Scared

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cake918
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Scared

Postby cake918 » Tue Aug 06, 2019 12:52 am

Its been almost a year since my last antibiotic. I took a z-pack with vanco (preventatively) for a severe strep infection last August. Over the past 2 months I’ve had increased bowel issues, more frequency and looser stools. I have not taken antibiotics but have been in nursing homes and the hospital to visit others, none with Cdiff. I have been using pepto and Imodium more frequently but continue to have bouts of diarrhea. I have also had a few weeks of constipation and normalcy. I’m under a lot of stress right now and have just had three watery BMs with cramping/nausea. Can cdiff come back after a year? Is it likely I picked it up or can my PI IBS still be wreaking havok on my system? Im 100% sure I suffer from PTSD from my original bout of cdiff but I’m really freaking out now. Help please!

beth22
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Re: Scared

Postby beth22 » Tue Aug 06, 2019 1:15 am

It's possible for it to come back, but unlikely. It is also possible that you have a different bacteria. IBS can cause those symptoms, as can SIBO or a virus. If this continues, I would suggest you see your GI and you can do a stool culture as well as a c diff test to see if anything shows up. Meanwhile, try to eat bland foods. Pepto Bismol usually settled things down for me in a few days, so if it continues, call the doctor.

cake918
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Re: Scared

Postby cake918 » Tue Aug 06, 2019 1:26 am

I’ve suffered from IBS D since my early 20’s. It’s been worse since cdiff, I was hoping it would get better but it has not and it’s been 2 years since my initial cdiff infection. Anxiety and stress are the killers with recovery. I’ve never truly believed the cdiff was gone even during the good months. Thank you.

D1dad
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Re: Scared

Postby D1dad » Tue Aug 06, 2019 7:49 am

I feel ya as I be had those thoughts and some scary days but I always go back to when I had it and the symptoms I had. Started out feeling generally unwell, pale, weak with awful stomach pain that turned into diahrrea along with a fever and pounding pulse. I fought hard for 4 days and it went away only to return a day or so later with a vengeance. Blood and mucous along with neon yellow stool. I know that’s tmi but it was my story that began the 10th day of augmentin. Now I’ve had a day or so after eating fried and or spicy food that was let’s just say, very urgent for an hour or so but never had the awfulness I went through. I used to consider a good morning of diahrrea to be healthy but for the first few months after it scared the bejesus out of me. If pepto...one dose settles things down than you should be good as no amount of pepto will stop cdiff. In fact not knowing what I had, the doc prescribed me lomitil until the test came back and my body spit it out like Mexican water.

cake918
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Re: Scared

Postby cake918 » Tue Aug 06, 2019 8:02 am

Three bouts of D last night, now just rumbling/gurgling. I took a pepto and am begging my GI for a test. I thought I certainly was in the clear since it’s been so long since being off antibiotics, had some really good weeks of almost constipation (I live when that happens ) and am praying that I am not going to battle this beast again. I do take Florastor once daily and have added another probiotic. Maybe I’ll back off them for a little while, if it’s SIBO? Can cdiff lay dormant in your gut and reactivate itself with poor food choices and slacking on probiotics? My GI says no but I’m not sure I ever believe what she says.

AllisS
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Re: Scared

Postby AllisS » Tue Aug 06, 2019 8:20 am

Food choice has nothing to do with C. diff. As for probiotics, there is still little-to-no data showing their efficacy. In fact, they can cause GI issues (though not C. diff) themselves. I'd return to the one probiotic/day if I were you to see if that helps.
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

cake918
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Re: Scared

Postby cake918 » Tue Aug 06, 2019 8:25 am

Could the cdiff have returned after the antibiotics a year ago and it’s been mild but has progressed to unmanageable? This is probably the worst I’ve ever felt since cdiff and I’m just scared.

D1dad
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Re: Scared

Postby D1dad » Tue Aug 06, 2019 8:35 am

I wouldn’t say food choices have nothing to do with cdiff exactly. When I had it, I didn’t know any better and ate sweets at a massive rate and my GI said sugar feeds the disease. Now can food cause cdiff? Nope. Maybe a bad case of food poisoning could wipe out your good flora and make you susceptible but I’m no doc. As far as probiotics go, when Harvard and the university of Michigan have done studies showing that florastor while being taken with vanco lessens relapses that’s proof enough for me. Afterwards I think probiotics do very little. I’m sure we all know of the nursing home that added yogurt daily and reduced cdiff by 65%. That’s real life proof and i work in nursing homes six months a year and many are implementing this practice with good results.

D1dad
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Re: Scared

Postby D1dad » Tue Aug 06, 2019 8:41 am

Yes Aliss is right on probiotics and too much. I went overboard and paid for it with awful gurgling and bloated ness as well as a general feeling of not well. Plus if it’s a strong brand they’ll actually cause diahrrea with the die off of bacteria and may colonize just a few strains while we need many many different ones. I was gonna stop taking them all together but have decided to try a garden of life 40billion for Mens colon health every other day. I used to take one day TruBiotics ever day during the winter while working in a healthcare setting and I never got sick. I do believe they have some immune support. The problem is, a normal person will buy 80 Billion CFU and then can’t figure out why their stomachs are a wreck.

cake918
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Re: Scared

Postby cake918 » Tue Aug 06, 2019 8:42 am

It just sucks. Mind goes straight to cdiff every time I get a loose stool. Just seems weird it’s been a year.... can it just come back? My husband keeps telling me it doesn’t magically come back. I’ll just never feel free of this!

cake918
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Re: Scared

Postby cake918 » Wed Aug 07, 2019 12:15 pm

So I took at pepto yesterday AM. I continued to have gurgling and gas. This AM very formed B.M. and I continue to have gurgling and gas..... does this sound like Cdiff or IBS?

georgina
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Re: Scared

Postby georgina » Thu Aug 08, 2019 12:38 am

Gurgling , rumbling , gas can be due to a lot of things :IBS , SIBO , food allergies etc.

beth22
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Re: Scared

Postby beth22 » Thu Aug 08, 2019 1:26 am

I can't take much in the way of probiotics. I get Gi symptoms and loose stools if not outright D.

cake918
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Re: Scared

Postby cake918 » Fri Aug 09, 2019 4:52 pm

I’m not having 3 WD x 3 days but every couple of days I get cramps, gas and frequent BM (more along the lines of muddy). Sounds more like IBS? How long can post infectious IBS last or will I most likely have it, maybe just worse, since I had it prior?

Ril
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Re: Scared

Postby Ril » Fri Aug 09, 2019 9:00 pm

Sounds like IBS. Besides for the fact there is no reason for you to have c diff, if it was that you would not be having days of solid BMs and you would have been worse by now. PI IBS can last for a LONG time. The drs don’t really know how long and it is individual. I have had it for a very long time but I had IBS prior so now I have to be managed with meds.


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