Newly Diagnosed, about to start Vanco, lots of ?'s

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emabry
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Newly Diagnosed, about to start Vanco, lots of ?'s

Postby emabry » Thu Oct 05, 2017 1:44 pm

Hi, I'm a female in my early 30's and was treated with Clindamycin for an abscess. I ended up being on the antibiotic (that one and short courses of a couple others) for just about the entire month of August. About a week and a half ago, I started having cramps and needing to go to the bathroom more frequently. Mostly it was lots of mucus with my stool - sometimes only mucus and gas. Last weekend my stools got a bit looser, the cramps and pain ramped up, and I started on a different probiotic - generic florastor. While that's died down, and I still don't have the characteristic watery diarrhea, I'm visiting the bathroom MANY times per day, especially in the morning, sometimes being woken at 4am for the start of the morning bathroom trips.

Tuesday, I did a stool sample, and the results came back this morning as positive for C. Diff. and confirmed what both my doc and I thought. I heard many people don't tolerate Flagyl, so I asked for either Vanco or Dificid. Doc called in Vanco and I will go pick it up soon. I really wanted Dificid, but my insurance will only cover one treatment without a big fight so he wanted to be able to fall back on that if the vanco doesn't help.

Anyway, I'm thankful that my case is mild, that I'm not losing tons of fluids (though have some lost weight as nutrients aren't being absorbed).

Here are my questions:

When could I expect to see my trips to the bathroom start to diminish?
What should my diet be like? (I have been more hungry than nauseated thankfully but nausea does hit occasionally)
Should I continue to take the CVS Generic of Florastor+other probiotics/fermented foods while on the Vanco?
Is there ANYTHING I can do to be able to not be close to a bathroom constantly?
Should I be worried about my 4 year old son and husband getting it from me? I'm an avid hand-washer and wash well after each bathroom trip (with dry cracked hands to prove it).

beth22
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Re: Newly Diagnosed, about to start Vanco, lots of ?'s

Postby beth22 » Thu Oct 05, 2017 5:53 pm

Hi Emabry - Sorry that you had to find us, but welcome to the site. Please read the first forum for new posters if you have not already.

Dificid works best if it is given as a first medication - not as well afterwards, so you might speak to your doctor about that. I was also put on vanco, with symptoms almost identical to yours and I wound up having many relapses. I took 250mg of vanco 4 x per day. Dificid was not out then, but I wish that it had been, as I think it would have been a better choice.

As far as your questions go, usually vanco will kick in after a few days and you should see improvement with M and bathroom trips by the third or fourth day. For some, it gives looser stools though, so it is hard to say.
Diet - eat whatever agrees with you. I could eat most anything at the beginning.
Florastor will not be killed by an antibiotic since it is a yeast, so that is good to keep on taking. If you add another probiotic, such as VSL#3 or Culturelle, etc. then space that in between your doses of vanco.
I would not worry about your family too much. My husband shared my bed and bathroom during all my relapses and he never got c difficile. Does your 4 year old use a separate bathroom? Just make sure everyone washes hands well.

emabry
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Re: Newly Diagnosed, about to start Vanco, lots of ?'s

Postby emabry » Thu Oct 05, 2017 11:03 pm

Thank you for the response!

Yes, I pushed for the Dificid, but he wanted to go with Vanco - so hopefully it will be enough to kick this quickly.

We have one upstairs and one downstairs bathroom so we end up just using whatever is closer at the time. I have been washing my hands and wiping things down with bleach when possible but my 4 year old makes his way into our bed and is just a close kid, hopefully he will be ok.

georgina
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Re: Newly Diagnosed, about to start Vanco, lots of ?'s

Postby georgina » Fri Oct 06, 2017 12:06 am

Hi Emabry
Sorry you are dealing with Cdiff.
Like Beth said , Dificid would have been the best option as a first line treatment because since is made to target only clostridia species spares good flora and u need your good flora to grow back fast and occupy the "gaps" that Cdiff want's to rebuilt his colony in. Even though you are not able to get the Dificid , anything is better then Flagyl.Vanco has a better cure rate then Flagyl but still affects 20% of the flora. Taking probiotics helps but do not overdo it because they can upset your digestive system too if they taken in high amount , taking Florastor and maybe a few spoonfuls of yogurt per day is more then enough.

NanciT
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Re: Newly Diagnosed, about to start Vanco, lots of ?'s

Postby NanciT » Fri Oct 06, 2017 11:50 am

Most GI's wont prescribe Dificid as a first line of treatment. They are finally moving away from Flagyl and starting with Vanco. I would talk with your GI about a Vanco Pulse/taper which does work! We do have many on this site that did well on Vanco
Sadly due to cost it can be a battle to get Dificid. I had to fail treatment 3 times over 4 months for DIficid to get approved and I have a large PPO that usually covers everything.

Hopefully this will take care of it for you! Wishing you the best!

NanciT

Ril
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Re: Newly Diagnosed, about to start Vanco, lots of ?'s

Postby Ril » Fri Oct 06, 2017 7:13 pm

Hi emabry
One course of vanco was enough to cure me and hopefully it will do the same for you. I took Flagyl first but you are fortunate to go right to the vanco

I wouldn't worry about your family. You seem to be doing the right things. As Beth said, the key is good hand washing. Because your son is young, stress hand washing with him after he goes to the bathroom, before meals and encourage him to keep his hands out of his mouth. It is unusual for family members to becaome infected.

Rita


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