Progress Post FMT -

[Ali-Mar]

As you might know, I had the FMT on July 14, ( 22 days ago). The recovery has been slow and rocky. I haven't had any formed bowels yet, mostly bristol 5 and one or two bowels per day. I am having some abdominal pain and a lot of tenesmus.
My antigen test was negative and the Calprotectin level was 16 which is within the range.. I am hopeful that the FMT worked, keeping my fingers crossed.

I received an email from GI stating: " Also bulking fiber like methylcellulose or psyllium husk can be helpful. "

I can't seem to find Methylcenllulise online!! The one I see on Amazon, suggests not for human consumption!! What is this product? Thank you for any thoughts or suggestions!

[roy]

methylcellulose is citrucel, A LAXATIVE!
sometimes it's better not to add anything if your showing signs of normal recovery.

[Spike]

I am still this way 6 months later. Bristol 5 or 6 most days. I have been going through a really bad spell. I am however I am still antigen positives. I been trying to heal the gut but doesnt seem to be getting any better. I actually seeing a new GI doctor tomorrow virtually. I lost faith in mine when he said PPI are fine and any antibiotic when I asked him about the future and made it sound like it was no big deal to get c diff again. This has not been easy. The thing that helps the most with the abdominal pain is walking. Try going for a short walk like 1/4 to 1/2 mile. It helps. I wish I could have better ideas for you but I looking for them myself too.

[Ali-Mar]

Thanks, Roy, that is great, I already have been taken one tablespoon of Citrucel per day - glad to see it is Citrucel!

Thanks, Spike, did you have an FMT?

I started eating a little bit of raw onion and a micro piece of raw garlic with lunch and dinners in the last 3 days, and I feel some improvement since. I do know if it is just coincidence in the timing or it is the onion and garlic causing the improvement

[Spike]

No I did not have a FMT. I did a 10 day course of Dificid first treatment. The battle is real and not easy.

[beth22]

Citrucel gave me a lot of gas and also D. Some people do better with Benefiber as a fiber supplement. It seems to be the mildest. Garlic can help the gut I am told. Onion not so much - it can be an irritant, but if it help you, keep it up.

[georgina]

Ali-Mar look into the FODMAP diet . It might help you!

[Ali-Mar]

I am 25 days post-FTM.. I was doing very good the last few days, I was more than 90% of my normal. But last night and today, I started having a lot of abdominal pain Again, and today having a lot of tenesmus and two mushy bowels so far (only 10:00 AM here),... I didn’t change my diet, I am still on a bland diet, just slightly increased the amount of the raw onion and garlic...

I had a negative Antigen test two weeks ago (16 days post-FMT). I am still bleaching everting, washing my hands regularly and not touching my food, except yesterday I was flipping through a book and accidentally licked my thump to flip a page, but only once. That said, is it possible to relapse even if you had a negative Antigen test?

--added an update---

I did some blood work yesterday, even though I wasn't fasting, and I already had breakfast (3 boiled eggs and one banana) before going to the lab at 8:00 AM to draw blood my glucose level was low at 63 (norm range min is 70 when fasting).

The rest of the test, the B12, IGM, Protein, TSH, T4 tree ( thyroid), Liver, Kidney, and the CBC blood count all look good.

Vitamin D was slightly low, 28.9 the min for the norm is 30

[beth22]

When I started supplementing with vitamin D, my stools got firmer. My endocrinologist says that vitamin D should not be below about 33 or 34, so you might want to either supplement, spend some time in the sun. Also, you do know that there is an outbreak of salmonella with onions? We tossed our onions and got new ones.

[roy]

https://www.healthline.com/health/diges ... bs#alcohol

12 Foods to Avoid with IBS

Garlic and onions are great flavoring agents in your food, but they can also be difficult for your intestines to break down, which causes gas.

Painful gas and cramping can result from raw garlic and onions, and even cooked versions of these foods can be triggers

[Ali-Mar]

Thanks, Beth, Georgina and Roy for your replies,

I had another rough night last night, I wake up several times because of so much tenesmus and abdominal pain. Made seveal bathroom trip but it was gas only, having said that, once there was bits of light yellow'sh liquid on the toliot tissue, after gas.

I stoped eating onion and garlic today to see if that improves my symptoms. I added onion and garlic to my diet about 6 days ago, after I read on one of the posts here that it can help to rebuild the gut flora. But as soon as I added them to my diet my symptoms improved drastically until, I thought it was helping.

Few days before relapse and during active C Diff infection, I always get a sore throat, stuffy nose, sneezing, cold-like symptoms. I am having a sore throat and stuffy nose today :-(

I will test tomorrow or next day if this continues.

Has anyone heard of getting a cold-like (flu-like ) symptoms with active C Diff?

My primay dr suggested to take 2000 units of D3 vitamin supplement daily

[Spike]

Yes, I had and still have the flu like symptoms. I was horribly nausea like debilitating bad. I was bed bound. Muscle aches beyond belief for three months before being treated. Yes that's right three months. It was awful. I still get nauseated at times in recovery and the muscle aches. Since my doctor has put me back on Questran for 6 weeks my muscle aches are going down. I also working at increasing my florastor like she wants but have to take it slow because it can bring on these symptoms. I am 6 months out. My doctor explained it as if I rolled my ankle all day long for three months you can't expect instant relief. Just keep working at your diet and onions and garlic I know at 100% off the table for me. It bring on instant nausea. So this is a long road we have to be patient with.

[D1dad]

I don’t think stuffy nose and sore throat is a cdiff symptom but muscle aches and pain sure was. My doc recommended benefiber and it worked wonders and helped my get over some bad days. I tried all the others mentioned and they didn’t set well.

[Ali-Mar]

Thanks Spike and D1dadd.

I have the Benefiber at home, I will try it tomorrow. I have been using another fiber supplement called Citucil I think.

I am 30 days post-FMT and still having a lot of abdominal pain, cramping not yet any formed bowels, headaches, backaches, cannot concentrate, and focus. Some times it feels like I am relapsing.

I tested negative for Antigen 2 weeks post-FMT, but that was using the DGH test. I have an old test rx for culture to check C Diff bacteria I am thinking of using it tomorrow. I read that culture is very sensitive. Is it possible to have a positive culture after a negative Antigen?

[Ali-Mar]

It has been 39 days since I had the FMT, and I have been struggling again since yesterday evening. I have been having constant abdominal pain in middle around the navel, a pinching feeling inside, and sometimes a dull pain. I had one bowel today but it was very loose ( Bristol 7). I haven't had Bristol 7 bowels for a long time (since FMT).

I haven't added anything new to my diet, I am still on a bland diet. However, yesterday evening I tried CBD oil. I bought some from our local dispensary store, (there is no medical-grade CBD at the pharmacy ). It is very pricy. The instruction said, put 1 mg under your tongue for 2 mins before swallowing it. I didn't want to swallow it. Therefore, I took 1 mg 3 times in a span of 10 mins and spat most (as much as I could) of it out after two mins.

Can CBD oil cause abdominal pain and diarrhea? even though I barely ate some of it!