cdiffdiscuss.org

Hi.. I'm new . I have been reading alot. I'm a 47 year old female diagnosed with Cdiff approx a month ago. After having an abcess.. I had been placed on a few different antibiotics.. clindamycin and augmentin . I became very ill, at first I thought it was stomach bug. It became worse.. I went to my Dr and at this time I suspected cdiff. I couldn't hold my head up. She sent me home on flagyl. Which I couldn't keep down. I ended up in the ER my heart rate 130 and temp almost 103. The we Dr did a CT scan. It was very severe . I was in the hospital for a week on flagyl and vanco. I was discharged .. home for 2 days.. diarrhea was horrible and my abdomen was very distended . I went back to ER and was admitted again. The ER Dr said he thought they stopped the flagyl to early previously, I was readmitted for 4 days. Now I have been hime 2 weeks.. the diarrhea returned this past week. They have me on flagyl and vanco... I'm taking a probiotic. My Dr is referring me to a gastroenterologist. I'm not having diarrhea now. But of course my gut doesnt feel good. I am scared to death of what to eat . I've never been sick like this. This has been hell and it's only been a month. I have been reading where people deal with this for years . I get so depressed and frustrated. I read about the antibiotic difcid ... If I finish this round.. think I will ask my Dr about that . I just want to feel normal.. but from everything I've read it's a long road ahead ;(

Sorry to hear you are having such a rough time. It seems that you had a pretty severe case since the doctor gave you the combo of vanco and flagyl. Hopefully this course of meds will clear the infection and you won't be needing the Dificid. I know you are scared of eating right now , but you must eat safe and easy to digest food . I read somewhere (i do not remember exactly where) that Cdiff creates more toxins when the patient is fasting. Try the BRAT diet and then add some grilled chicken , or some bone broth that helpes with the gut irritation. If , GOD FORBID, you do relapse , definitely ask for Dificid.

Hi Kellypro and welcome to the site. Please read the first forum for more information for new posters.

I'm so sorry that you are going through this. Yes, some of us dealt with it for years, but not that many of us have been hospitalized. Flagyl is not really prescribed for c difficile, but vancomycin is. What dosage did they give you? Dificid targets the c difficile and kills the least good bacteria, so it is a good choice. Your intestines have been through a lot - kind of like a war zone. It will take time for them to heal and you should try and eat bland food for a while. You also can have a FMT if you don't improve. I had that and it helped me much more than all the antibiotics I took (vanco with a Xifaxan chaser at times). Is your doctor giving you a vanco taper? That is usually better than stopping cold turkey. I would ask about that. I hope you feel better soon.

Kellypro,
Another welcome.

Clindamycin and Augmentin are both big offenders.

Can u tolerate Ensure and Ensure Plus? Chicken and rice are usually tolerated. Am glad u are seeing a GI.

Keep posting, Eventually, u will be OK.

I am taking oral liquid vanco 5 ml 4 times a day... And prescribed flagyl 500 3 times a day... I wake up nauseated most mornings . I had to have dental work done today. They wrote a script for pain meds... Which I'm not going to take. It's just been this worst thing I have ever been through this last month...

Its unusual to take vanco and flagyl at the same time.
The advantage of vanco is that it kills less good flora than flagyl.
That's negated if you take both.
Flagyl also has a higher relapse rate
Did the hospital do a stool test or did they diagnose only by the CT scan?

They did a stool sample. I'm not sure when.. but it was in the hospital. I have been taking a probiotic. Not sure if it's the best kind. I have been taking one a day. I think I have read where some take more than one.. I have the culturelle .. hate feeling this way... It seems sometimes in the evening my legs seem weaker.. not sure if that is from meds or not...what I would give to go back to life before this ;(

Sorry you have to go through this. I’m 46 and also took flagyl, actually two courses but it worked. Your young enough and hopefully were in good health prior, and should recover once the drugs start winning the war. Even after expect some bad days and some really crappy ones but you’ll get better. Florastor has been proven to work against cdiff and helped me tremendously, just take it easy on probiotics. I was taking way to many and couldn’t figure out why my stomach was a bloated mess.

Thank you... I have been pretty nauseated all day today.. I had dental work also, so... I will try that probiotic as well. Thanks so much. I hate stressing about all of this . I know that doesn't help.

Vanco can cause nausea, I feel for you I went through alot of dental work during the time I had CDIFF. I used "Sea Bands" which helped a great deal, give them a try. You can get at most pharmacies or drug stores.

I agree with the BRAT diet, it helped me alot and when my stomach is not "right" , I go back on it.

Hope you feel better soon

NanciT