Really rough day

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poppy86
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Really rough day

Postby poppy86 » Fri Aug 21, 2020 6:09 pm

Today is 11 weeks and 5 days since I finished my vanco taper. The IBS has been rough, with some better days here and there. Yesterday I only had 4 BMs. Today it was 11 or 12 so far, some more solid, but most diarrhea :(. I'm so scared of relapse. But I have been extremely stressed and anxious lately, so that could be a contributing factor.

NS789
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Re: Really rough day

Postby NS789 » Fri Aug 21, 2020 8:24 pm

Sorry you're having a rough day, poppy :(. My GI said it takes at least six months to heal from C diff and it can be a bumpy road. I guess all you can do is look after yourself and take things one day at a time.

Stress and anxiety can definitely make you run to the bathroom. Have you talked to a doctor or tried some anxiety-reducing strategies?

Take care.
32 y/o female. Got C. diff in Feb. 2020. Prescribed Flagyl (10 days), then Flagyl again (4 days), then Vanco (10 days), then Dificid (10 days), then Dificid again (10 days), then a Vanco taper (5 wks), then a Dificid taper (2 mths) and finally recovered.

beth22
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Re: Really rough day

Postby beth22 » Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:32 pm

There are two products that have helped some posters. Both need a prescription, but you can talk to your doctor about them. Questran (cholestyramine) is one. It binds up toxins and carries them out. It is a powder that you mix with water or juice and primary purpose is to lower cholesterol. It has helped many on the site over the years. Then there is EnteraGam, which is quite expensive, but they have their own pharmacy where you can get it a lot cheaper. It also, is a powder that you mix with water. It is not a medication, but rather a medical food made from beef products. You can do a search for both online and read up on them and if talk to your doctor about them.

Ril
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Re: Really rough day

Postby Ril » Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:54 pm

Poppy, have you tried an antispasmodic? That is usually the first medication given for IBS. I have struggled with IBS for years worsened after c diff and have taken both things Beth mentioned with some success, as well as some others, but the first medication is usually an antispasmodic like hyoscyamine. Talk to your dr.

Rita

poppy86
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Re: Really rough day

Postby poppy86 » Tue Aug 25, 2020 10:48 am

Thank you NS789, Beth22, and Ril for your replies. The days since Friday have been up and down. In the morning, I have a formed/solid BM, followed by increasingly looser ones until it's just D. The fact that it firms up seems to indicate it's just IBS. But I'm having a very hard time with tenesmus, constantly feeling like I have to go, straining, and ending up passing some blood due to the hemorrhoids flaring up.

The gastroenterologist prescribed the antispasmodic dicyclomine, but one of the side effects is dry eye, and I already have severe dry eye. I didn't even pick up the prescription :(. He also suggested I ask my primary care doctor for an anxiety med like Klonopin, but I haven't yet. And my husband just quit his job, so we no longer have insurance, and we now don't have an income (I'm a stay at home mom). I can hardly sleep, I keep having nightmares and waking up constantly. Once I'm up I'm so anxious I gag as if I'm about to vomit. Then I have the morning BMs, and when it turns to D I get even more anxious, which I know creates a vicious cycle. I don't know how to get any relief. Last week was better, I had days with just 4 BMs. Then I got very stressed, and things went totally haywire.

I know the anxiety is a trigger for the IBS. Even before cdiff, sometimes when I'd get anxious I would have D. Now it's much worse.

Spike
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Re: Really rough day

Postby Spike » Tue Aug 25, 2020 11:55 am

I trying to think of easy cheap ways for ways for relief. Have you tried going out for walks? Take the kiddo with or even now just leave with dad since he home. Short ones. I could only make a block at first. Now I up to a mile most days on top of chasing two kids and a house. Is it easy? No. The exercise will release natural endorphins and exercise has been proven just as effective as medications. How about lavender essential oils at night and a relaxing app? Those two things also help me but not for the tummy issue but I struggling with ear issues with ringing that driving me to struggle right now after an ear infection with the flu when I also had c-diff. My ear issues have never resolved and I can't find a good ENT doctor. I been struggling with post ibs also and trial things that work and don't work. Not an easy thing. One step in front of the other. We will win someday.

poppy86
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Re: Really rough day

Postby poppy86 » Tue Aug 25, 2020 12:06 pm

Thanks Spike, I hope soon you are feeling much better. I try to take a short walk each day, sometimes it turns out very short because I'm tired. I also bought some peppermint tea in the hopes that it calms my stomach. We'll see if it works.

poppy86
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Re: Really rough day

Postby poppy86 » Sat Aug 29, 2020 10:52 am

Things have been up and down the past few days. I lost a lot of weight since I was first diagnosed 5 months ago, and I want to gain it back, but food passes through me very quickly.

Last night for dinner (which I ate at 6:30), I ate some chicken breasts, roasted zucchini, an orange, and some yogurt. I didn't eat an orange in many months, but I really wanted it. I knew it could be a little too much fiber at once. At 3 in the morning I woke up with some pain and cramping, so I got up and ended up having a BM, which started out solid but then turned out loose and watery. I went back to sleep for a couple hours, then woke up with another BM, solid, and then had another two that were looser. It's very unpredictable. Yesterday I did call the doctor, and he told me to try taking half an Imodium to firm things up if needed. He says this is typical of pi-ibs.

I"m struggling a lot with feeling tired all the time, the constant urge to go to the bathroom, gut churning and lack of sleep. I seem to get D even when I eat gentle, bland foods. I know that stress and anxiety don't help, and I tend to be very anxious. Overall it has been very hard.

Is it common for eating fruit, like a whole orange, to cause some D with ibs? I don't usually eat that much fruit at once.

Ali-Mar
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Re: Really rough day

Postby Ali-Mar » Sat Aug 29, 2020 12:29 pm

Poppy, I am so sorry to hear you are having a bad day. I cannot tolerate dairy (yogurt or milk) at all since I contracted C -Diff. Anytime I have dairy, I would be in the bathroom most of the night. I haven’t tried fruits and raw veggies yet, I am thinking to add that to my diet when I reach 8 weeks post-FMT I am at 6 and half weeks right now. My GI said fruits and veggies are hard to tolerate
Last edited by Ali-Mar on Sat Aug 29, 2020 11:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Male 54, contracted C-Diff on Feb 5, 2020, diagnosed on March 2nd, Took Flagyl for 8 days, Vanco for 10 days, relapsed 5 weeks post-Vanco. finished Dificid Taper on June 20 relapsed two weeks later, had the FMT on July 14th, 2020

Elvish2
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Re: Really rough day

Postby Elvish2 » Sat Aug 29, 2020 11:08 pm

I'm so sorry this has been especially hard for you lately, poppy. I agree with Spike that walks can help, even if they're difficult now. Both my GI and therapist prescribed them for me! I wonder if there are additional online support groups, maybe dealing specifically with IBS or anxiety, that could also be of help to you. It's so tough when lack of insurance etc means that seeing a therapist isn't really an option. I know the anxiety cycle all too well, and I hope time will continue bring healing for you.
2011: contracted c-diff after taking Amoxicillin and Cipro. Successfully treated with Flagyl taper. (Posts under old username, Elvish)

2020: contracted c-diff after taking Augmentin. Finished Dificid taper/pulse on 3/15.

Ril
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Re: Really rough day

Postby Ril » Sun Aug 30, 2020 12:23 pm

Many fruits are fibrous and can be hard to digest. Dicyclomine did not work for me but hyoscamine was better. Perhaps you can ask to try a change and if that fails, ask to try cholestyramine. It is also generic and should be pretty inexpensive.


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