Test came back positive & I'm terrified & don't know where to start

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Lunchbox
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Test came back positive & I'm terrified & don't know where to start

Postby Lunchbox » Wed Sep 06, 2017 7:26 am

First off, apologies if this comes across as a little pathetic... it's 4 am where I am and I got the results emailed to me only a few hours ago. Haven't started a course of treatment or anything -- just waiting until my doctor calls me back at some point in the next day with a course of action. So, right now, it's just me, alone with my thoughts and the symptoms. Not a great personal moment!

Bit about me: I'm 39, female, have always been pretty healthy except for a predilection for UTIs. I get them really frequently, and always have -- at least 2-3 times a year, which of course means antibiotics. My last bout was in early-July, and I was prescribed azythromycin (because lucky me, I'm allergic to penicillin & sulfa antibiotics). Finished the course of abx and went on my merry way...

I thought everything was fine up until this past Sunday morning when I woke up with what I thought was diarrhea, but only clear liquid and some mucus-y looking stuff came out. This happened many more times over the course of Sunday and Monday, and I was totally baffled. I felt mostly fine, but every hour or so, I would feel that urgency and need to run to the bathroom only to be presented with basically nothing.

Anyway, long story short... I went to the doctor Tuesday (yesterday) and had the full work-up. Something about the combination of the antibiotics in the last 2 months + watery stool + mucus must have tipped my doctor off. She mentioned c diff right off the bat and ordered the test immediately. Sure enough, the PCR came back positive for toxin B. And this is where I am now... wondering wtf am I supposed to do from here on out?

I have so many questions... starting with, do I need to quarantine myself? Is my fiancé safe to be around me? My friends? My cat? Do I need to douse my house in bleach? Burn my clothes? Is the fact that my symptoms are mild and caught early a good thing, or is severity and length of time before diagnosis irrelevant when it comes to prognosis?

It's all so overwhelming and I am just looking for some reassurance. Just lying here in bed, feeling gross and full of disgusting spores and questions... ugh.

Musings
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Re: Test came back positive & I'm terrified & don't know where to start

Postby Musings » Wed Sep 06, 2017 9:20 am

C.diff seems to be an anxiety inducing disease so know that most, if not all, of us have had your thoughts.

During active symptoms (excessive diarrhea) it is best to stay at home to not possibly spread the disease but the chances of spreading it to your fiancee or other housemates is slim to none especially with proper cleaning and hand washing. Some people bleach the bathroom/toilet after every movement but I generally cleaned it 1-3 times a day but I lived alone so might be different circumstances. I washed underwear and towels with bleach but otherwise treated my clothes normally. I had two dogs and three cats during my infection and none of them got sick, I just kept the bathroom door closed and never let them enter.

Once the medication has helped with symptoms, it's fine to be out in public. If possible, push for vanco or dificid over flagyl as a first treatment as flagyl seems to have a high failure rate and often comes with some pretty rough side effects.

For now, stick to a bland diet and do your best to stay hydrated during infection and treatment. There are several threads on nutrition so would recommend checking those out.

~Lauren

NanciT
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Re: Test came back positive & I'm terrified & don't know where to start

Postby NanciT » Wed Sep 06, 2017 9:48 am

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

Sorry you had to find us but I want to add having a physician that caught this early is such a good thing. People can go for months and MD's don't pick up on it. Hopefully when you touch base today with your MD he/she will order medication and get you started. Often it takes one or two rounds and people get through this. Stick with a bland diet, talk with your MD about a Probiotic and make sure to drink something with electrolytes to avoid dehydration.

Wishing you the best

NanciT

Lunchbox
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Re: Test came back positive & I'm terrified & don't know where to start

Postby Lunchbox » Wed Sep 06, 2017 12:09 pm

Thank you for your advice, Lauren & Nanci! I'm playing the waiting game right now with my doctor. I sent her an email asking for either vanco or dificid, so hopefully that will jumpstart things a little. Now that I know what's wrong with me, it seems like the symptoms are so much more obvious. Just waiting for the doc to get in touch with me and prescribe meds while my gut roils away is uncomfortable.

I haven't had any diarrhea since Monday, thankfully, but there's definitely something not right with my bowels. I'm just hoping this is as mild as it seems, especially compared to some of the experiences I've read about here.

beth22
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Re: Test came back positive & I'm terrified & don't know where to start

Postby beth22 » Wed Sep 06, 2017 1:55 pm

I had symptoms very similar to yours, with the M, not much D. I started with vanco and regret doing that. Dificid was not around then. I would ask your doctor for Dificid as a first line treatment as that is what it is intended for. It will deplete much less of your good flora and give your body a chance to heal.

Lunchbox
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Re: Test came back positive & I'm terrified & don't know where to start

Postby Lunchbox » Wed Sep 06, 2017 3:49 pm

Hi Beth,

Why did you regret starting with vanco, if you don't mind me asking?

Doctor started me on vanco 125 4x daily for 10 days. I tried asking about dificid and he was like, "what?" So I decided not to push the issue and just be grateful he didn't insist on flagyl to start.

beth22
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:23 pm

Re: Test came back positive & I'm terrified & don't know where to start

Postby beth22 » Wed Sep 06, 2017 8:13 pm

It made some symptoms worse and caused me to have one relapse after another, but I was put on 250mg pills, so maybe it was too high of a dose.


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