Bad flare, doc not helping! Not sure what to do

I was on an antibiotic which caused a flare. I've been flare- free for almost 8 years! Now, I'm home just sitting here waiting for the doc to call and give me medicine. She thinks it could be c-diff, the infection u get when u take antibiotics, bc it clears out all the good bacteria.

Personally, I don't care what the heck is....isn't the treatment the same? Just give me something to make me feel better!

She had me provide a stool sample yesterday, Thursday, and apparently it takes time. She didn't do any bloodwork or anything. So I'm just sitting at home...I've been to the bathroom 8 times in the past 3 hours, and haven't eaten anything since Tuesday. I'm trying to drink some pedialyte, but at this point I wanna say screw it!

I ended up in the hospital last time...I feel like that's where I'm headed. I tried to. Tell the receptionist at the docs office that when I called. She just said, keep drinking and the doc will call u back later today. She also said the stool sample won't yield results until this weekend!

I cannot live like this through the entire weekend! Literally, I'm in tears! I barely make it to the bathroom, and when I do, the urge to go...it takes everything out of me, it's horrible.

Is it bad that I figure if I stop drinking, I'll be forced into the hospital and then she'll HAVE to treat me? I live alone. No one to help or take care of me. I feel so helpless and am not sure what to do.

Yea you are right and have a point. I have been on imuran and apriso (asacol) since my last big flare. I just am worried since it's a long weekend here in the US. And if I don't get medicine (ie, prednisone) today, I won't be able to get it until Tuesday of next week.

Long weekend? What holiday am I missing?? Lol.

Im sorry you are having a flare again after so long! Or possible flare.

Im with ruitgirl on this one... there is always the ER.

I would suggest trying to stay call, relax, rest and yes, keep yourself hydrated best you can. Try to get some caloriea in... white rice, white bread, banana... saltines are my safe food no matter for crappy I feel :)

Until you know more of what's going on, freaking out is only going to make you feel worse :(

Grab a heating pad and some tylenol and try to rest until your doctor gets back to you :)

Which antibiotic was it and why was it prescribed?

Clidomycin for some dental work

No, C-Diff can kill you.

Yes it was for a root canal. I did ask the dentist if it was okay for me to take- but I'm allergic to so many medicines it's hard for then to figure out what to give me. I guess that was my best option. I did start probiotics yesterday. How long do u think they will take to kick in?

Dehydration can be really serious. It can shut down your kidneys and damage them. So please don't get dehydrated. If you think you are starting to get severely dehydrated (dizzier than usual getting up, almost passing out, etc.) then please go to the ER.

Otherwise, head to the ER if you feel badly enough (up to you when). I don't think anybody would look at you strangely for it...it's not like you stubbed your toe or something ridiculous.

Cdiff takes awhile to dx because I think they have to culture it (grow the bacteria).

It sucks, I wish you luck.

garylouisville is right. From first hand experience, nothing but antibiotics is going to work, and I can guarantee you will feel sooo much better :)

still get check for blood-loss anemia

the question of prednisone is tricky, and research is not clear of best way to go. Doctor opinions vary. See the excerp about a study of c-diff infection (CD) among IBD patients.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2957597/ said...
There is no consensus on whether IBD-related medications, particularly immunomodulators and corticosteroids should be discontinued during the anti-CDI therapy. In a retrospective study of 155 patients from Europe with CDI complicating IBD, 104 (67%) were cotreated with antibiotics and immunomodulators (defined as the use of prednisone, azathioprine/6-mercaptopurine, methotrexate, biologics, cyclosporine, tacrolimus) for their C. difficile-associated IBD exacerbation, while the remaining 51 (33%) were treated with antibiotics alone[32]. The primary outcome of the study was colon perforation or toxic megacolon, shock, colectomy, and mortality. Patients treated by combination therapy had a trend towards a worse outcome when compared to those treated by antibiotics alone (likelihood ratio = 11.9; 95% CI: 0.9-157)[32]. Thus in most patients with CDI, it may be inappropriate to escalate immunosuppressive therapy during the acute CDI episode. However, the question of whether to add immunomodulator therapy in patients who are not on it before the CDI episode remains unanswered. In a recent survey of 169 North American gastroenterologists, there was significant disagreement on whether combination antibiotics and immunomodulators or antibiotics alone should be given to flaring IBD patients with CDI. Overall, 77/169 (46%) of the respondents elected to add on corticosteroids as a combined treatment with antibiotics, whereas 82/169 (54%) treated the flare with antibiotics alone. When maintenance azathioprine was regularly taken, only 11% of respondents withdrew it upon the diagnosis of CDI[90].

if it is not c-diff, a pred taper may help a lot if you tolorate pred fairly well. if IS c-diff and antibiotics does not help, or it reoccurs, read up on FT for c-diff. Expensive and hard to find, but effective.

Post Edited (DBwithUC) : 1/17/2014 7:03:18 PM (GMT-7)

Actually you can still spread c-diff to others even if you live alone. The spores can attach to clothing and other things and you can carry them with you to work, the grocery, your parents or friends house, anywhere. C-diff is not something you mess with.

Dang, didn't know about the clothing attachment type stuff. I guess that explains that when you are in the hospital for suspected cdiff, they come in gowned, gloved, and masked.

Make sure after 3 weeks they retest. Flagyl often does not work and you have to go to Vanco. They like to start out with Flagyl though. Don't expect them to offer a retest. They'll just wait to see if you get worse before doing anything. Don't let them do that to you. Demand a retest once the Flagyl is finished. If they haven't killed off the C-Diff, it will come back, guaranteed.