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Anybody develop C. diff. after being diagnosed with CC?
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Anybody develop C. diff. after being diagnosed with CC?
Been dealing with a severe flare since 10/18. GI doc not very interested in my failure to respond to Lialda. Rembered Friday I had taken 2 grams of Amoxicillin 10/21 before dental work. The big D worsened and has been bad ever since. Called GI doc Friday and told his assistant about the antibiotics. She called me back and said take 4 immodiums/day. Call next week if I don't improve. I have not improved. Am scheduled to see PCP tomorrow for routine stuff. Will bring a stool sample and beg him to test it, as I am miserable and my CC has been very manageable until recently. Why don't these highly trained individuals listen to their patients' complaints. I have spent the week-end tethered to my bathroom. Thanks for letting me vent. Hope y'all are doing better than I am. Sheila
GI docs seem to have the trait of not listening..........
Hi Sheila,
I'm Sorry to hear that you're having this problem, and I hope that your doctor can get it properly diagnosed and treated. Yes, quite a few of us have had C. diff, following the use of antibiotics, especially amoxicillin. Amoxicillin is notorious for causing C. diff infections.
If they don't get a positive test result from the first sample, insist that they test another sample, because the test for C. diff is very prone to false negative results. Based on your circumstances, it's very likely that you do have C diff.
Also, once they get a positive test result, you can save about two or three weeks worth of misery, if you skip the Flagyl, and go straight to vancomycin, because Flagyl seldom controls C. diff any more - C. diff is becoming highly antibiotic-resistant. Vancomycin is really the only effective antibiotic available for the treatment of C. diff, and, in fact, it is one of only a very few antibiotics effective against the so-called "super bugs", in general.
If you begin using a good probiotic within a few hours after you take the last vancomycin treatment, and continue taking the probiotic for at least a couple of weeks, you will have much better luck in preventing a reinfection from the C. diff.
Good luck, and please keep us posted on how your doctor handles this, and how the treatment goes.
Tex
I'm Sorry to hear that you're having this problem, and I hope that your doctor can get it properly diagnosed and treated. Yes, quite a few of us have had C. diff, following the use of antibiotics, especially amoxicillin. Amoxicillin is notorious for causing C. diff infections.
If they don't get a positive test result from the first sample, insist that they test another sample, because the test for C. diff is very prone to false negative results. Based on your circumstances, it's very likely that you do have C diff.
Also, once they get a positive test result, you can save about two or three weeks worth of misery, if you skip the Flagyl, and go straight to vancomycin, because Flagyl seldom controls C. diff any more - C. diff is becoming highly antibiotic-resistant. Vancomycin is really the only effective antibiotic available for the treatment of C. diff, and, in fact, it is one of only a very few antibiotics effective against the so-called "super bugs", in general.
If you begin using a good probiotic within a few hours after you take the last vancomycin treatment, and continue taking the probiotic for at least a couple of weeks, you will have much better luck in preventing a reinfection from the C. diff.
Good luck, and please keep us posted on how your doctor handles this, and how the treatment goes.
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
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kate_ce1995
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Yep, that's what I would do now. I've used those diary free probiotics that are chewable that I was able to find at Whole Foods a few years ago. I think that they were from BlueBonnet, if you can get that brand. Thing is I've not had an antibiotic in years, so no real test of it's effectiveness in that situation. Think at that time, I just thought I needed to take then in general.
Thankfully, my immune system seems to be able to get rid of bacteria on it's own in the normal time frame since I've become free of symptoms on diet.
For years and years, I could never get over a URI without the aid of an antibiotic. Then, it would go into bronchitis, asthma, and borderline pneumonia before I'd get well. I always dreaded catching a "bug" at the beginning of winter as that would mean I'd be sick for the duration of the cold weather season. At least if I caught something near the end of the colder weather, I didn't have as long to be sick.
I had several weird reactions to a couple of antibiotics I was put on around the time that all the autoimmune conditions came to a head (before the MC dx and before the diet was even known about). However. when an allergist did the skin tests with the injectible forms of these, there was no reaction, so it was assumed that something in the matrix of the oral form that one of them came in must've caused the problem or it could be that one day I'll react and the next day I won't -- who knows?!! These immune problems are so weird. I had thought the allergists' tests would give some definitive answers, but they really don't seem to tell you anything definite, at least for the IgE type reactions which occur immediately after the entry of an antibiotic. I once heard a doc say that this isn't uncommon in people who have these autoimmune things like we have. I sure wish I understood what's behind all of this.
Yours, Luce
Thankfully, my immune system seems to be able to get rid of bacteria on it's own in the normal time frame since I've become free of symptoms on diet.
For years and years, I could never get over a URI without the aid of an antibiotic. Then, it would go into bronchitis, asthma, and borderline pneumonia before I'd get well. I always dreaded catching a "bug" at the beginning of winter as that would mean I'd be sick for the duration of the cold weather season. At least if I caught something near the end of the colder weather, I didn't have as long to be sick.
I had several weird reactions to a couple of antibiotics I was put on around the time that all the autoimmune conditions came to a head (before the MC dx and before the diet was even known about). However. when an allergist did the skin tests with the injectible forms of these, there was no reaction, so it was assumed that something in the matrix of the oral form that one of them came in must've caused the problem or it could be that one day I'll react and the next day I won't -- who knows?!! These immune problems are so weird. I had thought the allergists' tests would give some definitive answers, but they really don't seem to tell you anything definite, at least for the IgE type reactions which occur immediately after the entry of an antibiotic. I once heard a doc say that this isn't uncommon in people who have these autoimmune things like we have. I sure wish I understood what's behind all of this.
Yours, Luce
Luce,
Read this topic, together with the thread that I linked to, there:
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8948
Interesting, huh?
Tex
Read this topic, together with the thread that I linked to, there:
http://www.perskyfarms.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=8948
Interesting, huh?
Tex
It is suspected that some of the hardest material known to science can be found in the skulls of GI specialists who insist that diet has nothing to do with the treatment of microscopic colitis.
Thank you all for your interest, suggestions and encouragement. My PCP was far more empathetic, informative and thorough that my GI. He drew blood, ordered C. diff. and Girardia studies, suggested the probiotic "Bacid" and prescribed Lomotil to be filled ONLY if the stool tests are negative. He said Lomotil is contraindicated if I have a bacterial infection. Will have results Thursday. As far as I'm concerned, he can handle this problem in the future! Sheila
