HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

C-diff and salmonella

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
1 2
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 3/29/2019 7:39 PM (GMT 0)
Nope we were in South Africa. Luckily I didn't get sick during the honeymoon. Guessing that somebody just didn't wash their hands after using the bathroom, and then served me food. Or somebody had this and used the bathroom before me. It's getting a little better, not as much coming out when I use the bathroom. But a lot of gas now. Still some abdominal cramping, especially if I eat anything. So still suffering with the pain, hoping it goes away. I'm on day 6 of the antibiotics now.
Posted 3/30/2019 7:56 PM (GMT 0)
So over the past day or so my colon seems to be slowing down. Yesterday my BMs turned from orange (which usually means everything is moving through you too fast) to very dark. I also only went like 5 times yesterday and it was mostly gas. Now today it's taken a total 180 where I can't even really go to the bathroom! I have a lot of gas and I've been taking GasX 4 times a day to try to combat that (trick I learned a few colonoscopies ago). I'm on day 6 of my Vanco so more than halfway through now. So far today I've had 1 BM and not much came out - granted yesterday all I ate was 2 cans of Ensure and a bowl of mashed potatoes. I tried cleaning the house today for about an hour just to get myself moving around and standing since I've been sitting and lying down for the past week. Maybe help move things along. I can tell my abdomen is getting bloated, like it does after a colonoscopy.

Yesterday I was still having cramping, my GI thought maybe my UC was flaring up so called in Prednisone for me. But now today not really any cramping. And I've even eaten today (toast and some more mashed potatoes). Seems odd for such a quick turnaround? I may go to the store later just so I can walk around more and help get things moving. I don't really want to be constipated now after all this, although it is nice not to be running to the bathroom every hour or two.

I'm taking my Acacia fiber powder twice a day and have been during this whole thing. Anything else I should be taking? Now I'm afraid things will get stuck in there! At least I'm hoping this means the C diff is almost gone and I won't feel so contaminated with what the internet makes sound like deadly bacteria that can take down the world smile
Posted 4/1/2019 2:45 PM (GMT 0)
Certainly take any small improvement you can get, and hope there's more to come smile
Posted 4/2/2019 8:58 PM (GMT 0)
I totally agree with ipoop's comment! You can try phasing in some protein with the mashed potato & see how that goes. / Old Hat (38 yrs with left-sided UC; presently in remission taking brandname Colazal)
Posted 6/6/2019 7:52 PM (GMT 0)

MNBeachgal said...
At least I'm hoping this means the C diff is almost gone and I won't feel so contaminated with what the internet makes sound like deadly bacteria that can take down the world smile

Lol!! C diff. is some bad stuff! Are you all better now? I had campylobacter (another food poisoning bacteria) back in fall/winter of 2016 that kept coming back after each round of antibiotics I took. That and a hospital stay eventually led to me getting c diff. Worst pain I've ever experience in my life.
Posted 6/6/2019 7:56 PM (GMT 0)

MNBeachgal said...
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 smile

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?

You need to be cleaning EVERYTHING with BLEACH, not cleaning wipes. The wipes don't kill c diff. C diff can live on surfaces for up to 6 MONTHS. I know this is an old post, but I was extremely paranoid for 6 months after I had c diff. You really need to be washing your hands a lot and cleaning all surfaces you may have touched, and of course the toilet, with bleach and water. Nothing else kills it.
Posted 6/6/2019 8:05 PM (GMT 0)
Funny you should reply to this at this moment, as I was just looking up long-term effects of c-diff online!
I started feeling a bit better in April after I was done with the Vanco 2 week course. But my stool has never gotten quite back to completely normal (for me that was totally formed, almost constipated, 1-2 times per day). It's still very soft and I have A LOT of gas. I look bloated ALL the time, it's horrible now. And my indigestion has gotten so bad, like it was before I ever started Prilosec 7 years ago. I go back and forth between having 1-2 BM's per day to sometimes 4 times a day. They are formed but soft, but sometimes not very formed.
I feel a lot of pressure in my rectum so thinking it's now inflamed down there. Tried cortenemas for a week which helped at first, but now that I'm done with them it's just back to how it was before them.

I wasn't due for my colonoscopy until January, but now have it scheduled for June 28 along with an endoscopy to see what is going on in my stomach (with the bloating and I've been having upper GI pain which is not normal for me). That was the earliest date I could get in to have both tests at once and to see my GI that day after the tests. I'm hoping I can make it till then. I'm not having any blood in my stool so not sure if I'm flaring now? It's been SO long since I flared. I'm so tired lately too though. My dr called in cortisone suppositories (never heard of those) but I haven't picked them up yet as I did the enemas first. I'm back on my mesalamine enemas now and not really helping.

I keep getting SO worried the c diff is coming back! I swear I worry about it every single time I have a little diarrhea or any pain in my upper abdomen. I never want to get that infection again. I assume if I did I'd have nonstop diarrhea though so it would be fairly obvious. I just want to be back to normal like I was before the c diff.
Posted 6/6/2019 8:10 PM (GMT 0)
I'm sorry to hear that! I'm glad you got some scopes scheduled, so you can figure out what's going on. Bummer you still have to wait a few more weeks. I've never had an endoscopy. Let us know what the tests show. It could be a flare but yeah, that's odd there is no blood (although I have definitely had flare symptoms without bleeding, especially if it is just a "mild" flare). As far as I understood, Vanco is one of the antibiotics that shouldn't mess with UC, but I am not really too informed on that. That's the one I took for my c diff.

I was super freaking worried and paranoid the c diff would come back, too, for months! I felt SO much relief when I passed the 6-month mark. Mine never did come back (knock on wood). Yes, I think you would know if you got it again, for sure. I laugh a little when they have me do c diff tests when I'm flaring now because I can tell it isn't c diff....lol.

Hope you get better soon. Try not to worry. And try to stay away from the diff horror stories on the internet!
Posted 6/6/2019 8:22 PM (GMT 0)
I have to say, I never thought I'd look forward to a colonoscopy so much as I do this time! smile
3 weeks to go, I just have to make it to then! I HATE prednisone so I don't want to go on that, but honestly if I keep feeling like this I'll do anything to get better. Summer is here and I just want to enjoy it, not feel like I'm about to explode every time I eat anything
Posted 6/7/2019 1:57 AM (GMT 0)
Haha, I hear you! It sucks waiting to figure out what's wrong with your body. Please post an update after your scopes. I know it sucks feeling sick and really sucks not knowing what's wrong or when you will feel better.
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
12