C-diff and salmonella

Congratulations on your wedding!
The gift sucks tho....yikes!
I've not had either that I know of, so not had treatment. One thing is that both can be spread through feces, so I suggest you wait to go to work after being on meds.

You might be a perfect candidate for fmt in hospital....

Hugs,
q

Congrats on your wedding....

I had C.Dif several years ago, took Vanco for several weeks, and that knocked it out. It is a very serious condition, not to be trifled with. My UC was in remission, before, during and after taking Vanco.

Sounds like you're in good hands!

Let us know how you're doing on the meds.
Heal well,
q

How are you doing today? Yes, sounds right to take both VSL and Vanco. Often we bounce back after completing the course of Vanco. Low odds of a flare. Just know it's normal for antibiotics to mess with your system.

Sorry you had to go through c diff and salmonella, ugh so awful!

I pretty much NEVER take antibiotics. Once every 5-8 years maybe even less than that? So my body isn't too used to taking them. I feel as though my VSL #3 DS really has helped keep the 'good' bacteria in control over the 'bad' bacteria in my body, and not taking that for 5 days may have screwed all that up. I need to build that good bacteria back up, and that will take a little while. But I'm back on it now. I have read that I could have had C Diff in my for months, years even without ever having it affect me. So maybe the salmonella plus being off the VSL DS made the C Diff take hold. Sounds like many people could have C Diff on them but just aren't affected by it. My GI did also say it can be hard to get rid of.

I know most people on this forum swear by FMT, but I'm still using that as a very last resort. I will try antibiotics first. I was gone for 2 weeks on my trip, then to have to spend time in the hospital for FMT (likely at Mayo which is 90 mins away) isn't something I want to jump on right away. As it is, I"m very lucky I can work at home so for this week I'll stay home and do work from here.

I am curious, for those who the antibiotics worked for, did it take the full 10 days to see any effects? Or did things start getting better sooner than that? Honestly it's the abdominal cramping that is killing me more than actually going to the bathroom. That has slowed down a bit but the cramping is horrible.

Oh I will for sure take the entire 10 days of it. I was just wondering how soon it may make me start feeling better. The cramping is just really getting hard to take, I've had that almost a week now. And dealing with it everyday, honestly makes me not want to eat much. At least I am able to eat though.

My husband is using the bathroom downstairs and I have cleaning wipes I use every time I go to the bathroom. I'm an extremely clean person, so the idea of me having any of this bacteria on me freaks me out so I spend like 10 minutes cleaning myself off after I go

But now I read this site (I know, don't look around on the internet) and I'm freaking out!
https://cdifffoundation.org/cdiff-infection-homecare/

I feel like I should be in solitary confinement and quarantined or something! I didn't even know I had this for the first 5 days so who knows what I touched in my house. I'm fairly clean anytime I have a bowel movement, making sure I totally clean everything off of me no matter how long it takes, but still now I feel like I'm not even supposed to be home with this?? The doctors didn't say anything about any of this stuff, just said take the antibiotics and it can be hard to clear up. That's all. Should I be asking them if there is more I'm supposed to be doing?

FMT is only recommended for reoccurring cases of c diff. This is your first time, they always try Vanco first.

Congrats on your marriage, and sorry to hear about C-diff being a party pooper.
I went through a similar situation last year. I had to take antibiotics for a UTI and ended up getting C-diff. The nice thing about vanco is that it stays in your gut, so there weren't many side effects. The only annoyance was having to take it every six hours.
Either the C-diff or the vanco caused a flare that I had to treat with prednisone. I was taking pred and vanco literally at the same time. I was also taking florastor probiotic which is known to help with C-diff.
In the end the treatment worked great. Having suffered from C-diff, I was motivated to change my diet, and have since drastically cut back on carbs, especially sugar and flour. That has had many beneficial effects for my overall health, and I haven't had a recurrence of C-diff.
Best of luck with your treatment.

Got some non chlorine bleach to wash clothes in. My husband couldn't find bleach wipes at Target so he just got spray. I think my house (and my bottom) will both be cleaner than they've ever been!

Are there any disadvantages to taking vsl#3, as opposed to "I think it's useless so don't bother"? If it is safe then I would keep taking it. My dad has used it twice when he had food poisoning including campylobactor and it got him from diarrhoea back to solid poops very quickly (he does not have ibd).

The thing about florastor is that it is a fungus, not bacteria, so Vanco has no effect on it. It thrives while all the other bacteria including C-diff gets whacked by the Vanco, which is fine since it is a harmless/helpful fungus.

I will definitely go back to my regular probiotic schedule after I finish the antibiotics. Which is 1 packet of VSL#3 DS a day plus 1 Ultimate Flora Critical Care pill a day. I really feel that helps keep my gut normal and wish I hadn't run out of both of those halfway through my honeymoon. I may not even have ever got this if I had been taking those the entire trip.