Told I am carrier...now what??

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christyn
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Told I am carrier...now what??

Postby christyn » Tue Jun 20, 2017 9:33 pm

I got a phone call confirming what I was already suspecting. Doctor says that I am a carrier without symptoms after having 3 positive tests. So now what?? I have many questions. From what I have read on this forum I could be contagious and a carrier for years. Does this mean I am bleaching my toilet and wearing gloves for the rest of my life? Will I ever be able to see friends/family again that have immune issues and on antibiotics?

I am feeling a bit uneasy because I have a husband with digestive issues and a teenage son. Any advice will be appreciated and helpful.

beth22
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Re: Told I am carrier...now what??

Postby beth22 » Wed Jun 21, 2017 2:08 am

I first got diagnosed with c diff in 2008. My husband has shared my bathroom and bed all these years. I am a carrier too and have tested positive on PCR for a year now, after taking antibiotics last year, but even before, I would test positive intermittently without many symptoms.

Obviously, it is a good idea to keep a bathroom clean, but don't go overboard. As far as I know, there is no reason not to see people who are on antibiotics or have immune issues as long as you don't have a full blown infection. If you don't have symptoms, that means you don't have D, right? Check with your doctor for guidelines, but I see my friends and my husband has been on antibiotics and did not get anything from me.

georgina
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Re: Told I am carrier...now what??

Postby georgina » Wed Jun 21, 2017 3:16 am

I too had a relatively long fight with Cdiff and even though I do not have classic symptoms I am still shedding Cdiff toxins. I was also told that I was a carrier and no treatment is required. I never infected anyone around me ,and I have shared the bathroom with my husband , my parents and they never got Cdiff from me . My mother and my husband were actually tested for Cdiff as they were my donors for FMT.

christyn
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Re: Told I am carrier...now what??

Postby christyn » Wed Jun 21, 2017 9:48 am

Beth22 and georgina...Thanks for your reply.

Beth22...I am not currently having D. I am still watching my diet very closely, taking Enteragam, Florastor, and ProBioMaX (prescribed by my nutritionist).

I have requested a phone call from my doctor's office to ask some of these questions. I hope they have good answers because I have been questioning their knowledge with cdiff.

Davidtm
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Re: Told I am carrier...now what??

Postby Davidtm » Wed Jun 21, 2017 5:03 pm

The duration of colonization varies from person to person. Some studies have been done and found that of the people followed some remained colonized and others reverted to a non colonized state. So many factors such as repeated exposures and other modes of transmission still have to be studied. So in a nut shell it's not really clear nor is there a definite way to know how long a person will remain colonized. For some it might be lifelong and for others a few months. I'm sure there are a lot of people who have lived their entire lives and have had no idea that they were temporarily colonized and people who have been colonized their whole life and had no idea.
Id think the best thing to do is live your life normally, practice good hygiene, and be careful with future use of antibiotics etc. My wife tested positive and couldn't be my donor. But we don't treat her any different than if she had tested negative. And for all we know she's no longer a carrier.
All the best
Dave

christyn
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Re: Told I am carrier...now what??

Postby christyn » Wed Jun 21, 2017 5:52 pm

Davidtm...Thank you so much for your reply. I am hoping I am one of the temporary ones.

All the best to you as well!!

Ril
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Re: Told I am carrier...now what??

Postby Ril » Thu Jun 22, 2017 12:49 am

David is correct- another reason you should not test for cure. You care be colonized, an assymptomatic carrier that requires no treatment. There are people who never know they are and that is why it is so important to always practice good hygiene to protect yourself from others and to prevent yourself from passing anything on.

Rita

denizz
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Re: Told I am carrier...now what??

Postby denizz » Thu Jun 22, 2017 2:23 am

Hi
i guess this will help ur anxiety of being a carrier ..Those sweet babies 70 percent of them are carriers and it lasts till age 2 ..So imagine how many times those little cutie pies poop all over the house :) i think having a cdi or colonized with it has many factors . while my son was having infection and while he was a baby i guess i been exposed to it many many times but just to test i had pcr at the same lab and machine where my son was still positive after 3 months of his infevtion and i was negative ..cdiff is everywhere ..u said u had a teenage son ..i am sure he is exposed to cdiff more often than he might in the house.. ( i know u bleaching like crazy and ur house is super clean ..many of us did for a while bcs of ptsd :)... Teenagers love being rebel and love to sit on the floor at public toilets or just all those weird things they do just bcs they think it is cool to do and probably he exposed cdiff more often.than anyone ..So just live normal bcs u are not the only source of cdiff ..they are everywhere ..You getting it or not is another thing and they still dont know how it happens ...

christyn
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Re: Told I am carrier...now what??

Postby christyn » Thu Jun 22, 2017 8:39 am

WOW...did not know those statistics about babies. And yes they do explode everywhere.

I volunteer at my son's school and stopped when I got diagnosed. But I remember right before I got sick a bad stomach bug going around. For all I know it was little carriers all over the place. Luckily my son missed that bug.

Thanks for the information. I am trying to feel better about being a carrier but cautious. Hoping friends and family will be ok with being around me. My husband has been amazing. He is very positive I will get through this and not concerned about catching it at all. I am more worried than he is.

This forum has been wonderful. Thanks for all the support.


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