Cdiff smell?

[boxer77]

Im done with my second round of flagyl. And the cdiff stool stench is still there, does that mean I still have the diff?

[boxer77]

BTW I found out what antibiotic gave me c diff, it is called Omnicef.

[Sheila1]

The important thing is, are you feeling better???

Only time will tell on whether your cdiff is still active. Your intestines are wounded and some smell often arises from that, in addition to the bacteria levels being out of kilter. If you aren't "sick-sick" I wouldn't worry about still smelling it.

But you should be extra cautious in your hygiene - from now on. According to the medical articles you will always have the spores - and the potential for illness - and the potential to pass the spores to other people without careful hygiene.

Cdiff we will always have, sickness we won't. It DOES eventually go away.

[boxer77]

Ya I feel better, but today the old colon is feeling kinda bloated every now and then, a little sharp pain here and there, nothing bad tho. I eat like a hog, and feel fine, I just worry about relapsing....
Thanks!

[Christina]

As long as you are not having frank diarrhea I would not worry. Although, we can't help but worry about relapse most people do recover after a couple of rounds of meds.. Only a few of us unlucky ones are left to relapse for longer periods of time. Try to keep busy and I know that is easier said than done but continuous worry will not help your body to heal and the stress will only add fuel to the fire.

I wish you the best of luck and I hope this round of meds. bring you to a speedy recovery.

[Nan]

After numerous relapses, I am still fighting this. Worrying about relapses is normal. I do not look forward to another, for sure, but I know that if I start up my Vanco as soon as possible I will be feeling a lot better in 24 hours, and back to “normal” in about 2 days. I realize the relapse will pass quickly and sooner or later I will recover from this monster disease, too.


Christina,

I knew that I will always have the spores and the potential for illness. I am very diligent with my hygiene, etc. I guess what I was not thinking about was that forever I can pass the spores to others. I have not done overnight trip to any friends or relatives’ homes since this began over 2 years ago as I do not want to use their toilets. Luckily I have 3 bathrooms in my home so no one uses the toilet I use, but I guess I was not thinking that this is how it might be a forever thing, not sharing a toilet at others’ homes for overnight visits.

[boxer77]

We only have 2 toilets, and for two months people have used the one I use, I tell them but oh well, no one here is sick. I clean the john with a bottle of spray bleach every now and then.
Mabey angels are loking after us? So far so good tho, this time after my second course of flagyl, really my first since I didnt take the first round like I should have, things are diffrent, stool is more formed, and IM back to my regular 2 times a day bm's. Yaaaa feels good to go noramly for a change.
Never thought I would be this excited about my bathroom habits. :>)

[Sheila1]

Nan,

I visit and have had visitors here too. I take my Clorox wipes with me and just make sure I clean the toilet seat when I go for an overnighter. If I don't have bleach (it doesn't kill the spores anyway) then I just scrub it with a papertowel - it's the washing/scrubbing that gets rid of spores.

Most hospitals consider a person no longer infectious once the diarrhea has stopped. Whether a person is truly not infectious at that point, I'm not sure, I'll try to do some more research on it and post the info. I find. (doesn't make sense to me since asymptomatic carriers can spread the disease unknowingly...)

The most important thing is your handwashing. Wash, wash and wash again.

No one has picked it up from me or my house; I think it is fairly rare for other family members to get it that way, but it does happen.

If you aren't sick and aren't having diarrhea, go and enjoy - just be as careful as you can while you're enjoying.

[Nan]

Thanks Sheila, Great advice. I guess should not be so worried about visiting.

Hopefully somewhere there is some research on when a person is infectious to others.

I have always been diligent handwasher even before Cdiff. Now if everyone, everywhere was..... how great would that be!

Nan

[boxer77]

Well the smell is gone, and smells back to normal, but I think my ortho biotics are loosening me up a bit, or it could be IBS. I feel tired all of a sudden through out the day, feel good after I eat then get real tired afterwards.
Colon gets that bloted feeling, then goes away. no blood and very little if any mucus, so that is a good sign. no fever. I hadvent had any caffine for about a month and I messed up and got a vanilla coke at steak n shake today, I think that messed me up a bit. Believe it or not I can eat pizza and it dosent bother me!
Can eat fish to.

[Sheila1]

boxer,

As for me, I continued with symptoms like yours (but had pain too from 'wounded' areas) for a couple months while I still had 'mild' cdiff and my body recovered on it's own without vanco. I was on Questran for about 40 days or so and it helped rid the last of the effects. It's also possible it's IBS as something like 1 in 5 are left with it after cdiff.

Glad to hear you are doing much better for the most part! (I too could eat pizza, and what a pleasure that first bite was after so long without it! I love pizza!)

[boxer77]

I relapsed today, got the fever and bad stools. luckly I had a refill for the metronidazole, Ill nip it quicker than I did the last time, going to call the doc on mon. see if he can put me on the vanco, 3 rounds of flagyl seems pointless to me, It makes me better for a week then bam.

[boxer77]

Doc stuck me back on flagyl, says this is best for me. 3rd round of flagyl for me, should I find another GI, this guy seems prideful, I asked him about vanco, and he didnt even answer me.
Im pretty ticked off with doctors right now, they wont freakin listen to me.

[Sheila1]

boxer, frankly I'd find another doctor and tell the other guy exactly what I thought on a note taped to the article (link) below.

Almost all recent medical articles suggest vanco after Flagyl failure (or at least after 2nd round of Flagyl fails).

Here's a Dec. 2006 abstract from PubMed:
Therapies for CDiff - PubMed

You don't need to get sicker, and it's pretty obvious the Flagyl isn't working - or you'd be getting better instead of sick again!

[Nancy1]

boxer77,
If I were you, I would look for another doctor, since this one doesn't listen and doesn't answer questions. I went from a GI doc (who was not very helpful and who gave up on me after 3 relapses) to an ID doc who listened, returned phone calls, and was willing to let me try pulsing (from this site). Happy hunting.