Fiona's Case History--Diagnosed Nov 2003

[Guest]

Hi, I took amoxicillin for an earache late September 2003. I only took four days' worth before I stopped, since I felt better. I never usually take antibiotics. Four days later, I got sudden diarrhea, bleeding, cramping, and a burning sensation in my belly, along with hot and cold flashes and night sweats. It lasted two weeks or so, pretty constant. Finally, after a catscan the doctor sent me for a colonoscopy. There were ulcers and inflammation in my colon. After a week, the doctor told me it was c-diff. She prescribed Flagyl. I took it for 8 days, but stopped because I had allergic reactions to that too. I developed hives and canker sores. <BR> <BR>Fortunately, although my gastroenterologist insisted I could eat "anything", I had found a nutritionist who immediately put me on Trenev Trio, an acidophilus product, and restricted my diet to something very similar to the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (Gottschall's book). No wheat, flour, sugar, grains, dairy, no processed foods, no nuts, no fruit. It's a prison diet, but when I can stick to it, I am much improved. <BR> <BR>I've had relapses about every seven days since first getting this. They are, thank god, getting briefer. I've lost about 20 pounds. I'm taking lots of supplements and also doing acupuncture, which seems to be helping, and taking chinese herbs (Formula H and Raise Qi by Health Concerns). <BR> <BR>I've done a lot of research on my own and talked to a lot of people with chronic colitis and crohns, since at first they thought I might have these. <BR> <BR>Currently, I have agreed with my gastroenterologist that one day at a time I will not go on the super-antibiotic (vancomycin) and instead will follow the nutrition and acupuncture path. I'm afraid of the long-term consequences of antibiotics and also of my extreme allergies to them. I also see from this site that the antibiotic doesn't kill the spores, so it just delays another outbreak. I'm working on replacing hte healthy bacteria. Taking Trenev Trio and also my nutritionist has me eating raw sauerkraut I buy from the farmers' market, which he says has a lot of the healthy bacteria--he says this is a very important part of my diet. I also juice a tiny 1/2 cupful of cabbage 3 times a day and drink that. <BR> <BR>I'm currently researching saccharomyces and also learning about Human Probiotic Infusion Therapy or fecal enemas--I'm willing to go to any lengths. <BR> <BR>I've had to take the whole semester off work, and fortunately have a year off to write my book in January, but I've had to cancel my research plans. <BR> <BR>I can't eat out at all. Can't eat anything in the supermarket. I'm eating all organic and preparing everything from scratch. Lots of fish and lots of beef. Only the whites of eggs. <BR> <BR>My last relapse was only a minirelapse--about eight hours in total, thank good ness, but it was two days ago. I did eat half a tiny packet of peanuts the night before, and got a good scolding from my nutritionist. This diet is so extreme, I find it hard to follow every day. When I'm feeling healthy, I feel optimistic, but when I'm in relapse, I'm in terror that I'm never going to get well. It's good to hear that some people do indeed heal from this.