Relapse during vancomycin taper?

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yoli78ys
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Relapse during vancomycin taper?

Postby yoli78ys » Wed Jul 27, 2016 2:25 pm

I've been dealing with c diff since this past March. I was prescribed clindamycin for another issue, then 6 weeks later I had stomach pains and diarrhea and was then diagnosed with c diff. I've had a couple of relapses since. First round of meds was Flagyl, tested positive after a week coming off of flagyl. Then went on vancomycin for 2 weeks. Diarrhea returned 5 weeks later and tested positive again for c diff. I'm now on a vancomycin taper with this week being one pill every other day.. and so far had diarrhea 2x in the past hour. Is it possible for a relapse to occur while on a taper treatment??? I am in tears here and feel like such a threat to my husband and children.
Also...anyone in the Boston area that recommends specialists in this area?

beth22
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Re: Relapse during vancomycin taper?

Postby beth22 » Wed Jul 27, 2016 5:13 pm

I relapsed on one 250mg pill a day. Look in the doctor section to see who is close to you. There is a great doctor, Colleen Kelly in RI if you want to drive a bit. She is a specialist in c diff and a good many posters have gone to her and been very happy. She also does FMT.

yoli78ys
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Re: Relapse during vancomycin taper?

Postby yoli78ys » Wed Jul 27, 2016 5:52 pm

I'm on 125 mg... praying that it's not a relapse. Had dropped off stool sample and had blood work done a little while ago. If it is a relapse it is much more aggressive than the other relapses I've had. What did your doctor do for you when you relapsed on the taper?

beth22
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Re: Relapse during vancomycin taper?

Postby beth22 » Wed Jul 27, 2016 9:27 pm

I went back to normal dose and then went for FMT. This was in 2008 and back then hardly anyone was doing them. I wound up getting an NG transfer that did not work and a few months after that I had a colonoscopy FMT that did work.

yoli78ys
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Re: Relapse during vancomycin taper?

Postby yoli78ys » Thu Jul 28, 2016 12:04 am

What is an NG transfer? Have you been cured since the FMT in 2008?
My blood work came back with a very elevated white blood cell count. So Dr prescribed Dificid even though stool test results are not ready. Thank God for my husband and for 24 hour pharmacies. My husband is at one (half hour away from home because it's the only pharmacy that has it in stock) waiting for my med to be filled. This relapse is definitely more aggressive than my others. Already have had 8 WD since 1 o'clock...just sipping watered down Gatorade makes me go.

beth22
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Re: Relapse during vancomycin taper?

Postby beth22 » Thu Jul 28, 2016 2:44 am

An NG transfer is when they put a tube down your nose and then put the fmt into your duodenum. It's not very pleasant and it did not cure me. The colonoscopy FMT did get rid of the c diff, but unfortunately I took Cipro for another infection 7months later and it came back. I took vanco and Xifaxan as a chaser, but it still came back 4 months later, so I had another FMT, colonoscopy and upper endoscopy that time. I do okay unless I take antibiotics. Then I test positive again, but this last time with mild symptoms, so I am not treating with meds. If I were to treat or got a full blown infection, my choice would be Dificid. I hope it works for you. It has for many. It was not available when I first got c diff unfortunately.

yoli78ys
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Re: Relapse during vancomycin taper?

Postby yoli78ys » Thu Jul 28, 2016 7:55 am

Thank you so much for your input and advice. This is so horrible for all of us trying to repeatedly fight this beast of an infection. I would give anything to have my life back to normal and not miss a single moment of my 2 very small children. Since this all started...ive missed Easter, Fathers day, and 2 family vacations.Unfortunately the pharmacy was unable to give us the med last night because they have to wait for insurance approval....so now I'm still waiting.
My blood work results were finally available for me to take a look at this morning and my lymphocyte count was extremely low. 2% where the standard range is between 25%-50%. My GI tried to reassure me that I have nothing to worry about and that it's related to the c diff..but I can't help but panic when I Google'd it and repeatedly saw cancer pop up. Do you know if your lymphocyte count was that low during any of your relapses?

Wendymac
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Re: Relapse during vancomycin taper?

Postby Wendymac » Mon Feb 06, 2017 7:41 pm

yoli78ys wrote:
> What is an NG transfer? Have you been cured since the FMT in 2008?
> My blood work came back with a very elevated white blood cell count. So Dr
> prescribed Dificid even though stool test results are not ready. Thank God
> for my husband and for 24 hour pharmacies. My husband is at one (half hour
> away from home because it's the only pharmacy that has it in stock) waiting
> for my med to be filled. This relapse is definitely more aggressive than
> my others. Already have had 8 WD since 1 o'clock...just sipping watered
> down Gatorade makes me go.


Just reading your post, how are you doing to date? I am going through almost exactly what you went through. I am on taper now and feel like I am relapsing again! I am hoping you got through this ok after last post.

georgina
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Re: Relapse during vancomycin taper?

Postby georgina » Tue Feb 07, 2017 1:55 am

Wendymac
This post is old , the poster yoli78ys might not be active on this site .

Bobbie
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Re: Relapse during vancomycin taper?

Postby Bobbie » Tue Feb 07, 2017 3:15 am

Also, Beth explained what a FMT is in a previous post.

Pls read the rules of posting in th first forum - no need to repeat what someone else has written. Just use the name of the person you are addressing.


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