No WD

[Bryan30]

I am a little confused when I hear advice saying "If you do not have watery diarrhea do not retest". Since my battle with C-Diff started (after antibiotic treatment for Giardia) I have never one time had WD. I never even had Diarrhea with Giardia which is the number 1 symptom. It has always been left sided pain, upper and lower. All scans (every MRI/CT/ Endo/Colon/EUS have been normal. Stool test confirmed C-Diff. I tested positive for toxin A and toxin B. I relapsed twice on vanco, and was then given Dificid after quite a spat back and forth with insurance. I still deal with this left sided pain and constant nausea and am playing the "is it PI-IBS" game. Throughout this whole ordeal it has been loose stool and mud type but never watery Diarrhea.

[roy]

Look up the Guidlines for testing and treatment of c.diff if you don't have D.
Asymptomatic c.diff is not a disease and if your symptoms have not been resolved with c.diff meds it points towards a misdiagnosis (or overdiagnosis).
If by relapse you mean a positive test without c.diff symptoms then that is not a relapse!

[beth22]

You can still have an active case, but not WD. I did. For people who tend to be generally on the C side, sometimes it is not WD, but it is usually frequency - more than 3 or 4 times per day. I had a lot of M and some bleeding, a lot of nausea. Symptoms will vary, but if you are just having looser stools and pain, then it may not be an active infection. Doctors always have to look at symptoms as well as test results. I have been testing positive on PCR for over a year, but negative on EIA ever since I took antibiotics last year. However, my infection is not considered active because I don't have D. If it changes, then I will treat, but have been advised not to unless it does.

[Bryan30]

Thank you very much for your response. This can be a confusing disease. When I was first diagnosed it was just the loose stool, and mucus. It was never the Diarrhea. I would start to feel better on the antibiotic but it would turn around afterwards. I was told by the GI that people can be carriers, however if you test positive for Toxin A and Toxin B and have colon pain you're dealing with active c-diff that needs treated. I am currently dealing with the left sided pain under ribs and into my side with nausea and the GI has scheduled my follow up appointment for January. I just can't help but think it's back and I'm waiting around when I should be treated.I can't imagine PI-IBS would be constant pain and Nausea. I had c-diff for a year before being tested and diagnosed. I'm sure it did some damage to my intestines. The reason I went so long without being diagnosed was because it was initially diagnosed as IBS after Giardia.

[Zapper]

Hi Bryan,
I too never got WD with all my cdiff infections/relapses. I always knew it was a relapse when I had fecal incontinence/M incontinence. I also never truly followed the 3 day rule as my symptoms move so quickly that I would be hospitalized if I waited the 3 days (and I was on a few occasions).
You know your body best and if something does not feel right do not hesitate to see your doc to discuss. :)

[Ril]

Zapper, I understand you didn’t have classic symptoms but please be careful when you give advice. What is fecal incontinenence if not d almost always? And loose stool is d. It can be tested if it is soft enough to take the shape of the container. It does not have to be pure water.