My war with C-diff

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Mocreek
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Posts: 5
Joined: Sat Jul 11, 2015 8:00 am

My war with C-diff

Postby Mocreek » Sat Jul 11, 2015 8:29 am

First and foremost I just want to thank everyone and these message boards. I have been reading them since I got sick in April. They have helped me emotionally to know I am not alone, because I have felt so isolated and helpless. They have been invaluable in providing information on fighting C-diff.

I am a 55 year old female with no underlying health problems, although it did turn out my vitamin D levels were extremely low. I got C-diff after taking Clindamycin for a tooth infection. Within a week I was sick. I did not know what I had, and waited for it to pass (no pun intended). After numerous google searches I found these boards and realized I had C-diff. Knowing this helped me in my initial conversation with the Urgent Care facility. I ended up in the ER to get a stool test done, and it was positive for C-diff. They prescribed Flagyl for a 2 week course at which point I started seeing a doctor. Well, I actually never saw a doctor but rather a nurse practitioner. I relapsed on the Flagyl and was put on another 2 week course which I relapsed on as well. I was violently sick with the second relapse and becoming desperate. Because my doctor's office had no clue about C-diff, not to mention recurrent C-diff I scoured these boards for information on the treatment others were receiving. I found an article here: http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/e ... cid.ciu429 by a Dr. Bakken and his success with tapered/pulse Vanco which actually provided dosing information. I took this to the nurse practitioner and asked her if we could try this. Thankfully, she was actually receptive to my suggestion and she prescribed a modified version. I did not feel the pulsing was enough, so I modified my course somewhat to help at the end. My last Vanco was last Wednesday, and by Monday I had the cramping and low fever and knew I was in trouble. Tuesday it seemed the C-diff was back. C-diff D is just unmistakable. I cried on and off all day. I was heart broken. God, I hate this wretched bug. By Wednesday, I had no more cramping and actually a somewhat formed stool. It is now Saturday and I am still having a loosely formed stool. Is this recovery? I have no clue. I don't feel bad though, and am continuing with my probiotics. I am taking Florastor x2, Culterelle x2 and Kefir x 3 or 4 a day.

If I had not been armed with as much information as I had from these boards I really don't know where I would be. I guess my point is you have to sometimes drive your own healthcare. The medical community is not usually very receptive to this, but I got lucky with this particular nurse. I have myself set up finally to see an infectious disease specialist if this in fact is a relapse (I am so hopeful I am in recovery). My doctors office did refer me to a GI specialist at one point and there I was told that if I relapsed on the Vanco my only alternative was surgery. I mentioned FMT to them, and they looked at me like I had two heads.

My heart goes out to all of you and I wish us all a return to good health. Thank you again for all the support I found here, even if I never actively participated in the discussion. I will keep you posted on my progress.

-Mocreek

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