Sassyann's(a new mom) case history

[Sassyann]

After my baby was born I was very worn out and sleep deprived (as most new moms are). I had a rough recovery and during this time I also got mastitis(a breast infection) three times. I would get a high fever and hard red sore areas on the breasts. I saw the doctor for this and each time was prescribed an antibiotic(kflex, augmentin and then the biggest offender... clindamycin)
****(side note... I now know that mastitis doesn't always require antibiotics, it can be treated with warm, moist compresses, massaging the hard spots and trying to express milk, frequent nursing, drinking plenty of fluids, taking vitamin C, Lecithin, and getting extra rest).****
After three days of clindamycin I started to get stomach cramps and progressively looser stools. I was feeling quite sick. I called my dct's partner doctor(only dct available) who didn't seem too concerned about all of the symptoms I was experiencing or tell me to be watchful about c diff, she just switched me to kflex again. A few days later I got a fever(103.3) and chills and was having increased stomach pain and diarrhea. The diarrhea then came very frequently( 15x per day) and I was losing a pound per day. Not the way I wanted to lose my pregnancy weight, but that's how it went!

Thankfully my mom had a friend who had recovered from c diff(he was fortunate to recover after two rounds of vanco) and therefore he knew about it. He happened to call her and she mentioned I was sick. He told her it sounded like I had c diff. I found this fantastic site and read as much as I could about c diff. I went into the walk-in clinic since it was the weekend and asked to be tested for c diff. They gave me the stool collection kit and sent me home. I turned in the sample the next day and had to wait for four days to get the results. I was feeling worse by the day. I kept calling them and asking if the test results were in yet. The evening of the fourth day they called and said it was negative!!

I KNEW I was not negative. I went in the next day to see a family practice doctor and she said I probably just had some antibiotic associated diarrhea that could last a couple weeks and it would be rare for me to have a false negative for c diff. She was willing to do an additional test for it though(she has been a kind dct), and so I submitted another stool sample and two days later got the positive result(august 05).

An on call doctor called me w/ the result and said he didn't know what to prescribe for it, I had to tell him about vancomycin , which he said didn't come in pill form! I asked him to please look it up, he did and then prescribed vanco for 10 days.

After the 10 days, I felt like it wasn't really gone and I relapsed about a week later with the same symptoms. I had to re-test and wait again and next was prescribed a 6 week tapering course of vanco. About nine days after the course I had another relapse. Here we go again, testing... positive result and another 6 week course of the tapered vanco.
During this time I had some ringing in my ears, it scared me and I worried it could be a side effect of the vanco, I stopped taking the vanco(as per the advice of another on-call dct since mine was out of town) This was during the holidays and we were traveling, so instead of a Thanksgiving Feast, I spent Thanksgiving in the bathroom giving thanks for toilet paper! I started up w/ the vanco again after feeling sick, thankfully the ringing subsided.

Next attempt to kick this creep to the curb... a ten week course of tapered vanco(At this time started seeing a GI dct who didn't understand that when you test(stool culture) while on vanco you test negative even if you have c diff) He made me test twice while on vanco and of course I got negative test results, a waste of my time, energy and money! He started to question if I really had c diff since I tested negative.... frustrating! I relapsed while at the end of the taper(the one pill per day, every third day portion).

Now seeing an ID dct(who had me do three days of Xifaxin while taking vanco), I have read Kelly Karpa's book Bacteria for Breakfast(HIGHLY recommend this book) it gave me a much better understanding of how the GI tract works, bacteria, (good and bad) and trying to re-establish good gut flora. I am now on a PROBIOTIC DIET!!! Using tips from this site and after researching various probiotics, I have a schedule that I have written up for myself and am following daily. Expensive, yes, but if it works it will have been well worth it! I believe the key is re-establishing your good gut flora. I am now taking everything from Reuteri, Culturelle, Florastor, Flora Q, Natren's Healthy Trinity, Jarrow Dophilus EPS, Primal Defense to drinking Bio K and three VSL#3 per day as well as taking FOS (a PREbiotic that feeds the good bacteria) Colostrum, Sun Chlorella and immune boosting supplements. I am currently on a pulse/dose course of vanco(see Lauren's post FAQ- pulse dose regimen). I am hoping this will be the winning combination. I haven't tried a pulse/dose course previously and haven't taken this many strains of good bacteria. There is a very high cure rate for those who get the fecal infusions, I think it is because they are getting so many strains of good healthy bacteria all at once. I am trying to do a "probiotic oral infusion" with all of these supplements. I had to start out more slowly and work my way up to allow my system to adjust. Thankfully I am doing fine w/ them. I have hope that I am getting better and my system is re balancing. At least I feel like I am giving it my best attempt. I will give updates on my progress. I have to say that it is truly God's Grace that has sustained me through this challenging time. Here's to good health for all!

[Sassyann]

I have abt 3 weeks left of the pulse/dose course and am moving into my watch and wait phase as I have more "off vanco" days than "on" days. I have stayed at 4 pills(125 mg) on my "on days". My tummy has been feeling pretty good overall. I'll have a funky day here and there. I think the probiotics help me and I am now able to eat my normal previous diet. I have more energy(as long as my baby sleeps well) :) and am trying to start an exercise routine. I have now been able to maintain my weight( with each past relapse I had lost more weight).
Thought this was interesting.....I went to a health food/vitamin store to purchase more supplements one day(this is a store I usually never go to) and the woman working there and I had a conversation about immunity. She was giving me tips on how to get my immunity up and running and I mentioned to her that I had c diff( not expecting her to know what c diff is) She gasped and said she had had c diff and had been on many months of vanco and had many relapses, it was one of the toughest times in her life. Of course I wanted to know... how did she get over it!!!? She told me she went to see a homeopathic doctor(who was also an MD). Homeopathy is different than naturopathy, anyway she says he was able to cure her immediately. Previously she had severe relapses every time after coming off of the vanco, so she greatly encouraged me to see this doctor. I want to see this pulse/dose course through and see how I am feeling after the nxt three weeks. She spoke very highly of him and he sounds like a fine doctor, but I sure don't want to have to meet him! :)
Today is a beautiful sunny day(after many days of rain) feeling so thankful for it!

[Sassyann]

Wanted to get out an update..... I was finishing up the pulse/dose course of vanco and relapsed on the fifth day off. I was disappointed, but knew that of course this was a possibility. I continue to feel like probiotics are the answer and now I realize in my case I am in need of the ultimate probiotic... a fecal infusion (getting hundreds of different strains of good healthy bacteria all at once). Fecal flora(bacteroides) kills not only c diff bacteria but spores as well! My system has just not been able to boot out the c diff bacteria on its own. I feel better taking probiotics even after I have relapsed. I am now looking into fecal infusions.

[Sassyann]

It felt like a long, rough road (abt a year w/ active c diff, which wasn't easy having as a new mom) but I am now very thankful to say things have smoothed out. I believe in restoring the good bacteria as much as possible, therefore I was taking plenty of probiotics( I found Kelly Karpa's Bacteria for Breakfast book to be very helpful) and I also took a trip to Duluth, MN for an infusion. They were very good to me in Duluth and it was a real turning point. After the infusion, I would say that I had PI IBS for at least 5 plus months. Now things are settling and returning more to "normal". I credit.... time, probiotics, the infusion, building back up my immunity w/ good sleep, eating and exercise and of course a lot of help/strength from Jesus, my family, friends and this site! Thank you and good health to all!

[Sassyann]

It has been almost three years since my last post. I have never had c diff return and have since had another baby. I've learned a lot more about gut health and if I had known about the Specific Carb Diet during the time I had c diff I truly believe I would have been healed MUCH faster! I was eating too many foods that feed c diff( and all bad bacteria) such as bread, rice, pasta, crackers, etc. Sugar is your enemy.... avoid it, not only does it feed bad bacteria, it greatly lowers your immunity. I encourage anyone suffering w/ c diff to look into this diet, it is very healing! Also look into GAPS (Gut And Psychology Syndrome)... do an internet search. There is a yahoo support group and a book by Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride MD called GAPS(Gut and Psychology Syndrome) that explains so much about gut health and healing. Very healing foods include... homemade broths particularly chicken broth and bone broths(SO easy on your system) fermented foods like homemade sauerkraut, well cooked veggies, and homemade yogurts. I have changed the way I cook for my family. Wishing everyone health and healing.