C Diff and Pain three months after recovery

[badStomach]

Hi All,
I was diagnosed with C Diff 3 months ago and I was hospitilized for 7 days. I completed a 10 day treament of vancomyacin and flagyl. A week or so after I was released I started to have relapsed type symptoms. I went to the Dr. and was tested and it came back negative. Since then, I have had constant diarreha, nausea, and an intense pain in the upper right side of my stomach. I have had two colonoscopies and one endoscopy. No results. I have been retested for C Diff several times and it has been negative every time. I have a nuclear gallbladder test scheduled in one week. Has anyone ever had problems with their gallbladder after having C Diff? Or as anyone had a similar experience that could offer some insight?

Thanks in advance for any info!

[Bobbie]

badStomach,
Read first forum ALL USERS READ THIS FIRST & its subtopics to guide you through the site. Read any pertinent topics in FAQ, especially Tests, Nutrition, & Hygiene.

If you are on Flagyl or Vanco. during testing (stool or colonscopy), they can negate your test results. Apparently, many docs. are still not aware of this. (I had this happen at Mayo Clinic -- the mecca of GI problems. Was on Vanco., all tests "looked good." Diagnosed with IBS. Went home & off Vanco. & became very sick again. Tested positive for C. diff.)

Best to be off Vanco. or Flagyl 10 to 14 days (14 best) if possible before testing. Use sterile (not just clean) container & three-day testing. Again, see FAQ-Tests. Even if all conditions are met, there are still many false negatives in C. diff. testing. (C. difficle - difficult in Latin -- so named because it is so difficult to culture & thus diagnose.)

Hope this helps. Let us know how you are doing.

Yes, one of our frequent poster, Cindy, had gall bladder problems. Am sure she will post.

Hope you are seeing a GI who is familar with recurrent C. diff.

[Sheila1]

badstomach,

I had specific upper right quadrant pain with my initial illness when they thought it was just IBS, it was just under my right ribs. They too thought it might be my gall bladder but sonogram ruled it out. Had it again, with all the other cramping and pain, when I ended up hospitalized with severe cdiff a few months later. It went away after a few days on Flagyl then Vanco.

Have you considered finding another doctor for another opinion on your cdiff? You might consider it if the gall bladder tests comes back negative. A few understand you can test negative and still have cdiff but you have to "hunt down" those doctors who are educated on the disease and the current strains/effects.

It sounds like you were given only the 10 day dose of medicine? No more in the past 3 months? I'm not surprised the first test, a week after vanco, was negative, but if you've been off all Flagyl/Vanco. for at least 14 days and had numerous other tests something should have shown - the odds were in favor of it anyway (doesn't mean it can't still be cdiff though). Are they testing for BOTH toxin A & B? They should be, many still only test for toxin A but strains that are toxin A neg. with B positive have been shown to be just as virulent.

Also, have you been tested for other organisms that can cause similar symptoms? Parasites, other bacterial infections, etc.? This article has a good list of other things to test for:
http://www.emedicine.com/ped/topic583.htm

Be persistent and don't give up - you'll eventually get to the bottom of it. Keep us posted on how you are doing.

[badStomach]

Thank you all for the helpful hints. I will be seeing the Dr. again tomorrow and I am going to ask him about it all.

Thanks Again!

[Jayne]

Wondering how you made out & how you're doing?
I too have very specific upper right ab pain. The 1s time I had it was during my 1st preg which ultrasound showed gallbladder problem. Seem to calm down after baby born. Then after 2nd child was born had severe attack which led to lap. removal of gallblr. Couple months later had worse attack, landed me in ICU w/cholangitis-serious. Told I have a problem w/my bile duct valve-it spasms closed & causes liver backup. Had the vavle cut (via ERCP) they call it a "papillotomy". This helped, however the valve scarred up again 2ce on me so I had to have it repeated 2 more times (every time I had pain in that area & elevated liver counts) said it could happen again. Pain took awhile to subside during each episode, but I had 3 yrs w/vertially little or no more pain. Then c.diff comes along-that type of pain returns intensly. My liver counts were OK. After reviewing endoscopy results, my Dr & GI suspect that my dialated duodenum is to blame for pain. So I take anti-spasm meds (which barely help) & hope it will go away. Took about 4 mos before I noticed significant improvement. But now I am dealing with a most likely reoccrance of c.diff & suffering once again w/nasty upper right ab pain (when it gets real constant it radiates to my back). That's my story.