cdiffdiscuss.org

After three rounds of antibiotics, I will be glad to have the fmt done at Fairfax, va. On Monday. However, I am curious about their plan up till then. I'm currently in the hospital and being give flagyl, Vanco, and dificid. I've never heard of someone being on all three at once, but my three gi drs agree this is the best plan. I guess they want to make sure all the little burgers are gone. Any comments?

I hope your not having to pay for that!
Flagyl kills both gram positive and gram negative bacteria
It kills active c.diff but wipes out the good flora.
If the c.diff spores vegetate faster than the flora returns you relapse.
Vanco kills only gram negative bacteria including c.diff.
Gram negative makes up only 20% of the gut flora so the vanco kills far less and the good flora has a better chance of recovering and mopping up the spores.
Dificid is claimed to only kill clostridium species.
My thoughts are that unless you are or were at deaths door using all 3 might be way too much for your gut flora to cope with.
All 3 meds are equally good at killing c.diff but the advantage of killing less good flora is being negated by FLAGYL and possibly even vanco.
Meds MUST be totally out of your system before the FMT so Dr should stop them around 2 days before and start a total clean out (fun).
Good luck
Let's hope it works!

Roy, thank you once again. I only know a fraction about cliff as you do, but my alarms went up when they said to take all three antibiotics. Which one(s) would you recommend after the fmt? Thanks. Larry.

Guidelines say no antibiotics 2 days before FMT and NO antibiotics after.
Taking an antibiotic would kill the newly seeded flora from the FMT

Never heard about beeing given all three t be done the dayantibiotics. Even for a severe Cdiff infection the treatment is oral Vanco along with iv Metronidazole and maybe Vanco trough enema. Roy is right , antibiotics must be stopped 48 h before FMT and a laxative prep must be done the day before FMT.

i never heard 3 antibiotic at the same time ..i guess they are trying smthing new ..for helicobacter they use 2 or 3 combo of antibiotics but i never heard of c diff ? u may ask your doctors about it ..i really do wonder what are they after ?..u said 3 docs decided that ??? i am really curious ..if you find out let us know ...And wishing you the best ...

NO antibiotics are taken after FMT. Otherwise there is no point to doing an FMT. You don't want to kill the new flora that you get from it.

Those were 3 GI dr's who agreed to prescribe the 3 meds at the same time?
Did they explain their rationale?

Best of luck with the FMT. Hope that does it for you once and for all.
Rita

How are you feeling after FMT? My father is 84 years old and has been having reoccurring cdiff. He is so depressed and losing his will. He was so healthy before all of this. Traveled, exercised and lived independently. This disease is awful! We live in DE and I feel that they are not very educated about C-diff. I asked about the FMT and they said "no we don't practice that". Our family is very distraught! Any suggestions would be greatful.

If you are interested in the FMT, I would call the hospitals associated with big universities and speak to someone in the GI department to see if they do them there or if they know of someone who does. There are doctors in RI and other states nearby, but that means your father would have to travel in his weakened condition. I would start calling to try and get more information.

Yes, I read on this site that Dr. Colleen Kelly is in Rhode Island, and she performs FMTs routinely and is a c diff expert. Perhaps try calling her office?

Johns Hopkins in Baltimore has C diff experts on staff. I would reach out to them.

An update. It's been three weeks since my fmt and I am still struggling. I have not had any diarrhea and my bms are normal but I still have horrible abdominal pain and cramping. My gi says I have no signs of cdiff but probably have inflammation which could take time to heal. I take 10 mg of percocet twice a day for sciatica which I'm sure doesn't help, but my pain dr said it should only be a problem if it causes constipation which it doesn't. I truly wish I didn't have to take pain medication but the pain in my leg is so bad it's hard to sit or stand without it. Any advice from anyone who has had this type of pain is appreciated. Thank you. Larry.

I used to suffer from sciatica. I found that ice packs on the area helped sometimes and other times heat. Some people do well with chiroprators. I was not one of them. I started walking and tried to do it every day and that seemed to help the most. Also soaking in a hot tub helped ease the pain. Some people say acupuncture helps for sciatica. I never tried it.

Acupuncture and physical therapy along with Dexamethasone shots helped my mom with her sciatica.