30 days past last antibiotic after 4 rounds for UTIs...

[klt03301]

It's my 30th day after 4 rounds of abx for 4 UTIs from 7/09-9-09. I feel great! I'm praying and keeping my fingers crossed I can make it another 60 days without C-Diff. 2 of those were Augmentin. :-( I was on abx for 37 days.

I'm thankful I've made it this far. When I started the UTI abx, I was 16 months from diagnosis, and 14 months after last vanco.

I just take a day at a time, enjoying my life, not giving much thought to getting it again....until today...30 days post abx. If I do, I'll deal with it.

I started mega doses of probiotics and yogurt while on abx, and will continue this another 60 days. Have tolerated them well. Even tolerated the abx well, which used to make me so sick I'd have to come off of it.

I'm also taking D-Mannose w/cran pectin. Expensive, but, if it keeps me from getting another UTI and more abx, well worth it. Doc wanted me on daily dose of preventive abx, but I declined. No return yet of UTI...had several cultures...all clear. Residual pain gone, also, but took its time.

I must say, I've had a sensitive digestive system all my life and had IBS prior to C-Diff. For the first time in my life, I feel like I have a stomach of lead. Eat anything I want. Boy, hope this lasts! :-D

Very hesitant to post these things, as I am definitely not out of the woods yet, but hoping to give others encouragment that I've made it this far.

Wish me luck!

Karen

[Vikingjeff28]

awesome! I too feel very good since I started this Xifaxin taper and Floraster three weeks ago. I actually had pizza on our 25th wedding anniversary! I have 3 more weeks to go on Xifaxin and I am taking 2-3 Floraster a day. Glad to hear you are feeling great, do you remember what it feels like? Weird isn't it?

[klt03301]

That's fantastic, Jeff! It is weird, because it took so long to get here. I'm having to find things to do with all this energy I have now. :-) Congratulations on celebrating your 25th!!! With pizza, at that! :-) I hope you continue to feel great and wish you the best of health!

Karen

[beth22]

Those of you that take Florastor - do you take it with food or in between meals? Also, I take VSL#3 before bed - is it better to take the Florastor in the morning or at the same time as the VSL?

I am going to try it again. I had some problems with it when I tried it before, but the doctor said to see if I still get a rash and bloating or if it was something else before that caused that.

[klt03301]

I take 2 florastor right after breakfast, and 2 after dinner. 30 minutes before breakfast, lunch and dinner, I take my other probiotic.

I still say the florastor is causing my acne. Never had it prior to taking florastor. That's OK with me, though. Been worth it, and I'm not going off of it anytime soon. Could go to a dermatologist, but, they'd probably give me abx of some type.

It's not caused any bloating for me, Beth. I did have awful bloating for many months after I came off vanco, and that was residual from C-Diff. Hope you have better luck with it this time!

Karen

[beth22]

Thanks, I'll give it a try.

[LindaSp]

I check in on this site to see how so many of you are doing. As you recall, Kimberly , my daughter, had CDiff and we got such support from this site. So happy to read of your progress and share your excitement. Kimberly, too , suffers from utis, but has been able to take Macrobid successfully w/o relapse of C Diff. We do , however, always hold our breath in fear of other antibiotic needs. I continue to spout off about C Diff at every opportunity in my nursing encounters..........
Best wishes for continued healthy days!
Linda

[Bobbie]

Thx., Linda, for continuing to post and support others.

Also, thx. for "spreading the word" about C. diff. in the medical field. Isn't it amazing so many medical fears (thinking expecially about "swine flu") continue to consume everyone (especially the media's attention) but give little attention to C. diff. There is more recognition now than previously but not what it should be. I have friends who say, "I have a little cold, but no big deal. I'll just go to the doc. and get an antibiotic."

[carrie]

Glad to hear you are feeling so well Karen. Since you have so much energy you could come join me in training for a half ironman. I restarted my run, swim and bike schedule over the last two weeks........and happy to be feeling better after my antibiotic free surgery.

Beth I have taken florastor since cdiff two years ago.......I think it has really helped me. After cdiff I went from 4 a day to 2 a day. I took VSL when I had cdiff but have switched to a different multi-strain probiotic for a lesser price. I take my florastor and probiotic first thing in the morning and in the evening.

[TheVike]

Congraqts Karen.. I continue to look and read nad be cautious and worry sometimes my stomach has never really been the same mainly LOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAADDDDDS of gas and pufffy stomach bloating but other than that like iron leasd too eating ehat I want but generally cannot eat in excess like a use too cause it becomes painful Of course still digesting prescriptio PPI and my Xabax when I need it along with my BP meds otherwise just trying to live life!

[trob25]

Glad to hear you are doing well so far Karen! I hope it continues for you, I think with the pro-b's you will be ok :)

And guess what? I had a chocolate milk shake for the first time in a year and 2 months and I was fine, no problems!!!!! Crossing the year mark was huge, you were so right, I was so excited I survived the chocolate shake I've been running around telling everyone in my family who knew I was sick, they look at me like a nut (big deal you had a milkshake) but it is a big deal! lol.

[klt03301]

I'm glad to hear people are doing so well! Vike, sorry you're still having trouble. :-( Linda, it's wonderful that you're helping educate people about this horrible bug, and I hope your daughter continues to do well on the Macrobid for the UTIs. Trob, so GLAD you got that shake and didn't have any problems!!! Yay!

I had another episode of feeling like I had a UTI last week, so, I gave another sample and this time the culture came back with a large growth of lactobacillus species. What is up with that? PA doesn't want to treat b/c it's a good bacteria, and yes, I've been loading up on those b/c of the large amounts of abx I took for UTIs.

Well, I'm still having the painful symptoms and just want this to go away. I have two MRIs next week (abdomen and pelvis) and will have the cystoscopy the week after. I've got to find out what the problem is.

Has anyone ever heard of a UTI casued by lactobacillus, and, why are these pathogens in the gut showing up in my urine? I thought lactobacillus was good for prevention of UTI. Is it an infection or not? I coldn't see my urologist b/c I'd have to wait 4 days for an appt, and I couldn't wait that long. Ugh.

[beth22]

I know that if you take lactobacillus orally, it can show up in the vagina and is considered good bacteria there. In fact the gyns give it as a cream. If you are taking high doses of probiotics it could have transferred maybe from that area into your bladder like bad bacteria does, but it may not cause any harm. You could ask your doctor if you should cut down on the probiotics a little and if that would help or not. The probiotics may be going into your urinary system too. I don't think I"ve ever read anything about how much is too much or even if there is too much of probiotics that one can take. Maybe a naturopath would know.

[klt03301]

Thanks, Beth. Saw my urologist today and had my cystoscopy...also got the results of my MRIs of abdomen and pelvis. Everything normal. Only problem is I had lactobacillus in urine specimen, which he told me he would not treat because of the very low count of bacteria. So, now I begin another odyssey with 2 more specialists...could be my scoliosis causing pain syndrome (I doubt this) or bladder needs tacking (I also doubt this and will refuse surgery if not absolutely necessary.) The BEST news...no C Diff yet from all those abx...still not out of the woods with that. I am SO tired of doctors.

[trob25]

That is so odd that lactobacillus is considered as a possible issue here? I take lactobacillus GG every day in the form of Culturelle, pretty sure it's not harmful in anyway, something else must be up here. Hope the docs can sort it.