relapse while on vanco?

[beth22]

I was wondering if it is possible to relapse with c diff while taking vanco? Has this happened to anyone? I took Cipro for 5 days and now have been on vanco for 2 - today 3rd day got D*. My dosage is 125mg 4 x per day - have always taken 250mg
4 x per day then 3 x for relapses in the past.

Beth

[monacat]

well... when i was on the 125's it didn't do a thing for my symptoms. So.. relapse? It never went away to begin with for me. hmm... that said could it just be that your colon is really irritated and providing you with some c-diff like symptoms??

[beth22]

I'm not sure what it is. I didn't have D* while on the cipro or the first 2 days on the vanco - but I don't know if the dosage of the vanco is enough to keep the c diff away. Will have to call doctor tomorrow. Only one week before I go for the transplant and would be bad to have a relapse now.

[beth22]

I'm pretty sure this one is a relapse - have gone about 8 or 9 times already. Don't remember vanco causing diarrhea, so it must have been the cipro and this dosage is just too low to knock it out. Don't want to increase without talking to doctor tomorrow though. I'm so fed up with this!!!!

[beth22]

The c diff toxin test came back negative (was on vanco) so lucky me gets to go in for a sigmoidoscopy tomorrow so the doctor can check to see if I have any pseudomembranes from c diff or some kind of colitis. The fun never ends! After my last one I had to stay home all day because of bleeding from the biopsies.

Beth

[trob25]

This is terrible news Beth :( I hope everything works out for you. I always thought you could have the transplant even with active C-Diff, is that not the case? Either way, hopefully you can get the transplant and be better a few days after.

Cipro is the med that pushed me over the edge for C-Diff btw. I took Cipro for an entire month (after a year and a half of various abs), then I felt weird for two to three months, then got C-Diff. To bad the doc couldn't have given you something more mild like Amoxicillin.

[beth22]

Yes, I wish I could take penicillin - am allergic for a long time now, although the particular bacteria I had was resistant to it and tetracycline as well. My only other choice was Keflex and that is higher on the list of ABs likely to cause a relapse.

I think it is the vanco giving me D* now - has anyone experienced this? I didn't have it when I started - same with the first time I took it. I am one of the few that had the c diff with pseud/ colitis with constipation - not for most of the relapses - but initially and I think for one relapse too. We'll see what the sigmoidoscopy shows.

For the transplant you are supposed to take vanco for 10-14 days prior to try and get rid of as much of the c diff as possible and in my case other bacteria causing SIBO too. So, hopefully the test will show if there are any pseudomembranes - actually hopefully it will show that there are NOT any.

Beth

[monacat]

vanco gave be more frequent bm's (about 6 a day throughout my 83 day taper) when i stopped i went back to normal frequency a couple weeks after .

[Bobbie]

Beth,
You PM'd me and asked same question on the site. Best to post on the site so you can get everyone's "take." I'm not posting on the site as much -- personal and health problems. Have been doing this almost 10 years -- too long.

Cipro is a "middle of the road" offender. See FAQ-Antibiotics Most Likely to Cause C.Diff./Antibio. Resistance

Being on Vanco. can cause a negative culture. Yes, there are some new strains of C. diff. that are Vanco. resistance but believe this is still rare. This is a medical question. Ask your doctors. Also ask about a stronger dosage.

During my 2nd bout of C. diff. (caused by Levaquin) taking Vanco. didn't help so I had "the broth" again. Perhaps you might consider this method altho. it isn't supposed to have as high a "cure rate" as the transplant. See info. on it in Doctors - Dr. Mark Allen, KC. It didn't work for me the lst time. Did the 2nd and 3rd times, however.

Best of luck.

[beth22]

Thanks everyone. Bobbie, I don't think I phrased my question correctly - what I was asking was if you relapsed at the time that you were taking vanco and the levaquin or did it happen after you had completed taking the meds, that is, were off? I did ask the doctor and they told me it was unlikely to relapse while still on the vanco - but it did happen to me when I had tapered down to one pill last year. I'm just not sure if it is likely to happen when taking 4 a day, be it 125 or 250 mg.

Beth

[cindym]

Beth- Yes it is possible to relapse while on vanco when taking another antibiotic. I have had to take antibiotics for surgery on 2 occasions and both times I relapsed even though I was still on vanco but it was much milder than normal relapse and was a lot easier to gain control of. However, I would NEVER think of taking an antibiotic without the added protection of vanco again in my life.

[beth22]

Was told to increase my dose of vanco to 250 mg today. Hope it works. Am having procedure in 5 days.

[cindym]

Prior to having surgery I stayed at the same dosage of vanco which was 3 (250 mg) per day and then 5 days after surgery the diarrhea started. They then upped it to 2000 mg per day for a week and it totally got it controlled really fast. Try not to worry because if cdiff wanted you it would have already had you........it is just a nuisance now to deal with when you have the need for antibiotics.

[beth22]

Yes, they want me to take what I used to take now, which was 250 4 x per day. I guess the 125 was just not strong enough because I had never taken that dosage. It would have been ok had I not taken the Cipro, but most likely it caused some type of relapse, one that didn't show in the toxin test, but I can't think what else it could be. Hopefully, things will "firm up" a little more - I do remember having to go a lot more often on vanco, but after I'm off I hope it goes back to "normal." I don't really know what to think anymore. But, I suppose better to have taken the Cipro before the stool transplant than after. I have to do this protocol for the next four days and then get the infusion. I hope to stay away from ABs for at least a year after that if I am able. Most importantly, I hope to be able to start eating a few more things and gain back some weight if I am able. I'm praying.

Beth

[Nancy1]

Beth, I'm sending you all kinds of good wishes. Let us know how it goes. Good luck!