Treatment

If you have a blastocystis infection without signs or symptoms, then you don't need treatment. Mild signs and symptoms might improve on their own within a few days.

Potential medications for eliminating a blastocystis infection and improving symptoms include:

• Antibiotics, such as metronidazole (Flagyl) or tinidazole (Tindamax)
• Combination medications, such as sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim (Bactrim, Septra, others)
• Anti-protozoal medications, such as paromomycin or nitazoxanide (Alinia)

Responses to these medications vary greatly. Also, because the organism might not be the cause of your symptoms, improvement might be due to the medication's effect on another organism.