Mild C Diff detection? Not taking Flagyl.

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oceaneo
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Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2018 4:23 pm

Mild C Diff detection? Not taking Flagyl.

Postby oceaneo » Sat Oct 06, 2018 3:34 pm

Hello, this is my first post. I am a 23 year old female. I kinda want to share my story from the last month because it's a bit of a roller coaster.

On September 8th, I participated in a live painting event and the event wasn't too clean and I used paper towels and water from the bathroom for my paintings. I was careful not to touch or eat anything and avoiding touching my mouth but I tend to do that mindlessly.

So this started on the 11th and I had a severe body ache all over my body and I found it so hard to even move. The next day I had severe nausea and no fever and I just took pepto bismal and aleve and it got better by itself. For three days I was completely fine and eating normal foods and it seemed like everything went back to normal. But on the 17th, I got the same symptoms of nausea, diarrhea, and a low grade fever, but NO body ache. I am the kind of person who hates vomiting so I would hold it in and after a few hours, D would show up a little bit. So my doctor prescribed me amoxicillin for 10 days, 500mg every 8 hours. That was the biggest problem because who gives Amoxicillin for a stomach flu?

I didn't have too strong of D, maybe only twice a day and it was just slightly loose and my nausea feelings went away on their own. The problem was that the low grade fever would keep returning at 99.2 and I kept having to take tylenol. But the periods of fever would keep getting spread out, so first 24 hours with no medicine and no fever, then 36 hours and no fever, and so on. I got blood work done on the 20th for hypothyroidism and fatigue and my blood work showed signs of a minor infection. Because of the stress and anxiety of being sick for so long especially when we got the call of my blood results, some of my D symptoms came back after have 2-3 days of normal stools.

On that Wednesday, we went back to the doctor for a check up and I got more blood work done, urine sample, and a sinus CT scan. My fever had been gone for 36 hours but because that day I had a lot of anxiety so I had D a couple of times again. Wednesday night I was feeling great and Thursday, my test results came back. All my CBC counts were normal and so were my sinuses and I was feeling normal. I went outside for the first time in two weeks for a little walk around the mall. I came back and was feeling tired but nothing crazy. I took my second to last dose of amoxicillin around 9 pm and one hour later I started to feel chills but I didn't want to check my temperature.

Around 1 am, I started to get severe nausea feelings and I had to check my fever and I had a low grade fever of 99.2. I took some pepto bismal and tylenol and it took me forever to fall asleep because the nausea was so strong. I didn't want to start vomiting so I controlled it. After a few hours and I had some semi loose diarrhea around 3 times. I had to sit outside for hours just to feel not nauseous, and I took Ondansetron 4mg around 6 and it helped a lot. My stomach at that time felt slightly crampy, my upper stomach area feels pressure like gas, and no sharp pain, occasional gurgles, and I have a fever of 99.5 and my tongue was also white-ish the entire two/three weeks.

And my doctor wanted me to take an emergency stool test to make sure I didn’t have parasite or anything serious. My results came back and I had a positive for C DIFF. My doctor didn’t seem concerned at all because my low grade fever has been down for 3 days and I have had normal stools for over 5 days and I never really had severe diarrhea throughout this process thank GOD. My blood counts were also normal and he thought that it was just a slight indication of c diff.

I am going to be very careful regardless but I haven’t had a fever and any symptoms beyond stomach cramps. The thing is that my diet is very simple right now and I haven’t had much physical activity/left the house. My theory is that I got a really bad stomach bug and my doctor gave me amoxicillin which didn’t do anything for my stomach bug and in turn, caused some c diff.

So far every day I just use the bathroom around once or twice and it's not really full on D. And I went 3 days without using the bathroom at all. But I do get some cramps and for the past couple of days, it was definitely smellier than usual but its getting better with the oder. My doctor and my homeopathic doctor advised me not to take the Flagyl and just stay on bed rest for a week or two and eat really light foods/take probiotics. I have done a lot of research and I am currently taking Jarrows Saccharomyces Boulardii at night and New Chapter All-Flora in the morning along with a full homeopathic stomach regime. I also am drinking lots of electrolytes from Electrolyte stamina. Turmeric, Garlic, and all the healthy herbs that are recommended are already staples in my diet for my entire life because of my cultural cuisine. I am also going to try some keffir and see if that works but I am going to tread lightly because my sinuses are sensitive.

Also it would be good to note that a lot of my family members have had D issues after taking strong antibiotics and probably had undiagnosed C diff so its more likely that I had it in my Gut already. I would just like any advice on this process and wondering that because I finished my amoxicillin 1/2 days before my stool test so do you think that’s what caused the positive in the C diff?

Thank you so much for any advice because I am thinking about changing my doctor because he said that it's not serious and I don't need to clean anything and that was a red flag for me because everywhere I checked said to bleach your bathroom and clean your sheets at least once to eliminate any relapses.

AllisS
Long Time Contributor
Posts: 1889
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:52 pm

Re: Mild C Diff detection? Not taking Flagyl.

Postby AllisS » Sun Oct 07, 2018 12:15 am

Hi oceaneo, welcome to the site. Please read the guidelines for new posters, first entry on intro page, when you have a chance.

I'm having some difficulty zeroing in on your concerns because your post is so long. It's best to be as concise as possible; graphic details aren't necessary.

Other than your positive test result, I'm dubious as to whether you actually had C. diff, as your symptoms aren't typical. Doctors should be treating symptoms, not just going on a test result. In any case, I agree that the prescription of amoxicillin was extremely ill-advised. Amoxicillin does often cause C. diff, though antibiotics can also cause diarrhea that isn't C. diff, which may well have been the case with the family members whose experiences with antibiotics you mention. In future, always question any antibiotic prescription that a doctor wants to give you; antibiotics are both overprescribed and prescribed inappropriately, and if use of an antibiotic doesn't make sense to you then you should at least get another medical opinion.

What jumps out at me is that you are taking so many probiotics and herbal remedies. Probiotics themselves can cause diarrhea and stomach issues. I don't know what your own research found; however, the evidence that probiotics prevent C. diff is actually scant and not yet backed by clinical studies. So far, their benefits are mainly anecdotal. It probably doesn't hurt to take one probiotic, but IMO you're overdoing it.

As for cleaning measures, I don't think you need to go overboard with those, either. If you share a bathroom with others, then for peace of mind you could clean hard (non-porous) surfaces, such as countertops and handles, with a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water. It's not a bad idea to wash sheets in hot water with some bleach added, either. However, recurrences of C. diff aren't caused by failure to sanitize your bathroom or sterilize your sheets.

Regardless of what caused your symptoms, I hope you feel better soon.
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

oceaneo
New User
Posts: 21
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2018 4:23 pm

Re: Mild C Diff detection? Not taking Flagyl.

Postby oceaneo » Sun Oct 14, 2018 4:48 pm

I will do that ASAP when I have the time! I didn't get a fever for about one to two weeks and last night I went outside the house for about an hour just for a light activity and I came back feeling sick and having chills. Today I had a little bit of a looser stool then usually and I checked that I got a random fever of 99.1. I know these symptoms are very mild Thank God, but it's tiring that every time I try to resume normal life, my symptoms come back.

AllisS
Long Time Contributor
Posts: 1889
Joined: Fri Sep 07, 2012 10:52 pm

Re: Mild C Diff detection? Not taking Flagyl.

Postby AllisS » Wed Oct 17, 2018 1:45 am

A temperature of 99.1 isn't really considered a fever as it's so close to normal. Even minor activity can cause temperature to rise slightly.
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


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