strep post c diff

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Juicebox
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strep post c diff

Postby Juicebox » Thu Sep 20, 2018 11:06 am

So I recently had a negative PCR result after 2 courses of dificid which was exciting. I have been feeling better, gaining a bit more weight-not much but enough to make a small impact in how my clothes fit and how I feel about myself. But this morning I woke up and found out I have strep, which was devastating due to having to take more antibiotics and potentially repeating this cycle. I went to one of those minute clinics and a rapid strep was positive. The clinician refused to send it out for culture because she insisted that it's positive. My inclination is to possibly go somewhere else and see if a culture can be sent for confirmation, although it makes sense that I have it because this is how my strep presented last year. I am partially venting but also asking for some feedback about what to do. I have a heart condition so it's a bit riskier for me to not treat, which is frustrating because I don't have a fever so the primary issue is a sore throat. I am waiting to hear back from my cardiologist/ID about treatment. It's frustrating because I had strep twice last year and the overuse of antibiotics seemed to cause the c diff to begin with. Also, I'm fairly certain I can't use a Z-pak because of the heart disease-I read through these forums and saw that it was less offensive-though still a chance than other antibiotics so at this point I'm really scared about treating the strep and having to take more medicine and then having a possible relapse. I just feel unlucky and depressed about this. Has anyone treated strep/a similar bacterial infection with a different medication and had success/no relapse. My ID previously told me about using the vancomycin with another antibiotic if I ever needed but that concerns me as well because I've had an allergic reaction to vancomycin IV form-red mans syndrome, so I'm hoping that using it orally would not cause the same reaction. Thanks

edit: thanks everyone for the support. i'm doing my best to follow my drs orders but its difficult to go through this. to ask my question earlier a little more clearly-has anyone used more broad spectrum antibioitics post c diff in conjunction with vancomycin and not had a relapse. i may ask my dr about penicillin vs amoxicillin but for now she wanted to prescribe amoxicillin and i'm terrified to start my medicine even though i know i need it.
Last edited by Juicebox on Thu Sep 20, 2018 11:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Lisa33
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Re: strep post c diff

Postby Lisa33 » Thu Sep 20, 2018 11:48 am

Ugh this is definitely what we all fear so close after finishing c-diff meds. I wish I had some words of wisdom, but given that you have a heart condition and need to treat, I think all you can do is load up on probiotics during and after meds to try to keep that good gut bacteria in check. It's also unfortunate that you can't take a z-pak as that is a lower offender. Discuss with your doctor the antibiotic that poses the lowest risk for c-diff. I would also want a culture done as well. This way the bacteria can be targeted properly as well. Good luck and sorry you are dealing with this.

Lisa

Ajs
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Re: strep post c diff

Postby Ajs » Thu Sep 20, 2018 12:32 pm

It seems that none of the doctors around here will take the time to do a culture! It’s very frustrating! Every time I went to the doctor before cdiff, I would ask for a culture. They ALWAYS just wanted to give the broad spectrum antibiotic...

This was all before I even knew about cdiff.

Juicebox
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Re: strep post c diff

Postby Juicebox » Thu Sep 20, 2018 12:43 pm

Thank you both for your replies. I agree that a culture is best to target the specific bacteria. I understand that I went to a minute clinic rather than my PCP but after explaining my history, it's still frustrating that she refused to send the culture out, stating that they only send out negative cultures. It's just a crappy situation to be in, especially since I just started a job and was finally feeling like I put this mess behind me. And of course, my heart disease complicates everything. I wish I could use dificid as a chaser rather than vancomycin but of course that's also harder to get and probably not best to overuse. Everything just feels overly complicated and depressing.

Ajs
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Re: strep post c diff

Postby Ajs » Thu Sep 20, 2018 2:14 pm

I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. You certainly don’t want to mess around with the strep though. You’re doing all you can. I was primarily venting about the frustrations of getting a doctor to run a culture. If I were in your shoes I would treat for the strep with the least offending antibiotic suggested by my doctor. Lots of people have to take a course of antibiotics after cdiff and they don’t relapse. Just keep those hands washed and like Lisa said hit the probiotics. Maybe Florastor? You’ll be in my prayers.

beth22
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Re: strep post c diff

Postby beth22 » Thu Sep 20, 2018 8:11 pm

I would ask which antibiotics are used to treat strep. Penicillin VK is less broad spectrum than either amoxycillin or ampicillin, but I don't know if it is effective for strep. Also, ask about tetracycline or doxycycline. Those are lower offenders, but again, I don't know if they are effective for strep.

Juicebox
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Re: strep post c diff

Postby Juicebox » Thu Sep 20, 2018 8:27 pm

thanks all for your replies and suggestions. although it is more of an offender, my doctor would like to me to take amoxicillin and said to consult with my ID about taking a preventative dosage with it. My ID prescribed vancomycin so I'll be taking them together. I'm a bit nervous because I used dificid to treat before and have not used vancomycin so I don't know how I'll respond to that. I've taken the amoxicillin before and am nervous because last time it gave me D, which lead to my c diff diagnosis but maybe it will be ok with the vancomycin? I have taken amoxicillin prior to that incident and have not had issues with it though. I've had to take it a lot as a prophalactic dosage for the dentist even and have never had issues but this time I'll be taking a full course for strep. I guess with strep there unfortunately aren't many options to take that would be considered safe. I read that the penicillin is less broad spectrum as beth suggested but my doctor thinks the amoxicillin would be more effective in targeting strep. this is just so damn stressful and the last thing i expected in my recent recovery.

Princepg
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Re: strep post c diff

Postby Princepg » Mon Sep 24, 2018 11:59 pm

Im so sorry ur dealing with all this. How r u feeling? Better?


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