You Can Beat This!

We spend a lot of time talking about the bad news in this discussion group - here's the spot for the good news. If you've had c-diff and are now well, please tell us about it here.
nyclady
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Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2020 3:06 pm

You Can Beat This!

Postby nyclady » Fri Apr 03, 2020 3:33 pm

Hi all -

I was an active reader of this site as I battled away with C Diff. I know it can feel like you will never get back to "normal" but I wanted to share my success here. This site was so helpful to me and I found the best information on how to advocate for myself as a patient. I hope this helps someone else out there!

In December 2019, I suddenly became incredibly ill. Assuming it was a some kind of viral stomach bug, I went to an urgent care for confirmation. I had already been very sick for 48 hours -- 30+ BM's a day and had a lot of trouble moving. Urgent care offered stool testing and I agreed. What I didn't realize at the time was that the doctor had also tested me for C Diff. The doctor suspected it could be a bacterial infection and did not offer me any medical treatment for fear it would become worse.

Fast forward another 24 hours. I had no relief and decided it was time to go to the hospital. The ER doctor bristled at the urgent care team's response and immediately hooked me up to an IV with a general antibiotic and fluids. They also ran a stool panel - but did not include C Diff. After a full day at the hospital, I was discharged with an antibiotic. By evening, I had received my stool results from Urgent Care and I was diagnosed with C Diff. The urgent care physician was actually looking out for my best interest all along. He immediately prescribed Vancomycin and told me to cease antibiotics. I began a 10 day course of Vancomycin that day.

WHAT I WISH SOMEONE HAD TOLD ME SOONER...

This infection and these medications really mess with your gut. While on the vancomycin, I tried eating bland foods and generally felt okay. By time the Vancomycin course ended, my C Diff symptoms all came rushing back within 48 hours. Panicked, I was able to get a prescription for 10 days of Dificid to treat round 2. Again, I was provided with no nutrtional counseling and generally I tried to eat bland + a lot of yogurt/kefir.

After finishing Dificid, I was on pins and needles everyday worried that this infection was just hiding and would be back soon. My BMs were no where near normal and everything I ate left me feeling bad. I lost about 10 pounds in this time. I met with GI to find relief. He suggested switching to a low FODMAP diet and that I likely have PI-IBS. Again, the GI provided me very little (and confusing) information regarding FODMAPs. He even told me not to work with a nutrionist to work through my new diet plan. The alternative was to continue to be miserable and wait for round 3 of C Diff to appear and potentially do FMT. I was not willing to take that risk. At this point, I didn't know if I would ever get my old life back.

I decided to take control of this and hired a nutritionist. I've been eating low FODMAP for 2 months now and I feel like myself again. I felt a massive difference within 2 weeks of starting this plan. My advice to anyone struggling with C Diff - your nutrition plays a massive role in how your body heals. Eating bland food will not heal your gut. Remember, this infection causes a lot of harm. The low FODMAP diet has been critical to my success in healing my gut. I would definitely recommend looking at your diet before jumping into another round of medication. This has been critical in my ability to kick C Diff to the curb for good! I will graduate off the low FODMAP diet in the next few weeks.

I wish you all the best. I know this infection can make you feel very isolated. Keep advocating for yourself. You can get through this!

Ali-Mar
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Joined: Sat Mar 21, 2020 4:17 pm

Re: You Can Beat This!

Postby Ali-Mar » Fri Apr 03, 2020 4:39 pm

Thank you nyclady, for sharing you story, it is great to hear a success story, and it is very calming. I finished 10 days of Vanco two weeks ago. I also, continuously feel the bug is hidden in my gut and will surface any minutes, to the point I am afraid of going to bathroom. I am so hopeless that I already find a GI dr that can perform FMT and made an appointment for consulting for May 14th

My old GI doctor also told me that my symptoms ( abdominal pain, cramping, tenesmus ( constant false urge for BW)) seems to indicate I might have PI-IBS, and suggested to eat bland diet, such as mash potato, banana, check breast ... I just google the FODMAP diet and will try to switch to that..

Up to now, I have been only eating mash potato, banana rice and chicken breast for last 3 months and started one VLS#3 three weeks ago

I used to take a multivitamin pill per day until I read somewhere that Calcium supplement will activate the spores that are in your guts and start to germinate which is the cause of relapse, after seeing a post here that someone got C-Diff after taking Calcium supplement.. the multivitamin has around 200 mg of Calcium .
Last edited by Ali-Mar on Fri Apr 03, 2020 10:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Male 54, contracted C-Diff on Feb 5, 2020, diagnosed on March 2nd, Took Flagyl for 8 days, Vanco for 10 days, relapsed 5 weeks post-Vanco. finished Dificid Taper on June 20 relapsed two weeks later, had the FMT on July 14th, 2020

nyclady
Brand New Poster
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Joined: Fri Apr 03, 2020 3:06 pm

Re: You Can Beat This!

Postby nyclady » Fri Apr 03, 2020 5:04 pm

Hi Ali-Mar -

Yes, your symptoms mirrored mine exactly! I realized eating only “bland” food was actually not helping the problem. Sounds like what you are eating now is just like what I was doing. Your gut needs time to heal and low FODMAP is focused on easy to digest foods across food groups.

Low FODMAP definitely requires commitment and persistence but it has been well worth it for me. There are some great websites and food companies that can help make it easier to follow and adhere to. Also, it is meant to be a temporary diet change - this should not be your forever diet plan! I hope it works for you. After 3 plus months of battling this, I feel like the old me again.

roy
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Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2014 1:05 am

Re: You Can Beat This!

Postby roy » Fri Apr 03, 2020 5:57 pm

Its good to have a plan B but going to a Dr with such mild symptoms is not a good idea.
A Dr knows your there because you expect treatment and you might well end up being treated for a disease that's already resolving.
If you dont have frequent watery D the best treatment is often no treatment.


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