JohnB's Case History

[JohnB]

(FYI: JohnB is a pseudonym so that I may remain anonymous.)

Before this started I had no previous history of gastrointestinal problems, aside from minor GERD that was treated with omeprazole.

On 12/29/08 I was prescribed and started a round of Clindamycin to treat a pilonidal infection. Three days into it, on New Year's day, I woke up with awful stomach cramping, loud gurgling noises and diarrhea. I chalked it up to the antibiotic combined with drinking the night before (something I shouldn't have done to begin with while on medication). However, the diarrhea persisted. At seven days into the Clindamycin, I became very concerned with the diarrhea, which had lasted 5 days now. I looked up Clindamycin on the internet and found all sorts of warnings about diarrhea and C. Diff. I immediately stopped the medication and called my doctor to tell him I had done so. I was so irate and couldn't believe he had prescribed such a strong antibiotic for a situation that didn't even call for it.

The diarrhea persisted for two more days and on 1/7/09 I began to have symptoms of nausea, bloating and chills, in addition to the diarrhea and cramps. I felt sick to my stomach after eating anything, and my appetite quickly disappeared. I started eating only bland food, which even then I could barely tolerate. At the worst point my meals consisted of toast and water. On 1/8/09 I made a trip to my GP to have a stool test for C. Diff, which is strongly suspected at this point. At the time I was unaware of how the stool sample was to be collected and scraped it out of the toilet water, thus defeating a chance of an accurate test. A couple days later, the stool test came back negative.

That same day 1/10/09, the symptoms worsened and I ended up going to the hospital ER. There, the doctor also strongly suspected C. Diff due to the symptoms and the fact that it started while taking Clindamycin. He prescribed Flagyl for 10 days and sent me on my way. It was at this point I started taking probiotics (Florastor and Culturelle) after reading about them online. The Flagyl seemed to do nothing at first, but sure enough, after a few days I noticed my symptoms slowly disappearing.

On 1/15/09 I had an appointment with a GI doctor, who I was hoping would understand the situation and could "take over" from there, making sure that I got well. Boy was I wrong! The Gi doc immediately dismissed the possibility of C. Diff because I didn't have blood in my stool. After all the research I had done I felt like I knew more about C. Diff than someone who's job required knowledge of it. He was unaware that C. Diff infection can occur with or without pseudomembranous colitis. He insisted it was simply antibiotic diarrhea that would resolve on its own, and told me to started taking Flora-Q (probiotic) which I added in with the Florastor and Culturelle. However, to allay my concern, he ordered another stool test, telling me that the test would come back negative anyway because I was taking Flagyl. So I had the test done anyway, and as expected, it came back negative.

A couple days passed and I was feeling better and better, although the diarrhea didn't seem to be improving. Stool consistency was constantly changing from formed to watery and everything in between. The Flagyl gave me awful side effects of pins and needles and numbness all over my body, and I was glad when I was able to end it. I doubt I'd be able to take it again without damaging my nervous system. Thankfully, at the end of the 10 day treatment on 1/20/09, my stools were formed and the symptoms almost all gone. I was hoping for the best. A couple days later, the symptoms came back , and began to get even worse than before. The diarrhea was now consistently water and mucus. Anxiety kicked in -- caused by the uncertainty of my health -- and was not making things easier. It was at this point I began to have additional symptoms. I developed extreme fatigue, head fog, sleep disturbances, and noticed that my body temperature was consistently low, around 96.5. I've also had low blood pressure, around 100/50.

On 1/24/09 I had stomach cramps and nausea so bad I again went to the ER, hoping for relief. The doctor there refused me any treatment without a positive stool test for C. Diff. I was unable to go while at the hospital, so I got a form for a stool test to have done at my convenience. I decided to try to hold off as long as possible from the end of the Flagyl, in order to get a more accurate test result. I waited 9 days and on 1/29/09 had bloodwork and stool tests done for C. Diff, giardia, and parasites. Later in the day I received the results: bloodwork came back with nothing out of the ordinary, and all stool tests came back... negative. I was extremely disappointed that the lab did not do a one- or two-day culture test. Out of respect for someone suffering an illness, the least they could do is use a more accurate test!

As of this writing, that was yesterday. I'm feeling really hopeless at this point. All the doctors I see refuse me treatment without a positive test result, and yet they're unaware of the prevalence of false negatives (as evidenced here at cdiffsupport.com). I'm still trying to find a doctor who is willing to listen to me, understand the complete situation, and offer treatment. I'm looking all around for infectious disease docs and naturopaths but they are few and far between. I have an appointment with ID doctor 3 weeks from now (2/19/09) and it's so far off, I just don't want to put up with this anymore. In the meantime I'm trying to contact other ID doctors and meet with a naturopath, although I'm honestly skeptical of getting rid of this without antibiotic treatment.

And that's where I am today, 1/30/09.

[JohnB]

2/7/09 Update

It's been about a week since my first entry here and I'm happy to say that things have greatly improved since then. For a few days I had no symptoms at all, although they did come back the last few days but not as bad as before. I upped my probiotic intake and noticed a significant improvement. I'm hoping my body at this point is able to heal on its own. I still have occasional "D" and symptoms such as nausea, cramping, fatigue, and hot/cold sensations. My blood pressure and body temperature are back to normal, though. I also began exercising (weightlifting) again which seemed to help a lot, even though I'm worn out right after. I met with a naturopath on 2/5/09 who advised me on diet. She is starting me on a stronger probiotic (HMF) to speed up the process of boosting my immune system in the gut. So I'm now 18 days post-Flagyl and feeling better than ever, although certainly not back to normal yet.

[JohnB]

It's been a while since I wrote here, and a lot has happened since. The week of 2/8/09 (just after my last update) I got very sick with the flu. Not only was I completely wiped out from this, but I ended up having a setback with my recovery as well. My stress level also went through the roof that week. Well I soldiered on and started a couple additional probiotics and within another week I was steadily getting better again.

In the first week of March I had a very sudden improvement, and was able to finally start expanding my diet. I was craving junk food, even though I don't even eat it otherwise, and ended up eating some Doritos here and there. My bathroom visits were very consistent and normal for a over a week.

Unfortunately, this past Wednesday (3/4/09) I caught another virus! This time a stomach bug that had me running to the bathroom more than the C. Diff, and had me feeling even worse. It's now 3 days later and I'm over the stomach virus, but I had just about a full relapse. I'm pretty frustrated right now and feeling really down. I was 44 days past my last Flagyl and feeling 100% the day I got sick this time.

So I'm back to a very bland diet. I can't even tolerate some foods I was able to just a few weeks ago. I'm keeping on my high probiotic intake, which I'm certain contributed a large part of my recovery so far, and hoping for another steady recovery, and no more people making me sick! >:( If you're reading this mentally wish me luck. :)