First time C diff. Feel alone.

[ambert79]

Hello, my name is Amber. I live in Missouri. In Springfield where healthcare is rather poor. I’m 41 years old. I had my appendix out 2 weeks and 2 days ago. They gave me some strong antibiotic “to prevent infection” before the procedure. They sent me home with, (get this) laxatives to help me poop after the appendectomy. Three days later I hadn’t pooped so I added another laxative. That night the diarrhea started and didn’t stop until morning. There is not much C diff awareness, and the smell and yellow color I figured were just regular diarrhea. The pain began. First in my stomach and moved into my back where it still is now. Every time I eat I have so much pain, and usually diarrhea. It took 4 visits to doctors and a week and a half for them to determine it was C diff. My own Gastro doctor told me my muscles just hurt from surgery and my diarrhea was from stress, but ordered C diff “to be safe” They put me on flagyl and I got a bad headache and they switched me to vancomycin yesterday. The flagyl had my pain down, and my poop started to have form. But I could not tolerate it. I couldn’t eat. Went to ER, potassium is low. Calcium is low. But they just hydrated me and sent me home. Now that I’m 4 pills into the vancomycin, my pain and diarrhea are back with a vengeance. I know my colon is getting a lot of damage just by the increasing pain. I feel so alone. I had went to the ER with pain once before I even knew it was C diff and there was already a 1mm section of my colon with colitis visible on CT. I don’t know if I should go back and ask for another scan and have my blood checked again, switch back to the flagyl, take them both, or beg to be admitted. My husband thinks I’m overly worried about it. He doesn’t even take the cleaning seriously. I’m so grateful to have found this site and a way to connect with others and educate myself. I need to find a good doctor. At this point i am willing to drive out of state for help.

[Alisha]

Sorry your going through such a rough time!! Alot of us on here know for the most part how you feel so stay strong. It took doctors 8 hospital visits and a month to diagnose me after losing 50 pounds in 1 month, unrelated to antibiotics also so make sure to advicate for yourself if you really are not feeling good!!! I was perscribed vanco for 14 days, half with a taper. That seemed to work but during recovery i felt horrible, washroom habits seemed to be a mixture of cdiff and healthy. Backpain was horrible, muscle pain & horrendous nausea. I also was low on potassium and b12. I think checking your levels regularly would be a good idea. The hospital often gave mr liquids but that doesnt help if your becoming deficient. Finding a good doctor is super important, i woild keep an eye on your colon .. try and give your stomach and your colon a rest. I ate foods high in probiotics and gluten free. There are some good articles on the web for foods that are not as harsh on the stomach and bowels. I also took florastor and bio-k and to help replenish my gut flora from taking vanco. I made a little solution of bleech and water in a spray bottle when i had active cdiff, and i would spray the water in the bowl after using it. Your not alone, try and stay positive. It will get better!!! theres alot of us on here who are willing to talk and suggest :)

[beth22]

Hi Amber and welcome to the site. I'm sorry that you are going through this, especially after surgery. It's strange that your pain and D came back after you switched to vancomycin. I'm wondering if perhaps you have another bacteria in addition to c difficile. When they did the test for c difficile, did they also do a culture to rule out other pathogens? If you see no improvement, contact your doctor and let him know. I don't know what dose of vanco you are on, but it does take a couple of days to kick in sometimes. Usually the 125mg 4 x per day does the trick, but a few posters have reported that they needed to increase to the 250mg dose.

[DCboiler]

Sorry you are going through this. This site is a great resource, I am glad you found it. Vanco took time to work for me, D didn't stop until around 4-5 after I started treatment. Hopefully your symptoms improve soon.