Out patient surgery and antibiotic

[Cathd80]

Hi everyone!

I was a fellow sufferer for over a year but it has now been 18 months and with yogurt, peppermint capsule, and Culturelle I have returned to a normal GI life. I am grateful EVERY day!

Unfortunately, I have to have a D & C and my doctor says she routinely gives a one dose infusion of Ancef with the procedure just in case of infection. I'm trying not to freak out but like many of you, even hearing the word antibiotic makes my heart pound and gut hurt.

Ancef is a semi-synthetic form of cephalosporin which I know is on the bad list but have any of you heard of it? Might it be a newer less toxic form? And might it be less likely to have impact if I'm not staying in the hospital etc?

Any input is appreciated. I have a call into my old GI doc to ask her about it. I feel like I'm between a rock and a hard place- I need this procedure but don't want the drug but don't want to get sick........

[fire7163]

Just checked with the ER Doc's and Ancef is a wide spectrum nonselective antibacterial drug,( kills pretty much everything ) actually it's the same drug as Cephalsporin . I would seriously consider calling your Doctor, explaining your concerns and provide them with the antibiotic list in the FAQ section of the site to see if there's a safer choice. If it was my choice, I'd avoid taking the risk.

[HEATHER28]

Hi Cathy

I agree with fire7163 if I were you I would call your Dr and explain the situation and voice your concerns with him/her. Hopefully he/she will understand and give you something else.

Good Luck

[cindym]

I did fine with one round of rocephin (IV) prior to surgery. I just had to increase my vanco for about two weeks.

[crissiej]

I did fine with my dose of ancef during my c-section and I GRILLED my doc about why an antibiotic and my previous C-Diff. I did take probiotics before during and after the antibiotic.

[Jan]

I would stand my ground and say no to the ancef. I just had a D & C, hysteroscopy and novasure ablation and my doctor wrote on my chart no antibiotics but when I called the hospital I was told I might of been given ancef and now I am suffering with relapse symptoms. Keep us updated on how things turn out.
Jan

[Cathd80]

My GI doc called and said while she did not have stats she would think very hard before giving me ancef as it is "very likely" to cause c.diff. So I called my gyn doc's nurse and told her that I did not want ancef and gave her the 3 options the GI doc gave me (bactrim, tetracycline, or vanco). I said if she felt it was absolutely necessary to use an antibiotic it had to be one of those or I didn't want anything at all.

I'm unemployed and trying to get a job and I simply cannot imagine rejoining the workforce with c.diff. I don't think I could. It was by far the worst physical time of my life. So, we'll see. The nurse was very nice and said, "Oh no, if that's the case then we won't use Ancef. I'll talk to the doctor and she'll let you know what she decides before the surgery."

[fire7163]

I am scheduled for disk surgery in 2 weeks due to an OJI. I talked with the surgeon about antibiotics..after I explained that I had battled C-diff, he suggested that he would use vanco as his choice. He also asked to see tha antibiotic list in the FAQ's for future patients. Apparently we're making some progress. He also stated that he was going to share the site with his partners.

[Cathd80]

Hi everyone!

I wanted to say thanks for all the input. Thankfully I have a very good doctor and she changed the antibiotic to IV Vanco. It's as much as I could ask for. The procedure went fine and the drugs they give you are SO nice...good thing I didn't get a prescription or I'd be in trouble.

Anyway, I'm taking my Culturelle and have had NO problems plus my tests came back normal. So all in all a good experience. I hope anyone undergoing any procedure and dealing with c.diff will have the same!!


Catherine

[Bobbie]

Cath80,
Good for you for "sticking to your guns." My ENT told me years ago that often antibiotics (esp. the ones by IV) given for surgery are not necessary & seldom help but are given as "standard operating procedure."

When I had sinus surgery, I wrote on my arms with magic marker "NO ANTIBIOTICS." I came through fine. No antibiotics needed. Of course, there are times when antibiotics are necessary -- but as "C. differs" we need to be sure they are absolutely necessary & as narrow in spectrum as possible (& still work).


Fire,
Good luck with your surgery. I think more & more docs. are looking at this site. Maybe we are making some headway, but it is so slow!

[Tricia]

I work as a pre-op nurse in a surgery center and the majority of doctors don't give IV antibiotics for a D&C. They don't even give antibiotics for the ablations.

I talked to my ENT doctor as I have wanted to have sinus surgery for reduction of turbinates and repair of a deviated septum. I thought it couldn't be done without antibiotics and have put if off for a year because of my c. diff infection. He told me he would do it without antibiotics if I was willing to do sinus rinses daily until I healed.

I think things are changing and it's because of the efforts of sites like this and people who have suffered through this nasty bug!

[paulah]

I'm 4 1/2 years post cdiff and now I have to have sinus surgery in May to remove LARGE polyps. I grilled the dr about antibiotics, he said he prescribes a "mild" antibiotic and no one he has operated on ever came down with cdiff, and he had operated on a few former cdiff sufferers. He said it was a z pak, I told him a few people from this site came down with cdiff again after a z pak, but he said I had to take it, that if I got an infection, I would need alot more antibiotics than a zpak. He couldn't understand why I was freaking out about the antibiotics.... I did talk him out of giving me the antibiotic in the IV. So I will start 2 culturelle, 2 primal defense and one activia yogurt while I am on the z pak. Too many Probiotics give me a gut ache and more washroom time, but it will be worth it if no cdiff returns. I'll let you know what happens a few weeks after the surgery.

[carrie]

All the best to you during and after your surgery, I'm sure all of us feel you anxieties regarding the use of antibiotics after the procedure. Try to keep positive and continue exploring options that might be available.

[nsewell]

I have been able to tolerate the zpak and couple times since cdiff. I just upt my probiotic and ate activia while I took it and all is fine.

[paulah]

nsewell,
Thanks for the reply!
Did you take any florator along with the probiotics when you were using the z pak? I am debating weather or not to take that, too. The Primal D has sacc. boul. in it, which is what the florasor is, but the Primal D. makes my liver enzymes rise. I might take it anyway, if only for a month. What probiotics did you take, how many live cells were in it? The culturelle has 1 billion each caplet, which I don't know if that will be enough.