Newbie who might relapse exactly 1 yr later

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drewh
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Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2018 10:44 pm

Newbie who might relapse exactly 1 yr later

Postby drewh » Mon Apr 02, 2018 11:50 pm

Hi my name is Drew I’m a 25 year old male who, up until about February of last year, was a healthy young adult. Growing up I was the “chronic ear infection kid” who ended up on a steady regimen of Penecillin and Amoxicillin up until I became immune to the standard fare abx. I eventually had multiple surgeries to rectify my ear infection problems and was effectively cured. Up until February of last year I hadn’t had an ear infection in nearly 15 years. I hadn’t taken antibiotics in such a long time and my naïveté around the treatment would eventually lead to my undoing. I was prescribed Omnicef for the ear infection as I had made mention to my PCP that I have a history of amoxicillin and penicillin use and that I’m immune to both. I didn’t question the prescription or its side effects. I took it, my ear got better, it did what I needed. The day of my finals dose, I made the poor decision to go out and drink with friends. That night I had several poor BMs and the morning after things escalated. It was the usual symptoms: Chills, fever 10 to 15 BMs with M, B, and the smell, the whole 9! Fortunately it bagan literally the night of my final dose of Omnicef so after researching quite a bit, I found this Cdiff infection and my symptoms matched exactly. I went to the doctor to get tested, my diagnosis turned up correct and I was put on flagyl. I saw improvements in around 48 hours. Things were going well and I was reacting to Flagyl very well. After I finished my final dose of Flagyl, my BMs started to degrade and I began to worry about a relapse. I got retested, albeit, a bit early and it came back negative. 9 months passed and things were great I ate anything I wanted, I even drank anything I wanted so I feel like I lucked out. Over the last 3 months though things started to very gradually go downhill. BMs became more loose and I started to experience more gas and indigestion. It seemed likely it was dietary. I have a high metabolism so I struggle to gain weight. At this time I was frequently taking whey protein after workouts. I also have a carb heavy diet so I started to minimize my dairy and wheat intake in hopes of some improvement. Even after this I continued to worsen. Fast forward to today, I’m experiencing abdominal burning and discomfort. I’m alternating between loose BMs and bouts of constipation. Some of my recent BMs have held characteristics of Cdiff and I’ve had others that don’t. I am confused, paranoid, worried. I take probiotics daily and so I’m floored at the thought that exactly a year after my original infection, Cdiff is trying to make a comeback tour. I’m currently awaiting blood and stool test results and I’m increasingly anxious to hear back as every day passes. My original PCP mentioned Vanco if a relapse occurred. She was very fearful of the drug as she had never prescribed it before. This has given me pause because flagyl worked well with minimal side effects but if it has a higher failure rate, I’m inclined to try Vanco but my PCP made it sound like Chemo on your GI tract. I’m honestly more inclined to try DIFICID but I’m also aware of the danger behind antibiotic resistant bacteria so I don’t want to jump to the big guns right away if I do indeed relapse. I learned about this site a year ago and it helped answer some very key questions about recovery. What I could use now is some direction on how I should handle relapse, mostly in the category of dietary advice. I want to squash this bug and I know that dieting will be a major factor since I have a feeling that may have a contributing factor as to why a relapse is even possible. Should I also request Vanco or DIFICID if my current PCP reccomends another round of flagyl?

beth22
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Joined: Tue Apr 07, 2009 2:23 pm

Re: Newbie who might relapse exactly 1 yr later

Postby beth22 » Tue Apr 03, 2018 1:20 am

Personally, I would ask for DIficid as it kills much less other bacteria than vanco. If you take vanco and it does not work, then Dificid won't be as effective either, although others have been helped by it. I have a box at home that I took with me when I traveled "just in case". That would be my choice. Vanco can create resistant bacteria - my mom got it VRE infection after taking vanco.

If your test comes up negative, ask your GI about testing you for SIBO with a breath test or there is also a blood test for IBS called IBchek. Probiotics can also cause GI problems in some people. They do for me. I had to try various before I found one that didn't - VSL#3, but I only take part of a capsule. You might want to try and stop the probiotics for a couple of days and see if there is any improvement in your symptoms.

Medena
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Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2018 4:25 am

Re: Newbie who might relapse exactly 1 yr later

Postby Medena » Sun May 06, 2018 3:14 pm

Its probably ibs, if you haven't taken antibiotics it is very unlikely likely to relapse a year later...
Try not to overstress until you get your results.

Bobbie
Administrator
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Joined: Sat Aug 06, 2005 8:00 pm

Re: Newbie who might relapse exactly 1 yr later

Postby Bobbie » Sun May 06, 2018 5:01 pm

Welcome to the site. Please read the first forum re rules of posting. Help us help you by making your posts easy to read.

I would see a good ENT.

Keep us posted.


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