What to do....

[gomorose]

Hello! A newbie here but am so glad to see so much support! My husband started out with a staph infection (colonized in his nose). Doctor put him on 2 rounds of antibiotics (primarily augmentin). Last week, he started to get sick while on the antibiotic. Gut-wrenching stomach pain but no diarrhea. Very cyclical...was usually only happening in the evening. Finally went to the doctor today and she feels as if he has c.diff. Of course, we need to do further testing, but she gave him Metronidazole. My conscious is asking why we're given another antibiotic when we should be doing everything we can to recolonize the good bacteria in his gut. On the other hand, he's in so much pain and his stomach is so bloated and "hard", I'm wondering if the antibiotic will help in some way? He's been taking probiotics the last few weeks and I just gave him some colostrum tablets as well. I'm planning on making homemade yogurt. The mystery is the fact that he doesn't have diarrhea. Could it be that the probiotics are helping to alleviate the diarrhea or with c.diff will that always be a symptom no matter what? Just need to some direction...I feel so lost. Next step, I assume, is to get a fecal sample at the GI's office? Thank you so much for your help!

[NanciT]

Hello gomorose and Welcome to the site. Please read the first thread for all new posters

After reading your post, I have to wonder if your husband was tested for CDIFF? There are a few things in your post that "jumped" out at me. You mentioned"Severe abdominal Pain" and" No Diarrhea" . With these two things, I would get further evaluation and if the pain is bad I would advise going to the the ER where all testing can be done. We cannot give medical advice on the site but I always tell people to get severe pain checked out now. It's not clear if your Husband is seeing a GI specialist but with abdominal pain that is the best way to go. If he has started the flagyl, a CDIFF test right now may not come up positive.
Watch the pain closely and if it is severe, get it checked further.
I hope he is feeling better soon.
NanciT

[georgina]

Hi Gomorose
Welcome to the site , although not sure if your husband is dealing with Cdiff or something else.
Nanci gave you good advices. No diarrhea indicates that it might not be Cdiff , although there were a few cases with constipation.You must go to ER if his stomach is hard and bloated and in so much pain or if he is unable to pass gas of BM.
You might want to ask to be tested before your husband takes the flagyl or other treatments for CDiff , that way you will be sure that the test is not false negative.

[roy]

I don't like the sound of his antibiotic happy Dr!
A simple stool test would identify if he has C.diff.
A Dr can not just guess he has c.diff.
Anything is possible but without D it's unlikely to be c.diff.
The worst thing here is that although flagyl is used to treat c.diff it can also CAUSE it.
Prescribing flagyl on top of another antibiotic just in case and without a diagnosis is irresponsible and can cause harm.
Get tested.
If the pain is severe go to ER.

[Ril]

Hi Gomorose,
I am generally the last one to send people to the ER rather than back to their dr and I certainly agree with what everyone else has said. It is unusual to order meds for c diff with no test, no recent history of c diff, no diarrhea and a hard abdomen is concerning. If the dr does not want to follow up on this and he has not improved today, I also would take him to the ER to get checked.
Let us know how he is doing.
Rita

[roy]

Also if he is colonised and it's not causing illness it's not always best to attempt to eradicate staph in the nose unless he is going into hospital and even then oral antibiotics might not be the best choice.
Nasal sprays can be used.
Around 1 in 3 have staph living harmlessly in their nose.

[Lisa33]

I agree with the others as well. I have never heard of treating c-diff without a positive test first at the initial onset. A stool test by PCR is the most accurate. If he started the metro already, the results may not come back accurate now. Not to mimic the others, but what you describe are not typical c-diff symptoms. Although some have had C with c-diff, the typical symptoms are frequent watery D with the urgency to go with M and sometimes B. I literally went D at least 20 times per day at my initial onset of c-diff. I also think that if he is still having severe abdominal pain and his stomach is hard, an ER visit may be warranted.

I hope that he feels better soon. So sorry you guys are going through this.
Lisa

[gomorose]

Thank you all for your responses! This is so frustrating! I agree, he probably shouldn't have started the antibiotic without getting tested for c.diff first. He's been taking it for two days now. He says it actually makes him feel better...not a ton, but some relief. I'm just stumped as to what else this could be. But "no", he does not have the classic diarrhea that c.diff brings along. I've encouraged him to go to the ER and see what they can do. Hopefully not another antibiotic. :( Again, thank you so much for your support!

[amyc]

Now that he started the flagyl he should probably finish the prescription? Is his belly still swollen and painful? Men aren't good about being willing to go to the doctor, unfortunately, but if the pain doesn't resolve he should see somebody.

[gomorose]

He's still taking the antibiotic. He's stopped eating carbs and meat...thinking that is what causes him pain. Tried it yesterday and was better. Abdomen is still hard and now he has back pain. They made him an appt at infectious disease for Thursday. I'm trying to get him to to to ER today but he doesn't want to go b/c he doesn't think they can do anything. Too late for a c.diff test b/c he's already started antibiotics. I see his point, but maybe they can do an exray or ultrasound to see if there's inflammation?

[roy]

If he is still in pain he should go to ER.
He does not seem to have typical c.diff symptoms so getting a proper diagnosis is important.
Personaly I can't see why they referred him to an ID apart from if it's to treat an active staph infection.
Did he have any staph infection symptoms?

[Ril]

I totally agree with Roy. I don't think he should wait to see an ID dr. I would try very hard to get him to the ER to be evaluated. That rigid abdomen and now back pain needs medical evaluation. You are right- there are tests they can do there and he can get some proper answers.
Rita

[roy]

If he had pains in his chest and the Dr said it was migraine would you accept that diagnosis?
This c.diff diagnosis is comparable to that!

[amyc]

I also think he needs to be seen or at least his doctor needs to order some blood work and maybe an ultrasound or CT scan. Even If his symptoms were due to a very unusual presentation of C diff the flagyl should have helped by now. His symptoms sound scary, and if his pain is spreading they need to figure out what is going on.