Is medicine working?

[mich99]

Hi all...

I'm on day 5 of taking Flagyl 3x daily... I feel better, as in my abdominal cramping and fever have gone away, and I thought my stools were finally regulating... they had been somewhat formed, until today, I am dealing with watery D again. No urgency and not very frequent... just not solid BM's.. a little disappointed as I thought I was on track to regularity! Is Flagyl working for me? Anyone else experience this?

[Musings]

Flagyl itself can cause diarrhea/GI upset (it did for me years before I was treated for c.diff) so if frequency are down and other symptoms are improving you should be OK but would ask your doctor about this possible setback and see what they say. If they think flagyl isn't working, you can try vanco or dificid instead as some strains of c.diff are resistant to flagyl.

If you are not already, stick to an easily digested/BRAT diet and avoid common triggers like dairy, greasy foods, alcohol (especially important on flagyl!), and anything spicy.

[MKW]

Hi, I had C Diff four times, and finally an FMT worked for me. I can tell you that it's really helpful to eat "safe" foods while you are trying to figure out if the medicine is working. Once you start with C Diff, even the first time, you can have irregularities due to what you eat. Musings gave good advice about diet. I did the BRAT diet with chicken each time until I was sure medication had the active infection under control.

[Lisa33]

It's hard to tell sometimes if the meds are working. If the urgency to go throughout the day subsides, and the stools seem to be semi-formed, that's usually a good sign. Watery D, more than 3 times per day for 3 consecutive days is usually a sign that it's not gone. It sounds like the Flagyl may be working. See how it goes, but if the watery D comes back with every BM, then speak to the doctor. Push for vanco or dificid, as they have higher cure rates. Also, keep in mind that BM's can be all over the place for quite some time in recovery. As long as it's not the constant watery D, it's probably ok.

[Ril]

Ditto to what Lisa said. And you didn't mention your diet. The bland diet is the key. If you have eaten roughage, high fiber foods perhaps dairy or fried foods, that would likely cause bowel upset.

[georgina]

Another thing that might upset you gut , besides diet is the amount of probiotic you are using , probiotics can be helpful for some people but for others can really hard to tolerate.