First time CDI sufferer

[Apples04]

I am 20 years old and just got diagnosed 2 days ago with CDI. Is it normal to stop having D and abdominal pain?

[beth22]

Hi - welcome to the site and please read the first forum for more information about posting, etc.

Did you stop having D after starting medication or just on your own? Many people can have c difficile and not know it and their symptoms will subside on their own. If you are on medication, then the medication will help too, but it usually takes 3 or 4 days.

[Apples04]

I was on the medication for one day and the D stopped.

[MKW]

Hi, I am a recurrent sufferer, and have had C Diff 4 times. The first two times I was treated with Flagyl, and the next two times with Vancomycin. Everytime I responded quickly to the medication and the D stopped in about 24 hrs. If you were having bad symptoms and had a positive test, then you are fortunate for responding to the medication quickly. It is important to understand with C Diff, there is a possibility of recurrence of the symptoms after treatment. This is something you should try to read up on online and on this board. Most people recover with one or two rounds of meds.

[Ward32]

I'm a first time sufferer of CDI, just diagnosed, what are the pros and cons of going with flagyl or vancomycin despite the costs. (Infection was a result of extended augmentin therapy due to severe pneumonia, then follow up amoxicillin for strep throat 10 days later). Thanks so much!

[amyc]

Vancomycin has a lower recurrence rate and for most people has far fewer side effects than metronidazole. If your doctor will prescribe vanco for a first case and insurance balks you can have the pharmacist mix you liquid vanco that you keep in the fridge. The liquid is much cheaper than the pills.

[MKW]

Vancomycin is not readily absorbed in the GI tract so has no to minimal systemic effects. It is only acting in the GI tract where needed. So it's safe and has little to no side effects in most people. It is my understanding Vanco only kills gram positive bacteria and Flagyl is more broad spectrum. I developed horrible thrush after taking two rounds of Flagyl. Also I lost a lot of weight on Flagyl and did not on Vanco. If I could go back in time knowing what I know now, if I had been given the choice between the two, I would have asked for Vanco and would not have taken Flagyl.

[beth22]

Vanco is easier to tolerate, but I took it without having to take Flagyl first and it did nothing to keep me from relapsing. It just made my relapses worse each time. Everyone is different. I would see if you can get Dificid that targets the c diff directly and spares your other flora. It was not out when I first got c difficile.

[georgina]

Flagyl is a really harsh drug , lots of nasty side effects and often fails to cure Cdiff ,kills a lot of good gut flora, and it's not even FDA approved as a treatment for Cdiff but it's still given as a drug of first choice by most doctors because of it's low cost. Vanco has almost no side effect because it is not absorbed into the bloodstream , it has a higher cure , creates less disturbance into the gut flora as it only kills 20% of it. But as Beth said , there is a much better option , and if you ask me , that should be the first line of treatment : Dificid. It is made to target only clostridia , doesn't touch the rest of the flora and unlike Flagyl or Vanco , it stops the sporing process , doesn't allow Cdiff to hide into spore form but it is very expensive and some people complained about having some side effects during treatment.