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C. difficile – Are your guts ever normal again?
Digestive Health | Last Active: Feb 20 9:02pm | Replies (645)Comment receiving replies
Wanted to lay my woes at the feet of people who understood. I was felled with a severe case of colitis. I was sent to ER ON 7/16. I tested negative for C. Diff. at that time. However m they said I had sepsis along with the colitis, so was put IV antibiotics for almost 3 days and sent home with 2 weeks of cipro and flagyl.
This whole colitis attack came out of the blue. I had felt fine up until that point. I was having some bowel issues but nothing serious, so I guess that was the start of colitis.
Now I have c. Diff. from the massive amounts of antibiotics I’ve been on. My gastro doc sent me in for quite a few fecal exams and the only thing that showed up was the c. diff. She immediately put me on 2 weeks of vancomycin.
My doc is telling me how contagious this is. I’ve been sleeping n our guest bedroom, using the guest bathroom, I have my own dinnerware and utensils, I’ve e been wearing gloves and walking around with Clorox wipes. I have one more week of the vancomycin. My hands are pretty raw from the constant washing and using the Clorox wipes.
I am missing a trip to IN for my oldest grandsons birthday. Doctor gave me a “absolutely not” on that one.
I haven’t lost weight and thankfully I feel okay and no pains. Thankfully, I’m retired so it’s no hardship staying at home.
I follow up with my doc on 9/3.
From what I’ve read, I’m really afraid of relapse because this quarantine is driving me crazy and I’m depressed. I don’t want to think this is going to keep interfering with my life!
Thanks for listening to my “oh, woe is me” tale.
Replies to "Wanted to lay my woes at the feet of people who understood. I was felled with..."
look to probiotics or yoghurt and a low glucose or low sugar diet or take sugar out of your diet as recommended by Melbourne university .I can tell you that c diff loves sugars and it powers them and you need to take that source away from them . also discuss with a dietitian or a dietitian attached to Mayo re reducing sugars in your diet .your organs and cells still need sugars as well
@patts I know EXACTLY how you feel. Last year, I was going through the same thing you are. I got Cdiff from taking Clindamycin for a sinus infection. Unfortunately I went for almost two weeks thinking I had Ecoli and didn't go to the doctor. The Ecoli scare from eating romaine lettuce was going around at the same time as my first bout. My first bout was in May and my last one was in October. I went through doses of Flagyl, Vancomycin (twice) and even did the pulse and taper of Vanco for 6 weeks and finally took Dificid last October. The Dificid was terribly expensive and I understand why they don't prescribe it first. I had decided a fecal transplant would be my next option. If the Vancomycin doesn't work for you, I would suggest that you try Dificid. I know exactly how you feel as I spent most of the summer in our home or backyard. I cleaned everything in our home from light switches to wiping down handles of everything I touched. I sleep with a pillow between my knees and after my 3rd bout, I tossed out that pillow thinking maybe it was contaminated. I truly became paranoid because of that dreaded Cdiff. Something I had never even heard of prior to May. My gastroenterologist suggested I take Florastor has it has S. Boulardii. Hand washing is key. I was around family members during all four bouts of Cdiff and my husband, daughters and grandchildren did NOT get it. It would be interesting to know if anyone on this site has ever infected other family members. I know it runs rampant in nursing homes because of contact but I've not heard of any cases in individual homes. I was happy I found this site where I could discuss my "woes" with others who truly understand.
@patts I know how it feels being scared of relapse. i had to take two courses of vanco back to back. I was very very scared of relapse. I am 75 and my c. diff like yours felt like it came out of the blue, but also like you i had previously taken a bunch of antibiotics. In any case I was otherwise in pretty good health. I lost 9 lbs and like i said I was scared of relapse. A good friend who was a nurse practitioner kept reassuring me that my constitution was basically strong and so I wouldn't relapse. And i haven't and it's been 7 months. good luck to you. I think it is very promising that you haven't lost eight and feel okay and no pain.
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look to getting probiotics and or yoghurt and also recommended people with C diff go on a low sugar /glucose diet or plain food regime or a vegie diet . recent research as I informed people c diff is powered by sugars and you need to reduce the sugar in your diet also can look at a Mediterranean diet . See a dietitian . discuss with your doc