When does the pain stop?

[nerenberg]

I had my gall bladder removed 4 weeks ago. Five days later and I was hospitalized with c dif. They said I had severe colitis and was hospitalized for an additional 4 days and sent home to take flagyl, vacomycin and tylenol 3. I began to tapper down the dosages and had a recurrent episode. I have been instructed to stop flagyl and now am on a high dosage of vacomycin. I am frustrated with the pain and now only find relief with percocet. How long does this agonizing pain continue? I have tried to forgo narcotics briefly and find over the counter meds do not even touch my pain. Any suggestions or comments would be great.

[jennie]

Nerenberg, It sounds that you are having a rough time. Does the vancomycin not give you any relief from the pain? I hear you that you are on a high dosage, how much are you taking?

From what I have understood, it is not a good idea to be taking narcotics, pain meds included, when there is active c.diff, because it slows the gut right down, keeps the toxins in. Also, percocet, as you are no doubt aware, is very addictive, you really do have to be careful. If I recall, it is codeine (oxycodone)? I know they give it when the pain is unbearable, and for post-op pain, and it tends to lead to constipation. The question I'd ask the docs is why you have so much pain, if you are on Vanco?

There is an article on site, by Dr McDonald, of the CDC. He discusses a difficult aspect of narcotics and c.diff. How about downloading the article, or printing it, sending it to your docs? If it was me, I'd get sound opinion on the merits of this pain med. It also makes one feel spaced out, not pleasant when one is fighting to get well. Then again, being in constant pain is not an option either.

For some of us, when there is severe c.diff colitis, it takes a while to calm it down, to bring the infection under control. But, on the correct meds, it ought to settle, so that you are not in agony? I hope others will post if they have had similar experiences, and have suggestions what to do.

Best wishes to you. Please keep us posted.

[jennie]

Nerenberg,

Hi, am posting the link to the article mentioned above. It is co-authored by Dr Cliff McDonald, at the CDC, a super-hero in the battle against c.diff. It is titled CDAD - New Challenges from an Established Pathogen and is in Media Reports, March 12, 2006. (Also in FAQ.)

In this case history, a young man is massively ill with c.diff, is admitted to ICU, and has a lot of other things going on. He dies a few days later. First off, he is so sick, he is certainly not in shape to be at home, surfing the internet (as we are, reading this post.) One of the questions raised in the article is that he was given narcotics. (It is not specified which ones, although there is a footnote reference.) The concern is what role the narcotics played in leading to toxic megacolon, which is what can happen when c.diff is not timeously treated.

I worry that I posted this too quickly to you and certainly do not want to cause undue alarm. Simply to bring this to your attention. We are not doctors in here, cannot and do not give medical advice. But we read and check things out. This is one article that came to mind on reading your post.

We are not really supposed to even be taking Immodium when c.diff is acute, highly active, because it slows the gut down, traps the toxins. There are different schools of thought on this, but it is something that c.diff people are aware, and ought to be aware of. The body is purging for good reason: the toxins are the trouble, that is what causes the damage.

Just to check this out with your guys, that is the purpose of this post to you.

Thanks for your PM, it sounds better already. I am sure that others will post their responses to you. Point of the site is to discuss, share what is going on, at the level you are comfortable with; then others can share their experiences with you.

The other thing about c.diff, it's a bit like Goldilocks and the 3 bears. Some docs do not get it that it is all c.diff, all of the time, making us so ill; other docs put the whole load of whatever the illness and pain is on c.diff. Sometimes, it is somewhere inbetween, in the middle. Not too hot, not too cold. Am saying, if it was me, I'd be real sure there is nothing else going on, post-op or whatever, causing the pain. Vanco is a brilliant med, best in the world to take aim at even the most trenchant of c.diff infections. It may take time, and enough of it, to do the job.

Best wishes, hang in there, it is a big fight to get through it, you already are well on the way out of the worst of it.

[jennie]

The link is:

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/pdf/infD ... M02_06.pdf

[Bobbie]

nerenberg,
Jennie is correct. Pain meds. containing narcotics will usually "slow you down" & cause other problems. Try a heating pad & plain tylenol. There are also various meds. that are anti-spasmodics & help somewhat. Contact your doc. & ask about them if the heating pad & tylenol don't work.

[sks001]

Did the bad pain start between your gallbladder removal and the start of C-Diff 5 days later, or did it start with the onset of C-Diff? Did you have any problems with the surgery?

I'm asking because I also had gallbladder surgery and was kept in hospital for five days with complications & then back to ER 6 days later, so I'm wondering if you may still have a couple stray gallstones blocking the ducts which is quite common and can be extremely painful.

I didn't get my C-Diff until a little over 3 months later from another ER visit where I touched something dirty in hospital.

Sandy
Southeast Michigan

[nerenberg]

Hi sks001,

My pain began immediately when the c diff symptoms began which was 2 days after surgery. My pain is on the right side mostly and is different from the gall bladder pain I had prior to surgery. It now comes and goes without warning. I have recently had a CT scan which came back normal and a colonoscopy where I had many biopsies taken. My GI said it looked OK. and I am scheduled for an upper GI series tomorrow. I feel like I should have done more homework before having had these tests done because I have been taking 250mg of Vanco 4x/day along with 500mg/day of Alinia (anti-protozoan). My results are seeming to all come out normal and I do not feel normal at all. I should have stopped all meds to get more accurate results.

[Bobbie]

nereberg,
Yes, meds. such as Flagyl or Vanco. can affect the results of the test altho. some still test positive while on them. Best results are when you are off meds. for 10 to 15 days. See FAQ-Tests.

Try a heating pad for the pain -- no side effects. Since you had your gall bladder removed, however, I'd check with your doc. & pharmacist before doing anything.