Not a Pleasant Topic of Conversation But....

[HLOC]

Like I said it's not a pleasant topic for a conversation but it's something I was wondering about.
Has anyone after finishing their course of antibiotics still had loose stool with mucus in it?

Any info would help me feel more reassured, as at the moment I feel as if I'm going to have this horrible thing forever!!

[seekingcure]

Yes, it is common to have loose stools for quite some time after treatment and some people do experience mucus as well. Your bowel has been through a major infection and it takes awhile for the inflammation to settle down. In addition, the medications for c-diff also kill off good bacteria as well as bad and it takes awhile for the good gut flora to build back up. As long as you are not having watery diarrhea three or more times a day and feel generally well, you are probably on the road to recovery.

You might try adding some probiotics and/or kefir and fermented foods to help replenish the good bacteria. Add these slowly as they can also cause GI upset for some.

[Lisa33]

Hi HLOC - I had loose stools with mucus for quite some time during recovery. As time went on, the mucus and BM's got better. However, I am 8 months out, and at times will have IBS days where I will see mucus. I think after you go through such a terrible infection like c-diff, it takes quite some time for many to heal. There were times early on in recovery that I was convinced that I was relapsing. I would go several times in the morning, loose to D with M. However, as the day went on I felt better and pretty much normal. Many have post infectious IBS after c-diff, so we use the 3 Day Rule as a gage to differentiate between a relapse and IBS. You can find this under CDI Info on the Board Index. With IBS, you usually see improvement after a couple of days. With c-diff, the D usually gets worse and you tend to feel sicker and sicker. I have to say though that for me, even after 8 months, my stools are very inconsistent and still weird looking. I say this is my new normal. I take 1-VSL3 and 1-Florastor per day, along with drinking Kefir or eating yogurts with live cultures. I think that these probiotics probably add to my change in stools. Prior to c-diff, I never took a probiotic in my life. I sometimes wonder if I took probiotics prior to c-diff if this is what my stools would have been like. I will never know, but I wonder.

Just know that the beginning of recovery is the hardest. It's like a roller coaster ride. There may be days when you think you are relapsing, but in fact you aren't. It's an illness of patience unfortunately. For many, things just don't go back to normal as soon as you finish treatment. As time goes on, the bad days get fewer and farther between. You will not have this horrible thing forever!

Feel better,
Lisa

[NanciT]

I am also 8 months out and with the IBS symptoms I go back and forth and often have loose BM, often 2 ro 3 times in the am. There have been days I have thought it is back. Last week I had alot of pain and the loose stool for 3 days and ended up in the ER. Had a CT and CIDFF tested, all was negative and I was told this is Post CDIFF IBS. I was on medication for a long time....I imagine that is why it's taking me so long to work through this.

[Bobbie]

Often, mucus just indicates irritation.