Sandy's Story

[sdavis]

I am posting in hopes that my journey matches someone else's out there, so that we may come to have hope together. I began my battle the last week of August 2006. After suffering for over a week following a script for Ceftin for a sinus infection, I myself located information on c. diff on the Internet. However, when I contacted my doctor and asked if I should stop the Ceftin, they told me no, that I should continue, and that what I had was a virus and I should take Imodium. (clearly a mistake on their part). Two days later, I was in the ER with bloody stools and a colon so large the surgeons initially thought I was a candidate for abscess surgery. I spent one night in the ICU and three days in acute care, and missed a wedding I was slated to be in. I was given Flagyl x 10 days and sent home. Three days after the Flagyl was done, I relapsed again, but this time, I was able to treat at home using another 10 days of Flagyl. Following that round, I again relapsed while on vacation, this time with a leukomoid reaction (white cells were over 38,000 with a fever of 103 degrees), and again ended up in the ER, ultimately admitted for another three days. This time, I was given 30 days of tapering Vanco, which I will be finished with this Wednesday. Amidst all of this, I am currently six weeks pregnant (conception coinciding when I was feeling fabulous from taking Vanco 3 x day.) My OB has insisted that Vanco is safe b/c it is not systemic, rather heads straight for my gut, and does not affect the baby. I am hoping that a week or two from now I will be able to add an addendum to this post that states that I have been c. diff free minus the vanco, but my gut tells me that is not true, no pun intended. My stools are still v. quite unpredictable, and when I have to go, i have to go. I started a new job last week, but fear I may have to resign if I cannot get this disease under control.

[sdavis]

After my doctor's appointment today, I am now on Colestid 4 g per day. I had Questran while in the hospital, and apparently Colestid is the pill form that is safe for me to take while pregnant. Not completely sure of how this cholsterol-lowering drug will help me beat c. diff, but I'm ready to try pretty much anything. We will wait and see how the rest of this week goes....

[sdavis]

After an eventful two days in the bathroom, I dropped off a stool sample yesterday at my doctor's office. We believe I may have relapsed, though it's not nearly as bad as my first four episodes. The results will be back today. I have also scheduled an appointment with an infectious disease specialist here in Denver on Thursday, in order to look at some alternative options. I'll keep you posted...

[sdavis]

Well, since my last post, I tested positive for C. Diff again twice. The infectious disease specialist I sought out has been FABULOUS. He now has me on vanco 125 mg 4x daily basically indefinitely due to my pregnancy. We were both equally as shocked to find two positive tests during the same week, and clearly want it under control during my pregnancy. So far with the vanco, I have been symptom-free, and my first two prenatal appointments have gone well...already eleven weeks along- so hard to believe! Everything looks great, and we are still hopeful for a healthy baby.

[cgriffit]

Hi Sandy - it appears it has been a numbers of years since your post and I hope all is well. Just wanted to say that I had a similar experience in 1994 and was on high doses of Vanco for most of my pregnancy. My daughter is now 16. She is happy and healthy and does very well at school and we can see no ill effects of my treatment during the pregnancy. Like you it took over a week to get a diagnosis and I was very lucky that a local pathologist was studying rare diseases and suggested the test to my GP. I found not having lactose to help with the colitis but all resolved itself after the birth. Unfortunatley I still have regular problems but after 16 years I am used to it and get on with life.