Jessica's Case History

[heartmama]

When I was a senior in high school I came down with a flu. This was in 1993. My mother says the antibiotic prescribed for me was a cephalosporin. In later years she refered to this as a "sulfa drug" but I have since learned sulfa antibiotics are different from cephalosporin. I am unsure as to why she uses two different words for the same antibiotic. My guess is that a doctor told her different things at the time, and she remembered what she could.

I immediately spiked a fever on the cephalosporin. I recall being 105 degrees within a few days of taking the drug. My stomach was in terrible cramps, and I had a constant diarrhea. I recall being so sick I would hallucinate. I'm guessing I reacted so fast because I was already sick.

In the ER they diagnosed me very fast. I was admitted and put on flagyl. I think I stayed in the hospital about ten days, and then was sent home on the flagyl. I was already a thin teenager, and lost ten pounds in that one week.

I seemed to get better on the flagyl. I eventually went back to school. I remember that I still had the 'sudden urgency to go' problem but we did not realize what a dangerous sign that was.

In a short time I had another acute attack, with fever and cramps. I was admitted again and put on Vanco.

My parents were told this "had" to work because nothing else was available to treat me.

I am sure I was on this for some time. I know my parents were much more careful about watching for signs of recurrance.

In the meantime my mother became aware of probiotics and added them to my diet. I am sure this helped in my recovery.

The one round of vanco worked. I am 30 now and have not had a recurrance. I have been very cautious about antibiotics since. I keep probiotics in my diet.

On two occasions I have had antibiotics since the bout of c. difficile. Both were extreme situations and both times I warned the doctors about my history, and made sure they gave me 'safer' antibiotics, although that is of course no guarrantee. I also took probiotics in both instances.