My 88-year old mother's battle over c. diff.

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.
kathyc
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My 88-year old mother's battle over c. diff.

Postby kathyc » Sun Aug 20, 2006 1:25 am

Mom lives in Manhattan, KS. She fainted, aspirated, got aspiration pneumonia and took antibiotics which led to c. diff in May 2006. I started searching the internet and discovered this board at that time. I learned here about various probiotics which she took (and is still taking in lesser amounts--FOS, florastor, Culturelle, and acidophilus--she is taking an acidophilus capsule with 50 billion live cultures/capsule). I learned about pulsed dosing of vancomycin here, too. I talked to Mom's doctor who agreed she should take the probiotics and try the pulsed dosing.

When I took Mom to the doctor on her third round of c. diff he mentioned that her immune system was weak at her age after so many illnesses and hospitilizations, so I also started giving her colostrum to try to boost her immune system. And I substituted Dr. Schulze's Super Food for her multi-vitamin which seems to have helped her energy.

But what really helped most with the c. diff I discovered by accident. Mom got a urinary tract infection. Her doctor didn't want to treat it with antibiotics (of course) and suggested drinking cranberry juice. While I believe cranberry juice is great for preventing such an infection, I wasn't sure it would cure it, so I searched online for natural treatments for UTI's. I discovered D-Mannose (which I recommend for these infections) and also learned that people took oil of oregano to kill the bacteria in the urinary tract.

I had earlier run across oil of oregano in my searching, but was afraid that since it kills bacteria it would kill the good probiotics I was giving Mom. I've read recently, however, that oil of oregano kills bad bacteria (c. diff and many others), but good bacteria can develop resistance to oil of oregano. I began giving Mom the oil of oregano for the UTI while she was off the vancomycin (doing the pulsed dosing.) I wasn't sure how much to give, but tried 4 drops, 3 times/day. She has not taken any vancomycin since then because her c. diff. symptoms went away.

Mom continues to take oil of oregano. I think as long as she does the c. diff. will not come back. I know a woman who has taken the oil of oregano for several years for another ailment to keep herself without symptoms, so it doesn't seem to do any harm to take it longterm. Mom's doctor told me just to keep doing what I'm doing since it seems to be working for her.

If anyone is interested in oil of oregano, I just finished reading "The Cure is in the Cupboard" by Dr. Cass Ingram which is about using oregano and I think it's worth reading. I borrowed it on interlibrary loan, but it is available for purchase online as well.

I've been telling lots of people about oil of oregano and thought it would be of interest to people on this forum.

Kathy

rimbaud
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Postby rimbaud » Sun Aug 20, 2006 4:53 am

Thanks for the post. I've avoided oregano oil because I understood it to have general antimicrobial properties, and didn't want to risk destroying good bacteria (I've been dealing with candida overgrowth much longer than C-diff). Can you point me towards where you've read about beneficial bacteria being resistant to oregano oil? This is very interesting to me.

Also, what brand of oil are you using for your mom?

bay
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Postby bay » Sun Aug 20, 2006 9:25 am

I agree--D-mannose is the best for urinary tract infections and bladder infections. I find it useful for an irritated bladder too. I use the Now brand which comes in a powder form.

Bobbie
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Postby Bobbie » Sun Aug 20, 2006 2:37 pm

Oil of oregano is mentioned several places in Treatments.

Several people have good luck with D. Mannose for UTI's, & I've listed it in FAQ-UTI's. Remember, however, everything can have a side effect for some people,& the same things don't work for everyone. I take a combo. of cranberry & D. Mannose for a chronic UT condition.

Glad your mother recovered, Cathy. Kudos to you for being so pro-active in her recovery. Would you post the book you mentioned & any other relevant info. about oil of oregano in Treatments in that topic? Thx.


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