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c. diff: how long before I start to feel better?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 6/25/2009 1:05 PM (GMT 0)
I started treatment yesterday and I'm wondering generally how long before I start to feel better? I feel a little better today as I slept through the night, but still feel pretty yucky. When does the diarrhea subside? And those who have had it before, did you flare because of it?
Posted 6/25/2009 1:44 PM (GMT 0)
I had it once several years back and yes it sucked. It seemed like it aggravated my flare alot more. I took Flagyl a couple weeks I believe and things started getting better.
Posted 6/25/2009 7:14 PM (GMT 0)
Probiotics and fecal transplantation are good to try if you have C-diff. Fecal transplantation put me immediately in remission. Probiotics took longer, about a month and a half. I would mix the probiotic powder with a bit of warm water and put it up my butt with a syringe after having diarrhea. It really helped. I also took a couple of probiotics orally every day.
Posted 6/26/2009 1:54 PM (GMT 0)
Emily, I just had C.Diff a few weeks ago on top of a bad flare and it put me in the hospital for 6 days. For me, they started me on Flagyl and it didn't work. I didn't start to feel any better until they switched me to Vancocin. Within 3-4 doses (I took it 4x a day) I was remarkably improved. I just finished my 10-days of it and am almost back to normal! Flare is almost gone as well. If you don't see improvement quickly (and aren't already on Vancocin) I'd ask your doc about it. My GI said that if it hadn't worked, there is one more drug they try but it's last resort (can't remember name). Good luck! C. Diff is nasty stuff, eh?
Posted 6/26/2009 9:49 PM (GMT 0)
I've been in a flare for days.Stool samples came back negative for C-diff but the D and cramps feel the same as when I had it. So no antibiotics for me. They want me to take Entocort as I posted in my thread. Are there other things I can do to get out of this flare w/o taking the steroid? I'm just scared.

Posted 6/27/2009 12:29 AM (GMT 0)
Can you or do you take any probiotics? They are almost essential to people with this disease and will help keep infections at bay. I know someone who didn't have IBD and got very sick fro C diff because of antibiotics for a respiratory infection. They had to turn around and put her on more antibiotics for the C diff. I think it was two antibiotics actually. She relaped too but is now ok on probiotics. Look them up here and see what others take. A lot take Culturelle, I like VSL #3. Good luck to you.
Posted 6/27/2009 12:45 AM (GMT 0)

jeanneac said...
Can you or do you take any probiotics? They are almost essential to people with this disease and will help keep infections at bay. I know someone who didn't have IBD and got very sick fro C diff because of antibiotics for a respiratory infection. They had to turn around and put her on more antibiotics for the C diff. I think it was two antibiotics actually. She relaped too but is now ok on probiotics. Look them up here and see what others take. A lot take Culturelle, I like VSL #3. Good luck to you.

Now I'm really confused. My c-diff was caused by Augmentin due to a sinus infection. They gave me another antibiotic to get rid of the c-diff. I do have some probiotics in my fridge. I will try those.
Posted 6/27/2009 4:43 AM (GMT 0)
Yes. The antibiotics they are giving you for C-diff are supposed to kill the bad bacteria. Probiotics will help put good bacteria (that the previous antibiotic destroyed) back into your system. The way to concur C-diff is to balance the bacteria. Right now you have too much bad bacteria in your system. You need the good bacteria to keep the bad bacteria from growing rampant.
Posted 6/27/2009 5:30 PM (GMT 0)
Also, the Vancocin antibiotic is specially formulated for C.Diff. It won't do anything for, say, a sinus infection.
Posted 6/27/2009 7:30 PM (GMT 0)
Ok. I don't have a sinus infection now. I had that prior to my c-diff a few yrs ago. I took some probiotics last night but I need to buy some for the long term. Went ahead and took the entocort too. So far I have a headache and some tummy upset, but I've had that for days anyway due to this flare.

Posted 6/28/2009 1:06 AM (GMT 0)
I no longer take antibiotics like I used to, and I think that many doctors aren't prescribing them so readily either. The last time I saw a doctor for a sinus infection, she said that research shows that sinus infections will clear up on their own. Antibiotics aren't needed. I agree. I was hospitalized for pneumonia once, and I got this really bad sinus infection after I was released from the hospital. The sinus infection was so bad that I had to pull the snot out to unclog my nose. It felt like I was pulling rubber bands out of my nose. I had the infection all during the cold months (about six months), and I was taking antibiotics for it. However, the infection posed no risk to my health. It probably would have gone away on its own by the time the weather turned warmer whether or not I had taken the antibiotics.

Anyway, I just had a bladder infection, which is a concern, because there is a real possibility that the infection can spread to the kidneys if antibiotics aren't taken in time. I took cranberry supplements for a few days and started drinking cranberry juice yesterday. I think the cranberry juice really helped. I'm now showing no bladder infection.
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