Michelle's Case History

[ishy]

I took amoxycillan in June 2008 for an upper respiratory infection that wouldn't go away. A month later, I had an episode on a Friday that I thought was food poisoning. Severe vomiting, nausea, pain, etc. It got a little better during the weekend, and then Monday I had another one, but this time pain was almost unbearable. I vomited blood. I couldn't lay down because it hurt worse, and in my haze I paced until I literally collapsed, and my dad came and took me to the emergency room. They treated me for 'gastritis' and dehydration, and sent me home later that morning.

I continued to have problems with bouts of nausea and vomiting, and a pain that wouldn't go away. My primary care physician referred me to a gastroenterologist, but it was two months before I could get in to see him, and I suffered that whole time with episodes. Right before I went in, I had another bad episode, and my primary care doctor went ahead and did a stool test. I went to see the GE before it came back, and he was puzzled. He thought perhaps I had an ulcer, nearing perforation, and scheduled an immediate endoscopy, which showed irritation, but nothing specific. Two days later, the stool test came back positive for c diff. He immediately put me on Flagyl and Flora-Q.

I finished the Flaygl 15 days ago, and am still taking probiotics. It got better, and then last week I developed a rash. One doctor thought it was a reaction to the Flagyl, the other thought it was Shingles. Still unconclusive, but I had flulike symptoms, so shingles is probably the better diagnosis, and from what I've read, shingles tends to pop up when your immune system is stressed. I had another episode started a couple of days ago, and in my frustration found this site.

[ishy]

The second bout got worse over the weekend, and I ended up calling my GI back. He was on vacation, so his partner proscribed Cipro. After some warnings on this site, I made an appt with my primary care physician. She took me off the Cipro and put me back on Flagyl. However, she's concerned that the stool tests showed non-toxic c diff, and that perhaps it's not an infection at all, but something like Crohn's disease. She ran more blood tests, and another stool test, but wants my GI to do a colonoscopy if the Flagyl doesn't help by next week.