appearance of stool during "recovery"

Since c-diff is a disease of the "lower half", so to speak, we find that many of our members cannot refrain from discussing what comes out the bottom end. If you must do it, please do it here.
trixie
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appearance of stool during "recovery"

Postby trixie » Fri Mar 20, 2015 8:40 am

I don't want to offend anyone so I am posting this in "TMI" although I don't see how you can even talk about C Diff without TMI :)
Flagyl failed for me, as did a 14 day round of Vancomycin. I am now on a Vancomycin taper, and have completed 2 weeks of 4 x daily, and 2 weeks of 3 x daily. I am just now starting 2 weeks of 2x daily. I've had some fairly formed stools, early on, but now they all seem to be back to mushy piles, no form to them. I have probably an average of 2 a day. Sometimes only 1 a day, and once I had 4 in one day. I feel great--no sign of fever or chills coming back. My specialist says he is "encouraged" and not really concerned that the stool is unformed. But I AM concerned...so fearful that it is not going away.
I'd really appreciate some input from folks who have succeeded in beating this beast---is the unformed stool a sign that it is not going away? or not? Really need some encouragement at this point.
Thanks.

trixie
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Joined: Mon Feb 16, 2015 1:47 pm

Re: appearance of stool during "recovery"

Postby trixie » Fri Mar 20, 2015 9:16 am

Oh, and as a "PS", I am drinking kefir, and eating plenty of yogurt and 2 capsules of culturelle per day. My BMs are still somewhat orange in color, but the strange c diff odor is only very faint. No visible mucus anymore.

thanks,
Trixie

Jackie25
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Re: appearance of stool during "recovery"

Postby Jackie25 » Fri Mar 20, 2015 12:20 pm

During my vanco taper I had BMs of all consistencies, it was nerve wracking to say the least. My taper/pulse sounds the same as yours, also. During my dosing I would have almost normal BMs, pile of mush, formed but "flakey"' dissolving when flushed, etc. And even when I would have a formed BM they were usually softer than what another may consider normal. I have never had "Normal" BMs however (even prior to c diff) so I don't really know what normal actually is lol I finished my dosing a few days shy of 3 weeks ago and seem to be doing okay so far. Even now I have anywhere from 2-4 BMs a day, formed but soft, all sizes, sometimes different colors. my GI told me this was normal during recovery. Actually, even while still taking my taper/pulse she said anything besides WD is "normal" for someone treating or recovering from c diff as it is such a strong infection that destroys so much good flora that takes a long time to rebuild and see some type of "normal". She said this could take anywhere from 6 months to a year, for some even longer. I know the medications for c diff are very strong as well and can cause the symptoms you describe. I know its so scary and causes anxiety to look in the bowl and just want to see what you used to before getting c diff, but I was told everyone eventually does get better and is cured! I hope the dose your on will finally kick this thing in the butt for you!

Also, I saw the Orange/yellow color up until about a week ago, was told this could be from the foods you eat or the lack of healthy bacteria!

teresajo103
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Re: appearance of stool during "recovery"

Postby teresajo103 » Fri Mar 20, 2015 1:42 pm

Well, I had a fmt a month ago. YesterdAy I had one formed regular bm and then out of nowhere last night I had half formed half mushy bm. Today...back to normal formed no mush. I have been thinking about it and the best I can come up with is the new bacteria is trying to overcome the bad in there. I feel pretty good most days...today not so much. I am tired and crampy today....but....I am going to go to the hockey game tonite. I think it may make me focus on something else besides cdiff. We are going to beat it.....just hang on.

trixie
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Re: appearance of stool during "recovery"

Postby trixie » Fri Mar 20, 2015 1:49 pm

Thanks everyone! That is encouraging. I am really hoping to avoid FMT as I would have to travel and take more time off work etc.

getwellsoon
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Re: appearance of stool during "recovery"

Postby getwellsoon » Sat Mar 21, 2015 6:50 am

I had mushy stools for over a year post meds. I was on meds for over a year before I finally got a neg. test result. It takes some a long time to heal, it took me over 2 yrs. I just had my 4 yr anniversary with CDiff and its only in the last year I can say my stools got back to mostly normal. Yours will too. Hang in there, you sound like you are having a great recovery.
CAROL

roy
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Re: appearance of stool during "recovery"

Postby roy » Sat Mar 21, 2015 7:04 am

Vanco kills around 20% of your gut bacteria.
It's not suprising that stools might not be normal untill your off meds and your normal flora regrows.
A large proportion of a normal stool is dead gut bacteria and if vanco has stopped some of it multiplying the end result in "abnormal"

ResearchGrandma
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Re: appearance of stool during "recovery"

Postby ResearchGrandma » Sat Mar 21, 2015 10:58 am

I had soft and or mushy stools with active C. diff, on both vancomycin and dificid, in between relapses, and still now two years after C. diff. I finally went to a GI this past December to complain about the always soft but sometimes mushy stools. She said "don't worry about the mush," but did suggest I could try Citrucel and VSL-3 to try to add bulk. (I had been on VSL-3 for a while during C. diff, but it didn't seem to help, and I thought I was having a mild reaction to it - slightly increased body temp). For me, I realized that I have to go by how I feel rather than the appearance of the stool. In particular - appetite. As long as I am hungry, I am most likely OK. So - I wouldn't be too worried about the "mush" unless you develop other symptoms - persistent fatique, loss of appetite, B/M in stool, cramping, increase in frequency. Then you might go back to your doctor and request a script for a pcr test.

Sheswhy
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Re: appearance of stool during "recovery"

Postby Sheswhy » Fri Jun 29, 2018 9:40 pm

Thank you to everyone who has posted about the recovery stage. My daughter who has CP got C diff from clindamycin. Flagyl didn't work. We are 7 days out from finishing 14 days of vancomycin. All seemed good until loose BMs today. Of course, I'm in full panic mode because this stuff only happens on a Friday night. I'm watching for the low grade fever that began each bad episode, but so far she seems OK.

My daughter is able to tell me when she needs to have a BM and I get her on her toileting chair. During the horrid C diff episodes, there were many surprise "blowouts" that this group knows well. My prayer is that since she can provide warning and we are able to get to the commode in time, AND not seeing the massive amounts of M as before that we are in the healing stages.

At least I found out that our GI can do the FMT and we have plans in place if things get worse again. This has been worse than her spinal fusion and trust me, that was horrible. We have been trapped at home for over 2 months now and I'm terrified to plan anything. This is terrible for a 16 year old. :(

But thanks again to everyone here for your input.


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