Newly diagnosed, wanted to share experience

[TheKY]

Hello, I was diagnosed on 2/16/2017 with c diff. This is my first post and want to share my experience.

I'm 26, female. No major health issues prior to c diff. It all started with my wisdom teeth removal on 1/13. The oral surgeon prescribed me Amoxicillin 825mg 2x per day for 7 days. On 1/26, I accidentally chewed near one socket and had to mess around with it to get the food out. On 1/27, I started to feel unwell and feverish and thought i might had an infection in the socket. My GP prescribed me another week of Amoxicillin 825mg 2x per day. I myself added 200mg Flagyl 3x per day during that week. I was off antibiotics on 2/6.

My cdiff started on 2/11. I was feverish and eventually was running a temp of 101.8F. Then after dinner, the cramp and frequent trips to bathroom started. Stool went from solid to watery. I was waking up every 2 hours to go. I was definitely going more than 10x a day.

This lasted for about 3 days. I thought the fever was from my tooth infection and the D was just because something I ate. The fever was gone after ibuprofen. I called my GP on Monday 2/13, and he said he wanted stool sample. I was still going through the cycle of cramping/going/relieve at that time. Not knowing what's going on, I took Berberine Hydrochloride tablets to treat the D (which i now know it's not a good idea to use anti-diarrhea at this point). My D was mostly gone and I started to have more solid stool. Still going 2-3 times a day and have occasional cramp/discomfort though.

I got the result on 2/16, positive for cdiff. My GP put me on Flagyl 500mg x3 per day for 14 days.

Flagyl started to give me some side effect after about 4 days in, tiredness, warm skins (feverish), nausea, loss of appetite. My BM hasn't really changed much. I am sleepy most of the time. Sometimes i still feel as if i need to go, but nothing really comes out.

I am also taking probiotics (the brand is NOW, 25 billion CFU). Drinking Lifeway Kefir. Eating vitamin gummy.

That's where I'm at right now. I don't know where this is all going but I'll just ride along.

[Tsc1964]

So sorry your going through this all. Hopefully the flagyl will knock it out of you . One of the administrors will be on to welcome you. I know this is no group no one wants to join but they are best for support.

[georgina]

TheKY
Welcome to the site , please read the first thread for rules of posting , nutrition , hygiene etc .
So sorry you are dealing with Cdiff , hopefully this round of Flagyl will take care of it. It seems like you are responding well to Flagyl but is a very harsh drug to take ,and you have to deal with many nasty side effects . I personally couldn't tolerate Flagyl more then a week. By the end of that week I had to switch to vanco and it was like a night and day difference : my appetite came back , nausea and vomiting stopped etc , I felt more normal.
About probiotics : try to space the probiotic you are taking now well apart from Flagyl and read about Sacharomyces boulardii , is a yeast probiotic that won't be killed by antibiotics.

[KLor]

Welcome to the site! I'm sorry you're here under these circumstances, but I hope the Flagyl is effective for you and you're feeling yourself again soon. Another note on probiotics--if NOW is helping, awesome. But you might want to look into VSL#3 as a bacterial probiotic. It is specifically designed for folks with irritable bowel diseases, so it doesn't contain prebiotics, fiber, or other things that can irritate a sensitive gut. Something to think about if you don't feel the NOW is helping at any point. Florastor is also a good suggestion, as it's a yeast probiotic and will not be impacted by the abx.

Wishing you a fast recovery! Take care.

[Ril]

As Georgina said, many cannot tolerate Flagyl and ask to be switched to vancomycin due to terrible side effects. If you continue to feel ill from the Flagyl don't hesitate to contact your dr and let him know how you are feeling and ask for a change of medication. Sometimes it is hard to know if you are feeling ill from c diff or the med but if in doubt you may still want to ask for a med change just in case. I was able to tolerate Flagyl with no problem but I was in the vast minority.

Whatever probiotic works for you is fine. It is most commonly recommended that Sacharomyces boulardii, the generic of Florastor, a yeast probiotic, be among one taken since it is not killed by by antibiotics.

[TheKY]

Thanks everyone!

I'm still taking Flagyl, halfway through the course. The side effect comes and goes so I thought I would stick to it and hopefully no more medicine is needed. The biggest difficulty is probably the fatigue and muscle soreness. Every time I wake up in the morning, it feels like I worked out for hours the day before.

I also added Florastor. I hate swallowing pills so I sprinkle the powder in yogurt :)

BM is still ok, going 1 time per day, solid-ish. Still having sensation of going several times throughout the day.

[TheKY]

Just as an update and also seeking some advice here...

I stopped taking Flagyl on 3/1 (i still have 10 out of 42 pills left). The side effects are just bad, I can tolerate but it just drained me too much and causing me to miss work.

Shortly before stopping Flagyl I started to have some stomach pain (2/27 i think). Now yesterday and today, while off flagyl, the pain stays, and today is almost immediately upon i woke up. Still no D, stool is as normal as it can be. I'm worried if I need to finish remaining 10 pills. But who knows, they can make me feel sicker again...I do plan to call the doctor about it but just want to see what people here think.

[Davidtm]

I was able to tolerate liquid vancomycin very well. Everyone is different but I would definitely discuss with the treating dr your experience on flagyl and that you stopped taking it. Only Drs can prescribe and give medication advice and treatment. I was switched to vanco. Hopefully you're cured from this quickly! Hope you feel better soon

[roy]

If you have taken the flagyl according to your Drs recommendation but you have pills left over you should not self medicate with them.
If you stopped the flagyl course early there's probably no point in restarting 3 days later.
If stopping caused harm it's already been done.
Normal stools sounds like recovery and "off" days are to be expected.

[TheKY]

Thanks Roy and David.

After lunch I had a cup of Kefir (which i had no trouble drinking while I was on Flagyl), and the abdominal pain got worse (maybe because the Kefir is cold? I don't know...) I had my 2nd BM today, still formed but much more mushy than the early morning one. The ache is still there and on/off sensation wanting to go but once i sit down on the toilet, it's either nothing or gas.

The reason I'm afraid it's the stopping Flagyl early that caused this is because I was feeling fine when I took the last pill, but the next morning I immediately started to get this disturbed stomach feeling. And today as 2nd day off Flagyl, it's worse.

I'm going to see my doctor on Tuesday 3/7 to follow up and discuss plans if things really get worse. And I'll make very clear to him that I'm not going to Flagyl anymore...

[georgina]

It's been two years since i've came down with Cdiff and ever since it started i've had all kinds of wierd food intolerances , one of them is yogurt/kefir , can tolerate any of it because it gives me gas and bloating and i'm not lactose intolerant , i have no problem eating cheese and butter. Try to cut back on the kefir for a day or two and see if you feel better.

[JMich09]

I'm also 26 and recently diagnosed. I haven't been on antibiotics recently, no hospital stays (but I do work at one in a non clinical role).

Just started my Metronidozle today... did you notice the nausea was better or worse with food?

[Benh]

Other may chime, in but for me the nausea was better if I took it with food, although I did take a zofran on at ,east one occasion while in the Flagyl. I ended up not being able to tolerate it due to heachaches and dizziness and general feeling bad mentally. I switched to vancomycin after 4 days, and now in my first relapse period, back on vancomycin but with a taper and pulse at the end of 14 days...hopefully,this will do it. Good luck and if you find you can't tolerate the Flagyl asked to be switched to either vancomycin or dificid.

[TheKY]

I was instructed to take it with food as flagyl can be pretty harsh on your stomach. But there were times I took it without food. I did not notice any pattern of when nausea came on. Sometimes it started couple hours after i took the pill.

I'm still worried about the abdominal pain. The fact that it started the day after I ended Flagyl is strange. Cdiff having a party just 24 hours after they saw no flagyl coming? The pain has been constant, heating pad is my buddy right now. This morning i actually felt the pain eases a little bit but in the afternoon, a cup of water triggered it??? Going crazy.

[Lisa33]

TheKY - you can still be recovering from the Flagyl. No D is a very good sign that you are not relapsing. However, if things start to decline, please talk to your doctor about vanco or dificid. Flagyl is intolerable for many, including myself. I did get through a 10 day course of it for my first round of treatment. For some reason, it was somewhat bearable. However, after 2 weeks off of it, I relapsed. My doctor put me back on Flagyl again. This time, it was completely unbearable. It was pure torture. The side effects were intense nausea, fogginess, dizziness, achiness, furry mouth, and zero appetite. It was making me sicker than the c-diff. Thanks to this board, I pushed to be switched to vanco. After 9 days of hell, my doctor finally switched me, and what a difference. I felt really good on the vanco, and that is what ultimately cured me. But, in my opinion, no patient should have to endure that intense sickness from meds, while being so sick with c-diff. Especially with a med that has the lowest cure rate. Push for vanco or dificid next. Although some get side effects from these meds, they have higher cure rates. Dificid targets the bad bacteria only, which is also another plus. Hopefully, you won't need another round though.