Just diagnosed and I'm struggling.

[ms1smith]

I have had a problem tooth for over a year, I wish this tooth could just be pulled and burned for all the agony it has caused me.
I've paid for 2 crowns in 12 months and now I'm waiting on a root canal.

I saw the dentist in mid-January and he gave me clindamycin, then I saw the endodontist for a consult and scheduled the root canal, and said if hurt in between to call and he'd give me antibiotics. He gave me clindamycin again. It made me vomit quite a bit so my MD switched me to Cefdinir. A few days in I woke up to major D. My MD thought it was probably just antibiotic-induced D, nothing to worry about. I know it wasn't. That is like 3+ times a day, not 15+. I went to the ER that night had had a CT (which was fine) and a stool test that was positive for C.Diff. They gave me Flagyl. Now everyone on here talks about Flagyl like it is toxic? It's what I've got though.

I'm an emotional mess. I don't know if it's the C.Diff (gut-brain connection is strong), the medications, or both. I'm weepy. I'm sad. I feel depressed. I am not finding joy in the things that usually bring me joy and I'm feeling hopeless about even the near future. I'm not feeling like hurting myself or anything, but I definitely feel depressed. I don't really know what to do. I can't take SSRIs due to a reaction I've had in the past.

[georgina]

Sorry you are struggling .Most of us here went trough the same thing , depression , feelings of hopelessness , feeling sorry for ourselves , cried a lot , anxiety , fear of eating , fear of going to the toilet , OCD , you name it... and most of us seeked help from psychiatrist or from therapy with a psychologist . If SSRI are not working for u , there are other meds that may help , but you need to go to a specialist to sort things out.

[ms1smith]

georgina wrote:
> Sorry you are struggling .Most of us here went trough the same thing ,
> depression , feelings of hopelessness , feeling sorry for ourselves , cried
> a lot , anxiety , fear of eating , fear of going to the toilet , OCD , you
> name it... and most of us seeked help from psychiatrist or from therapy
> with a psychologist . If SSRI are not working for u , there are other meds
> that may help , but you need to go to a specialist to sort things out.


Thanks, I already have a therapist that I see periodically for my anxiety and I am planning on seeing him sooner. I think partly my hormones were also in a tizzy yesterday as well because my period showed up a week early, not saying hormones had everything to do with it but I can see the influence.

The worst part for me is not having answers. Not knowing what to expect long term. Not knowing how this will affect me in the near and distant future.

[sammi79]

Flagyl has horrible side effects. It made me feel so unbelievably uncomfortable in my own body...almost flu like but without the fever.

I am sorry to hear that you are struggling, but you are not alone. I have had my own battle each time that I have had CDiff. My husband has been wonderful and lets me rant when I need to, cry when I need to, have a pity party when I need to. My therapist offered to switch up my meds, which I declined because this is temporary and I remind myself daily. It affects every aspect of our lives though and is completely normal to feel how you do. But all of the unknowns are also unsettling and I wish I could give you a solid answer but I am still searching for those myself. Everyone is different and I am learning each time this hits, it is different.

Best of luck to you!!!!

[ms1smith]

sammi79 wrote:
> Flagyl has horrible side effects. It made me feel so unbelievably
> uncomfortable in my own body...almost flu like but without the fever.
>
> I am sorry to hear that you are struggling, but you are not alone. I have
> had my own battle each time that I have had CDiff. My husband has been
> wonderful and lets me rant when I need to, cry when I need to, have a pity
> party when I need to. My therapist offered to switch up my meds, which I
> declined because this is temporary and I remind myself daily. It affects
> every aspect of our lives though and is completely normal to feel how you
> do. But all of the unknowns are also unsettling and I wish I could give
> you a solid answer but I am still searching for those myself. Everyone is
> different and I am learning each time this hits, it is different.
>
> Best of luck to you!!!!

Thank you. I am doing...mediocre. Still have D, but "normal" D if that is a thing. 3-4x a day. The bad part is my 2 year old came down with a fever and D and the ped said we will assume CDiff and treat him as well until the stool sample gets back. I have to now give my 2 year old Flagyl as well. It remains the first line recommended treatment for pediatric patients. I hope it does not make him feel miserable.

Our house smells so bleachy clean all the time though. I have the rest if my kids and husband on Florastor. I am glad we got our tax refund in because those are not cheap. I also take it and give it to the 2 year old too.

[roy]

Your Dr is 100% wrong about flagyl for children, see this link.

https://www.pharmacytimes.com/news/new- ... a-approval

[ms1smith]

I understand a new treatment is approved. I even brought that up to the pediatrician. That does not mean it is now the first-line treatment. It means it is a safe option. It may be a long time with a lot of evidence before it is considered the "first-line treatment" The first line of treatment still remains Flagyl. I looked it up myself. This study was just released and is quite new. There is significantly more data on the older treatments and the bodies that be are hesitant to recommend treatments with less data to pediatric patients. It's just a fact. I can't force a doctor to prescribe something they aren't comfortable with. And even if they did, getting it would be a problem. It was difficult to find a pharmacy that could even compound Flagyl.

My pediatrician is not wrong. Actually, she was not my regular, but another at our regular clinic.

I do think that the ER doctor who gave it to ME was following outdated advice. It isn't recommended as first-line for adults and has not been for years. But the link you gave me is less than 30 days old. The latest guidelines I found said there wasn't enough data yet. At the time of that being written, the linked study was not complete.

[ms1smith]

We are still waiting on his stool sample, seeing how the ped office uses an offsite lab the result times are drastically different than my experience in the hospital. He is back to regular stool, more frequent than usual but regular consistency. He is handling the Flagyl well with no apparent side effects, aside from the fight to get him to take it (for the taste).

I had a much more serious onside of C.Diff and although starting treatment 5 days earlier than him, I'm also just now returning to more regular (but much more frequent) movements. The dizziness I initially experienced with the Flagyl seems to have disappeared. It may make me tired, or it may be that I'm eating far less than I usually do. I do have dark urine which is expected on this medication. I'm experiencing no other adverse side effects.

I have researched Flagyl a lot, and although I was concerned about my son taking it, I'm less concerned after doing my own research.

I'm having my root canal in less than an hour, I'm getting rid of that damn infection risk in my face.

[ms1smith]

I have come to post an update. My son tested negative! So he is no longer taking Flagyl. He had no discernable side effects aside from being more tired than usual. His BM have been normal for several days. Glad he no longer needs to take that medicine. That also means no one else in the house was infected when I had it, which is fantastic.

I have taken my last Flagyl pill this morning and I'm hoping to be rid of this. I'm still not back to 'normal' but not D either. I understand that my 'normal' may be different for a while.

I don't feel like I've had much support from this support group, but I wanted to continue to update.

[Ril]

I am happy to hear the good news about your son.
I am also sorry you feel like you did not get much support from this site. I looked back at your few posts and the responses you received. I am not sure what more you expected that you did not receive. Several people answered with various suggestions/stories of their own experiences and feelings.

I wish you continued recovery and better health.
Rita

[ms1smith]

I know. I saw my post had like 173 views and 6 replies including mine. Not much, that was what I was referring to. Basically just two people offering support, one person knocking the medical care my son received.

Anyway, I am looking forward. I was unable to get an appointment with my therapist, he was booked up. I am catching up on the work I missed. I have been taking Florastor and will continue to take it. I've received my VSL#3 in the mail today which I will be starting. Now that I no longer have worries about my son, it takes a load off. I've had root canal done, so that is no longer a risk. I told my husband we will have to be more proactive paying for dental care (we have no dental insurance) in order to avoid this kind of ordeal again. I've rarely needed antibiotics outside of dental work, and hope to keep it that way. Part of the reason this has been a problem was that we couldn't afford to fix it earlier (I have to stop with the what-ifs, my anxiety will trace every decision I've made trying to find out what I could have done differently, I'm trying not to go down that road).

We have always been relatively cautious about antibiotics with our children, but we will be more so in the future.

Hopefully, I won't be coming back soon to report it hasn't been eliminated and I'm having to take another round. I have a follow up with my medical doctor on the 5th, hopefully it will be an all good visit.

On the downside, I thought my 4 year old had outgrown her eczema, haven't seen it since she was an infant, but the increased handwashing has caused a flareup on her hands.

[Spike]

For you 4 year old eczema, cerave is the bomb. Have her use that after washing. My 2 year old had it bad as an infant and as soon as we started using it cleared it up very quickly. Still have her use it daily.

I understand having the stress of having the stress of a sick kid (not c diff). When I was at the depth of having symptoms me, my husband, and both my 2 year old and 6 year had influenza A. I also have/had a double ear infection with a ruptured ear drum. It was a nightmare. My 6 year old had a loose bowel but took a deep breath and new it was the flu. It is ramped this year. So as long as your doing good measures in the bathroom, take a deep breath. I know it hard, and I still struggle with trying to keep my family safe and I am a week past treatment. Remember this is only a glimpse of time in our life and thus to shall pass.

[ms1smith]

Spike wrote:
> For you 4 year old eczema, cerave is the bomb. Have her use that after
> washing. My 2 year old had it bad as an infant and as soon as we started
> using it cleared it up very quickly. Still have her use it daily.
>
> I understand having the stress of having the stress of a sick kid (not c
> diff). When I was at the depth of having symptoms me, my husband, and both
> my 2 year old and 6 year had influenza A. I also have/had a double ear
> infection with a ruptured ear drum. It was a nightmare. My 6 year old had a
> loose bowel but took a deep breath and new it was the flu. It is ramped
> this year. So as long as your doing good measures in the bathroom, take a
> deep breath. I know it hard, and I still struggle with trying to keep my
> family safe and I am a week past treatment. Remember this is only a glimpse
> of time in our life and thus to shall pass.


Thank you! I am so set in keeping the kids safe from germs. We have hardly left the house for two weeks (picked up or had delivered) yet somehow my oldest may be coming down with pinkeye. Pinkeye man. .

I hope your family is recovered from the flu. That is awful to have with little kids..

My bowels are making a lot of noise tonight. No pain. No D, just noise. I hope it is just a bit irritated and digesting.

[beth22]

Hopefully the Flagyl did the trick for you. Remember, most people do recover, so the odds are in your favor. My husband had pinkeye in January. If it turns out to be that, just be careful about not having others touch their own eyes without washing hands first. I wiped down a lot of surfaces that my husband had touched and thankfully did not get it. Good luck and let us know how things progress. We are here if you need us. There are lots of people who read on this site, but never post or have not joined, so the views that you see are in all probability those who just come and read.

[Bobbie]

Ms1smith,
Pls don't copy the post you are answering.

The site is busy at this time of year. Thus, when some posters see see a question is answered, they don't post.

Sounds as you have the situation under control. Best of luck to you.