My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

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posthxc
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My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

Postby posthxc » Wed Jul 10, 2019 8:49 pm

Hi again, My stools have been 1-2 a day, mostly formed, the only symptom I've been having is stomach pain. More specifically like a cramp in the evening and I didn't have one yesterday. My Doctor did a stool test. A C diff toxin test and one for entercolitis caused by C diff recurrent unspecified. She's ordered me Oral Vanco. I'm just not sure if I should take it. Like I said the only symptom I've been having is stomach cramps. I haven't been able to speak with her to see if she's absolutely sure I have an active infection (their phone lines have been messed up all day). I'm worried the Vanco could do more harm than good.

georgina
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Re: My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

Postby georgina » Thu Jul 11, 2019 1:22 am

You are right about Vanco doing more harm . With each course of antibiotics you take , recovery is getting more difficult , you get more food intolerances , more unbalanced flora . If you are having formed stool , normal frequency there is no need for treatment . Is your choice , only you can truly know what is going on inside your body , if you really need the treatment or not. Ask the doctor for antispasmodics to help the cramps.

AllisS
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Re: My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

Postby AllisS » Thu Jul 11, 2019 7:09 am

It's unclear why your doctor is saying you need to take vanco since stomach pain alone isn't indicative of C. diff. Also, treatment with vanco or other antibiotics shouldn't be based on a lab result; you can test positive in the absence of active infection when you've had C. diff recently. Is your doctor a GI doctor? If not, ask for a referral to a GI dr who could pursue the reason for the pain.
If your illness was preceded by use of a medication, e.g., an antibiotic, please fill out an FDA Adverse Event Report at http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/default.htm

Bobbie
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Re: My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

Postby Bobbie » Thu Jul 11, 2019 1:57 pm

Agree with the others.

Stomach pain can be linked to many other GI problems. I would see a GI or an ID if you aren't already doing so.

In the meantime, ask your doc about using a heating pad.

Remember, c diff can take a long time to clear and can be followed by IBS - similar symptoms.

Hang in there. Keep us posted.

.

posthxc
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Re: My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

Postby posthxc » Thu Jul 11, 2019 4:46 pm

Thank you all for your input. I'm wondering if the Florastor I've been taking could make it appear to not be an active infection. I've been talking to my Primary care physician and my GI doctor. I've been seeing my GI doctor for awhile we've been working on getting medication to treat my hep c. My Primary care physician (they work at the same building) said that my culture test was positive but I'm not convinced. My primary care doc tried to argue with me about test results vs symptoms. She kept pushing the idea of it being a different kind of diarrhea. I don't think English is her first language. I'm not sure she fully understood me. She said that my GI would be calling in oral Vanco. She hasn't called it in yet and when I spoke to her nurse she said she didn't know anything about it. The cramps have been getting better. I keep forgetting to ask for a heating pad. I will do that though Bobbie, thank you.

posthxc
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Re: My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

Postby posthxc » Fri Jul 12, 2019 2:02 am

Quick update: My GI called me this evening she's trying to get Firvanq for me. My insurance will pay for it but it's not in stock at the local walgreen's. They ordered said it might take 1-2 days to get there. I told her I wouldn't take flagyl again, I also re-iterrated what the CDC has said about flagyl. She told me maybe she's old-fashioned but it usually works the first time for most of her patients. She also strongly strongly advised me that if Walgreen's doesn't have firvanq in the morning and can't find it from another pharmacy that I take the flagyl she will be prescribing. She said if I don't I'll just end up back in the hospital. That's not the reason I went to the hospital. I acquired C Diff at the hospital without being given antibiotics. There were patients on the floor I was on that were in isolation. I'm not sure for what but I'm guessing C Diff. I've been considering legal options since this is a significant impact to my life. Anyway, here's hoping they get that vanco in the morning. Thank you all, again.
Edit: O and I asked her, she said she's absolutely sure I have an active infection.

roy
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Re: My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

Postby roy » Fri Jul 12, 2019 5:19 am

I have not commented so far but here goes!
You dont have symptoms of c.diff so why is your Dr insisting on treating.
All meds have side effects and treating without symptoms can make it worse.
Mild cramps in the evening are not c.diff symptoms and formed stool is perfect.
Firvanq is liquid vanco, no different to pills, no different to liquid vanco made from the powder in the vials of IV form.
It's a brand name and an excuse for charging extra $$ for it.
A prescription for vancomycin instead of using the brand name would be in stock at most pharmacies.

D1dad
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Re: My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

Postby D1dad » Fri Jul 12, 2019 9:33 am

I gotta agree with Roy. My first round of Metro wasn’t enough and didn’t know I should have taken Vanco instead, I just took what the doc prescribed. After the first ten days I was back at the urgent care with unmistakeable symptoms, elevated heart rate, shakes and a fever which was tell tale sign at least for me. As I type this I’m suffering from self inflicted WD. I’ve been pretty much able to eat what I always had prior and realized hot wings and deep fried jalapeños still do the same thing they always did way before cdiff. If I start feeling like I did when I got it I’d go to the doc, but for now I’m wallering in burning misery waiting for the free gut cleanse to pass. Taking antibiotics way to much got me here so no way would I wanna take one if I wasn’t truly sick. Just having diahrrea doesn’t mean cdiff for me, I had sickness symptoms that went with it as do most.

posthxc
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Re: My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

Postby posthxc » Fri Jul 12, 2019 4:41 pm

II appreciate the advice. I was conflicted before. She said she's absolutely certain that II have an active infection. I'm wondering if the Florastor and the Chobani I've been eating religiously couldn't make it seem like a milder case. At any rate. I will have the Firvanq in an hour or so. My insurance doesn't cover generic vanco. Frivanq is the only formulation on their preferred drug list. I will keep you guys/gals updated. Again, thank you for your input.

roy
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Re: My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

Postby roy » Sat Jul 13, 2019 1:24 am

An active infection is indicated by watery D at least 3 times a day, not mild occasional cramp.
Florestor or any other probiotic does not treat c.diff or make it milder, it MIGHT reduce the chance of a relapse but not reduce symptoms or have any impact on an active infection.
My own thoughts are that if my symptoms have continued to improve then I would not risk damaging my gut by taking a course of meds.
The aim of treatment is to resolve the symptoms, it's never the aim of treatment to get a negative test result! but currently you do not have symptoms.

posthxc
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Re: My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

Postby posthxc » Sat Jul 13, 2019 4:20 am

I tried to get that point across to my GI. Also I'm sorry if i was not specific. I gave her a stool sample approx. a week ago, after being off the flagyl for about a week. She did a culture and from that she told me she was positive that I had an active infection and needed another course of antibiotics, which, I am currently on.

D1dad
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Re: My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

Postby D1dad » Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:27 am

I asked my doc if I would need to be retested and the answer was an absoloute “no”. Unless I had the same symptoms as before. If you read my post above, I went 3 horrid times yesterday after a night of overindulging (my sons 20th bday). Had I have ran to the urgent care based off of my history, I’m sure they would have prescribed Vanco and the AB hell starts all over again. Instead I doubled up on benefiber for the day and popped a couple of pepto tabs and toughed it out. Today all is well. My second prescription of flagyl was a necessity because the first didn’t quite do it. For the first month or so I thought I was relapsing several times while my gut recouped from the tsunami it went through and I’m glad I let my immune system do it’s job or who knows where I might be now. Your already taking the script so it’s to late to stop but trust me, your going to go through hell from time to time but it doesn’t mean your nesicarily relapsing.

AllisS
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Re: My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

Postby AllisS » Sat Jul 13, 2019 9:51 am

The road to C. diff is paved with the scripts of doctors who thought their patients "needed" an antibiotic.
If your illness was preceded by use of a medication, e.g., an antibiotic, please fill out an FDA Adverse Event Report at http://www.fda.gov/Safety/MedWatch/default.htm

roy
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Re: My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

Postby roy » Sat Jul 13, 2019 11:27 am

All I can say is "get a new doctor"!
ANY Dr that tests a week after treatment needs to go back to school!
No D or mild symptoms means no treatment and theres no such thing as a test to see if it's gone.
You can test positive for months after treatment.
You could even test positive for the rest of your life!
That's another form of normal!
Treat the patient not the test result.

If the stool sample you gave was formed your Dr should not have requested to have it tested and also the lab should have rejected it.
Testing rules and guidlines are in place to protect you from being misdiagnosed and it looks like your Dr (and lab) have both ignored them.
Specimens for c.diff tests must be watery D.
A test only shows you have the bug on your system, it DOES NOT say its causing a disease.
ONLY symptoms say that.

D1dad
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Re: My doctor wants to give me a round of Vanco. I took flagyl previously. I'm not sure if I should.

Postby D1dad » Sat Jul 13, 2019 1:32 pm

Roy’s right. Right around a week or two after I finished my meds my stomach was a gurgling cauldron and I was going around 2-3 times a day but was also taking tons of probiotics and eating yogurt as well as pounds of oatmeal. I called my Gi and almost begged for a script and she refused because my “symptoms didn’t match”. Instead she suggested stoping everything I was eating and taking that I never took pre c diff, add benefiber and introduce one type of probiotic. It was then that I realized everything I was doing was causing my stomach stress. After trial and error I found that one particular probiotic caused me no issues and the yogurt and oatmeal was fine in moderation. There’s other thing that was recommended that helped but first order of business was stopping all the discomfort. To this day I’m still figuring things out but I know what not to do. If I ever had to take another AB I’ll have no issues with taking florastor and eating more yogurt but for the time being I don’t believe the benefits outweigh the bloating and discomfort.


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