To Everyone With TMI Symtoms

[Bobbie]

Why don't you ask your docs. these intimate questions in the privacy of their offices? Or PM or Email each other about your symptoms?

We realize you are concerned, but we've had complaints about the "gross" nature of some of the posts, & several asked we remove the TMI forum. The moderators agreed not to do so, but I doubt if anyone wants to hear a daily "blow by blow" description. This is the Internet & the entire world can read what you post.

My niece, who is young & liberal, had C. diff. several months ago 2 months after taking a Zpak. (She works for 2 docs. who were astounded she could develop at that late.) (Sound familiar?) She had a relapse 2 mo. later. When I told her about the site, she called & asked me questions. She didn't want to read the info. as parts were "so gross." Is this how we want the site to be viewed? There are research & media people who read the site. We don't their reaction to be "Oh, Yuck."

Stop looking in your toilets & start doing something positive to speed your recovery.

[whitepine]

I agree that c.diff topics can be gross, but this is a support group. If we can't ask questions here, where can we ask them? So many of us are sick and scared and have already asked out doctors questions. We would still like the support of others going through the same situation. Some of the replies inthe forum in particular have been VERY helpful to me over the years and I am so grateful to have this group. Just sticking up for the TMI section. The general public views a very negative "ick" factor to words like "fecal transplant" and "diarrhea." Perhaps if that "ick factor" were not so dwelled upon, more people would be cured, and not have died unnecessarily from c.diff. I think more knowledge about alternatives needs to be more mainstream, and if not here, then where? After all, c.diff is a gross disease and gross questions go with the territory. Thats my .2$ Thanks! :)

[Bobbie]

whitepine,
People (even children) laugh about diarrhea as in the commercial, "
Where were you when your Imodium wore off." Doubt if this will ever change or promote C. diff. awareness.

Diarrhea is a symptom of C. diff., but I feel some of the more detailed descriptions are way beyond good taste. It's your support site, however, so compare color, consistency, etc. all you want.

Picture hundreds of people gazing anxiously into their toilets! If that doesn't make you laugh, nothing will. True "bathroom" humor.

Enough said!

[puremess]

I just wanted to add my 5 cents. I know that c-diff symptoms can be gross but that is what TMI section is for. If someone can't handle reading this kind of information then don't go to that section. As we all know people are different and have different symptoms. Sometimes it's not just diarrhea but something else. Would you want to know if someone has or had similar symptoms so you don't go crazy thinking you're dying or something? I really appreciate and thankful for this website. Without it I would probably went crazy by now. So said that can someone send the address where I can send a contribution. Thank you so much for everything!!!!!!!

[Christina]

Although, I have contributed to the TMI section I must admit I find some of it personal and occassionally ridiculous(especially recently). I know everyone has questions and get nervous about what they see in the toilet. We've all been there and it is normal.
All you need to be concerned about is whether or not you have frank D, blood and/or mucus. Everything else doesn't matter. I know that's hard to do as I said we've all been there.
My suggestion is instead of allowing these questions in public view over the internet why not do it by way of PM. I have no problem answering PM's from those I know and those I don't. You could send multiple PM's to different users if it makes you feel better to get more than one view.
If you've asked you Dr. these questions and you are not happy with his answers others here may be able to give support but if it's a matter of trusting your Dr.'s opinion then maybe you will need to find a new Dr. who you are more comfortable with.

Just a suggestion. I hope I don't offend anyone.

[Allison]

I think there would be much less objection (from both site admin AND members who dislike the TMI forum) if everybody could just remember a few basic things:

This is a discussion board, not anybody's personal chat room. There is usually no objection whatsoever if folks use reasonable online etiquette, or "netiquette".
There is nothing wrong with asking questions (even if they're gross), or carrying out TMI discussions - that's what this section is for.
But constant back and forth commentary that is not particularly useful to others, (especially newbies and lurkers), or doesn't add to the overall informational content of the site is definitely discouraged, regardless of the subject matter.
That goes for this forum as well as the other more popular forums on this site.
If you need to "chat" about symptoms or anything else, that is the stuff of emails and PM's.
If you don't know the difference between "chatting" and "discussion", you need to educate yourself about basic forum etiquette.

Also, creating a new topic for discussion every time you have a question or need to make a comment about what was in your toilet this morning is also discouraged. PLEASE peruse the topics already listed in the forum first before starting a new one, and add to that thread if possible.
Site owners have to pay for their space on a server, just like anybody else, and we do not have unlimited bandwidth that enables us to archive very far back, or keep voluminous amounts of information. Every time a new topic is created it drops others off the viewable page and eventually needs to be archived. This is not good for lurkers (the largest category of those visiting the site), or newbies seeking information.

Nobody visiting the site for the first time should have to wade through 8 chatty threads to get information that is valuable to them...even if it's why their stool is now a harlequin of colors. For alot of people, gaining information is just as much a form of support as talking to one another.

"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few...or the one".
- Captain Spock
Star Trek II "The Wrath of Khan"

[mia58]

I'm new to the site but would like to add that although I ask my Dr. many questions, he himself does not have cdiff. I have found all sections of the board to be helpful and informative. Reading other cdiff sufferers symptoms, even in the TMI section has eased my mind over certain concerns that I, myself was having. Anyone who hasn't had to deal with cdiff couldn't even imagine what goes on with each trip to the bathroom. Clicking or not clicking on a topic is a choice we all have when we visit here.

[Bobbie]

mia58,
True, TMI is helpful to some. Moderators have to read all forums, however, so don't have the choice you have.

[cindym]

Personally having this disease for over 5 years now I have seen everything cdiff has to offer in the toilet. I think the major heading of TMI should read:

All colors, all forms, all consistencies, mucous, blood, black specs, stringy looking stuff, and great frequency ARE NORMAL with the ongoing cdiff infection. In that way most of the conversations that are so graphic would be eliminated because that just about sums it all up!

Am I becoming cranky as time goes on or what????? Ha!

[alliejp]

Hi Bobbi,

I had a couple of thoughts after I read your post.

Maybe the TMI section should be for members only? Then those who were just looking or passing by wouldnt stumble on it and be grossed out.

Or, maybe when you click on the TMI section, a more detailed "warning" should pop up asking if you wanted to proceed?

I think anyone who has suffered C.diff would know what they were getting into when reading this section, also, as we know, there is a lot of mis-information even from doctors about c.diff. I had many many symptoms that I only knew about from reading this site. Even the GI (coming soon in my updated case history) told me he had "never heard of those things" when I have read numerous people on here having the same problems. So this, and all the sections here, all helpful.

I know moderators have to read every post. And I imagine you dont want to read that all the time. Maybe there could be someone who just moderated the TMI section?

Dunno, just some ideas.

[pam2738]

My two cents in support of the TMI forum.

I think this particular forum is iimportant to us because it goes beyond the "normal" symptoms/signs of cdiff & gets down to what we suffer & observe on a day to day basis. Knowing that someone else is going through or seeing just the same thing that we are, gross as it may be, is really really important & rather conforting. And since these particular observations or comments can't be made in the other forums, then we come here.

As someone who scoured the web years ago to find forums & chat rooms dealing with panic attacks & severe anxiety, I know full well how much it helps to know that someone else or a number of someones, are experiencing just what I was. Not necessarily the obvious, clinical symptoms, but rather the personal descriptions of those who were actually suffering what I was. The doctors don't really know unless they have experienced what we have. I doubt very much if the doctors know anythig much about how poop changes with cdiff; anymore than they know the very real personal effects of panic & anxiety. Not unless they've felt them.

That's what TMI provides for us. The chance to know that in the down & gross & ugly aspects of cdiff, we're not alone. Yes, we know we are not because we are told so when we join & thereafter as well. But to SEE here that someone else is actually specifically experiencing some of the grosser & sometimes alarming aspects of cdiff, really really helps to calm.

I do sympathize with the moderators who have to read them when they are not experincing what they are reading. Maybe they could take turns? Or as someone suggested, maybe there would be one who wouldn't mind moderating just the TMI?

But please don't shut it down.

Pam

[Allison]

For everyone who is concerned TMI will disappear:

We did not create this forum and expect it to remain empty. We recognize the need for a section such as this and for the most part, it works to stem the myraid complaints from other members who were subjected to information of this nature when it was previously sprinkled throughout the other forums.

I'm tellin'ya again... the big problem is NOT that folks are actually using the forum...it's that they are not using it correctly.
It is entirely possible to post here and still follow basic forum etiquette.
For some reason, there are several members at this time who don't seem to know what these universal guidelines are, and TMI is bearing the brunt of these indiscretions.
So... site admin is going to add the basic usenet guidelines as an amendment to our rules for posting to the discussion boards. Look for them soon.

I can't speak for the other mods, but it has been a mistake on my part to assume that most people know internet manners and try to follow them. Apparently not so.

I do not mind moderating this forum when folks follow the rules. I can overlook the nature of the posts within reason. A forum such as this should require light moderation. Instead, it's been a daily chore to combine topics that should never have been created individually, move and delete posts that ignore guidelines, and try to stem the tide of posts that are not discussions at all, but private conversations, or "chats" that should be carried out in an email or PM.
TMI is not just for those who choose to post in it. There are large numbers of people who read for information, so categorizing this forum is just as important as it is keeping the rest of the site free flowing and readable.

It's really up to you, not us, whether it stays or not. Use common sense and good manners and it stays. Abuse it by ignoring protocol and it goes.
If it goes, all posts containing TMI in General Discussion and Questions will be deleted instead of moved here. Period.

[Waldog]

I just read this post for the first time and all I can say is bah!

We are all adults here, and sometimes in order to explain what the heck is going on there is no other way than to just be candid.

Using adjectives are part of effective communication!!! If authors were not allowed to use adjective, literature would be pretty damn boring and hard to imagine.

As someone else stated, don't come into the TMI section if you are easily grossed out!

It's just that simple! Don't come in here reading and eating at the same time if you have a queasy stomach!!!

At this point, bathroom activity discussions in my home are normal, and common place, not to mention, no longer gross because I have been desensitized by this whole situation.

If you are grossed out by even the slightest of notions from this disease, then you are in bad shape all around in my opinion.

What are you going to do when you have to give a stool sample?! Grin and bear it! This is not something that can be avoided. Anyone who has had to do that can tell you the smears are the worst part. Do you really think that I enjoy it?! It's all I can do to not gag! Just plain talking about it and describing it does not hold a candle to that!

As far as explaining it to the doctors, that is all well and good in theory. In my experience 9 times out of 10 the doctor looks at me like the RCA dog when I try to be a polite as possible about explaining my symptoms, and then I get brushed off when I try to be candid.

I say candid all the way, and stay out of here if you are grossed out. I don't want to talk about or think about it anymore than the next person, but guess what, that's not an option when you have C. Diff!!!

Communication is the key!!! Grow up and start acting like you are mature enough to handle it especially if you are one of the effected!

Yeah, some of us deal better with it than others. Medical professionals are around these things all the time. People who work on farms see much worse than someone who is attempting to be candid in order to get much needed answers for medical purposes as well as their own mental health.

From what I have observed here no one has crossed the line and used the "S" word which is probably about as bad as it can get as far as being out of line or deliberatley rude!

Lighten up people, this is a nasty disease and it must be discussed, somtimes at great detail!!!

On that note I think I'll have a baby ruth! LOL! See!!! LAUGH IT OFF!! IF WE DON'T WE'LL ALL CRY!!!

[Bobbie]

Waldog,
Pls. keep in mind the mods. have to read every post (including TMI), & we are tired of long details of someone else's bathroom visits. Yes, some of these are part of C. diff., but why dwell on them excessively? If they are common conversation in your home, fine, but we want this site to reflect a professional look & that doesn't mean "dwelling on the gross."

I've been familiar with C. diff. since l979 when my son had it. He had it twice, & I've had it twice (the lst time for 4 yrs.) I doubt if anyone wants to hear detailed explanations of our symptoms.

TMI is here to stay but please respect the opinions of others & keep gross details to a minimum. You an always Email or PM others who want to discuss symptoms in detail.

Pls. don't take your anger at your docs. out on people on the site who are trying to help. We don't have to do this & don't get paid for it. Don't "kill the messenger" or you'll have no place to vent.

As you said, "lighten up."

[Allison]

Appreciate your candid reply. There is usually no problem discussing TMI symptoms as long as they're posted in this forum. Most members are well aware they shouldn't read here if they are sensitive to this issue. But there are also people who post without perusing the site well enough first to realize the forums are categorized, and then those posts or topics have to be moved here when the complaints start rolling in.

"From what I have observed here no one has crossed the line and used the "S" word which is probably about as bad as it can get as far as being out of line or deliberatley rude!"

That's what you think!
You have never seen many of the posts, and won't see any of those in future which are (and have been) very, almost purposefully, offensive. (If we catch and delete in time, that is). Some have contained very... er... creative language that makes the word sh-- seem quite tame by comparision. And more often than not, those posts are not submitted to this forum!

While we respect your opinion, we also have to respect the opinions of other members as well. Everyone is entitled to their own sensitivity level concerning TMI, and we do not expect all members to subscribe to your point of view. That's why this forum was created... as a compromise.