sinus infection after C.Diff

[Lady CDiff]

hi everyone,

it sure has been a long time... i had c.diff 3 years ago, the works with ps.colitis and all. got over it with metro and kefir. now my GI tract is absolutely 100% back to normal, and i can assure you i am grateful EVERY DAY OF MY LIFE for that.

anyways, in the past 3 years after c.diff i've managed to avoid antibiotics like the plague, but now i have this really nasty sinus infection, it is definitely bacterial and my GP wants to put me on an antibiotic. i think i will wait it out for another 3-4 days, try to flush it out with steam baths and saline spray, but i was wondering if anyone has taken antibiotics for sinusitis without problems of c.diff coming back.

sorry if the question is a repeat, i've read posts all the way back to march, and i found lots regarding UTIs, with macrobid and stuff that cannot be used for respiratory infections. the issue is further complicated by the fact that my husband and i have been trying to get pregnant for a few months now, and i never know if i actually am pregnant, so i can't do sudafed, nose drops, etc either

thank you very much,
lady CDiff

[abby]

I am still bothered by IBS and some other problems (including catching things I would NEVER have caught before c diff), but I did have to take a Z pak for bronchitis, after holding off for a month and coughing my head off. It cured the bronchitis and had no effect on my system at all, to my vast relief. I did up my probiotic intake while I took it.

Good luck!

abby

[Bobbie]

Lady CDiff,
Yes, I remember you. Have you posted to support anyone else in the three years since you've been "well?"

You are fortunate that your GI tract is now "normal." Not everyone is that lucky.

There is a lot of info. re. sinus infections in FAQ. See FAQ-Infections- Resp., Sinus, Ear, Bronchitis, Strep, Misc. Also see FAQ-Antibiotics.

If you are still miserable in a couple of days, I'd see a good ENT.

[paulah]

I took a z-pak this spring, in fact I had to take two courses of a z-pak, 3 weeks apart, for a sinus infection. I started a few days in advance of one culturelle and one primal defense (for the s. boulari)
a day, then while on the antibiotic I took 2 culturelle and a dan active yougurt and the PD. I took one culturelle after I finished the z-paks for two weeks.
There was no cdiff reoccurance, no more bowel upset than normal.
Taking that first dose of an antibiotic after being cdiff free for 4 1/2 years, though, WOW, it really worried me!

[Lady CDiff]

thanks for your answers, i will sure remember that z pak is the thing to take. i actually went to see a doctor, and he had no clue what C.diff was, and just couldn't understand why i won't take just any antibiotic, and totally thought i was crazy and/or overreacting. in the end, i decided not to fill the prescription, just stick it out with steam baths, saline sprays etc. and i think i might have cured this one, though New Years was no fun :)) i felt like crap still. but i guess this just serves as a reminder not to rush off and get the antibiotics right away, after i did a little research, approx. 50-70% of bacterial sinus infections will spontaneously resolve.

and to answer your question, Bobbie: i probably have not posted in the mean time, although i should have supported the others on this forum since the support i got meant so much. sorry about that! however, in the past 3 years that i've been "well", i've moved to Bosnia (been here for over 2 years now) - if you thought docs in the US are clueless about C.diff, you should come here... it's absolute chaos here in Bosnia, they haven't even heard of it. when i first came back and told my new GP that i can't take antibiotics due to this bacteria, she told me that those "allergies to antibiotics are so overrated, blah blah blah" and straight out refused to be my doc since she "couldn't do much without antibiotics", she said i was making her fight with both hands tied behind her back. and it's my life we're talking about!!! so i got mad, and used my experience with C.diff and the influence i have as someone with a managerial position in a huge int'l pharmaceutical company to organize seminars and lectures on C.diff (although it doesn't exacly fit into my managed product area), educate doctors and the public through articles etc about this disease. i have put myself out there as an example, and i get gazillion calls every day about this, almost to the point where i can't even do my job. anyways, it's proving to be somewhat successful, just the other night, at a business dinner, i mentioned something regarding pseudomembranous colitis, and this young GI said how many cases could be prevented with using fewer broad spectrum antibiotics, how he heard about it from other docs...

but, in short, i will make more effort to support others on this forum, as i said, it had meant so much to me when i had active symptoms.

thanks again for your answers, i do wish you all the bestestestest!!!

[anlockwood]

Lady Cdiff,
It sounds like you have done more then your part on trying to spread the word about c diff. Kudos to you for doing that and trying to do that in another country no less. That is amazing and thanks so much!
Amanda

[Bobbie]

Lady Cdiff,
Mea culpa. Can see why you haven't posted lately. Again, apologies for "sniping" at you.

Bosnia? Got to be difficult to be ill there. As part of a pharm. co., you are in a great position (& evidently have used it) to educate others about C. diff. Thx. for educating others.

Remember, a Z-pak is sometimes implicated in C. diff. I survived a round of it two years ago for pneumonia (without C. diff.) & am at "high risk." One of the good things about it is that it stays in your system for 10 days altho. you only take it orally for 5.

After my son had C. diff. (at th age of 4 in l979), our ped. quit us. I had a hard time finding one who would take my boys as patients. One told me the same thing" "You are tying my hands if I can's prescribe antibiotics." Gotta love 'em, right?

Thx. for promoting C. diff. awareness. Think many docs. (in every country) are not "up" on C. diff. but imagine it's worse in Bosnia.

[Bobbie]

Thx. Roy. Great article. Posted in FAQ-Infections- Resp., Sinus, Ear, Bronchitis, Strep, Misc.

[nsewell]

I too stil battle IBS but I have taken erythromycin (zpak) for sinus infection and survived. Now I also fought it another time with sinus rinses and nasonex. I try to wait them out now and try other things first. Good luck...

[diane]

Roy,
great article..
thanks for posting it

[maryinflorida]

I just finished a zpak a couple of weeks ago and so far so good. No problems, no relapse! I resisted doing it but I had an upper respiratory infection with a bad cough for over a month and figured if it turned into pneumonia I would then need antibiotics for a longer period. The zpak did the job and upping my daily dose of probiotics and yogurt seem to have kept the cdiff away. Good luck!