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I have c diff
I have recently been diagnosed with c diff. I am currently on vancomycin 125mg four times a day. I have been bleeding for over 2 months now regularly with no solid movements whatsoever. I have urgency in the mornings and have to run to the bathroom only to be issues of blood and coffee ground feces, nothing ever solid. I just had a colonoscopy last Monday if showed diverticulum in the transverse colon and inflammation in the sigmoid colon in four different places. my question is when will I get better?? I have been dealing with this for a long time and it is debilitating. Will the vancomycin give me solid movements and will it stop the blood issues?? I just need to talk to someone who can identify with what I have. I have to call my gastro at the end of the week to let her know how I am doing. if I still have this what will be the next step?? Also, has anyone else with c diff smell an odor on themselves and when they go?? does c diff have a distinctive odor?
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Excellent article. Finch is the company our office is doing the clinical trial with. Hoping to hear from FDA soon. I have a waiting list of Pt’s waiting....
Hi I’m a 35 year old female. I started my cdiff journey in may. I was originally treated with 7 days of Flagyl, but they changed me to 7 days of vanco when it wasn’t doing anything. I was good for a a month and it came back horrible. They put me on a 6 week vanco taper followed by Dificid for 10 days. I’m not 14 weeks out, have some Ibs symptoms. A little stomach discomfort occasionally, and some foul gas every now and then. 2 weeks ago I must have had a stomach bug because it resolved after a few days, but I had got retested because it made me nervous. I had 6 BMs on that sunday, all were solid but I had cramping and some nausea and just didn’t feel good. The next day BMs decreased, still felt off for a few days after. My BMs returned to normal after that. However, my tests came back positive. Positive GDH, PCR and toxins. My pcp says to treat with Dificid. My GI says no because I’m not having diarrhea, and my infectious disease dr said it’s impossible to test positive unless you have it, and that I must have cleared it out naturally. I have no clue at what to do. I don’t know if I’m contagious, I don’t know if I should get a second opinion. I understand you can be colonized, but I thought you don’t test positive for toxins. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks
@cmt25, your case certainly is confusing. Where do you go for answers if not from the medical experts. I'm tagging a few fellow members who have experience with c-difficile who may be able to suggest what questions to ask or what to do next, like @euqcaj @ngorman25 @catherine1234 @kjt1951 @lauren915 @mhi @bvanderb and @mandyhope
While you wait for others to chime in, I think this article might offer some insight:
- C. diff Diagnosis versus Detection: Why Tests Remain Ambiguous: https://asm.org/Articles/2019/January/C-diff-Diagnosis-versus-Detection-Why-Tests-Remain
Thank you! I hope one of them responds
Hello I am sorry you are dealing with all this stress of C Diff. I had it in June 2020 and what a nightmare it took my body over a year to recover. I had one relapse but continued to have symptoms even after being tested negative for CDIFF the toxin test. Never did a PCR. I was diagnosed with post infection IBS. I am still very careful with my diet zero sugar and only all the good carbs no white bread completely gluten free multigrain. Stay away from the sugar and bad food as it feeds the bad bacteria and it triggers CDIFF. I have heard of people getting a positive test for PCR but not the toxin. People can continue to have a positive PCR even after a year but I would repeat the toxin test if I were you. It all depends on how you feel.
Are you taking Saccharomyces Boulardii? I took S Boulardii along with probiotic. I stopped the S Boulardii after 6 months but I continue now to take probiotic 50 billion per day. And I eat very clean. Make sure to eat sauerkraut and drink kefir I buy the coconut one no dairy I completely switched to dairy free and gluten free.
Please ask away and wishing you a speedy recovery. Please keep us posted and good luck!
I had CDiff last year. What probative are you taking? I am taking Florastor.
I am taking probiomed by designs for health. I keep switching everything 6 months when I feel it stops working. As for florastor check with your doctor if it is ok to continue taking boulardii everyday for a long period of time. I only took boulardii if I can remember for a hour 8 months. I still keep it in my fridge whenever I feel my stomach are acting up I take two pills.
I was told by my pharmacist VSL / probiotic …needs rx and refrigation and is expensive is the best to take when having problems.
Most scientific evidence from Monash Hospital who leads the study of IBS says probiotics are only effective 20 % of the time.
Floristor has lactose in it so many stay away from that. Yet it worked for my husband with activia which has dairy as well. So keep trying …one thing does not work for all.
If it means going thru 5 GI ‘s keep switching till you find one that cares and knows and listens. It’s a pain to switch but you deserve it!
Hi. In 2011 I also was diagnosed with C-diff . It came on suddenly - on the 10th day of taking antibiotic amoxicillin given me by my dentist. I was in the hospital for a week (I tend towards low potassium so having diarrhea really lowers it). When I got out of hospital my Specialist continued my vancomycin for ten days (I took it as a compound medication - cheaper). I took probiotics as added protection which they also had started in the hospital. Fortunately, the c-diff never returned. I was very careful to disinfect everything to not reinfect myself. I hope you find relief soon.
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6 ReactionsI have an interesting issue that I've been experiencing myself and want to ask the question on the aftermath of C-diff . Here is my dilemma:
In June 2019 I was hospitalized with multiple issues having to do with Multiple viruses. One of the Viruses was C-diff with all the issues of watery bowels.
To treat both the C-diff and the viruses i was on a wide range of anti-biotics which caused what I thought was a distended Abdomen, about 2 in. more than normal. Nothing was determined at that time as to the reason and ended up reducing abit but not to a range I had experienced prior to C-Diff. I figured that it was just weight gain from 6 weeks in the Hospital and lack of exercise.
During the next phase I was getting Inhalation Treatments of Nebupent to avoid anti-biotics due to the C-Diff. To treat the Lung Virus, I also had during that hospital stay.
Now a year later in April 2020, Due to Mayo preparing for an onslaught of issues having to do with covid, took me off the inhalation treatments and back on anti-biotics which were Doxycycline Monohydrate and Dapsone for the same Lung issue. I ended up on them until Jun of 2021. This time my PCP put me on a very specific Probiotic: Lactobacillus Acidophilus.
When i was on it no issues with my abdomen that at the time I had not really noticed but in researching my current distention determined that it did not happen while on the Probiotic. I was taken off the Probiotic when I went off the antibiotic.
But since then, my abdomen has again increased about 1.5 in. this time I’m not on an anti-bionic but I’m wondering if my gut health may be my issue more than just plan weight gain. I do all the right things exercise, Diet etc. and my eating habits haven’t really changed.
The other symptom I have, which my dentist says is not mouth related, is bad breath. Which I’ve heard can be from gut health.
So, I’m open for thoughts if anyone may have noticed that due to C-Diff you Gut is not really the same and I'm thinking may require being on the probiotic for a while or even life. The more I think about this I also seem to have urgent times to find a bathroom. Even though I don't have watery stool, I have bowel movements more often than what I remember years ago. Could this all be due to the effects of C-Diff.
Thanks
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