Posted 6/19/2013 8:52 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, you can have pain and occasional stools that are normal with C. diff. I had over a year of misery because my G.I. specialist was more interested in pushing immunosuppresive drugs than considering my failure to improve was due to C. diff.
In 2011 had a cyst for which I was prescribed multiple antibiotics. A week after completing the antibiotics I developed loose stools with bleeding that occurred with increasing frequency. about a month later I was diagnosed with UC. At that time, a C. diff. test was taken with negative results. I've since learned false negatives are not uncommon for C. diff tests, but whether or not I had it at the time is unclear.
A few months after being diagnosed with UC, I experienced severe inflammation of the rectal area followed by ongoing post stool mucus. I assumed this was not unusual for UC and tried to use Rowasa and other rectal meds with agonizing results. I reported this to my G.I. specialist, but he considered it merely a 'flare'.
After 18 months of ongoing rectal pain and bleeding, stools fluctuating between loose and firm, and post stool mucus, I asked my primary care physician for a new C. diff. test. I was desperate and wanted a new baseline of test results before seeking new treatment options. The results were positive for C. diff. toxins.
Following a two week course of Vancomycin my daily pain and bleeding were gone. Stools were consistently firm and the post stool mucus was greatly reduced. For over 50 years I had been a pretty healthy person and I believe my body was fighting the C. diff. for a long time. Sometimes my system was winning (firmer stools and less blood), and other times it was losing (loose stools and more blood). Unfortunately for me, two G.I. specialists who were there to 'help' me were more interested in following their template of care than listening to me and paying attention to the data I was sharing. My advice to everyone suffering from UC is to get tested for C. diff. on a regular basis. Don't rely on your specialists to recommend it.