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Posted 2/19/2015 4:20 AM (GMT 0)
Okay so I had c diff originally March 2014 and was prescribed flagyl for 10 days. I got mostly better and thought everything was good. That summer I started getting symptoms again. Went back on flagyl and got tested for c diff again. i got tested twice in August and both came back negative. That's when I got referred to a GI and in September got diagnosed with UC.
I tried prednisone and lialda and now am on imuran. Moved states and got a new GI who wanted new cultures done just to make sure nothing was wrong otherwise because none of the medications I was on were working. This was a week ago. Came back positive for c diff. And got prescribed vancomycin now since the flagyl apparently never worked. Now I guess my question is, how is being on an antibiotic like this going to effect my current flare. Or if anyone has any advice, that'd be great.
Posted 2/19/2015 4:25 AM (GMT 0)
the question is whether you had both c-diff and UC. False negatives are common, and it could have been an infectious issue all along - in which case the antibiotics should help, and there is no UC flare to worsen.

If you also have UC, whichever came first, then it would be good to take probiotics after the antibiotics are done.

But with recurrent/recalcitrant c-diff, I would be looking for a clinic to do a fecal transfer
Posted 2/19/2015 4:56 AM (GMT 0)
Since my colonoscopy showed inflammation and the biopsy came back with a diagnosis of UC I'm pretty sure it's both.
I'm not sure its recurrent, as I'm not convinced it ever fully went away and I do believe that to either be the source of my symptoms or at least exacerbating them. But if the antibiotics don't work, I suppose that could be an option
Posted 2/19/2015 5:06 AM (GMT 0)
it is that diagnosis that needs close examination. inflammation does not equal UC, it only means colitis. They should only diagnose UC if the crypt cells of the mucosa show specific deformation, but I think sometimes they diagnose UC when they see inflammation and have "apparently" ruled out infection.

it is possible you had UC all along, and got c-diff consequent to the UC.

if the c-diff never went away, that would be the recalcitrant option I mentioned - but wouldn't that mean you had c-diff when you got the UC diagnosis?

Just saying you could be one of the UC diagnoses that is most likely to be put into long term remission with a single FMT.

Post Edited (DBwithUC) : 2/25/2015 7:56:12 PM (GMT-7)

Posted 2/19/2015 6:00 AM (GMT 0)
Well, C-Diff is bad and you have to get rid of it. Since it is bad most will see their symptoms improve while on antibiotics for it. You can have a lot of false negatives so you probably never got completely rid of it. C-Diff is notoriously hard to get rid of. I very highly extremely recommend getting on VSL#3 asap and stay on it forever as it is very good at fighting both C-Diff and UC. It's also possible that Lialda didn't really fail you because it does not fight C-Diff and the pred and/or Imuran could have helped your C-Diff to get worse.
Posted 2/26/2015 2:53 AM (GMT 0)
I had c diff this past summer. Because I haven't had UC that long (3 years) I just thought it was my UC taking an ugly turn and I didn't go to the doctor for weeks. I ended up in hospital in an isolation ward, and losing 22 lbs. Eventually an ID specialist came along and gave me vancomycin and it cleared everything up. Really fast, too. Then I was able to tackle the UC. Other antibiotics have caused flares but I found vanco to be a miracle drug. I hope the same for you.
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