don't know what to do...

[iluvmydogs]

I took the second dose of Diflucan for a yeast infection and my stomach has gone downhill since. My bowel movements have decreased in size and I can only get out small amounts at a time. My doctor send me for an abominal ultrasound yesterday, I am still awaiting the results. He believes something is going on in my intestines because it is very tender to the touch. He is not convinced that I have C. Diff because I don't have any diarrhea. He is calling it "intestinal inflammation" and if it's not better in a few days to let him know. So I am basically playing the wait and see game. He prescibed me Nexium which is ridiculous because I don't have indigestion and PPI's can make C. Diff worse. I am really at my wits end and I don't know what to do. Should I try taking Culturelle to see if it helps? Does anyone have any advice on what to do to make my stomach feel better and actually have a normal bowel movement?

[feelinghopeful]

Hi again,

A while ago I sent you a respectable link on the different ways in which C-Diff can present - D is not an absolute as many here have written. I'm not sure if quotes are permitted but this is from that page: "Although colitis can occur throughout the colon, it is usually more severe in the distal colon and rectum. When patients develop colitis to the caecum and right side of the colon, they may have little or no diarrhoea". Perhaps printing it out and asking your doctor about it might open his/her mind. Three consecutive C-Diff tests is better than one. The tests are dreadfully inaccurate. It also could be diverticulitis, which I believe once complicated issues for me. It could be many things but with a history of C-Diff, don't let a doctor intimidate you into thinking it's all in your head. Anyway, C-Diff without diarrhea is often misdiagnosed so watch your temperature and trust your instincts.

Sorry you're in trouble.

[iluvmydogs]

Thanks for your response. I do remember the information you sent me. I just don't know what to do to help my body during this time since no doctors want to help me.

[Hua Kul]

feelinghopeful, could you post that link again or send it to me please? I printed out the page but can't find it now. It was very helpful. A few weeks ago my 82-yr-old father-in-law had the nausea, fever, and right side abdominal pain which the doctor couldn't diagnose. Also, his white blood count was high indicating an infection and his liver enzymes were high. It eventually resolved itself but no one ever suspected cdiff, even though his daughter (my wife) is recovering from it and we're temporarily living at her father's house.

--Hua Kul

[feelinghopeful]

Kul,

Here's that link. Glad it's of help to you and even more glad that your father-in-law is better. If you scroll down to the bottom of the page you'll find links to preceding and subsequent pages. Some of the info is good.

http://www.cdiff.nl/index.php?page=the-diseases

dogs,

I found the singular most effective probiotic in terms of alleviating intestinal distress quickly to be kefir, a yogurt like drink. Can't hurt. If in a few days you still feel ill tell the doctor who told you to call back that you'd like to be tested for c-diff, please. Just blurt it out. Like it says in the link above, most specialists are not well informed about the many ways in which c-diff presents. Mine sure wasn't. Bring a printout of that page with you on your next visit. If you're not satisfied with this person, go to another. Be persistent. Think about the outcome you want. If you want to be certain it's c-diff for your own peace of mind, show the doc some info on how in Brittain they test three times, not once. Someone here recently only tested positive on the last of three tests. If it's testing you want, find a way to get it. Go to a clinic and two different doctors to get the three tests if need be. I've been to four people so far for C-Diff and finally found the right person but it took some doing. Just don't give up and try not to despair. I hate that there's this elusive element to this disease. It adds so much additional stress.

I wish you well.

[Hua Kul]

If cdiff has infected the cecum and the patient has no D will the stool still test positive for cdiff toxins?

--Hua Kul

[iluvmydogs]

That is a really good question, Hua. My stool sample is currently being analyzed so I will let you know what comes back. It still really doesn't answer the question, but if it comes back positive then we know it will.

[cindym]

iluvmydogs- Diflucan can do a number on your intestines also! I also have found ANYTIME I take anything new my gut reacts the same way that yours seems to be behaving now. When this happens it makes you miserable. Try drinking a carbonated beverage.........as that always will break me loose! If not drink some danactive as it can and does give some people loose stools.

[Hua Kul]

iluvmydogs wrote, He is calling it "intestinal inflammation"...

In a Hamilton Spectator article (link posted somewhere here, I think by feelinghopeful, http://www.thespec.com/Local/article/436420 ) the statement is made,

"When the colon is damaged by C. diff toxins, the body's immune system recruits white blood cells to control the infection. This severe surge in the immune system, combined with the toxins, triggers an inflammation of the colon."

Dr. David Moskowitz in St. Louis has been studying the inflammatory responses caused by the body's severe immune system reaction for various infections and has developed a treatment to greatly reduce this dangerous response. He has had significant positive results in the patients he has treated for infections like SARS and West Nile Virus, for instance. I think it was SARS where he found that patients were not dying from the virus (very little of the virus was found in the brains of patients who had died) but from the body's raging immune system response. He uses lipophilic ACE inhibitors to reduce cellular angiotensin II to almost zero in tissues, and this mutes the immune overreaction. I recently emailed him about the colonic inflammatory response to cdiff and asked whether his treatment would reduce this but I have not yet received a reply. I'll post it here if I do.

--Hua Kul

[iluvmydogs]

Cindy, how long did it take for everything to calm down after the Diflucan? I took it last Tuesday and I'm still having problems. I tested negative for C. Diff today. I'm not constipated anymore, I am having the urgent need for a BM in the morning. It's a normal size and soft but not like diarrhea. It's very similar to the way my bowels were after I was cured from C. Diff the first time. The doctor is saying it's IBS. I had C. Diff four years ago and never developed IBS or had any stomach issues until now. I don't understand why my colon would be inflamed now and I have been completely recovered for four years. I will be seeing a stomach doctor in a few weeks.

[cindym]

After taking diflucan it took me about a week to 10 days to get back to my norm (if you have one at this point). I felt horrible on diflucan with the horrible fatigue, stomach pain and bm problems------almost like having the flu. It takes a toll on you. Give it some time and leave off any probiotics you are taking (in my opinion) until which time you feel better as they sometimes cause a lot of symptoms. Some probiotics that I have tried through the years actually made me feel I was becoming resistant to vanco so please understand no all people can tolerate probiotics.

[ClDif]

I have just finished 4 weeks of fluconazole 200 mg daily myself. Hardly had any side effects for a while, felt better than I had in a loooong time, and especially on the first day of taking it, it was as if a light had been switched on, energy levels rose like crazy and I felt good as gold for 2-3 weeks, but for the past 2 weeks my lower back, ie the last bit of the colon, has been very, very sore again. I knew I was still dealing with proctitis anyway, so it probably aggravated that. Now the rest of my intestines seems to have followed suit, everything is really sore, I am majorly bloated and feel like I did just before c diff got diagnosed... So I have stopped the fluconazole now and have gone back on mesalamine suppositories. Hoping that things will calm down again and uping the probiotics, too. So, am there with you iluvmydigs...;-). Always something...