Pilar's Case History

[PMiddleton]

Hi all,

I am a 28 yr old mother of two in Houston that aquired this nasty stuff after my doctor prescribed the cephalosporin antibiotic SPECTRACEF for a severe sinus infection in August 2006. If I would have known the misery of c diff I would have just waited out the sinus infection and taken decongestants. Midway through my course of Spectracef, I found myself having mild D and passing bloody mucus. Naturally, I freaked and made an appt that same day, where I was told to give a stool sample which tested poitive for the c diff toxins. The dr's office called with the results and told me to discontinue the Spectracef (duh, like i hadn't already done that) and to take a one week course of Flagyl. At the time, it seemed ludicrous to take antibiotics for something that had been caused by antibiotics in the first place, not to mention the fact that I was feeling better already and had a cocktail party to attend that weekend...so, being the idiot that I am, I filled the Flagyl RX, but never took it.
Life went on happily for several months, and I put the nasty episode behind me until 2 weeks ago. The relapse came on so suddenly...I was feeling great, then last Thursday I woke up with the worst abdominal camps I have ever had in my entire life (I have had 2 kids and the pain barely compared to labor)...I was also having frequent bowel movements, but strangley enough, no real D. I had a fever, chills, just felt like crap basically. Two doctors told me it was the stomach flu, as if that lasts 2 weeks. Finally my gp ordered the c diff test which came back negative, even though the mucus is back, and the pain, and all the other characteristic symptoms of c diff, so he is treating me now based on symptoms alone. Thankfully he has put me on Vanco, as I hate that nasty Flagyl..it makes my feet sort of numb. I am tolerating the Vanco very well and this is my third day on 250 4X a day. My bm frequency has decreased but I still have abdominal cramps and small amounts of mucus. Can anyone tell me how long the Vanco takes to fully kick in?? I have 40 but may ask for more if these don't take care of my sypmtoms....they are also considering doing a colonoscopy on me, and I am very anxious about it. Has anyone else had one? How bad/uncomfortable are they? I thought I would be lucky enough to escape getting one until I was 50!! This whole thing has got me so down, I hardly have any energy to keep up with my kids (4yr old girl and 8 mo old boy), and I miss eating greasy spicy food, diary, and alcohol (I would kill someone for a cheeseburger and a glass of good cabernet). I am also taking Florastor now and some other probiotic that has alot of acidophilius in it...does anyone know if that Activia yogurt helps at all?? Sorry for being such a windbag but I really needed to vent, and I think my hubby is sick of hearing about me whine to him about c diff.

[PMiddleton]

I am happy to report that my symptoms have totally resolved (knock on wood), and I am only halfway done with the Vanco. I have five days of it left to go. However, last night was Halloween, so I decided to have 2 glasses of Vampire merlot (lol that's really what it's called), anyways I think that small amount of alcohol may have somehow interacted with the Vanco, because I woke up this morning with an awful headache that I wouldn't normally expect to get from such a small amount of alcohol. Has anyone else had an experience like this while on Vancocin?

[PMiddleton]

I spoke too soon...as soon as I finished the Vancomycin, I started having abdominal pain and frequent movements again. naturally, when I gave another sample immediately after taking the Vanco, it came back negative. I am now taking Xifaxan twice a day with Florastor and some other probiotic called Therbiotic complete. I guess compared to some of the stories that I have read on here, I really don't have it that bad, but I miss eating dairy and gluten....and I am sick of my bowels not behaving like they did before all of this crap (no pun intended). I am still having cramps in my lower left side and one or two gross soft movements in the morning. I am going for a colonoscopy next Tuesday (figured it best to get it over before Thanksgiving) just to make sure that everything is ok...needless to say I am terrified that it will hurt..and this is coming from someone who has had two kids and breast implants....