now?

For those who don’t know: Ciprofloxacin is a very dangerous antibiotic that can make you basically disabled if you’re unlucky. Look up “floxxed”. It is not recommended to use it unless it’s life or death situation.