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Trying to recover from a c. diff infection (Clostridium difficile)
I am trying to recover from a c.diff infection. This started with taking clindamycin in mid January and 3 days later I became ill with diarrhea and felt sick, loss of appetite etc...Went to the er twice, tested negative for c.diff on my 2nd visit. The Dr. told me to take imodium to rest my colon since I tested negative. That evening I had diarrhea and took the Imodium. Became constipated with pain lower right side. I went to a GI dr. pleading for help, I did another stool test and it came back positive for c.diff. I tried flagyl but could not tolerate the side effects. Tried vancomycin for 10 days. Did not work. Tested positive again, Went to a new gi doctor who prescribed dificid for ten days. I am 31 days post dificid and I have almost constant gut rumbling and urge to go. My 1st bm in the morning is usually semi normal, but after that they are always either pencil thin and or small pieces (2 to 5 times a day). This has been my routine since the vancomycin. I do not get dull blown diarrhea..... My dr. wants me to have a colonoscopy but I an scared that the cleansing will wipe out all my good flora. I currently take 2 florastor pills and 1/2 vsl3 per day. I eat fermented pickles for the probiotics as well..... I have many food intolerances since this whole mess began (fiber, many vegatables, dairy). I also have a strange taste in my mouth most of the time, have very little energy and fight with depression. My primary gave me Xanax .25 but I only take them at night when I cannot sleep...... Went to a nutritionist who put me on a no wheat, soy, dairy, gluten diet. Does not seem to be helping or hurting. I lost 20 pounds and cannot gain any weight (I weigh 120 at 5'7")... I am thinking it might be sibo, or candida but cannot find a dr. to test for these....I am in the right place for help or advice ? The urge to go is awful and limits my once active lifestyle.....
Thank you, Scott
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Good luck with your antibiotic and hope all goes well. Please keep us posted how you make out after. Boulardii is good make sure you are taking it two to three hours apart from the antibiotic so it doesn’t get killed by it. Good luck and keep us posted!
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2 ReactionsGreat suggestion. I am going to list it as an allergy, too.
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2 ReactionsI agree! I had CDiff in 2019 and last week the dentist wanted to put me on Clindamycin and I said no. I did agree to take penicillin but am scared about getting CDiff again. However, thanks to this site I learned about S Boulardii and am taking that along with it. I am hoping that will help me avoid it!
I have told all my healthcare providers now that I am allergic to Clindamycin so I am never given it again!
Yes! I think the company that makes Clindamycin needs to send an alert to every physician and dentist.
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2 ReactionsMy husband is a retired clinical pharmacist (which means he worked in a hospital for years,.....quite different than a retail pharmacist at Walgreens or Rite Aid. He worked with the doctors and patients, including in ER situations.) He wonders also why this drug, Clindamycin, is still being used. It is KNOWN for causing problems.
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1 ReactionYou are absolutely right. I don’t know what this specific antibiotic is still prescribed today. I am glad things worked out for your husband! I heard it take a long time for the system to regulate and I am still waiting for the day I feel 100%. 10 months later and I still take probiotic I am too afraid to stop! Thank you for sharing the story about your husband needing to take another antibiotic and being fine with it that gives me hope!
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1 ReactionWhy is Clindamycin still on the market? It’s the antibiotic my husband took many years ago prior to his battle with C-diff, but doctors and dentists are still prescribing it with disastrous results for so many people.
After the C-diff was gone, my husband needed to be near a bathroom for months until the Questran stabilized his system and he now lives pretty normally.
He has the same concern about any antibiotic use. Only once did he require an antibiotic. His doctor prescribed azithromycin and he tolerated it well, but he also drank lots of kefir and took probiotics.
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2 ReactionsI feel the very same way and here is what I’ve learned. I too was given clindamycin for an infected sebaceous cyst. Then the C-diff took over and I’m on my second course of Vancomycin: 10 days 125 mg every 4 hours.
I’m 73. I’ve taken many antibiotics and probably unnecessarily in my life. Some preventative measures work too.
I posed that question to my doctor and he said if and when antibiotics are necessary in the future they are carefully given into a vein and in a hospital if you are sensitive to the medicine but need it. If you aren’t concerned then there are other things besides the Clindamycin which you might take. I am sensitive to just about everything. I take special measures: wear a mask during flu season, use anti germicidal wipes, wash hands. There are oral dentist prescribed rinses that help get rid of minor gum infections and can act as a preventative.
Hope some of this helps.
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1 ReactionIt was just after Valentines Day this year, 2021, that I was diagnosed with C-diff. I am about 4 months into recovery. The only antibiotic that I have taken since being diagnosed with C-diff was the Vancomycin to combat the C-diff. I am concerned about any future needs, such as a dental issue, etc. (That's what started this whole nightmare was Clyndimycin being prescribed for what was thought to be a gum infection.) Thank goodness the Vanco got rid of the C-diff but I cried when I was told I had to take it, another antibiotic. I was very frightened. But it worked! No one has answered my question of where does this leave me for the future with antibiotics. I have never taken many and generally I've always been in good health but there is the occasional need for an antibiotic that everyone runs into. And that concerns me.
Find a neurogastroenterologist at a large hospital that specifically treats SIBO and motility disorders. There is one in Baltimore, Bryan Curtin, MD