PI IBS

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hledgess
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PI IBS

Postby hledgess » Sun May 03, 2020 12:27 pm

So I’ve been sick.. allergies dr thinks but said to maybe get tested for covid .. think they’re trying to test more .. anyway.. I didn’t get a chance to eat that day and wanted spicy and something to help congestion so I stopped at Culver’s .. not thinking i haven’t had fast food since off of vanco.. I had d 6 times .. that night n morning .. then just now .. so three days in a row .. is it possible the test was a false negative or the sandwich really did a number on me .. I should mention I started my cycle today.. I don’t have cramps or any other symptoms of c diff it seems.. just urgency and diarrhea..

beth22
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Re: PI IBS

Postby beth22 » Sun May 03, 2020 9:43 pm

It could be IBS or part of whatever illness you have. I have had upper respiratory illnesses that have caused D before and even Covid can cause it. Giveit a day and see if it subsides. If not, I would call your doctor and report all of your symptoms.

hledgess
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Re: PI IBS

Postby hledgess » Mon May 04, 2020 7:05 pm

I actually went to the dr and he suggested a covid test so I ant and got one .. it was negative and lungs clear .. so allergies is all it is .. but who knows with the D lol never a dull moment .. cramping now actually..started my period yesterday so I’m sure that hasn’t been good for anything.. the difference is I didn’t cramp with all of these trips to the bathroom over the days like I did with c diff .. n since I tested negative for c diff last week I’ll try to stay positive and to trust the test and that it was just a bad Sandwich that irritated my insides for days

hledgess
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Re: PI IBS

Postby hledgess » Thu May 07, 2020 1:47 pm

So I’m just going to assume this is normal healing since no one replies.. it’s been a week now of symptoms and no appetite and lost 5 more pounds so that sucks .. I drink a bottle of pepto to keep it not as bad.. it’s orange again n not green from the sandwich .. maybe I should stop asking questions.. the drs don’t have time and the fb ones have no clue or are overly cautious like omg u have D after c diff then u still have it bc it should be gone .. they say pI ibs isn’t a thing n neither is ibs that it’s all c diff and that’s scary. Just thought this group was more stable minded to have some better answers so I would come here. But I definitely don’t feel wanted and it sucks bc it’s been 3 times I’ve had it.. I fear I’ll get it again.. but thanks

poppy86
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Re: PI IBS

Postby poppy86 » Thu May 07, 2020 2:31 pm

I'm sorry you're dealing with this, I hope you get some answers soon and that your symptoms go away. My doctor said PI-IBS is definitely real. All of this is very frustrating. I don't have much help to offer, since I'm in the middle of a vanco taper right now and not sure what's normal or not. Just wanted to let you know I hope you feel better very soon.

hledgess
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Re: PI IBS

Postby hledgess » Thu May 07, 2020 2:53 pm

Thank you very much .. it came and went away and then back again.. I had waited to test for 6 weeks but did have pepto .. tests was negative so I hope nothing has changed or can change bc idk if that’s possible or not

roy
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Re: PI IBS

Postby roy » Thu May 07, 2020 7:37 pm

You have been on here for 4 and a half years and made 347 posts.
I would expect you to be aware that most of the mods are older and sicker than you, they give their time for free to help people.
It maddens me when someone complains that their post made a day or two back has not been answered!
Especially if that post is simply repeating what's been said or asked many times before.
Your probably right, you should stop asking questions!
Your repeating ones you already had replies to.

Caligirl
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Re: PI IBS

Postby Caligirl » Thu May 07, 2020 11:33 pm

Hledgess I think that people might not respond because it seems like you don’t want people to say anything other than exactly what you want to hear. You appear to ask a question, but already know the specific answer that you want us to give... and if anyone says anything other than that you either get really mad/defensive or you just ignore it and start a new post asking generally the same question. I know that I’ve stopped responding because it doesn’t seem helpful and like a waste of time. Again this is probably not what you want to hear, but this is probably why other people are not responding to you.

hledgess
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Re: PI IBS

Postby hledgess » Fri May 08, 2020 12:48 pm

Thanks I generally wanted an answer bc I’m not sure if I should wait it out or I’ll just go back n first now for week or weeks at a time of D .. or the sandwich threw me off for a week now .. or I would need to tested or if questran would be a good thing to do again.. all I know is I’m miserable bc of it and have lost way too much weight.. I have extreme anxiety n ocd and all the hype about covid has not made things better so I’m sorry if I seem on edge ..

Bobbie
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Re: PI IBS

Postby Bobbie » Fri May 08, 2020 1:18 pm

Hledgess,
Most of us are anxious. C diff is an anxiety producing disease - today's Corona virus is adding to the stress.

Look up the three-day rule and try to follow it for awhile.

With best wishes,

hledgess
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Re: PI IBS

Postby hledgess » Fri May 08, 2020 1:29 pm

I have looked it up.. I only had it 3 times two days after the sandwich but have had D every day since .. but already tested so it’s confusing I guess for me .. been a week today n lost 5 more pounds.. cramping as I type.. and just went orange as usual and red that looks like blood when I wiped .. I don’t have a hemmy .. so maybe a gi dr call ? Idk what’s going on I’m so confused bc that what I had 2 weeks ago when I tested .. so I guess if it’s once or sometimes twice that’s ok? Idk .. and the 3 times was two days .. I’ll call my dr b see if I can maybe get back on questran although I’m paying for it with my teeth rn .. had to have a root canal last week and this week the temporary crown.. it’s rough on the teeth so I don’t want to but at the same time I have no life even if there was a place to go and there will be in some states soon .. thanks for the reply
Last edited by hledgess on Fri May 08, 2020 1:56 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Bobbie
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Re: PI IBS

Postby Bobbie » Fri May 08, 2020 1:38 pm

Do call your doc.

Are you grinding your teeth? If so, ask your dentist to make a night guard that will protect your teeth - well worth the expense.

Best of luck,

Ril
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Re: PI IBS

Postby Ril » Fri May 08, 2020 2:39 pm

Sorry, I usually have patience but I am with caligirl and Roy on this one.
Covid has everyone anxious but that can’t be displaced here.
Last time I answered you I suggested you deal with anxiety and try therapy and meds if necessary.
Failing that call your dr with concerns because there is only so much you can expect from a support site. Nobody wants to “gang up on you” but I am out of constructive answers, and just wish you well.

hledgess
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Re: PI IBS

Postby hledgess » Fri May 08, 2020 3:10 pm

To answer the teeth question .. no I do not grind .. the medicine deteriorates your teeth .. is wondering now if I tested too soon as I read one in 5 ppl have it return 8-10 weeks later .. I tested at 6 weeks .. as far as covid I’m not worried or stressed about that.. more like what’s happening with my belly .. it hurts so much and so does my back .. THATS what I’m concerned about .. I would like to be hungry and be able to eat w out having to worry if I have to go D.. I’ve lost 30 lbs i didn’t need to or afford to lose .. and definitely can’t lose anymore.. I’m downing a bottle of pepto a day with no relief.. it doesn’t matter what I eat.. I take a probiotic and eat healthy once a day when I force myself .. I don’t know what else to do and figured maybe someone would have an idea so thought I’d ask..

Rusty S
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Re: PI IBS

Postby Rusty S » Sun May 10, 2020 2:12 pm

HLEDGESS
The anxiety that comes along with recovering from this is normal, fear not. So, I'm not a doctor and can only tell you what I've leaned/observed over the past 2.5 years of recovery, but with that caveat, I'll give you my amateur estimation of some of the things you brought up.

"D" Coinciding With Your Period: I'm not a lady but am well aware of the hormonal fluctuations that cause/exacerbate "D" during that time of the month. The irregular bowel habits can obfuscate your ability to determine the cause, and that's understandably stressful in and of itself. FWIW, the orange/fluffy thing was typical for me with C Diff, too (I rarely had the straight-up "watery" situation).

Diet: When you're recovering from C Diff, food intolerances are normal (as I assume you may know already). While the common culprits are lactose and gluten, foods that previously caused digestive upset may do so even more now. New random foods may contain ingredients that give you trouble, too. Keep watch on caffeine; it'll excite your colon (I stick to having a full stomach first now, which helps a lot). My understanding is this is all a result of the gut flora being imbalanced and having less biodiversity as a result of treatment, which brings me to the title of your post...

PI-IBS: So, IBS, in general, is really a set of symptoms which last for a specific period of time, if I understand correctly. While there's logically a cause/effect with *something* going on in the body, more than a couple of times I've seen it used as a catch-all for when the root cause is undefined. In the case of C-Diff though, my understanding is the "PI-IBS" is a symptomatic manifestation of the damage to the gut flora that 1) allowed CDI to happen in the first place; 2) results from the antibiotics used to treat the infection; and 3) caused an inability to process food the same while you spend the next few years rebuilding your microbiome.

Recovery Symptom Ambiguity: Quite possibly the most frustrating part of this ordeal is the fact that the PI-IBS symptoms so closely mimic CDI itself for the aforementioned reasons; and because people will test positive on a PCR test while recovering, if I were to connect the dots, subsequent additional antibiotic treatment further deteriorating the biodiversity of the gut microbiome is what may be responsible for the increased likelihood of subsequent relapse. Now, Beth22 recently replied on a thread of mine ("How Long Before Toxin Test During Recovery" if you wanted to read it) that doctors are now accounting for this and only considering you positive if you're testing positive for toxins and have symptoms consistent with CDI. I'm not sure of the sensitivity of the test, but I'd logically think if you still had spores present (to my knowledge the now-deprecated Flagyl and current-first-line Vanco don't kill them) you may test positive intermittently when they germinate... but don't quote me on that. This is my assumption of why the "three day rule" or "3x3" rule is a good litmus test. Digestive upsets are common for a few years after being treated with antibiotics for CDI, and Gastroenterologists and Infectious Disease Specialists have to carefully weigh the risks vs benefits with each round of treatment as a result.

Probiotics: So, another thing I can tell you from personal experience is there *are* probiotics that can make the situation worse. When I first had really mild symptoms, my maiden voyage into randomly picking up a probiotic that looked convincing from the grocery store shelf had me going to the bathroom 10+ times per day and resulted in my initial C-Diff test. On the other hand, Florastor has helped more than its hurt. Not all probiotics are equal for this. Pepto is okay in reasonable doeses (I use it too during flare-ups) but a *bottle* a day is a bit of a red flag. I'd tell your doctor about that one... or any medicine taken over the recommended limit as it could cause other systemic effects you may not be aware of.


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