Please Help. Diagnosed w/ C Diff... Here is my story so far.

[Fmason]

Posted on an IBS forum to start. Figured I would try this one as well because I was diagnosed with C Diff...

Posted on October 16, 2020:
Started 6 weeks ago. The loudest gurgling I've ever heard coming from my stomach. I'm 29 years old (Male). I'm lactose intolerant so figured I ate something bad. Diarrhea followed. Then, a few days later, the abdominal pain was too much to bare. Went into the emergency. Spent 8 hours in there feeling like my stomach was full of coca cola and I dropped mentos into it. They said it's probably just indigestion and cast me aside because they were so busy. All they did was a blood test and gave me a stool sample kit. My family doctor prescribed Pinaverium along with Buscopan and suggested I take a probiotic every morning.

Did a stool sample. They called back and said I had C Diff. Prescribed Metronidazole by family doctor.

I started following the low FODMAP diet. Stopped drinking alcohol and became gluten-aware (started paying attention to how much gluten I was eating, which was a lot). For the last 2 weeks, I haven't eaten any gluten.

Last night, I ate chicken, potatoes, kale salad with organic ranch and ketchup. Well... didn't my symptoms flare up again like a bubbling cauldron. The gurgling was so intense and hurt so much, I put my phone to my stomach and recorded audio to make sure I could replay the recording for a doctor. I have yet to play it for my doctor, my follow up appointment is next Friday. I was able to get to sleep... Woke up the next day and my stomach started to gurgle right away.

Wondering if you wouldn't mind having a listen and letting me know what you think it may be...

https://www.dropbox.com/s/dkt4uy5f29lk8 ... 1.mp3?dl=0

I was always told I had IBS my whole life but it has never caused this amount of gurgling, bloating or pain. I checked the labels of the ranch and ketchup... Sure enough... Both have garlic and onions. Could I have developed an allergy? I've eaten ketchup my whole life... But still, every day I read more articles about colon cancer. It's a scary thought. I've read more IBS articles than anything and am wondering... Is it IBS? I won't be able to function in society anymore or sit in a silent room with friends or clients. Please help.

Posted on October 23, 2020
UPDATE... I have just finished my antibiotics (metronidazole). Taken for 2 weeks. During this time, I was also prescribed pinaverium and buscopan.

Diarrhea has ceased which leads me to believe the c difficile has receded however, the constant stomach growling and pain are still present. When I wake up in the morning, the first thing I hear is my stomach growl intensely. It does not stop all day... and when I say growl, everyone around me can hear it. I now have several audio recordings of this sound. I gave up dairy months ago so haven't consumed any dairy for a long time. I've avoided anything gluten and stuck to the low FODMAP diet. Unfortunately, I do not think this is a food allergy as the stomach is constantly upset and gurgling loudly no matter what I eat. The pain comes in waves and has spread to my back (feels like lower back pain).

Honestly, the pinaverium and buscopan did nothing for me whatsoever. In fact, I found out that pinaverium (dicetel) has lactose in it! This definitely made things worse.

Talked to my family doctor today. She will be scheduling a CT scan and making an appointment with a gastroenterologist but who knows how long that will take... I am extremely anxious all of the time due to this issue. I've lost an extraordinary amount of weight (20lbs in 2 weeks). Over these past 2 weeks, I have not drank a drop of alcohol due to the dangers with metronidazole.

If I don't hear anything about an appointment by Tuesday, I will be going into the emergency and asking for a scan... Even if I have to wait another 8 hours. At least then, they will be able to see if there is an excessive amount of inflammation or what exactly is happening in there.

Any thoughts you have on my situation, please let me know.

Will keep you posted as things progress...

[beth22]

Hi Fmason and welcome to the site. You can find more information for new posters in the first forum.

I'm surprised that you were given Flagyl. It is no longer recommended for c difficile as a first line treatment. Hopefully it worked for you. Many people develop PI-IBS and those who had it before find it is worse. I had a lot of gurgling and gas after I finished meds for c diff (vancomycin), but I wound up relapsing. I also could no longer tolerate lactose and I did not have a problem with it before. Probiotics worsen symptoms in some people and cause a lot of gas. I had to try several before I found one that actually benefited me (VSL#3), but I can only take a part of a capsule. You might have to try diffrent ones to see which agree with you.

I would definitely push for an appointment with a GI and if you do relapse, I would ask to treat with something different and not Flagyl. Dificid is the newer drug, but it is expensive. See what your insurance covers for it and for vancomycin. Vanco has a generic version.

[Ali-Mar]

Fmason sorry to hear you have C Diff, as Beth mentioned Flagyl is not recommended for C Diff anymore, Dificid or Vanco is used now. I would take Floraster it is very helpful.

I had an FMT 15 weeks ago and I am still having similar problems to what you described. My GI says it is PI IBS

[roy]

Flagyl still works for the majority so dont worry.
Meds do not just switch off c.diff, theres a recovery period after meds are finished.
In fact that's the most important and frustrating time.
For most it's a week or two but for others its months before they go back to normal.
It's a good idea to have a GI lined up but do keep in mind that c.diff testing after treatment is not accurate.
If symptoms dont include frequent watery D your probably recovering.

[D1dad]

I figured I’d check in and see if the virus has slowed down cdiff...apparently not. Flagyl worked for me, although it took and additional 7 days on top of the original 10. The bad part with flagyl for me is it’s an evil evil drug and caused so much damage to my gut on top of cdiff. Your young and should have a positive out come. I had it around 1.5 yrs ago and made a full recovery and can happily say today I have no food intolerances. The first 6-12 months some foods were like a 5 alarm fire the next morning, today not so much. Good luck cause it’s a journey and one I would only worst on my worst of nemesis lol.