How long does recovery take?

[Ae123]

The woozy feeling I've had with this. I also suffer anxiety, but my anxiety has never presented itself that way before. I also had the woozy feeling a few days before a kidney infection hit me. I take it as my body reacting to infections in this way. Still not sure if it's the anxiety, the infection, or a mix of both. None the less it's very scary. I wish you well and hope you are cured! I just started Vanco today. Fingers crossed.

[Nel]

Hi. I'm new here. Female/59.

After 2 ER visits with IV clindamycin followed by oral clindamycin in July, guess what? Yes. C diff.

I was hospitalized for 6 days, and had flagyl by IV and oral vancomycin. I finished the vancomycin on August 8.
The c diff occurred while I was on vacation in another state, so I am unable to return to the excellent physician who managed my care in the hospital.

I've had 2 follow-up visits with my primary care physician. It did not occur to me that I may need to be re-tested to determine my c diff status. Honestly? I think it is still with me. I'm assuming that it is, based on the audio coming from my stomach.

Does it ever go away? Is this something that will present as a matter of degrees? Today it is less bothersome. Yesterday it was really bothersome. Is this what it is to be in recovery status?

I thought once the oral vancomycin was finished, I would be well. Oh sure, there was some recovery time that was expected, but I didn't anticipate that I would have days like yesterday when I thought "Oh no!! It is BACK!".

And the magic number 3? That is my new magic number! It was the number that followed me around the first week after I finished the vancomycin. It was the number that haunted me yesterday for the first time in weeks. I didn't realize until I found this site today that it is a good number to use as a benchmark. It is my benchmark.

Anyway - it seems I am a member of the c diff group whether I'd like to be or not.

Is it forever? Is it ever gone?

~Nel

[NanciT]

Hello Nel and Welcome to the site Please read the first thread for all new posters

You have posted on and old thread, if you want responses you need to create a new thread.

It takes time to recovery and most do not retest. Most GI's go by symptoms, the diarrhea returns for more than 3 days, they may test. If you are still having trouble, you may want to see a GI and review your case with them. A lot of people including myself get Post IBS. There are medications that can help

There is no timeline for recovery. Some recover faster, its really an unknown. Hopefully you will feel better soon and you can put this behind you!

NanciT

[georgina]

As Nanci said , testing is pointless , most doctors go by symptoms. You mentioned you get stomach upset (that can mean a lot of things) but you didn't mention if you are having frequent D with the urgency to go , witch is the the classic sign of a relapse.
And , to answer your last question : NO , Cdiff is won't be forever active , even if you get reoccurences at some point there is going to be a treatment out there that will work for you.Nobody deals with Cdiff forever,actually most cases (80%) are solved from the first or second round of meds , unfortunately for the unlucky 20% of patients that get relapsing Cdiff it takes longer to get well but eventually we all get there!

[Nel]

Thank you for your replies.

Re: questions ...

Most days is 1 BM, but with sudden and immediate urgency. That is abnormal for me.

Thursday was 3 BMs with frequency/urgency, but then it subsided. The day before I felt ill again with aches and chills. Then the Thursday morning D. Then it subsided, yet the audible stomach rumblings and gas persisted. I woke this morning with abdominal pain and some nausea.

This is all abnormal for me, and I am wondering if this is what it is like to be in the "recovery" stage of c diff.

I didn't get any information when released from the hospital about what the recovery process would be like. I was told that if I have more than 3 episodes of D in a day, I should go immediately to ER again. But there was no time frame included in the print-out. I have no clue as to whether it was meant for the first week, month or year. So it is all rather confusing for me.

I have a colonoscopy scheduled in about 2 months from now, so will hopefully learn more then as to whether there are other concerns.

Again, thank you for replying.

[Ril]

For me, I would make an appointment with the GI dr for follow up rather than rely on the ER for problems. Then you can have a place to call for questions and concerns and someone who knows you, and for future issues possibly related to c diff or other things.

All your symptoms may well be recovery. They can all be PI IBS. As long as you don't begin having more than 3 episodes of watery d per day for more than 3 days it is probably PI IBS. Very often it is worse in the morning then improves. Cramping and nausea is common. It is best to stick with a bland diet for a while as food intolerances are common.
Time frames are different for everyone so unfortunately there is no telling.

[Nel]

Hmm. Good to know. Thank you.

[georgina]

I agree with Rita , having 1 BM per day most days and sometimes 3 BM with some rumbling and gas is a typical recovery. You need to be patient and give your gut time to heal as it will never heal over night , there is no time frame , some people recover within six months , some need more then 1 year , some even develop IBS for life. However , doing the cleanse/scope so soon after c-diff comes with a lot of risks , if blood or serious symptoms are not present ,doctors usually hold off until at least 6 months after treatment.

[Nel]

6 months? Great. My appointment was originally scheduled for the first week of August because of the feedback from a Cologuard test. I cancelled that as I'd only been out of the hospital for a week. (No colonoscopy or scans, etc. during hospital stay.)

My regular doctor strongly encouraged me to reschedule the procedure, so I did, and it is in November. That will be about 3 months. I told the appointment lady I had cancelled in August because of c diff. I'll give her a call and ask that she check with doc. Thanks for the heads up.

[roy]

If you have an abnormal Cologuard test you should ignore c.diff and have the colonoscopy as soon as possible.
When anyone mentions holding off a colonoscopy that's just for routine ones.

[Ril]

Ditto Roy. You didn't mention the Cologuard test before. That requires follow up to make sure there is no pathology that needs prompt attention. Just make sure the surgi center where you have the scope done is aware of your recent bout with c diff so they can be especially careful with the instruments and the room-even though they should be all the time.

[georgina]

Oh sorry , just read about the Cologuard test. I thought you wanna have a routine colonoscopy.
Definitely go ahead with it , hopefully you will get trough it without a relapse,

[Nel]

Procrastinator here. I haven't yet got around to calling the doc's office to ask about the 6 month delay, when I read these follow-up comments re:Cologuard. Ok. One less call I have to make.

Ugh. Not looking forward to the prep at all - and anxious about potential for hospital-acquired re-exposure. The first round of it nearly killed me (no joke). When admitted, my BP had dropped to 83/55. Was so sick, I didn't realize I was that sick. Just knew it was bad.

Thank you to each of you reaching out with advice based on your and others experiences. This is all new territory to me. I don't know what is important/not important in relationship to c diff other than being terrified of the next illness that will require an antibiotic. Anyway, again, thank you.

[overit]

Hmad,

I had all the same post-cdif symptoms you described! It took me months to feel "normal" again but it will happen. I agree with the other posters above that a therapist or even talking to your dr about anxiety medication might help. I felt like the impact on my anxiety was almost as bad as the disease itself! Hang in there. Every day you are a step closer to getting back to normal.

[georgina]

As I said , after Cdiff a colonoscopy comes with risks but sometimes you have to take a chance and go for it. Don't have any advice for you , maybe just to increase your probiotic intake if you can tolerate it and to stay well hydrated during and after the cleanse. Let's hope nothing bad will happen , crossing fingers!