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Was in remission but got salmonella

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 4/26/2018 8:01 PM (GMT 0)
4 days after getting back from Latin America my son (who has been in symptomatic remission for 18 months) had a day of urgent diarhhea w blood. I thought it was maybe the start of a flare or exposure to something in Latin America. He doubled his probiotic and did his plain chicken/rice flare diet and within a day felt fine but I went ahead and had doctor order blood work and stool samples because wanted a baseline if inflammation was creeping up. Well all results (Except Calprotectin) are now back and everything (CRP, ESR) were normal except tested positive for Salmonella even though he isn’t having more symptoms!
What should i do now? He feels fine but do i need to worry that this is going to linger in his system and start a bad flare? I’m typically avoid any antibiotics for him so i don’t think i want to do that if not necessary. If he didn’t have UC i would just assume it will run its course and go away, but don’t want to be naive and have this trigger something bad.
Thoughts?
Posted 4/26/2018 8:52 PM (GMT 0)
now they are saying he also tested positive for C. diff antigens (but not toxins)(i don’t know what that means). And they want him started on Flagyl. I’m so reluctant to start him on antibiotics especially when he feels 100% fine right now. I asked if he has ever been tested for C. diff before, because i have always secretly wondered if he really has something other than UC bc of how quickly it went into remission. Nurse said he was tested for C. Diff toxins at time of original diagnosis and it was negative (but was never tested for antigens). I’m so confused. It is reasonable to hold off on antibiotics for a couple weeks and see how he does?
Posted 4/26/2018 11:29 PM (GMT 0)
I've had Salmonella 4 times, twice I was hospitalized as I felt like death and the other two I hardly knew I had it as my symptoms were minimal. Ultimately I was getting it from my pet reptiles in combination with my weakened immune system due to meds. There really isn't much they do for it unless they suspect it gets into your bloodstream then they generally administer antibiotics. Otherwise they pump you full of fluids to battle dehydration due to the diarrhea. I've had C-Diff as well and it was always a course of Flagyl to flush it out of my system. C-Diff can get really bad really fast and really wreck havoc on your insides.
Posted 4/26/2018 11:37 PM (GMT 0)
If he tested positive for C-diff I would have him on the antibiotic. I ended up in the hospital with it & attempting to let it play itself out is not the way to go. Catch it early to knock it out.
Posted 4/27/2018 2:27 AM (GMT 0)
I guess my confusion is he didn’t test positive for C Diff, he tested positive for the antigens (GDH) and negative for the toxins.
Posted 4/27/2018 12:48 PM (GMT 0)
I don't know if it's possible, but it would be great if you could have a consult with an infectious disease doc to untangle this and figure out why there are seemingly contradictory test results and symptoms. Of course not always easy to do on short notice. There are several types of C-diff tests, some more reliable than others, and some labs are better than others too.
Because of all the mesalamine I was taking, my C-diff symptoms were masked a lot, so I still had mostly formed stool for quite a few weeks at the beginning.
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