cdiffdiscuss.org

Hello, my name is Tonya and I was diagnosed with cdiff at 30 last July. Had it for two months straight but likely lived through it off and on for years. (Sadly, once I was better and isolated from friends their stomach issues vanished too? Yikes)

Question is, it’s been about 9 months since I’ve gotten better but I’m going through it again. I’ve had no antibiotics or crazy changes, only quarantine. I’ve cleaned my house top to bottom and gone through every drawer and box.. could the spores have laid dormant that long? Where else could I get it?

Also, this is my second time, doctor said every time is different. This is awful, feels like my insides are melting. What was anyone else’s second round like compared to the first?

Hello Tonya
Sorry you are dealing with CDiff.
For me the first time was the worst , i had the most terrible stomach cramps , really bad D ,M, couldn't eat anything , nausea .After i was diagnosed i started Metronidazole i got sicker , couldn't stop vomiting , couldn't even keep down water etc. I had multiple relapses but not like the first time , symptoms were present ( D , M) but they were somehow milder , frequency was not very bad , at least not every 30 minutes , was still able to eat bland foods like chicken breast , soup without , drink tea or water without throwing up etc. It was still bad , but not like the first time when i thought that it is going to kill me.

I was the opposite of Georgina. My first time was mild compared to the relapses. You can pick up c diff spores anywhere - shoes, purse, money. It's even in the soil I have read.

I can't speak to the physical symptoms, but I assure you that you wouldn't become reinfected due to dormant spores in your home. Many people "overclean" after being diagnosed with c. diff, under the mistaken impression (sometimes advanced by misinformed medical practitioners) that their environments are teeming with infectious spores. Unfortunately, c. diff can be acquired through "community spread" -- that is, you can pick it up, from an unknown source, despite not having been on an antibiotic or having had exposure through the more common routes, such as during a hospitalization or from contact with someone in a nursing facility where there's an outbreak. There's not much that can be done to avoid community exposure other than to isolate oneself inside the home -- kind of like what many of us have been doing during the COVID outbreak. That said, extreme isolation is probably more of a threat to well-being than c. diff.

Not based on any study, just based my common sense :-) I believe most of community acquired C-Diff infection are from eating uncooked food that was prepared by someone with C-Diff that didn't wash the hands properly. Have you had anything to eat before getting sick that tested unusual, like a sandwich or a salad ?

I am planing to avoid eating out any food that restaurant employees touch after it is cocked.

Your getting this all wrong Ali.

Roy, that is only way that makes sense to me . To get it from surface, it would mean from surface to your hand and then form your hand to you mouth, it is seem unrealistic, most people wash their hand before eating. Plus most likely you would notice if you had stool on your hand.. Moreover, I hear you have to digest many C Diff bacteria in order to get sick not just few.

Ali, the disease you are referring to is Hepatitis A, not c diff.
C diff is not transmitted that way but Hep A can be, via food workers who have not adequate washed their contaminated hands. Your theory about c diff spread that way is, as Roy has said, incorrect.

This video might help you understand.

https://youtu.be/I5-dI74zxPg

around 100 million c.diff bacteria will fit on a pin head
You cant see it or taste it.