Unhappystomach's Case History

[unhappystomach]

On August 10th, I was bitten by a dog trying to break up a fight. Leaving the ER, I was prescribed Clydamicin and Cipro for infection control. Little did I know what a horrible antibiotic cocktail that was at the time.

After my antibiotic treatment, which lasted 2 weeks - I had about 2 more weeks of being tired all the time. Early September I got some major cramps and the D. I waited about 4 days before I decided to see my doctor. Those days were hell. Once I saw my Doc, he prescribed me Levaquin and Flagyl and did a stool sample. I have always been leery of taking antibiotics and decided not to take the Levaquin, but started the Flagyl. I saw my doctor on a Wednesday - didn’t take the Flagyl properly and went to the ER Sunday night because of how awful I felt. My ears hurt, like I had an ear infection, and I felt so sick and foggy minded. The ER doc sent me home feeling no better than when I got there. What a waste.

From Sunday night on, till I was taken off Flagyl I made sure I took it religiously. I had to stay home from work that week, saw my regular doc and he gave me more Flagyl. The bouts of the D were not consistent - some days were good, others not so good. The cramping was mild and my appetite was non existent while I took the Flagyl. My stool was always the same nasty yellowish color whether it was formed or not. I mostly stuck to white bread, some cheese, yogurt and rice throughout the first weeks.

Fast forward to the next week. On that Wednesday I saw my GP again and told him I basically felt no better. I had lost almost 18lbs since this all began...he decided then to change my meds to a drug called Alinia. I waited till the next day to start my new Meds, still taking the Flagyl up until my new med dosage. The time I had off the Flagyl was only a few hours - but I can tell you that I felt like a million bucks for those couple of hours. Flagyl is a HORRIBLE drug, made me sicker than I was - I am sure of it.

The first three days of Alinia were heaven. Great stools, no pain and had energy! Then came Monday. Had D in the morning and from then on out - there were good days and there were bad days. Mostly good, but when it was bad, my hopes were shattered. Those days are the ones that stick out in my mind. My diet during the ALinia was a little more daring. I introduced pasta, more cheese, butter, cottage cheese, some chicken, soup and small bites of broccoli on occasion.

I finished my 2 weeks of Alinia, and saw my GP. He asked the usual and I told him that I felt just okay, not great and that the D was still present. He told me he had done all he could for me and that he would refer me out to a specialist. Since I could not get into a GI doc quickly, - my doctor prescribed me an additional 7 days of Alinia at my request and also had me give another stool sample.

My last day of the Alinia he prescribed that day was November 2nd. My GI appointment was 17 Nov. The stool sample came back negative.

Which leads to me to today, right now and how I feel. Since the 2nd of November I have had only one or two bouts of the D, still some tiredness and minor cramping and bloating occasionally. I have been easing my way back into a normal diet - but lack the courage to try some things. Fresh fruit has given me some trouble and since then I haven’t tried any type of fresh veggies. Oh how I miss salads and fruit though. But - I can eat and have tomato sauce, cooked veggies and had some fried chicken strips (only 1) last night and did alright. There is a lot of bloating and some minor cramping still. I HATE the color of my stool, its not normal - the consistency is close to real solid though. The smell is not Cdiff smell, but it doesn’t smell normal to me either.

So, tomorrow I will see this new GI doc and take it from there. Hopefully he will be useful when it comes to this horrible affliction. I hope to update soon with only good stories, we shall see though...

[unhappystomach]

Saw the new GI doc. But first, I saw his PA...luckily for him I stuck it out with her (didnt seem like she knew much about Cdiff) and waited till he made his appearance in the exam room.

The first things he said was "Cdiff can be tricky and reoccurance is common" As much as I didnt want to hear that, I was happy to hear someone who knew what they were talking about. He prescribed me Quastrian (spell?), 1 half packet - 2 times a day.

Well, so far things are kind of at a plateau. I have not had D in a few weeks, (almost 3), but there is still bloating, cramping and stinging, oh my! So, I dont know what to think.

I walked out of there feeling like I was in good hands and with an appointment for a sigmoidoscory (my spelling is horrible) Which is like a colonoscopy - but they do not go to far in the exploring. He said he wanted to see if the colon was damaged and he said "while he was up there, he would get a sample for another Cdiff test" Yay.

Anyways, the questrian makes me naseaus - and I cant sleep when I take my nightly dose, but lack of sleep is a little price to pay if i can be rid of this Cdff. I am also seeing pus/mucus in my poops, but they are formed.

I have energy, am eating what I want (mostly -nothing spicey yet though, cause I am a big chicken - call me the red tooster if you must) and I am catching up around the house. Family is coming for Turkey day and I am hoping I at least hold out through the holiday.

I will update soon!

[unhappystomach]

Questran still making me naseaus.

Dont know what is going on now though, the stinging in when I have a BM is not subsiding and now I am seeing PUS in my toilet.

I dont feel "bad" per say during the day, I do have the occassional cramp and bloating...but nothing that makes me keel over like before.

I can smell Cdiff on and off when I use the bathroom, I dont know if its leaving my body with the Questran or coming back.

I dont remember what its like to be "normal" anymore.

[unhappystomach]

Well, I had the sigmoidoscoy done yesterday - and left hoping I never have to do THAT again!

I decided, after a little internal debate to watch the screen as he did the procedure. The following may be too much information for some...

When he first entered the colon, I saw a little redness, nothing that would concern me about a severe infection and a bunch of white spots. He called them white heads and we moved on and thats when I saw what the colon is suppose to look like. It wasnt gross, probably cause it was empty (after two enimas) but it looked healthy. He told me the test goes up to 25 inches into your bowels. All that I saw after the "begining portion" looked relatively normal to both myself and the GI.

Anyways, on the way back out, he took a tissue sample, which immediately started to bleed (yes I about socked him one, so far I have managed NOT to have much or any blood in my stool - thats not been the case since his sample) and of course I asked it that was suppose to happen...the answer was yes. He also took a sample of some liquidy stuff to test for Cdiff as well.

Over all the experience wasnt that bad, felt like I had some super gas afterwards (and did) and some discharge from the lubrication he used throughout the day - but all in all, was not bad.

He basically told me that what we saw was the reminents of the infection and that it was still going away. Nothing like seeing the inside of your colon to make you feel a little better about things.

He sent me out of there, told me to stay on the Questran and come back in 6 weeks.

So, I am optimistic about the stool sample he took but trying not to get too hopeful about it. He said if its bad news, I will hear from him. If not, to just make my appointment with him in 6 weeks.

Here is hoping I dont hear from my GI doc till then!

[unhappystomach]

My results came in and the biopsy was within normal range and the C-diff test was negative.

The days have gotten a little better with each one that passes. But there are still days that I get extremely tired after a normal day.

I am still waitng for "normal" in the toilet, but I am hoping I just need more time. Still on the Cholestryamine...bleck.

I will update more in a few weeks, unless of course something changes.

[unhappystomach]

Well, my period came and went this month - but not without scaring the crap outta me that the Cdiff was back.

The whole week before my period I got achey and feverish. Once my period started I had cramping like you wouldnt believe, something I have not experienced prior to my bout with Cdiff. It was HORRIBLE!! There was one day that I could barely move the cramps were so bad. I would have had to call in sick to work, luckily it was a Saturday.

I was convinced that I had had a relapse during this whole time. I waited it out, and now things are getting back to semi normal (nothing has been normal in months) and cramping has subsided.

I have another GI appt in January and will ask for anothr Cdiff test and bloodwork this time.

[unhappystomach]

Well, something is definately "going on". I have had the dreaded D and a LOT of gurgling. Mucus/Pus as well has shown back up.

I hope its not back. Ugh.

[unhappystomach]

Alright, its almost 3 months since my last dose of Alinia. My symptoms have been spuratic and somewhat mild...but enough to keep me a little worried. Right now there is just some discomfort and my stools are still not always normal (like they were before Cdiff)

Oddly though, my period is coming regularly - as opposed to severely irregular prior to Cdfiff.

I guess this is IBS - I have no diagnosis to back it up though. I am going in for another stool sample this week.

So, its been 3 months and I my "insides" have still not recovered from the Cdiff infection. I am on the way though, I made some leaps and bounds this week with salad, fruit and yes - seafood. Its silly how happy I was the next morning after eating these "forbidden" foods.

I hope to make an appearance in the success stories here soon.

[unhappystomach]

Welp. I am still alive, kicking and my bowels are still far from being over my Cdiff infection.

I dont know what to say. Its quite depressing, and honestly makes me think that one day Cdiff will be the last battle I fight before I pass away. What a thought to be thinking at 30 years old.

I have been "cdiff free" for a year now. But when I got the news, I thought it mean the end of upset bowels and cramping. How wrong I was. To this day, I still experience absolutely no "normality" with my trips to the bathroom. I would say, once every few weeks I leave the bathroom thinking "That was pretty normal". But it seems lately, those days are getting few and far between. Have I had Cdiff this whole year? Will it ever go away? Why the heck cant my body beat this?

My step mother recently had a very similar bout of bowel problems, which her doctors did NOT diagnos as Cdiff. But her symptoms and course of treatments lead me to think it could have been... She had been a visitor in my house after my illness was "over", was she exposed because of me?

I cannot tell you how much this whole ordeal has affected my entire life. I dont really want people in my house anymore, I worry about my dogs being exposed as well. I just want to have a normal day in the John.

So, thats my update.

[unhappystomach]

Just another short update here.

I have been the same as my prior post. More irregularities in the bathroom than whatever I used to consider normal (Dare I say that I even remember what "normal" was at this point?). To be quite frank, the bathroom used to be a somewhat happy place for me, now I HATE it. Ah well, as we all know there are loads of better places to spend my time.

I guess I just have IBS. I am thinking about making a annual check-up/appt with my GI doc to discuss this past couple of years. Hopefully that helps.

I have yet to be on antibiotics again, and worry about the day that situation may come.

BUT- I dont live in fear of CDIFF anymore. I dont think about it all the time or worry about it either. Just living day by day and loving my life.

[unhappystomach]

Been a while, but I thought I would revisit to update anyone who is interested in my progress. (Or just progress in general)

Whew, still feels like yesterday that I was going through my Cdiff experience. In retrospect, I was one of the lucky ones - my battle was short, but boy has it ever changed my life.

I guess my most recent fears have surfaced lately with what I thought could be pneumonia. I had sever chest congestion, coughing, fevers and chills. Normally BC (Before CDiff) I would have headed off to the doctor early on with the symptoms I had. But due to my fear of antibiotics, I waited it out. BAD idea with possibility of pneumonia, but lucky for me it went away after 1 short (yeah right!) month.

That episode was followed up by 2 bouts with some sort of virus or food poisoning - which threw me into even more of a panic then the non-pneumonia did. All of this within about 3 months, I thought I was doomed! But once again, came through it all - with only some lingering nasal congestion to show for it all.

Why is Cdiff the first thing that pops into my mind each time my temp rises or my stomach turns? I wonder if that sensation will ever go away? Will my fears deepen as I get older and possibly more susceptible to illness? Who am I kidding, thats inevitable!

I still worry about silently carrying Cdiff as well and possibly passing it along to my family or children. I am a weirdo each time my child or SO complain of D or even cramps in that area. I suppose its better to air on the side of caution.

I also wanted to mention a few things that have surfaced like new premenstrual symptoms and other afflictions that have occurred since I had Cdiff. Would they have surfaced regardless? Maybe, but it is a big coincidence. Could it be related to the drugs I took so much of?

Prior to my cycle beginning I experience one or more of the following the week prior and during that I never had BC.

*extreme tiredness, yet extreme insomnia
*severe migraines that affect my vision enough that I cant see. They sometimes occur once, or multiple times. I think my doc called them optical migraines. This symptom has been the most disturbing in some ways
*severe D during my period, last from one, to a few days.

Unrelated to my period afflictions

*I now have a sinus pause. Its pretty frequent, but not deadly yet. No history of such in my family.
*Up until about 5 months ago I would wake up 2-4 times of week and be shaking uncontrollably. My whole body and it would last from 5-15 minutes.

I guess I just wanted to share. Its therapy for me, and if it helps someone else, thats a bonus.

I hope everyone is well and on the road to recovery or better.