Exposed to someone with cdiff!

Please limit your post to questions only. You can ask multiple questions in the post. (One post per person per day about yourself. See exception in General C. diff.Discussion.)
thytays
Brand New Poster
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2018 3:55 pm

Exposed to someone with cdiff!

Postby thytays » Tue Apr 17, 2018 4:26 pm

I had never heard of cdiff before, until now. My mom started having abdominal pain a month ago. After several weeks she had ct scan that showed she had abscess in her colon. They started her on antibiotics in hospital and after 4 days let her go home and continue Augmentin. I took her home and helped her get settled and helped her with whatever she needed. 8 days after I was around her I was awakened with bad intestinal pain,bloating,gas, nausea, and diarrhea. This was bad for 2 days then I felt some better just no appetite really and still just uncomfortable in intestines but I have several health issues and just figured it was something to deal with my normal problems. A week later my mom was worse and was back in the hospital. This time CT scan showed several abscesses and she was admitted and they removed over a foot of intestines and she has a colostomy bag now. She's been in the hospital 2 weeks and no better. I've been caring for her pets in her house and going to see her at hospital and I never worried or washed my hands or anything because no 1 said I needed to. 3 days ago my abdominal pain got worse and I've been hurting nonstop for days, diarrhea,severe bloating, unable to eat, no appetitie, and my abdomen sounds like pop rocks. I was going to make an appt. to see my GI dr when my mom's nurse called early yesterday morning. Turns out my mom had cdiff all along and after researching what it is, I am freaking out! I took stool sample to lab yesterday and anxiousely awaited the results and they called today telling me the machine in thr lab couldn't run my stool sample and I need to give another! I've broke down numerous times scared I have cdiff. I've had diarrhea so bad for the past several days and unable to eat I have no stool to collect to give them now! My sister works at a physicians office and the doctors there told her it would take weeks for symptoms to start if I got cdiff from my mom not 8 days aftet being around her. Does anyone know if this is true? I have a 12 yr old who has severe gastrointestinal issues and already cannot live a normal life due to gastroparesis. I'm scared to death I've got cdiff and she will get it. My husband also just had a stroke 3 months ago. I'm a wreck! My sister and brother in law were around her and in her home too and fine. But I was around her more and then went bought groceries and brought home and I already habe lupus, bile salt diarrhea, diabetes, diverticulosis, amd several other health issues so I feel I just had more exposure and risk. Once around someone with cdiff can you develop symptoms 8 days later? The surgeon told my sister my mom had cdiff in the abcess itself and it was highly unlikely to get cdiff from her, so why the biohazard protocol around her? Just so scared after reading all of the horror stories! My mom's no better at all, they were treating her with all the wrong antibiotics for weeks until the results came in and now treating her with flagyl but shes still very sick. I'm so worried for her and myself and my family.

roy
Administrator
Posts: 4193
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2014 1:05 am

Re: Exposed to someone with cdiff!

Postby roy » Tue Apr 17, 2018 5:05 pm

Please ask your Moms hospital to check the latest treatment guidlines for c.diff, flagyl is no longer advised as the treatment.
Your misreading some of the information, c.diff does not cause an abscess, there would be another cause for those.
The treatment they gave to cure the abscess is probably the reason she caught c.diff.

It's very unlikely to pass on c.diff to a family member but if you have been on antibiotics recently for any of your other health problems your risk is increased.
One things certain though.
If your unable to produce a sample you probably don't have c.diff!
Even if you don't eat for a week c.diff still gives you liquid diarrhea!

If the sample you sent was not Liquid D the lab would refuse to test it.
That's NOT because it can't be tested, it's because a positive result on a formed sample is considered normal and should not be treated.

roy
Administrator
Posts: 4193
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2014 1:05 am

Re: Exposed to someone with cdiff!

Postby roy » Tue Apr 17, 2018 5:10 pm

Here's our links to the latest treatment guidlines.
Print them and show her Dr.
Vancomycin or Dificid is now the treatment of choice.

They are both expensive meds, flagyl is very cheap.
I will let you make your own conclusion why they are trying flagyl.

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=20521

AllisS
Long Time Contributor
Posts: 1889
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:52 pm

Re: Exposed to someone with cdiff!

Postby AllisS » Tue Apr 17, 2018 5:11 pm

Welcome to the site, thytays. Please read the guidelines for new posters on our intro page -- it's the first entry -- when you have a chance.

I don't know the answer to your question about exposure duration and whether or not you could have contracted C. diff within eight days, but it's possible. You also could have picked it up somewhere else, as unfortunately C. diff is becoming more widespread in the community-at-large.

If handwashing wasn't part of your normal routine, especially after visiting your mother in the hospital, that is THE most important measure you can start taking to minimize the chances of spreading it to anyone else or having a recurrence once you've recovered (which I'm confident that you will, as do the vast majority of those who get C. diff). Do not rely on hand sanitizers like Purell; they do not kill the C. diff spores. Work up a lather on your hands, rub vigorously for approximately the length of time it takes to sing "Happy birthday," and wash well between the fingers. Make a habit of doing this after every bathroom visit, prior to any food preparation, and following any visit to a healthcare facility. All of that said, it's very unlikely that your child or others in your family will get the infection from you. If you're able to use a separate bathroom in the house until you no longer have diarrhea, that's a good idea too. You can also purchase Clorox Germicidal Bleach Wipes online -- they don't seem to be available in retail stores or even pharmacies -- and use them, wearing disposable gloves, to wipe down nonporous surfaces (do not use on fabric), such as countertops, doorknobs and handles, and TV remote.

If your mom isn't improving with the Flagyl, ask her to request that her doctor prescribe either vancomycin or Dificid instead. These drugs, especially Dificid, have a higher cure rate than Flagyl, which has been used as first treatment mainly because it costs less.

It's not a good idea to go without eating anything. Try the BRAT diet -- bananas, rice, applesauce, toast -- while you're feeling ill. Make sure to stay hydrated with water or Gatorade.

Above all, try not to freak out (as you put it). It's possible the stool tests will show that you don't have C. diff. If you do, then given your other serious health issues I'd suggest you get a referral either to a GI doctor who specializes in C. diff or an infectious-disease doctor.

Hope you and your mom feel better soon.
If your illness was preceded by use of a medication, e.g., an antibiotic, please fill out an FDA Adverse Event Report at http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/default.htm

thytays
Brand New Poster
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2018 3:55 pm

Re: Exposed to someone with cdiff!

Postby thytays » Tue Apr 17, 2018 6:32 pm

Thanks so much for replying!
I did ask hospital about the flagyl and they assured.me that's the right protocol. I said I disagree and the surgeon got mad at me.My mom is worse off daily and I'm worried about her. The surgeon and nurses all make cdiff out to be no big deal. I had NO idea it was anything serious until doing my own research. There were nurses even coming into my mom's room without the protective stuff they were to wear and dealing with my mom then going straight to other patients. 1 nurse just sort of laughed that I was so concerned about it. I will bring up the information provided here to her Dr. Though. How can this be so serious and they are acting like no big deal? I hate to be other patients on my mom's floor. Even the lady who brings the food trays came in without protective gear everyone was to wear, handled my mom's portable table, my mom's stuff to move it, put her tray down, handled my mom's bed, got her old tray, hugged my mom, and went back to food cart handling everyone else's food. Just appalling to me!

I have not been on any antibiotics recently. I am in bad health due to many health issues though that I've had for years and have a very weak immune system. I just was diagnosed with mild diverticulosis and have appt. May 14th for colonoscopy scheduled before any of this all started. I have enlarged heart,liver,spleen, have lupus and several other health problems. But no antibiotics recently and never had any symptoms I am having right now before which is why I am worried.

With my husband still recovering from his stroke and my daughter who stays sick daily and my normal health issues, we unfortunately do not get out of the house much. For 2 weeks prior to 1st being in contact with my mom we had no one at our home and we had not left our home either, at all. The ONLY contact I had with anyone was my mom the day I took her home from her 1st hospital stay on Easter Sunday. Afterwards, we did not have contact with anyone and did not go anywhere the following week after I took my mom home. A week later on 4/9/18 at 4am is when I developed my symptoms that have not stopped which is why I am so worried.

I had my gallbladder removed 10 years ago and afterwards developed severe bile salt diarrhea. My "normal" BM would be severe liquid diarrhea 15-20 times a day because of so much excess bile. I take cholestyramine powder to bind the bile to have "normal" BM and have taken this powder 10 years. When I 1st started hurting on 4/9/18 I had diarrhea 20 times a day for 2 days, not my normal bile diarrhea either it was different. I never get diarrhea while on cholestyramine. But I doubled my dose of cholestyramine. The diarrhea stopped on 4/11/18 but for the next few days I still had bad lower abdominal pain that I've never had before, no appetite, severe bloating and sounded like pop rocks in my abdomen and just didn't feel well. On the 6th day it all hit me hard again with worsening abdominal pain, nausea, extremely bloated, gas, and diarrhea. I again took even more cholestyramine, more than I have ever had to take in the past 10 years, and the diarrhea stopped by last night but like I said I have not had any solid food in days, along with that and the excess cholestyramine could be why I have nothing to sample now. I have not taken my cholestyramine today now so I know my bile salt diarrhea will start back and hoping I can get a sample then. Will all of the excess bile I have cause an issue with the stool sample? Of mostly just liquid bile can that still be sampled? The 1st sample I sent in was mushy diarrhea, not water but not formed at all was still runny so I don't understand why they couldn't run it.

My mom never had diarrhea like typical of cdiff. She had severe constipation. That is what she originally thought her lower abdominal pain was from. She had an occasional diarrhea BM but only maybe 5 total out of the whole month she was sick. They only diagnosed her cdiff after surgery when they sent off tests on abscesses.

My moms Dr, surgeon, nurses, and etc. keep telling me when I speak to them there is no way to have symptoms of cdiff a week after being exposed to it. They all said it takes 3-4 weeks to show up. So much conflicting information!

My daughter used my same bathroom the entire time I felt this way. It wasn't until yesterday when I found out my mom had cdiff that I made her start using our 2nd bathroom my husband uses And I started using spray bleach on everything. My daughter has a hard life already due to her health issues and I'm scared to death she will get cdiff if I have it and very afraid what it would do to her since shes not healthy anyway. As a mom, I feel awful, I knew something wasn't right when my symptoms started but with all my health issues I thought it was just something new starting with my normal health issues or I had ate some sunflower seeds hours before symptoms started so I oringally thought it was somehow the seeds but my GI Dr I said it couldn't be from the seeds. I had NO idea cdiff existed or how cautious I should had been around my mom.

I cannot eat anything. I'm so bloated and hurting plus intense nausea, just the thought of food makes me gag. I've been sipping liquids and chicken broth. Is there any other way to diagnose cdiff?

roy
Administrator
Posts: 4193
Joined: Sat Aug 02, 2014 1:05 am

Re: Exposed to someone with cdiff!

Postby roy » Tue Apr 17, 2018 7:10 pm

cholestyramine is very relevant if your already using it.
Cholestyramine is also given to relieve c.diff symptoms.
It binds c.diff toxins so they don't cause harm.
It does not cure c.diff
It should not effect a test result but your Dr MUST tell the lab your on it and specifically request the test is done even if you submit a formed stool sample.
I know how you feel about the hospital and Drs attitude, I experienced the same.
Print off the treatment guidlines and show them to the Dr.
You don't need the hospital staff as friends so be polite but adamant about the way your mom is treated.
Take notes about what is said and even take a photo if you see bad infection control practices.
let them see your doing it and you will be surprised at how it sharpens their attention and things drastically improve.

AllisS
Long Time Contributor
Posts: 1889
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:52 pm

Re: Exposed to someone with cdiff!

Postby AllisS » Tue Apr 17, 2018 9:26 pm

The laxness with regard to protective measures in the hospital that you describe is really shocking and is a display of massive ignorance. Is this a large teaching hospital or a smaller community hospital? Do they have a patient advocate on staff? If so, I would contact the advocate and see if you can enlist them in getting the staff to show some common sense about hygiene. If not, then if it were me I'd probably report them to the local board of health as well as the JCAHO (Joint Commission for the Accreditation of Hospitals Organization). It's attitudes like theirs that allow C. diff to thrive in health "care" settings.

Alternatively, if you can get an infectious disease doctor -- is there one on staff? -- involved in your mother's care (if one isn't already) I'd think (or hope) that physician would mandate infection-control measures that the staff would be more likely to follow than if they continue to be left to their own devices.
If your illness was preceded by use of a medication, e.g., an antibiotic, please fill out an FDA Adverse Event Report at http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/default.htm

thytays
Brand New Poster
Posts: 4
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2018 3:55 pm

Re: Exposed to someone with cdiff!

Postby thytays » Tue Apr 17, 2018 11:18 pm

This is a community hospital. It is a hospital that no one likes, has a bad reputation for care but the only option that we have here. There is no infectious disease doctor there, or even near where we live. The doctor treating her is her surgeon, he is a general surgeon as he did my surgery on an infection I got on my head 1 year ago and just did my moms surgery removing part of her intestines and gave her the colostomy bag. I mentioned just how upset I was at how careless they were with limiting the spread of cdiff after learning about it and how serious it is. I was met with a nurse laughing that I was "too crazy" and "over worrying". The surgeon himself stated " it is just cdiff that everyone already has it and was made worse by the abscesses that developed and that the cdiff was only in her(my moms) abscesses not her intestines and pose low risk to anyone getting it. A couple weeks on flagyl she will be just fine." Another nurse stated " good thing the patients are already in the hospital so if it happens they are in good hands."

I am trying to find exactly whom to contact over this as I called patient services to report all of this and was met with, they are the medical professionals trained in this area and I am not and I basically am just overly worried about my mom and should just try to allow the nurses/physicians to do their job and just be positive for my mom. So I am still trying to find out who to complain to. Like I said, I never even heard of cdiff until this and had no idea but their lack of prevention and trying to not spread it just is shocking to me.

I have been unable to provide another stool sample today. The lab stated I had a certain amount I had to collect and I just have not had enough. So another day worrying, hurting even more, and no answers. They do DNA cdiff test that has results within 2 hours. I read online this test is not that reliable? I asked the lab why they could not use my sample I gave yesterday and she said the DNA machine just said invalid and they tried it 2 times. She said she had never seen that happen in her 5 years working there and that no one there yesterday had ever known that to happen. She asked if I had any tests requiring dye or contrast and I said no and she said she had no idea. I asked why they could not just send it off to be tested and she said they just don't do that but when I talked to the nurse at my GI doctor she said they were requesting 2 different tests for it and 1 would take a week to come back so I am so confused. I asked if I gave them another sample what would prevent the machine from saying invalid again and she said she had no answer as this had never happened. The stool was not formed and she said was the right "consistency" to test for cdiff. I tried eating some jello today, 1st food I have had going on 5 days now and it just makes my intestines hurt so much more and so much more nauseous! What tests are most reliable for cdiff? Is the DNA machine test all that labs do now? Should I be asking for different tests?

AllisS
Long Time Contributor
Posts: 1889
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:52 pm

Re: Exposed to someone with cdiff!

Postby AllisS » Tue Apr 17, 2018 11:48 pm

I don't know what to tell you re: the C. diff tests, but a few of the other Moderators have better knowledge of this and hopefully can weigh in on it soon.

As far as your mother's care goes: I had to spend three nights in a hospital after hip replacement a year and a half ago and was worried about having a recurrence of C. diff while there, especially as several doses of an antibiotic are given intravenously. I had a sign put on my door that said all healthcare personnel should wash their hands with soap and water before coming into the room. If you or another family member were to put up such a sign, saying, e.g., "Patient's family requests that everyone wash hands with soap and water before entering room," it would at least put staff "on notice" that attention was being paid. Hospitals don't want to get sued for negligence. If they sense that this is a possibility, it might make them at least a little more careful. I think you could also bring it up with the office of the hospital's administrator; I'd put it in writing.
If your illness was preceded by use of a medication, e.g., an antibiotic, please fill out an FDA Adverse Event Report at http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/default.htm


Return to “Questions about Clostridium difficile”



Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 19 guests