C diff

Hi guys
Well here we go again!!!!! Iv been posting on here every few days with yet another problem and here I go again !!!

Iv only been discharged from the hospital two weeks,this was due to me having reactive arthritis, I posted on here a few days ago saying that I'd felt I'd come to one of my lowest points since iv had crohns!!!

Before I was admitted iv been suffering on a practically daily basis with uncontrollable diarrhoea !!!!
For the first time ever my specialist nurse asked me to a sample and now to top it all off iv got c diff

Iv been on and off antibiotic meds since June, for infections and now they want to give me more !!!! I don't get it as this is how you get it in the first place isn't it ???
I'm not happy taking yet more but what are my options !!!! They want to prescribe metronidazole but iv heard that a much better and stronger one is vancomycin, I'm sooo fed up as iv been stating for months about how bad my diarrhoea has been, iv been having all kinds of fever etc and the way my diarrhoea has been hasn't changed since I was diagnosed !!!
Have I always had it ?? I ask myself, I'm still losing weight as I can't manage to keep anything liquid down never mind any thing solid!!

I'm seeiing my gi next week and it's either mercapturine or methatrexate, any suggestions would be gratefully received as I'm angling more on methatrexate as I get extra intestinal manifestations such as reactive arthritis and uvietis.iv tried azathiaprine but couldn't tolerate it.

I'm going stir crazy as apart from the odd hour out here and there or attending hospital appts I'm stuck in!!!! I haven't been in work since June and now i can't have visitors duet c diff !!!

Sorry for long post guys, just vending yet again!!!!
Hope all you guys out there though are doing ok,and if not you have my empathy and I'm sending you as we call it in wales a cwtch

Thanks zanne
I would say that the smell, urgency etc has been the same and I mentioned how horrible the smell was a few months ago!!! And I mean smell !!! It seems to permeate the air for a lonnnggg time!!!. That's why I can't understand why they never took a stool sample before.
Thanks for the info and the ((hugs))) we call them ((cwtches))) x
Fingers crossed I'll start to feel better but I just don't get how if it's created by overuse of antibiotics!! It's odd to treat it with antibiotics !!!!
Thanks for your post xshellyx

Your case with c-diff, crohn's and reactive arthritis, sounds a lot like my hubby. My hubby too got reactive arthritis a few weeks after being diagnosed with c-diff again last year. He has some bad reactions with flagyl, so they put him on vancomycin instead, 1000mgs a day (4 divided doses) for 2 weeks. C-diff is a difficult infection to get rid of, because the bacterium forms spores, and the antibiotic only gets rid of the bacteria not the spores. So, the spores can live in your system and in the environment for months (yes months), and then cause reinfection. My husband has got it twice, but both times, we've been able to beat it back.

In addition to vancomycin, my husband also started taking (and continues to take) florastor (4 250 mgs capsules a day). Florastor contains a yeast that is known to fight c-diff. Also, he takes bee propolis, which some people say also helps keep c-diff at bay. I think you'll find that the reactive arthritis will calm down as you get the infection under control.

It is possible, even probable that you have both a c-diff and crohn's flare up going on at the same time. That's a little hard to deal with, since for crohn's treatment you suppress the immune system; and for c-diff you need a strong immune system to fight off the infection. So, it's definitely a balancing game. My husband is on remicade for the crohn's, and when he has had c-diff issues, he's taken vancomycin.

There's a new antibiotic (more narrow spectrum) called fidaxomycin that they've been working on to target c-diff . . . I'm not sure if that's available on the market yet. Maybe you can check on that where you live. One of the problems with both flagyl and vancomycin is that they really flush out everything - the good and the bad bacteria; so you really must augment with good probiotics if you're on these drugs.

I think it's good that they found out you have c-diff; now you can put yourself on the road to feeling better! Hope now things will start to turn around and get better.

PV

I am being tested for c - diff right now myself but I have had it before and I know I don't have it like everyone has mentioned it has a certain smell and it is very distinct and once you smell it you won't forget it and if I don't have it I have to go get scoped and not to thrilled about it and possibly have to talk to the surgeon. I have had vanco before when I had c - diff but it is highly expensive like a 1,000 dollars for a supply so my insurance would not cover it so my doc had to give me flagyl which works it helped me get rid of it but it will stay in your stool for awhile even after you get rid of it it is hard to get rid of as for the methotrexate I was on that in the beginning because i had no insurance and it is cheap but it has a lot of bad side effects for one it is toxic I had to give it to myself at home well actually my step dad did and the pharmacist told us to make sure that it does not get on the person administering it you also have to make sure you don't get pregnant on it because it has something to do with abortion so basically you won't be able to keep the baby because of high risk of deformities so I don't like to take it I am on remicade but pregnancy is still discouraged but everyone responds differently best of luck.

If you reacted poorly to azathioprine then I would go with Methotrexate. Mercaptopurine is what azathioprine turns into in your body. Some people are able to handle one and not the other but since there is a 2nd choice I would go to that first.

Since at this time there are only 2 drugs that really fight c. diff (flagyl and vancomycin) the usual standard of care is to use flagyl first and only use vanco if flagyl is not successful.

Also flagyl's side effects are generally not as dangerous as vanco's. Vanco's potential side effects include kidney failure, hearing loss, bone marrow suppression, red man syndrome ... you get the idea. Not that flagyl doesn't have some bad potential side effects, but generally the side effect profile isn't as severe for flagyl.

Yeah methotrexate is not so bad I didn't get sick or anything it is not the worst thing actually I think sulfasalazine is I am highly allergic to that ugh but I completely understand what you saying about work it really does suck when your mind is capable of doing anything but your body just can't well best of luck to you and I hope it works out great for you.