7 mos in, low-grade relapse or IBS?
Posted: Sat Dec 01, 2018 7:53 pm
Hi there! I’m sorry the length of this, and thank you for your patience if you do read through. I thought it might be most helpful to fully describe my situation. It has been a long time that this letter to the wonderful souls in this group has been accruing in me ...
I had sincerely hoped to write about 6 months post-Vanco that all was healed, wanting to provide encouragement to other new sufferers. But now, I’m not sure what’s going on, I’m terribly worried, and I think I still need encouragement myself!
I’m 7 months post. I had a mild case of c.diff last spring. It’s great it was mild, but the problem is it’s hard to tell with a mild case if symptoms warrant retesting, or not. After two rounds antibios (Flagyl and then 10 days Vanco), I cautiously thought I was healed, just suffering on/off post-IBS with sensitivity to all the usual suspects (like caffeine, chocolate, dairy, a heavy meal, raw vegs). Believe me, I used to have an iron belly, and kept a chipotle shaker beside my salt & pepper. (Honestly though, I suspect I had just an on/off bloating IBS for years.)
First, I should point out: we never retested. My PCP said, “you don’t want to go down that road” and that my symptoms sound like “normal IBS” as part of recovery.
Now, I’m not so sure, and have to wait and try to keep the faith. I had D twice today, and I’ve been on shaky ground a lot over the past few weeks. My gastroenterologist on call said to wait and give the Pepto Bismol I started taking a chance to work, and call his assistant come Monday. He said if I improve, but slide backward again next weekend, he agrees I should definitely be tested.
Over the past 7 months, I will go happily for a few weeks at a time with little to no trouble, being generally careful with eating, but over these past few weeks, I’ve had a lot of gassiness, bloating, and the occasional bout of D. (Yes, I did eat too much and the wrong things at Thanksgiving! And have felt “off” all week to follow.)
This has been my routine (ha, of denial): to behave myself and eat bland, feeling ‘well’, but then get cocky and slip back into old habits like decaf or a little chocolate, dairy or sugar, wine or a heavy meal. Then, I’d start feeling slight occasional cramps sneak in, along a little sense of urgency (but still mostly normal BM) over a period of a couple of days, until I’d finally have a bout of D. Then, I’d reel it in and do 2-3 doses Pepto Bismol, start up taking peppermint pills, severely dial back my eating to bland and light again, and recover over about 3 days. As I’d improve over those few days, the bloating discomfort would improve to just flatulence (no smell, and at least the gassiness was moving), and finally, the flatus would cease on day 3 or 4.
Does the above sound familiar to anyone? I’m thinking this is typical IBS, a 3 or so day rough period?
Then, restored and belly calmed, I’d feel good again, and behave myself for another few weeks, until I let a few tiny bites of old habits slip back in, and then the crazy routine would start all over again. When, when will I learn? Lol.
Sometimes, I would go quite some time feeling well ... mostly, I thought, because I was behaving myself. Sometimes, I can’t quite pinpoint the culprit.
As the months went by, and the further away I got from the c.diff, the more confident I felt these episodes are just an IBS attack. An attack of D wouldn’t rattle me as it initially had.
But these past two weeks, I’ve had trouble a few times. Admittedly, I didn’t stick with my reformed good behavior long enough in-between my brief descent into loose stools. (For example, I can’t remember what I ate to cause bloating and crampiness the other day, but admit I had caused myself discomfort via Thanksgiving indulgence the week before, and had not probably allowed enough recovery time.)
Last night, I wasn’t feeling great, but I still met friends out very briefly, only drinking seltzer with cranberry juice and lime, and a small portion of mashed potatoes (trying to pick around the no-no fibrous bits of skin, but still unfortunately eating a little bit of them, ugh) along with soft cooked, sautéed carrots and a small amount of broccoli. Could just a little well-cooked broccoli actually cause trouble??
I had tiptoed over these past two days, feeling like I could easily risk a bout of D. Or so I thought.
I even felt great when I awoke this morning! But then, all hell broke loose midday. I don’t know what I did wrong? I ate light, just one piece GF toast with Earth Balance and a piece of crushed raw garlic (delish, and usually makes me feel great), a little bit of GF crackers and GF noodles, a cup of chicken bone broth with miso, and a banana.
But I grew rumbly. I got cramps, and after guzzling a big glass of water, grew urgent and had 2 little bouts of D. I almost cried, thinking “it’s back.” I’m now on the couch, doing a few doses of Pepto Bismol, and vow to only sip liquids for a couple of days! No food. I’m becoming scared of even GF crackers.
Wracking my brain why the past few weeks have been a bumpy ride, like a slow descent ...
Questions:
- Maybe, just maybe ... could it be that I bought a few tins of Trader Joe’s peppermints at the checkout, and have been binging on them? On top of taking peppermint pills? Could peppermints cause trouble? It’s not like I’ve been eating a tin a day, but maybe 10-12 a day, on top of the pills ...
- I’m starting to feel really hungry sitting here. If you had active c.diff, would you even feel hungry at all? I think the disease kills the appetite, correct? I’m thinking maybe hunger is a good sign?
- I thought I read Pepto will not stop an active c.diff infection, but my gastroenterologist said it will ‘slow it down’. Hmm. Confused how much ‘relief’ one can truly obtain from doses of Pepto. It seems to be helping a little (it’s still early dosing), as usual, but now I’m too nervous to eat.
- Can you really relapse 7 mos into recovery? I thought passing the 3-month mark without incident was pretty much indicative of being safe from relapse?
- Finally, wouldn’t one grow progressively sicker over time, if there were a low-grade, active c.diff infection? I look and feel healthy otherwise.
Thank you so kindly,
k
I had sincerely hoped to write about 6 months post-Vanco that all was healed, wanting to provide encouragement to other new sufferers. But now, I’m not sure what’s going on, I’m terribly worried, and I think I still need encouragement myself!
I’m 7 months post. I had a mild case of c.diff last spring. It’s great it was mild, but the problem is it’s hard to tell with a mild case if symptoms warrant retesting, or not. After two rounds antibios (Flagyl and then 10 days Vanco), I cautiously thought I was healed, just suffering on/off post-IBS with sensitivity to all the usual suspects (like caffeine, chocolate, dairy, a heavy meal, raw vegs). Believe me, I used to have an iron belly, and kept a chipotle shaker beside my salt & pepper. (Honestly though, I suspect I had just an on/off bloating IBS for years.)
First, I should point out: we never retested. My PCP said, “you don’t want to go down that road” and that my symptoms sound like “normal IBS” as part of recovery.
Now, I’m not so sure, and have to wait and try to keep the faith. I had D twice today, and I’ve been on shaky ground a lot over the past few weeks. My gastroenterologist on call said to wait and give the Pepto Bismol I started taking a chance to work, and call his assistant come Monday. He said if I improve, but slide backward again next weekend, he agrees I should definitely be tested.
Over the past 7 months, I will go happily for a few weeks at a time with little to no trouble, being generally careful with eating, but over these past few weeks, I’ve had a lot of gassiness, bloating, and the occasional bout of D. (Yes, I did eat too much and the wrong things at Thanksgiving! And have felt “off” all week to follow.)
This has been my routine (ha, of denial): to behave myself and eat bland, feeling ‘well’, but then get cocky and slip back into old habits like decaf or a little chocolate, dairy or sugar, wine or a heavy meal. Then, I’d start feeling slight occasional cramps sneak in, along a little sense of urgency (but still mostly normal BM) over a period of a couple of days, until I’d finally have a bout of D. Then, I’d reel it in and do 2-3 doses Pepto Bismol, start up taking peppermint pills, severely dial back my eating to bland and light again, and recover over about 3 days. As I’d improve over those few days, the bloating discomfort would improve to just flatulence (no smell, and at least the gassiness was moving), and finally, the flatus would cease on day 3 or 4.
Does the above sound familiar to anyone? I’m thinking this is typical IBS, a 3 or so day rough period?
Then, restored and belly calmed, I’d feel good again, and behave myself for another few weeks, until I let a few tiny bites of old habits slip back in, and then the crazy routine would start all over again. When, when will I learn? Lol.
Sometimes, I would go quite some time feeling well ... mostly, I thought, because I was behaving myself. Sometimes, I can’t quite pinpoint the culprit.
As the months went by, and the further away I got from the c.diff, the more confident I felt these episodes are just an IBS attack. An attack of D wouldn’t rattle me as it initially had.
But these past two weeks, I’ve had trouble a few times. Admittedly, I didn’t stick with my reformed good behavior long enough in-between my brief descent into loose stools. (For example, I can’t remember what I ate to cause bloating and crampiness the other day, but admit I had caused myself discomfort via Thanksgiving indulgence the week before, and had not probably allowed enough recovery time.)
Last night, I wasn’t feeling great, but I still met friends out very briefly, only drinking seltzer with cranberry juice and lime, and a small portion of mashed potatoes (trying to pick around the no-no fibrous bits of skin, but still unfortunately eating a little bit of them, ugh) along with soft cooked, sautéed carrots and a small amount of broccoli. Could just a little well-cooked broccoli actually cause trouble??
I had tiptoed over these past two days, feeling like I could easily risk a bout of D. Or so I thought.
I even felt great when I awoke this morning! But then, all hell broke loose midday. I don’t know what I did wrong? I ate light, just one piece GF toast with Earth Balance and a piece of crushed raw garlic (delish, and usually makes me feel great), a little bit of GF crackers and GF noodles, a cup of chicken bone broth with miso, and a banana.
But I grew rumbly. I got cramps, and after guzzling a big glass of water, grew urgent and had 2 little bouts of D. I almost cried, thinking “it’s back.” I’m now on the couch, doing a few doses of Pepto Bismol, and vow to only sip liquids for a couple of days! No food. I’m becoming scared of even GF crackers.
Wracking my brain why the past few weeks have been a bumpy ride, like a slow descent ...
Questions:
- Maybe, just maybe ... could it be that I bought a few tins of Trader Joe’s peppermints at the checkout, and have been binging on them? On top of taking peppermint pills? Could peppermints cause trouble? It’s not like I’ve been eating a tin a day, but maybe 10-12 a day, on top of the pills ...
- I’m starting to feel really hungry sitting here. If you had active c.diff, would you even feel hungry at all? I think the disease kills the appetite, correct? I’m thinking maybe hunger is a good sign?
- I thought I read Pepto will not stop an active c.diff infection, but my gastroenterologist said it will ‘slow it down’. Hmm. Confused how much ‘relief’ one can truly obtain from doses of Pepto. It seems to be helping a little (it’s still early dosing), as usual, but now I’m too nervous to eat.
- Can you really relapse 7 mos into recovery? I thought passing the 3-month mark without incident was pretty much indicative of being safe from relapse?
- Finally, wouldn’t one grow progressively sicker over time, if there were a low-grade, active c.diff infection? I look and feel healthy otherwise.
Thank you so kindly,
k