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I'm confused by something. On day 5 of vanco and improving. The skin on my hands is withered and has poor elasticity, which seems like a sign of dehydration, yet my pee is not dehydrated appearing. Has anyone else experienced this and have any insight? The D has stopped and I'm drinking so my hydration should be good. Just confused.

Did you lose a lot of weight? I would ask the doctor about that one. It comes with age too, but not suddenly as it seems happened to you.

Hi Beth, thanks for answering. :) Yeah, I lost 6 lbs in 48 hours from liquid diet plus hourly D. I was drinking constantly. At one point I drank at least 4 liquid IV packets in one day. It was crazy.
I'm doing so much better now but skin is still weird. Now I have the terror of it coming back. I will still be on antibiotics until Monday, and beyond that I'm going to ask for taper/pulse regimen. I tried to tell the doctor that's what I needed but of course he didn't listen. I see my PCP Monday, which is the last day of the antibiotic unless he puts me on taper/pulse, which he will probably do because he's reasonable & I'm gonna bring in the written protocol. I just hate it when they don't listen, that's what was so traumatizing about c diff for me before, it's like you're just along for the ride when they don't listen, terrifying.

It happened to my skin, but I lost 20 lbs. I don't know if 6 is enough to do that, but obviously there is a reason. I would ask the doctor about it. Good luck getting the Rx. Hopefully the protocol paper will help.

Almost all of the liquid in our body is absorbed by the colon.
All our gut content is a liquid slurry untill it reaches the colon where the liquid is extracted and stool becomes solid (then passes out).
The body gets its liquid via the colon
C. Diff causes the colon to go into reverse and instead of absorbing liquid is pumps it back into the colon sack to flush it out.
No matter how much you drink very little is absorbed by your body when the main absorbing organ is under attack.
A fast 6 pound weight loss means you lost 6 pints of body fluid!
You had signs that you might need IV rehydration but now the D has stopped it should correct itself.
If it happens again check with your Dr or go to ER.

Oh goodness! Thanks for letting me know, Roy. I appreciate the explanation.
6 pints is surprising, yet also not, given what was happening! I believe it.

[this is 3charmer, original poster, now posting under my old name since I'm back in now]

roy wrote:

> You had signs that you might need IV rehydration but now the D has stopped
> it should correct itself.
> If it happens again check with your Dr or go to ER.

Roy, I asked him about it today. He said the same thing, you can get a kind of dehydration where your body is processing the water but you are still dehydrated due to electrolyte loss. I find that so hard to believe because I was drinking FOUR liquid IV replenishment drinks a day at the height of this!!! But I also believe it. Anyway MD gave the same advice, if it happens again, go to urgent care for IV and labs.

If your colon is not absorbing water you could drink unlimited amounts but still become seriously dehydrated.
It's not a case of drinking enough, it's the body not utilising what you do drink.

Thank you, that is an excellent explanation. Makes total sense.

Although I'm done with the vanco, I started getting the withered skin on my hands again. Let primary care doctor know and he said to come in for IV fluids so I'm doing that today. I'm still having D 2-4x a day but it's not liquid. I'm so frustrated with this recovery, it's rocky. I think I probably advanced my diet too soon, thinking I was better than I actually am. So I have scaled it back to mostly liquid again, with some bananas.

I actually scheduled an appointment with a different doctor before I got the response from my primary care doctor, and I went in to see the different doctor who said I'm not dehydrated, which was very confusing because then why do my hands look withered with all of this loose skin? Not normal for me. This doctor also told me to take imodium to stop the diarrhea, and if I'm not better by next week I may need another course of vanco.

I don't feel comfortable taking the imodium because I'm not sure that the c diff isn't back and I know it's bad to take when you have it. So I'm just going to downgrade my diet for now.

I'm so exhausted from all of this. Meanwhile I'm canceling and rescheduling clients to allow me to go to the doctor and now to the IV fluid appointment. Just exhausted and also tired from worry. I find myself longing to be back on vanco, at least then I know I'm going in the right direction, but of course I have to stop someday and go through this period of ambiguity at some point.

My doctor told me no Imodium. Pepto I’m small amounts to help but it will not mask c diff. I also have some skin that looks like that on my arms, but I believe it’s from weight loss from being sick. I just make sure that my urine is light yellow to ensure that I’m properly hydrated. Also, your hands might look like that if you are washing your hands a lot and from cleaning. I would try lotion and see if there is a difference. Mine were very bad from bleach Ans washing hands constantly!!! I know you are exhausted, I felt the same way. Hang in there!!!! I’m sure it will get better!!

I'm not a medical professional, but it sounds like you might be experiencing something called "skin tenting."