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[anlockwood]

I think the fact that your D was only once is fantastic. That is definitely a sign you are improving. As far as Florastor I would take that a lot longer then 8 days. Many continue for months. I continued for almost a year and then was coming off of it when I had to take antibiotics again so I am back on it. I will continue to do 4 a day for at least 2 months and then 2 a day for probably at least 6 months. The pain can be very very tricky. I currently am taking a zpak and vanco now because I began to go downhill on the antibiotics. The pain at this point is my worst symptom. Feels like my large intestine is swollen and it just aches/hurts. I read on here that others have tried salmon oil and it has done wonders for them. I picked some up yesterday. I have only taken 3 doses but it does seem my pain is better thus far today. I am keeping my fingers crossed that continues. There are others that have beat it once they did Vanco so hopefully you will be the same. DId you dr agree to send you with a script just in case? Don't worry that you won't beat this, you will. Some roads are just a little longer to get there.

[beth22]

I never had much luck with vanco if I took it for 10 or 14 days at the same dosage, but did better tapering. This last time (after testing negative for 7 months) I took vanco over 3 weeks, first 4 x per day, then 3, then 2 and then one week of Xifaxan and felt better than when I used to take vanco alone. It remains to be seen if I relapse - it's been 18 days so far and my relapses have been between 2 - 4 weeks normally, so we'll see. You might want to talk to your doctor about tapering the dosage though, especially if you still have some symptoms.

[KatieD]

Well, I'm on day 7 of the Vanco/Florastor combo, and I am in so much pain. My stool is very soft, and I still have some mucous with it (still smells like C Diff), going 2-3xs a day. I don't have actual "D" though, so I guess that's good. I see my doctor in the morning, so we'll see how that goes.

[beth22]

What dosage of vanco are you on? I was on 125mg 4 x per day and relapsed while on this dosage. Then I took 250mg 4 x per day for about 8 or 9 days, then 3 x for another week and then twice for another week, followed by Xifaxan. My stools on the 250 mg got better, but never really normalized. But, the mucus and bleeding went away. My doctor tested me while I was still on the vanco and it was negative. He said that since there was no presence of toxin, that the medication was working. I was concerned because it was the first time, that the stools stayed soft. When I went on the Xifaxan as a chaser they still did not normalize, but were better and the smell went away. I too, had the smell while being on vanco, and that was the first time that happened too.

[KatieD]

I am on the 250 4xs a day Vanco.

[beth22]

This last time I had the smell with it even on the vanco. The doctor said it could be because the flora was messed up and to try and add fiber to my diet. Easier said than done. When I started the Xifaxan as a chaser, I also started to take VSL#3 and the smell went away. The consistency got a little better, but it is still not normal - not D though and I am almost 3 weeks off medication. This is the first time that this happened after a relapse, but as I said, this was a very bad relapse with severe D and a trip to the ER and my diet hadn't been normal for months. I'm slowly trying to add more things to my diet and hoping that things "firm up" a bit.