C diff

Sorry, milocat !


i'm assuming you were on antibiotics prior to this?


I don't have any advice - but found this thread - may be of some help to you:

www.healingwell.com/community/default.aspx?f=30&m=3254505

Thanks for the replies. Yes I was on ceftin for a few months and have also been taking a ton of herbs. I stopped taking probiotics which is what did me in I believe. I have some allicin at home so I will add that. The flagyl doesn't seem to be working so I am going to urgent care to see if I can get a different rx.

Ceftin ?

That is the only antibiotic I've taken that cause me to have loose bowel movements. That was after a few months (4?) on it. It resolved after stopping it...but it took a month or so.

I'm wondering if that has a higher risk for C Difficile.

I, too, had c-dif. Flagyl worked in a few days. Hopefully, yours will resolve soon. Do you see any improvement at all?

Patty

I was curious...HOW do you know its C.diff? Did you submit as stool sample?

I had diarrhea with blood and mucous up to 15 times a day. I knew something was drastically wrong.

I am ssooooo sorry you are dealing with c diff!! Its the WORST!!!!! And unless you have had it, no one can fully understand how awful it is. I had it in February but I didn't realize it at the time. I thought it was a side effect from antibiotics so I was trying to push through. I was officially diagnosed in April and had to stop all antibiotics. I was on two rounds of Flagyl and that did nothing except make me feel like I was dying. Literally. It temporarily stopped the diarrhea , but it resumed once I stopped the medication. So then I was put on a very long course of vancomycin. And during that long course, I consulted with a couple different GI specialists and found one who would do a fecal transplant if I failed the vancomycin. The good news is that the vancomycin took care of the c diff. The bad news is that c diff can be kind of like lyme. Once you have it, it sort of always is hanging out in you and can overpopulate your good gut bacteria should the environment be right for it. The c diff spores never completely die and disappear from the vancomycin. The vancomycin kills the active infection only.

There have been a few things that have helped me: 1. Find yourself a GOOD GI doctor who you like and trust.... even if that means you get a few different opinions. You want someone on board who can help and knows your story if the - - - - hits the fan (no pun intended). 2. Start taking two Florastor three times a day. 3. Get another very strong probiotic like VSL3 and take that twice a day. 3. Depending on how desperate you are, you could also do a probiotic enema. This is fantastic for repopulating the colon with good bacteria. 4. Get glutamine and take 5 grams daily. Helps soothe the lining of the gut. 5. Consider taking colostrum. Sounds gross, but can help strengthen and repair your stomach. C diff destroys your insides. 6. Digestive enzymes before meals. 7. Make sure you are getting enough short chain fatty acids in your diet.

Fortunately and unfortunately, I feel like I have become a "c diff expert" because of my own trials and tribulations with it. Email me any other questions you might have. You WILL get better though. I promise!!!!

I am sssooo sorry it is so terrible for you. It is the worst!!! For me, the Flagyl was an absolute nightmare. Like I previously wrote, I literally thought I was dying. It made me extremely sick. And it was hard to tell if I was feeling that sick from the c. diff, the medication, or from all of my tick infections. But as soon as I stopped the flagyl, I slowly returned back to my normal baseline of feeling crappy. I have a feeling that if you can push your doctor or his/her nurse to write an appeal letter to your insurance company saying you have c diff and that you are not tolerating the Flagyl, they will cover the vancomycin. If the insurance company knows you are so sick to the point of being hospitalized from the side effects of the flagyl, they will approve the vancomycin because $1000 for vancomycin is a lot less expensive for them vs the alternative.... you winding up in the hospital with horrible complications from c diff plus dehydration from vomiting.

I am only a few months further along than you and it is all very fresh in my mind. Happy to email privately or chat if you need a pep talk. I promise you will get through this. But it is difficult and it certainly makes treatment for your other infections tricky. But not impossible!! You WILL get better!! I promise!!! xoxo!!

Milocat said...
Thank you for the kind words and invaluable advice! Omg I can't imagine having this long term. I went to the ER Wednesday because I kept throwing up my antibiotics. They prescribed me vancomycin but my insurance won't cover it and it's over $1000! I'm hoping the flagyl will be enough until I can see a gi doc. Thanks for all the great tips Evanston, they are super helpful!!

I'm having terrible nausea and cramping if I eat any food/take any pills, my anti nausea meds don't work, is this common with flagyl or is it the c diff?

i told you from start you may need vanco. but they prescribed you vancomycin based on what ? positive cdiff ? have they performed liver enzymes test ? antibiotics can cause all sorts of problems, including serious liver injury which will give u nausea and u will not be able to eat stuff easily. do u feel particularily worse if u eat oily/fatty foods ?

btw while taking abx for so long, has anyone told you to test your liver function (enzymes) every 2 weeks ? it's an inexpensive test but some drs dont ask for it and their patients can get VERY SICK because of liver failure from antibiotics toxicity... the symptoms can be the ones you describe.

Natural remedy(abx) to suppress c. diff:
/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24328700
Antimicrobial effects of virgin coconut oil and its medium-chain fatty acids on Clostridium difficile.

Purrsiankitty.... Hell is a nice way to put it . Hope you are doing ok!

Still dealing like most of us here are.... every day a different adventure. The c diff really messed up my plans for getting better. I am now doing things I read about early on in my infections and NEVER in a million years would have considered. But when meds are not an option, you need to look elsewhere. Herbs, rife, and ozone have been very very helpful.

you should get Saccharomyces boulardii BEFORE you develop cdiff while taking abtibiotics, to prevent the event from happening.