When does mucous stop?

[channah]

I posted on the general board yesterday.
My husband had been recently diag with c diff. What a nightmare.
His question is has any one had problems with mucous?
And if you have, how long does the mucous last after the c diff is gone?

Thank you.
Chris

He was on flagyl for 10 days Feb2nd-12th and started vanco Feb22nd

[nsewell]

I think about everyone with c-diff gets the mucus. For me I still get it occasionally and I dont have c-diff anymore. I have IBS now and you get it with that too.

[Sheila1]

channah,

If I, myself, were still having bad symptoms after 2-5 days I'd call the doc.

What dosage is your husband on? It's very possible the dose needs to be increased (barring any other issues that may effect things). Call the doc and put some pressure on him to get these symptoms resolved.

If you don't trust the doctor, call around town and see if you can find a good GI doctor or Infectious Disease doctor by asking, specifically, if they have any experience with recurrent CDiff (ask to speak to one of the nurses, not the front desk people).

Make sure your husband is staying well hydrated. Foods rich in potassium would probably be beneficial too (a common need with CDiff).

Keep us posted on how he (& you!) are doing ~

[Sheila1]

channah - one more note -

my answer was based on your husband having to wear a diaper (if I remember that part right).

nsewell is also correct though, but the mucous from IBS or healing Cdiff doesn't generally keep one virtually incapacitated.

Maybe I misunderstood your husband's current state of illness; but I would call the doctor if it were me and the mucous was severe....

[channah]

Sheila & nsewell,

Thanks for taking time to answer.

My husband is on 250mg vancocin hci 4 times a day.
The regular dr is on vacation this week but we have an appt with the GI dr on monday for a sigmoid scope. Hopefully he has some answers.


Have been reading about the probiotics. Very interesting. I think we will try that route.

Thanks again.

Chris

[Sheila1]

Chris,

I sent you a private message with some additional information. And Bobbie just posted some good info. on probiotics, and VSL#3, in the post "It's Duke again..." in the Questions section. You might want to read up on that and the FloraQ link.

Different doctors recommend different things - mine recommended the FloraQ 2/day (which is double the recommended dose for a "well" person).

Also, a hospital in Canada reports very good success using Bio-K - as a preventative as well as additional treatment (article in the Media section). I haven't tried it, but many on the site have. Probiotics help some people, but not others.

[Christina]

I also had mucous. It is caused by irritation/inflammation of the colon. For me, every time I would relapse about 24 hours ahead of the diarrhea I would first start w/mucous and blood, continuous about 20-30 times a day until it would switch over to the D. At the mucous point I would always wait to go on Vanco until it actually did switch over so I could collect a more accurate sample. Once on the Vanco, everything mucous and D. would stop within 12-24 hours but I also took very high doses of Vanco to stop them. I've always been told not to let it go for more than 24 hours or the infection sets in too much so going by that if it has lasted more than 24 hours and symptoms are getting worse I would call the Dr..
As reported by some here and according to the Rome criteria mucous can also be present with IBS. Therefore, you need to try to differentiate between a relapse and IBS. Not easy to do but you will know a relapse. there is no mistaking one.
The only time I have had mucous is with C-diff. Even with all of my after issues it has never resurfaced but then again everyone is different.
If you do try probiotics start off slow as they can cause c-diff like side effects as well.

[channah]

Thanks for your posts,

5 days before my husband was diag with his second round of c diff his surgeon did asigm. scope and told us he did not have c diff. 5 days later he tested positive.
He wears a diaper for the mucous not D. His D left over a month ago. That is what has me bewildered. And I can't remember any distinctive smell when he had D. His surgeon says he never had c diff and doesn't now. HOW could he test positive unless he had it?

today he started back with the muscle spasms.

Chris

[Bobbie]

channah,
To my knowledge, there are many false negatives for C. diff. and few (if any) false positives, but I am not a doc.

It doesn't sound as though you or your husband have much faith in his doctor. I'd consider finding a new one. If you don't have a GI or an ID (infectious disease doc.), I'd find one in either of those area.

Check Doctors on this site for names some had good luck with when they had C. diff. Or call a teaching hospital in your area, explain your husband's situation, and ask for referrals. Since your husband had surgery, there are multiple factors involved which can complicate everything.

I wish we could help you more, but many of your questions need medical advice -- which we aren't equipped to give.

[channah]

Thanks, Bobbie

We are going to GI Dr. Monday morning for a sigm. scope. Hopefully he can tell us something. This Dr is the one that did his colonoscopy back in Oct of last year. He was almost certain that the tumor my husband had was cancer. When the surgeon removed it in Nov. he said it was the largest he had ever removed. It was a villia adenoma (not sure if that is spelled right) Thank God it was not cancer.

You can not imagine what a relief it is to be able to talk to and hear from others with this problem. Until last month I had never heard of c diff. It's amazing what we can learn when we have to.

Thanks to all who have posted.

Will let you know how we make out at GI Dr.

Chris

[Bobbie]

channah,
Good luck on Monday. Write your questions down before you go to the appointment & check each one off as the doc. answers it. No one goes to the doc. because he/she is feeling well -- easy to forget to ask something. Try to limit your questions & rate them by their importance. The exess mucus would be #1 on my list & when/if will it stop? What does it mean? What about positive culture?Also, if your husband is still on med. (Flagyl or Vanco.) ask if it will affect result of exam.

Again, good luck.