Cleaning & sharing items with others...

[mrowland06]

Fortunately we have 2 bathrooms (1 is a full and one is a 1/2). So at least my husband and son don't have to use the same toilet as me, but how do you handle sharing the same shower when you have c-diff? They never got c-diff from me last year when I had it and I didn't even think about the shower then.

I know it might be rare to catch c-diff from a shower, but I want to be extra careful as to not spread this mess :-) I have been spraying a mixture of clorox and water all over the shower after I get out. Is this enough?

Is there anything else I should be careful as to cleaning?

[AThurston]

That is exactly what I did,mixture of H20 & bleach after I showered. No one got it. I used one toilet and my fiancee and guests used the other.

[Kathy George]

No need to worry as you are following proper protocol!!!

[mrowland06]

What about washing clothes? Do ya'll wash your clothes separately from everyone else's?

[amyc]

I washed my clothes and towels separately on hot setting and added a quarter cup of clorox to the load once it was full. I'm not sure that's enough bleach to kill spores, but I felt better about it and didn't ruin my clothes.

[AThurston]

I also washed all my clothes and shower stuff seperately in bleach. My dr also advised to wash my bedclothes in bleach every day or every other day at least for a couple weeks after abt therapy due to body sheds spores after tx. Good luck....

[KateC]

ok, wait a mnute..
freaing me out...
Aletta- what do you mean the body sheds spores?
Do you mean through your skin from places other than your butt?
there's no way i have time or energy to be doing my sheets everyday !
We have 2 bathrooms upstairs- master & 2cnd.
And half bath downstairs.
I was nervous about it but continued to use the bathroom downstairs during the day &
kept box of gloves & bottle of bleach which I still do now and did in between c diff.
I am a bleach freak now.
I could not have run up and down the stairs every time I had to go- impossible.
As for towels etc- I always use hot water with some bleach.
Been doing that for 20 yrs since the kids had head lice-- another phobia I have never recovered from.
That was absolutely awful!!!! And you can SEE those things.. ugh
No one here has gotten c diff, but I admit I was a nervous reck when my dtr was on a round of antibiotics.
The shower is an icky thing- yes use bleach there too.
I can' stand even being in the shower with myself- this thing has made me so phobic!

I have read that c diff is quite common on salad greens- that totally killed any chance of me eating a
salad in a restaurant ever again... it's awful ! And chopped meat never again- beanburgers now.
Kate

[beth22]

You don't shed spores out of your skin, but when you flush the toilet, you can get them going through the air, so close the lid when you flush.

As for all these precautions, I have to say that when I had full blown c diff, I did use bleach in the toilet, but not in the shower. I also used it to clean the bathroom, but once the D was under control, I didn't use it anymore.

I never washed my clothes separately and I never washed the bedsheets every other day. I washed them once a week. My husband has used my toilet since the very beginning of this, through relapse after relapse, shared my bed and bedsheets and never got c diff. He was even my donor for my first stool transfer. I had him test as recently as about 4 months ago in case I needed him for a donor again and he was fine. He got the intestinal flu that everyone else that I knew had for 4 - 5 days around here and he had it for only one day.

I used the bathroom at work in my dept. office that I share with 6 others and no one got sick with c diff. No one had even heard of c diff.

I think it is good to use caution, maybe I should have used more, but don't get paranoid about it either. Do what you can within reason. Amy posted the link to the site where you can get those germicidal bleach wipes. You can get them at Staples around here too. Those are probably good for wiping down the toilet seat and so on.

[Kathy George]

No spores do not shed from the skin. I’m in complete agreement with Beth. There is absolutely no need to do separate laundry. You are not suffering from Typhoid Mary. You are suffering from a disease which simply does not spread that easily. No reason to panic; just stay calm and continue to use basic cautionary measures. This is a disease that one needs to actually ingest the spores to become infected. Bathroom area needs to remain clean from spores on a continual basis. My grandchildren visited frequently during my episode with C-Diff. They used the same bathroom as me and never came down with C-Diff. Good luck and please keep us posted.

[mrowland06]

Thanks everyone. My 4 year old has had c-diff before a few years ago, so I wanted to make sure I was taking every precaution as to not bring it back in him. :-) But really all I'm doing is spraying the shower with clorox mix and using a separate bathroom...so I think we'll be fine.

[JoElizabeth]

I can see wanting to be absolutely certain not to pass this on to your family!

I may have went a bit overboard during my c.diff. Having read that the spores can live on surfaces for 70 days, I used bleach solution every day in my bathroom and shower and on all the doorknobs and light switches that I use along with the microwave and frig handles and really anything that I touched, even though I washed my hands about 20 times a day. lol. My family used another bathroom and have taken antibiotics since without problem. During this time, I also washed my clothes seperately but mainly because I bleached the heck out of anything I could. I did change the sheets just once a week and washed them in hot water with bleach (of course.) I used seperate towels and washed them the same way. I was able to get some hosital grade bleach wipes which have a stronger bleach concentration and used gloves.

I did this for about 3 months. Now I'm back to weekly cleaning but I still use bleach.
I was going to get those spores! Hopefully, over 150 days out, they're gone.


jo

[AThurston]

I'm very sorry if I freaked anybody out. No we don't spread spores thru our skin. Please remember I am not a dr and sharing info I received from my dr's as well. Yes indeed I did go overboard, I like Jo did alot of what she listed in her pm. After many relapses I too wanted any chance of spores gone.Ii did not mean to upset any one... Sorry..

[KateC]

YOu didn't upset anyone Aletta.
You know how it is wht this disease- doesn't take much for the anxiety to take over.
and we all want to do the bets we can to do the best we can to kill or at least contain the monster !
I will continute to use germicidal bleach forever I believe.
Not just from a c diff perspective, but because my body can't handle any type of infection.
Glad to hear daily washing of sheets isn't neccessary though ; ))
Kate

[JKK]

Huh. The research I have seen says spores are shed by a person with an active c diff infection and diminish the longer you are on c diff antibiotics. The research says spores shed go up some in a percentage of people after the antibiotics are stopped. I was of the understanding this is why it is considered one of the reasons it is so communicable in healthcare facilities and the difficulty in properly cleaning to eliminate spores. Current hospital laundry regulations in the US does not kill the spores.

Oxidizing agents along with bleach kill the spores from what I've read, so I launder with StainSolver or bleach and clean surfaces with 3% hydrogen peroxide and 10% bleach. We used StainSolver on our carpets too.

I don't wash my sheets everyday but do change them as I improve and don't re use towels during an active c diff infection. I wash my hands carefully, especially before eating. We don't go crazy and it is not sure proof as the spores get everywhere and research on mice showed it takes only two spores to infect. It is up our immune systems to fight off the spores but I figure it does not hurt to limit re-exposure and does no harm.

One thing I am careful about while actively infected and for a week or so after the main symptoms go away, is to limit where I go. I can not tell walking down the street who has had antibiotics recently or compromised immune systems. Personally, I hate to pass this along.

I don't think anyone can be over cautious about a communicable disease that can kill, but it is a personal decision on how you handle it within your home.
Hope this is helpful.

[JKK]

Oops, I meant to say that spores are shed on the skin based on the research I read.