Cdiff After Effects

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connect
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Cdiff After Effects

Postby connect » Mon Jul 09, 2018 8:49 pm

Hello,

I had cdiff and got rid of it over a year ago and since then have been suffering from so many ailments I didn't even know existed. My (old) GI says cdiff is a 'minor diarrheal illness' - Yeah right! I was a healthy young woman and then bam! Feels like I live in the body of an 1000 year old alcoholic with liver/gallbladder, teeth, fatigue and other issues. I've never felt defeated like this before.

My question is, has anyone made the connection of how cdiff gives so many of us horrible and lasting effects that are seemingly unrelated? I went to a new GI this week for liver/gallbladder pain. I told him I know I got these issues from cdiff and he says that's not possible -That one thing has nothing to do with the other. I know that that's not true. I've experienced it for myself and I've read too many of your stories to know that this does cause an endless array of other issues. But what is the connection? And why do some get lasting effects whereas others do not? Or at least others don't make the connection.

Is it that our bodies are working so hard to fight the infection that we blow out our immune system out? That the cdiff eats away at our immune system in our gut that has kept other things at bay? Is it a reaction to the antibiotics? Is it that cdiff actually can and does live outside the intestines and infects our other organs - I'm really starting to think this is a possibility as I just read an article about a woman who had cdiff in her liver (link: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/a ... 6416301160).

Please let me know your thoughts if you have them. I'm so curious about this connection. Maybe in the patterns, we can figure out how to fix the ailments.

MKW
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Re: Cdiff After Effects

Postby MKW » Mon Jul 09, 2018 9:52 pm

Hi, I am someone who has never been the same since c Diff. I was cured by an FMT in March of 2017.
Beginning a few months after that I started with food intolerances, by November - December I had weight loss and worsening IBS like symptoms. I finally tested positive for SIBo, then intestinal Candida. I am seeing a functional medicine doctor now that says I have “leaky gut”.
I weighed 112 when I had my FMT done. I weigh 102 today.
I tested positive for a bunch of food allergies I never had before. I always have some swelling under my eyes nowadays.
I likely have low stomach acid my doctor says. I have tried betaine HCl previously and it seemed to help some.
Right now I’m on Nystatin for the Candida.
So... my belief is for some c Diff sufferers their microbiome more successfully reestablishes, and some of us remain in a state of dysbiosis. Dysbiosis causes dysfunction with everything from our immune system function even leading to autoimmune disorder and allergy in some cases, to our mood, to our other digestive organs. They call the gut the “second brain”, and these gut flora play some type of integral role in the signaling coming from our “second brain” that is controlling countless body functions. Your body is a working machine. All parts work together to create homeostasis. And somehow, hopefully someday explainable, these gut microbes are a part of our machine. If they break, we break.

NanciT
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Re: Cdiff After Effects

Postby NanciT » Mon Jul 09, 2018 10:15 pm

One of my GI's told me "you may never recover", I'm not sure what is worse. The denial that it can cause other issues, or someone telling a patient who battled this illness for a year they may never get better.

My experience has been many GI's ID' Nurses, ER Docs simply do not understand how sick patients can really get from this illness. They also don't understand the after effects that can be left behind along with complications. There are many people who are treated and move on with no issues. But in the last 4 years( I was diagnosed in 2014) there are more and more articles on more difficult cases and patients having relapses.
I had several complications and I always assumed it was because I had it for so long and was on Dificid for 3 months as a last resort after months of Vanco. The recovery has been slow but I am getting there.

Sorry you are still having issues.

NanciT

connect
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Re: Cdiff After Effects

Postby connect » Mon Jul 09, 2018 10:25 pm

Yes, That's why I went abroad to a very reputable clinic and did elective FMTs for 10 days. I thought if I replenish my microbiome, I will regain my health. My friend did that after her bout with cdiff with excellent results. It's been 8 months and I, unfortunately, do not feel like it has improved my overall health, though I do appreciate the peace of mind I have that I have 10 FMTs sitting in my freezer in case I need them. I am also contemplating stem cells. The idea of losing an organ over this is maddening. I have already lost so much... the food I loved, unwinding with a drink every now and then, travel, living a pain-free life, my health, being around babies as they are often carriers, and worst of all losing my dog because I was too sick to care for her and because I believe I gave her cdiff and I'm too scared to take her back. This has been a hell I couldn't even imagine existed. And yet, I know like 10 people who have gotten cdiff and I'm the only one with these lingering issues. Sorry to have a pity party. It's quite challenging though, as you well know.

connect
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Re: Cdiff After Effects

Postby connect » Mon Jul 09, 2018 10:42 pm

Nancit, I'm so sorry he/she said that to you. I would have fired them right then and there. People have spontaneous remission from cancer and after chemo has badgered their body, surely you can make a full recovery from this. I'm trying to remain hopeful. Though it is challenging.

AllisS
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Re: Cdiff After Effects

Postby AllisS » Tue Jul 10, 2018 12:32 am

I'm sorry that C. diff has upended your life to this degree. Even having had a relatively brief episode of C. diff, I can attest to it being anything but "minor." Your former GI was sadly misinformed.

There's still a lot about C. diff that's not understood, and it's impossible, IMO, to draw inferences about the role of the microbiome or immune-system connections. The good news is that, since you are young, you're likely to see real strides against this infection in your lifetime, while others of us may not have that opportunity.

I'd be cautious about pursuing stem-cell treatment if I were you. Though it's still mostly experimental, it's being eyed for a host of illnesses, but my understanding, from what I've read, is that it, too, can have some untoward effects.

I hope the liver and gallbladder pain can be addressed effectively, regardless of whether or not C. diff was what brought it about.
If your illness was preceded by use of a medication, e.g., an antibiotic, please fill out an FDA Adverse Event Report at http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/default.htm

beth22
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Re: Cdiff After Effects

Postby beth22 » Tue Jul 10, 2018 1:01 am

I, too,have had many issues after c diff and one of them is chronic pancreatitis. I also got SIBO. I don't think that much is known or much has been researched about how c difficile can affect other parts of your body and by what mechanism. Obviously, by disturbing the gut flora and creating dysbiosis or leaky gut, many problems can occur. As Allison said, you will most likely see strides in treatments.

I, too, lost weight after FMT and got many food intolerances. I got SIBO. No doctor really gave me a good explanation.

connect
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Re: Cdiff After Effects

Postby connect » Tue Jul 10, 2018 9:15 am

Funny enough, I got an email from Natural News today talking about probiotics and gut flora. Perhaps c diff destroyed the strain of my flora that deals with liver health. Here is the article and the strain they recommend taking for anyone with post c diff liver/gallbladder issues.

https://www.naturalhealth365.com/probio ... -2623.html


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