cliff and crohns

Hi @bstiggy. Taking the Florastor is great. It is expensive, but please keep it up. I was taking 4 a day. I know c. diff. sucks, but it isn't the end of the world. I promise. :) I've actually had it 8 times and became antibiotic-resistant. I finally had a fecal matter transplant last year and haven't had any problems since.

Like I said, keep up on the Florastor. Another good one is VSL #3. The bacteria is live in this one, so it has to be refrigerated. In the future, just be careful when you're prescribed antibiotics. I usually will double my Florastor during and after antibiotics.

The stomach pain could be from a lot of things. If you are having solid BMs still then I can pretty much promise it's not c. diff. The pain could be if you are eating things that irritate your Crohn's. I pretty much always get cramps and pain when I eat popcorn or spicy foods, for example. You could also have what is called post-traumatic IBS (irritable bowel syndrome). This just means that between c. diff. and Crohn's, your intestines are just kind of sore or irritated. It would be like breaking your leg - even when the cast gets taken off, you have to build the muscles back up. Make sure you're eating a bland, safe diet for a while. Nothing too crazy! :)

I really understand. :) It is very stressful. I think that with Crohn's we're a bit more likely to get c. diff. and have it reoccur, and the symptoms really suck, but at the same time there are lots of options available. If it does happen again, talk to your GI about fecal matter transplants. The concept is kind of gross, but they have a 94% success rate in eradicating c. diff. If you get a second one, the rate goes up to 99%.

Are you drinking boost or ensure in addition to eating a normal diet? I would also suggest adding slim-fast (or a generic of it). These should not be meal replacements, but in addition to regular meals. It's a great way to add those extra calories because it's like having two meals.

You want to make sure not to try to put on weight *too* quickly or it can mess with your metabolism a bit. Kind of like anorexia and then yo-yo dieting. Your body starves then takes in a lot. That having been said, with CD you either are underweight from being sick or overweight from the steroids and inability to exercise.

Your immune system and c. diff. aren't really connected; c. diff. just stays in your gut. It is usually controlled by good bacteria, but antibiotics kill off good bacteria and c. diff. is strong, so that allows it to grow out of control. The reason why with Crohn's we can get c. diff. so often is because we get infections a lot easier with repressed immune systems, so we have to take antibiotics more frequently.

FMT has absolutely zero side effects, especially when done correctly by your GI. You get a donor (my mom was mine) and they will do blood tests and stool samples on them to make sure that they don't have anything. Then they poop in a container at home, and you bring that with you. They do a colonoscopy and during the colonoscopy they stick the other person's poop in your intestines. And that's it!

They may give you something to be a tad constipated for a day or two after the procedure, but that's a good thing because it keeps you from pooping out what the donor gave you and gives it time to let the good bacteria from them take hold in your system.

The only danger is if your donor has some illness, which is why you should do it through your GI instead of trying to do it at home (please, please don't do that).

I just had the one and I have been fine ever since. I didn't change anything. I took 4 Florastor a day afterwards for like a month to help the good bacteria keep building, but that's it. The hard thing with oral probiotics is that they often just get killed off in your stomach. A lot of people think that stomach acid is there to help digest food, but it's really there to kill off bacteria on your food, so most of the probiotics get killed before they make it to your intestines.

They aren't as common because they weren't approved at all by the FDA until last year. We lived in Houston and they didn't really have people doing them there, but then we moved to Denver and the first GI I spoke to said they do them all the time - they don't really even treat with Flagyl anymore except at the beginning. So I would just ask your doctor and ask around if your doctor doesn't know.

So I am one of the few that struggles with being overweight right now. I was on prednisone for a long time, then a feeding tube, and then back on prednisone. That coupled with several bouts of pancreatitis has made my weight yo-yo really badly, and so now my metabolism is just shot. Even though I eat maybe 1000 calories/day and walk 3-5 miles every day, I am still stuck at about 30-40 lbs overweight. The last bouts of c. diff. were right after my pregnancy, so I never lost any of my pregnancy weight. The problem with c. diff. for people who have Crohn's is that it's almost impossible to tell if the symptoms are just c. diff. or if your Crohn's is flaring as well. So each time I got c. diff., I'd be put on antibiotics and prednisone so they would cover all of their bases. Prednisone makes me gain weight like crazy, even if I try to ignore the awful food cravings they cause. :)

I think you'll gain the weight back okay. Try not to rush it too much, like I said, or your metabolism may end up like mine! :) (I'm only 28, I'm supposed to still be able to eat what I want!!!)

Ugh, I hate the side effects from steroids. I don't break out, but I want to eat like crazy, I get awful moon face, migraines, insomnia, the works. I was on 40 mg for 10 months straight when I first got sick. It was awful.

I really think you're going to be okay. Keep taking the probiotics, and really up them if you ever get put back on antibiotics. I kept getting c. diff. because I kept getting abscesses and other infections, which meant more antibiotics. It was just a bad cycle. But that's honestly not all that common. :)

Maybe about six months into it that I noticed. Sometimes it's even after I've finished the taper and it catches up with me. Please, please don't go on steroids just to gain weight! I also have permanent vision damage, osteopenia, chronic migraines, and some other health problems from being on them.

And did the steroids help put your crohns into remission

If don't mind me asking how long have u been in remission now? My stomach still gets pain even though I take these steroids I just pray that cdiff does NOT come back and I haven't started any crohns meds yet I really don't know what med to pick I was gone try to start the lowest dosage I believe I start a medicine June 16th

Are those two meds, u named below remicade are those pills?

Lol oh . How would u know if it is working right? And I had really bad diarrhea this morning but I ate taco bell last night made me have stomach cramps I'm thinking it could b from the taco bell??

It's happened several times today do u think it's just that

I remember local college students calling Taco Bell "Toxic Hell" - it can give you stomach problems w/o having Crohn's. If you're already dealing with stomach pain, Taco Bell is not a good idea. I can't do that kind of food when I'm not flaring without getting diarrhea. Part of learning to live with Crohn's is figuring out what you can and can't tolerate when it comes to food.

And I'm not a hater of Taco Bell. I actually like their bean burritos, but they don't like me. :-(