Adjusting to Life After C. Diff

[LHutz]

I was diagnosed with c diff in December, 2018 and finished a round of Vanco 5 months ago, which knocked out the infection. I’ve been doing pretty well since then.

I live with my wife and 2 year old son. After I was diagnosed I was very scared of passing c. diff on to them. In order to prevent that, I began using a separate bathroom, slept in a separate bedroom, washed all of my clothes separately on the sanitize cycle, and cleaned all high touch areas in the house with bleach every night.

After I found this site, it eased some of my anxiety. I stopped the daily bleaching and once I finished vanco and my diarrhea stopped, I returned to the bedroom.

However, it still worries me that I could be colonized with spores, so I have continued to use a separate bathroom and continue to wash my clothes separately and I wash my clothes far more often than I did before c. diff. I also shower as soon as possible after making a BM. I work from home a lot, so I usually go right in the shower after a BM.

I’d like to go back to my old way of life. I recently met with my doctor and explained this to him and asked whether it was safe for me to stop theses practices. I also asked whether there was any test to see if I was still colonized by C. Diff.

I figured that he would tell me that what I’ve been doing is overkill and I could go back to my old way of life. However, he said that I could not be tested for c. diff unless I had diarrhea, which I knew. But he also said that there is not a test that would show whether I was still colonized with c. diff. spores. He said that it was my decision whether to stop these practices and go back to my old way of life, but it was possible that I could infect my family if I do and there was no way to know for sure.

Is my doctor correct that there is not a test to see whether a person is still colonized with c. diff spores and is now an asymptomatic carrier? I believe that I’ve read that there is such a test. I want to clarify that regardless of any test result I would not take any treatment for c diff right now, since I’m sure that I do not have an active infection. I would only undergo a test to see whether I am a carrier to help me to adjust to life after c. diff. I'd be willing to pay a private lab to perform the test if necessary.

I'd love to hear from anybody who has had some similar struggles adjusting to life after a c. diff infection and find out what worked for you.

[roy]

Where would you stop testing?
Would you have all your family tested? your friends? your workmates? your pets? your doorstep, your shoes, your supermarket trolly?
C.diff is a common bacteria that any of them could be carrying (several probably are!)
Your Dr is simply being cautious, if he advised it's ok and he was wrong he could be blamed (wrongly).
He simply does not know and the standard reply is "it's up to you"
The chances are that your 2 year old might even be the source of your c.diff!!!

A culture would identify if your a carrier.
Theres no point in doing it because its VERY common and a normal gut inhabitant.
Theres around 27 strains of c.diff and around half are totaly harmless.
The others have the POTENTIAL to cause colitis but are still "normal"
C. diff is not a disease, in certain circumstances it overgrows and caused c.diff colitis and needs treating.
Theres NO REASON to adjust you life after a simple case of c.diff!
The other half million identified cases each year (lots more not identified) recover in a couple of weeks and dont scare themselves with the internets horror stories!

[Ril]

As scary as it sounds, I just “sucked it up”, and made sure I continued good hand washing practices and moved on with my life.
Eventually it came naturally although it certainly took a lot of time. There is no easy cure because a lot is psychological but I just decided there was really no reason to keep up anything that was not normal practice, knew it was safe and wanted my life back.

[beth22]

I am colonized with c difficile, although I do not have an active infection. I do not bleach my bathroom extra. My husband and I have shared a bed since I was first infected many years ago. I never washed my clothes separately. He does not have c dificile nor did he get it from me. Nor did anyone at work where 6 of us share a bathroom. If you want to keep using a different bathroom, I understand your concern. But, I really would not worry about sleeping in the same bed as your wife. If it could be passed on that easily, all of our spouses would have it and it is rare to read a post where more than one member of a family has it. I would not stress too much about this, but if you are concerned ask an infectious disease specialist about it.