28 y/o male

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Bmcstew
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Posts: 4
Joined: Fri Sep 14, 2018 11:23 am

28 y/o male

Postby Bmcstew » Mon Sep 17, 2018 2:21 am

Hi folks! So happy to have found this forum for I have been dealing with this nasty gut bug for about two months now. It’s been extra stressful since I’ve been caretaking my mother who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer since last year... Trying to stay positive to make that C Diff negative!

I will try to make this as coherent as possible despite being a rather scatterbrained dude who has been riding on this rocky rollercoaster of an illness... hopefully I’m not breaking any rules... I am a 28 y/o male. I work in an extremely busy restaurant and am currently helping my mother fight off her pancreatic cancer.

THE STORY:
My CDiff journey began 2-3 months ago I started taking amoxicillin for a skin infection that caused several of the lymph nodes in my neck to go haywire. On my last day of amx, I had gone to eat at a vietnamese soup restaurant... that same evening at home, I had the chills, fever, stomach cramps, nausea, and D, I felt awful... but it all cleared up and I was back to normal the next day. Couple days later I started passing m & light b and tons of loose stools (but no WD from what i recall.) Was going about 5 to 10 times a day for about 3 days before I called in for an appoinment.

Went to the doctor and got a stool test that showed positive for c diff and heightened lactoferrin levels indicating inflammation. I was put on vanco 4x day for 10 days. During the course, everything seemed to be clearing up. My stools went from loose to solid, no more m or b. Of course my BMs were not what they used to be, but I was just happy that I wasn’t seeing anymore b or m.

The day after I finished the vanco, (apologize if this is TMI) I had what appeared to be bright rectal b on my toilet paper. I called my doctor and she told me that it was most likely a hemmorrhoid, fissure or possibly residual inflammation. She told me not too worry too much about it since I explained to her that the BM was quite solid and well formed, it might have caused irritation on the way out. Throughout the week after the vanco treatment, I dealt with a lot of anal itching and burning which eventually subsided the following week.

So lets jump 3 weeks after my vanco treatment... Which was last week... In the middle of the week, for about a day, I had passed dark green loose stools and D about 10-15 times. It cleared up the next day and went back to loose to semi normal with a yellowish color. (Note I had eaten a salmon salad, gazpacho, and some kale the day prior that might not have agreed with me, but this bout of D did not last long) By the time Saturday came around, which was 2 days after the green D-day, I got really constipated and was just passing pebble BM’s... Saturday night it went quickly from pebbles to loose stool and then to pure M with some B and I was having bad abdominal cramping... Sunday was M and D all day long (about 20 times in total) so I immediately thought relapse and called up for an appt with my doc again the following Monday.
The funny thing is... The D, M, and abdominal pain began to slowly clear up again THAT Monday, and I was slowly making my way back up to loose to semi-normal BM’s again. My doc ordered another test which once again was positive for C.Diff toxins (this time there was also a positive for blood in my stool) and she ordered a pulse-taper round of vanco that would last for three months! So I decided to buy the vanco but NOT use it unless the excessive amounts of D and M returned. It’s about a week now and those symptoms have not returned. But I am dealing with hard tortoise/ pebble stools and C now (luckily no abdominal pain or any other symptoms present aside from occasional gassiness and urge to defecate) I go about 1-2 times a day now and this C has been going on for about 4 days... Hasnt gotten worse or better, but I’m just more frustrated and annoyed and hate shouting “HOLY CRAP!” everytime a new symptom or surprise is left in my toilet. Pun intended? Anyway I’m just in a state of confusion regarding whether I’m in the recovery phase, if I still have an active infection, or if I’m dealing some form of IBS or IBD.

Anyway, I hope this wasn’t too confusing to read through, like I said my gut has been on the longest rollercoaster of its life.... Hopefully I can get it back to normal!

Current ongoing symptoms:
-Daily fatigue
-weight loss (was 165 lbs, now 149 lbs)
-gassiness
-constipation
-insomnia
-anxiety/depression
-back pain and muscle aches
-black circles around eyes

Past or recurrent symptoms:
-B&M
-D
-Fever
-chills
-Lower abdominal pain
-nauseau
-pallor

Note: most symptoms seem to worsen when I’m highly stressed, especially while working at the restaurant. So there is definitely a pattern related to my state of mind.

Current diet includes tons of vegetables, fruit and gluten-free products... Occassionally I will eat some chicken. Potatoes and avocados are my main source of calories at the moment. I drink and eats lots of fermented products such as Kefir milk and sauerkraut.

Supplements include ultimate flora probiotics+prebiotics 20billion cultures 3x day, gnc turmeric curcumin 1000mg 1xday, and vitamin D supplement of 5000iu 1x day. I have florastor but I am saving it if I need to take another round of antibiotics.

Currently trying to set up an appointment with a GI, will update soon!

hopenow
Regular User
Posts: 31
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2018 12:23 am

Re: 28 y/o male

Postby hopenow » Wed Oct 31, 2018 11:07 am

How did this go?


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