post c-diff question

[puremess]

Hi all,
I have a question for people who don't have c-diff anymore. I have been off all meds for 96 days now. Anytime I have diarhhea which happens about once a month I still test positive. But the question is sometimes after a bowel movement I see a yellow thin film thing that floats in the water. When that happens on the toilet paper I see light yellow bile or something. Basically it looks wet and yellowish. Anyone have similar thing happened to them? Thanks.

[Christina]

Hi, Puremess and congrats. I read your case history and am hoping it's over for you. I still tested positive and had yellow stool/diarrhea for months after my last treatment. Eventually, over time everything straightened out and I finally tested negative. I stopped Vanco in August and still was positive in November by January I finally got a negative.Same w/ the color.
Hang in there, it seems like the worst may be over.

[puremess]

Christina,
Thank you for your response!

[Elstonia]

I was first diagnosed with c. diff in January, and have been on and off flagyl for 5 months. I took a sample to the lab recently (on a good day), and it came back negative. I took in another sample today, also a good day, and shortly thereafter, my c. diff symptoms returned; inconveniently, after taking the sample to the lab. It seems that since stopping the antiobotics, I have 3 good days, then the symptoms return for 1 day, and then 3 good days. Has anyone else experienced this, or somthing similar? Thanks for any information!

[Christina]

Elstonia,

What you have experienced is very common and has happened to most of us. It is best to retest 10 - 14 days off of meds. as they will mask a positive test results. Most Dr.'s don't even retest unless you are truly relapsing.
If your positive results and symptoms continue you may want to ask your Dr. about switching you to Vancomycin. Most have better results with that and studies now show that Flagyl is no longer as effective as it once was as far as "curing" C-diff.

There's lots of good info. here on the site. Feel free to read and search.

Welcome to the site and I hope you are feeling well soon.

[Elstonia]

Thanks for the info Christina. The doctor has been reluctant to give me Vanco because I am breastfeeding, but I have checked with the pharmacist, as well as this website, and it appears to be fine; it's in the same category as Flagyl. The doctor has referred me to a gastroenterologist, however, I'm still waiting to see them.

[Bobbie]

Elstonia,
As Christina said, best to test when off Flagyl or Vanco. Also best to test on "bad" or day when you have actual diarrhea (unfortunately not predictable with C. diff.

See FAQ-Tests & also FAQ-Three Day Rule. You might have developed IBS after C. diff. -- about l out of 5 people do. The Three Day Rule is NOT medical -- merely a rule of thumb.

[bluemnm37]

hey puremess,

I kinda have the same thing you have, ditto for the yellowish muscusy film on the toilet paper. Nothing floating on top of the water in the bowl, but it looks like there's mucus kinda stuck along sides of the stool. I just finished my 2nd round of Flagyl this past Sat., and I'm still having cramping, the urge to go, abdominal pain, and then this weird filmy stuff. So I started to freak out and called my doc...I'm not having any diarrhea, just those symptoms above. Now that I know I'm not the only one who's having stuff like that I wonder if I freaked out unnecessarily. Being 96+ out from treatment, I was wondering, are you stools back to normal in consistancy? I hope you continue to do well!!!

[puremess]

Tania,
I hope you are on the way to recovery. My stools are the same as before. A lot of times I see mucus attached to stool. Don't know what it's all about. It's probably be IBS. About 2 or 3 times a month I have loose stools. It's funny because it happens in the beginning of the month. Overall my bathroom activities are the same as when I was on vanco. No diarhea just pieces.

[bluemnm37]

I went to the GI doc today...and it was really nice to have someone really look at the problems you've been having (in detail) and feel like they know what they're talking about. I asked my GI about the mucus, and she said to think of it like having a runny nose...it's your body's way of trying to protect itself. It can get confusing, because with CDiff, the mucus is a BAD thing (product of toxins) and you can be CDiff free and still have mucus as your body is trying to return to normal. Things still aren't "normal" for me. I stopped taking the Questran yesterday because I was starting to feel constipated, and hadn't gone since last Saturday. But I'm very happy to say, that I went this morning and it was actually a nicely formed one!!! I can say, I've never been as happy to see normal poo as I was today... :D Right now we're kinda doing the waiting thing to see if my symptoms (bloaty, crampy, gurgling, urgency) are a sign of PI-IBS, or that it's just taking a while for my system to return to normal. She said it really took a beating, so not to expect normalcy right away. Thanks for the advice!!