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Posted 3/14/2013 8:43 PM (GMT 0)
Hey, I am new to this site. Before I registered I was reading a lot of helpful info on c-diff. However, once I registered I don't see this condition on here....can anyone direct me to the correct area?

Thank you!!
Posted 3/14/2013 10:33 PM (GMT 0)
Actually, several of us here have had C. diff. If you do a search on this forum using the little search box near the top on the right, it will bring up those threads. Also, just start a new topic and ask your question or tell your story.

Here are some to get you started:

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=17&m=2637092

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=17&m=2365972

https://www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=17&m=2622515

Posted 3/14/2013 11:23 PM (GMT 0)
I had C. Diff recently. Horrid thing to have, that's for sure.
Do you have specific questions?
Posted 3/15/2013 12:50 AM (GMT 0)
My son has had it since October 2012 on and off. Hopefully after he finishes this taper of Vanco he will be rid of it. It is truly horrible and so difficult to get rid of.
Posted 3/15/2013 1:16 AM (GMT 0)
just had c diff in february and finished my vancomycin a few weeks ago. it was honestly worse than any flare i've had. i hope i never have it again.
Posted 3/15/2013 1:59 AM (GMT 0)
Joanna,

Was this your first time having it?? I see you took Flagyl, how did you respond to that?? I really don't know what to think at this point. Had the watery diarrhea yesterday, once, nothing since. Do you all notice your bowels being a certain color with this c-diff?? Or simply when wiping? I just have multiple health issues going on and wonder what is what. I picked up a stool sample kit that I want turned in asap so I don't get as bad as the first time but like I said, no bm's today. I see a lot of you are taking supplements etc. All I have reallly been instructed to do is take the antibiotic for the c-diff and a probiotic.:-/ I also take Krill oil....Another question for you all....do you suffer from a good amount of nausea with this c-diff??
Posted 3/15/2013 2:07 AM (GMT 0)
I've had it four times in the last few years. The fact that you're having fewer BMs is a good sign. I don't notice a color but the smell is pretty distinct. Taking a probiotic is good; if it's a live culture (meaning it needs to be refrigerated, like VSL 3) it's more effective from what I've experienced. I do get nauseated with it, too.
Posted 3/15/2013 2:19 AM (GMT 0)
Four times?!! Oh my goodness!!!!! What antibiotic were you given for it? I'm not sure about the fewer BMs are good or bad being that I had diarrhea 6+ months up to 2 times daily and still don't know if it was the c-diff back then or something else. I definitely have odd color. Bright yellow usually. No one gave me direction on a specific probiotic so I've been taking Culturelle, Lactobacillus GG and once a day.
Posted 3/15/2013 2:31 AM (GMT 0)
urrosebud,i agree with scifigal about the smell. it is noticeably horrid and worse than any diarrhea smell i've had. all my bowel movements looked like tomato soup. just tons of blood. i went to the hospital and was going about 25x a day. i got blood while i was there since my hemoglobin was dropping quickly.

i started on flagyl and was on that for 6 days. i wasn't responding to it at all so they gave me vancomycin. that dropped my bm's to about 4x a day and that's where i still am. i did vanco for 2 weeks. i think you'd be going to the bathroom more if you had c diff and the pain would be bad. i had paralytic ileus in my colon and that causes a lot of pain.
Posted 3/15/2013 2:37 AM (GMT 0)
Joanna- Well when I had the c-diff the first time I didn't have any blood and mine looked yellow in the toilet and when wiping. I do think it is odd I haven't gone today. Guess no way of truly knowing until the stool sample.
Posted 3/15/2013 2:41 AM (GMT 0)
I was on Flagyl for the first two times, then it stopped being effective and I had to use vancomycin for the second two times. Vanco is much cheaper if you can find a pharmacy that will do it in the liquid form instead of pill form. Only two times a day for diarrhea? Not sure if that's c. diff.; if it is, that's a bit mild. I was going over 20 times a day and was bleeding pretty bad from it each time, along with awful pain and cramping. Again, the smell is really strong and distinct. I think that color has more to do with how fast or slow the foods are going through your intestines.
Posted 3/15/2013 5:10 AM (GMT 0)
No, like I said I was having diarrhea usually twice a day for 6 to 8 months and never went to the doctor. I just figured it was my gallbladder. I finally got sick of feeling so sick and unsure when the diarrhea would hit me. Seemed like it was always after eating I would be running to the bathroom. Like I said this went on for months on end until early feb when I got SUPER sick. Stomach cramps, water diarrhea that wouldn't let up. Let it go on for 4 days or so(doctors were NO help) until I finally couldn't take it anymore and went to the ER and they confirmed c-diff. Later after finishing a round of vanco I went to a GI and saw a NP. When I was going over all of my issues with her, she seemed to think I had the c-diff all along?? I'm not so sure I believe that I would have c-diff for 6+ months....then one day out of the blue it hits like hell?? I don't know what to believe. The only thing I did different when the c-diff was most definitely prevelent was being on a PPI for 7 days which I have read could have some kind of correlation. I wish there was a definitive answer.:-(
Posted 3/15/2013 8:45 PM (GMT 0)
I just got rid of my c-diff... I picked it up after my oral surgery last July - finally... it's gone!

The flagyl didn't help - we tried it a few times. I did vanco for like 12 weeks straight, had a relapse, then did another round of vanco with flagyl added, on top of lots of probiotics.

The smell is VERY distinct. Even if it varies from person to person... you can tell when you have c-diff and when it's probably gone. That's enough said about that... I think you get the point.

At my worst, I was going between 25-30 times a day, plus throwing up and ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS nauseous. I don't even know where the diarrhea or vomit was coming from because I wasn't eating - I lost tons of weight while I was sick.

I will say that, as far as the timeline goes for c-diff.... it's possible to 'have it all along' and then be hit like a freight train. I had it mildly for a couple of months... and, throughout the months from infection to diagnosis, it got progressively worse and then, one day, I just realized that the amount of times I was going doubled and I felt miserably sick - like, dead. So, it's possible.

Either way...the most important part is getting rid of it! It's a stubborn infection. I'm still afraid at times that I still have it... when I notice a smell even remotely similar, I cringe. I also work in a hospital and am in close contact with patients on the floors and in the ER. I die a little on the inside when I learn that a patient I was just with has suspected c-diff. Yikes!

I hope it goes away soon! Just be very consistent in taking your antibiotics and, in the future, avoid things like amoxicillin, penicilin, or anything like it. Those are the ones most commonly assoc. with c-diff cases. I avoid antibiotics, and ultimately c-diff, like they're the plague now.

Best of luck,

Jade

Posted 3/15/2013 11:16 PM (GMT 0)
Wow Jade, that is awful. I was never going even close to that amount of times. Do people with c-diff typically vomit? I am dealing with chronic nausea but no telling why just yet as I have other issues going on. Like I said my gallbladder, fatty liver, possible GERD, the c-diff, maybe IBS...just don't know. Not yet sure if I have relapsed...waiting on stool sample I turned in today....nervous.

Amber

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