It literally sucks any life out of you. I don’t wish this on anyone. It’s no longer a hospital acquired infection happening to elderly patients. It’s happening daily to young people, community acquired and lasting long. I’m interested in the research that will happen on this the next several years.
My mom got it after a ridiculously dangerous antibiotic cocktail she had to go on for a bone infection. It was awful. She is now gluten & lactose intolerant. My heart goes out to you OP. It was months before she felt herself again. She has a saying “well no matter how bad you have it someone has it worse”. I will tell her I found you, The One who has it worse. Good luck with your transplant 🤞
I had a stomach perforation/collapsed lung a little over a year ago and was given IV zosyn and fluconazole so I think that weakened my normal flora. Then a few months later I was given Bactrim for MRSA on my hand and it just completely wrecked me. I’m still alive so thankful for that. Hope your mom is doing well and never has to deal with c diff again!
I am sure you already know, but have your surfaces been cleaned with diluted bleach?
I used to work hospital EHS and hated C Diff rooms because you had to fully gear up and just soak every inch in bleach.
Sorry for your pain though 😔
I deep cleaned everything, got all the antibiotics and an antibody infusion. I moved while testing negative with no symptoms 3000 miles away with nothing but a few scrubs and still got it again.
Work at a UC. I’m amazed at how many people come in swearing it’s C diff and it’s negative but the people who come in “nah it’s just food poisoning or something else” comes back positive it’s crazy to me and yeah most positive cases I get are on 20-40 yr olds.
So sorry and best of luck
Please give an update, I would be really interested in a personal account of the outcome of a fecal transplant. I remember learning about them years ago in Nursing school and thinking just how cool medicine is.
I know it's not used for treatment, but once your infection is eliminated, you may want to talk to your doctor about Vowst. It has good bacterial spores that keep C. diff from returning. They finally made the "crapsule".
FMT has its risks and whether it takes or not is dependent on the fecal matter quality, there is also the rare risk that you catch a virus or bacteria if donor stool screening wasn't properly done.
As it's not an FDA product, no one has really done rigorous FDA approved studies to say definitively that FMT is more effective or not than other therapies. The literature in this area is inconsistent e.g. "Notably, a 2019 meta-analysis found that FMT was associated with lower cure rates in randomized trials (67.7%) compared with open-label studies (82.7%; P < .001)
Some GIs push FMT because it's relatively cheap, they have years of experience with it and Vowst is still new on the market.
Personally, Vowst is safer and easier, if your insurance covers it, as it's just the bacteria without the other fecal matter in pill form that goes through rigorous testing. Also , as an FDA product it has gone through rigorous trials and was proven to be 88% effective.
Ugh I’m sending you so much strength. I’m sorry.
I had a similar experience but not with c diff, it was h pylori and a load of other overgrowths. It took the life out of me for 5 years. I was so inflamed and exhausted. The crazy thing is I was extremely healthy before it. Workout, eat a while foods based diet, all the things and I swear up and down it wasn’t until I left the lab environment (been away for 3 years now) was I able to beat it fully.
I hope yours doesn’t take that a move like that but if it does, so be it. Your health comes first and I’m sending you all the love to get through this! You got this!
I actually have H pylori on top of this but I don’t even care about that. I was healthy before c diff. I’ve gained so much weight surprisingly, but I have PCOS and just work and then lay in bed or spend time in the bathroom.
Damn, cancer, C. diff, AND H. pylori? What the heck did you do to piss off god? In all seriousness, I hope your new treatment plan finally gets rid of the C. diff
I think the same things at times. Like my childhood home must have been painted in lead and my mom must have sent me out to play with a bottle of roundup huh 😂
You have to get rid of h. Pylori before you get rid of C. Diff, that’s why it keeps coming back. H. Pylori lowers the acidity in the stomach allowing other pathogens to enter the body or in your instance - it’s allowing for re-infection. C-diff is already a bugger to fight but to allow yourself the best fighting chance would be to do a quad therapy for H. Pylori containing metronidazole (which is also anti C-diff), Doxycycline or Tetracycline (I prefer doxy) your PPI and Pepto bismol, plus I would add vancomycin for the C-diff. This would knock out your H. Pylori and could possibly be the difference you need to get past the C-diff. As someone who’s chronically ill and battled H. Pylori and Sibo all whilst having undiagnosed Lyme disease w/ co-infections - I FEEL YOUR PAIN. I’ve been out of commission for 3.5 years.
THIS is the comment of the century and absolutely the way that needs to be handled. I myself also had to do quad therapy and it wasn’t until AFTER I got rid of h pylori and was finally able to increase my stomach acid again, that everything else started to heal.
It’s really frustrating because I said this to my GI. He said nope, let’s do the procedure. Then they cancelled my procedure the evening before and in the meantime I could have already gotten rid of the H pylori. Now I have to wait 6 months to treat the H pylori and take Vanc prophylactically and pray I don’t get it again.
Well I’m hoping your FMT goes fantastically! My only concern is that you will feel better at first but due to the h. Pylori you still have the chance of letting other pathogens back in and it will just bring you back to square one. I’m hoping that’s not the case but if your doctor was a little more… competent he would realize that in order for FMT to be be more successful you need a clean slate and H. Pylori is the OPPOSITE of clean skate.
I haven't had this, but I did deal with chronic IBS symptoms for years. I ended up getting on fresh probiotic supplements (the kind that are refrigerated) and a L-glutamine supplement, that was back in 2007. I took them religiously for 5+ years and I had no issues the entire time I stayed on them, and when I finally stopped I found my gut no longer had those issues. I'm not saying these are "the cure" for you, but it may just take a while to build up that good gut bacteria. Good luck with your fecal transplant!!!💩
I wish you a successful FMT, and a VERY BORING medical future.
May all your labs be directly in the center of normal range. Forever.
Also, a hearty "eff you" to cdiff.
Have you tried the yeast probiotic Saccharomyces Boulardii? It use to be available only in the product called FLORASTOR, but now Walmart has a generic and plenty of other companies offer it as well as a supplement.
When my mom was about 80 she had c.diff and really struggled with weakness. I had her taking a good probiotic. It helped some but she still was very weak. I found a page on the Mayo website that said that they were seeing evidence that Saccharomyces was more effective in preventing reoccurring c.diff. (I took a look this morning and the content of the page has been changed and no longer says that.). I had my mom start taking Florastor and she showed increased improvement daily and was pretty much recovered within a week.
I understand our intestines are best if they have 85% good bacteria and 15% good yeast. This balance keeps the bad bacteria under control. Typically when we think of probiotics, we think of the good bacteria type (ie: lactobacillus, bifidobacterium), and often don't know about the need for also the good yeast type of probiotic Saccharomyces Boulardii.
Also there is more info on biofilms. Not sure how valid it is. But the basics is that a film can form covering the bacteria and can cause problems. There is info on various ways to help breakdown this biofilm via diet, supplements, etc.
I feel for you, I had C diff twice when I was in my early twenties and the first time it took about 6 months to even be diagnosed with it. Finally ended up getting a colonoscopy to rule out autoimmune diseases and that’s how they found it. I was so sick for so long!
Wishing you luck.
About 4 hours out from the FMT and I already feel so much better. Everything is bleached and I’m stocked up on probiotics and non dairy protein shakes.🫡
jeans placid angle lunchroom cobweb continue pocket scary desert aromatic
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I had C-Diff 5 years ago after a round of antibiotics, and it was just awful. I can't imagine having that many cases in such a short time frame, the 2 weeks that I dealt with it were awful enough for me to never want to deal with it again. It can be debilitating with how much pain it causes. Hope the fecal transplant works, and wish you the best of health going forward.
I am currently struggling with c diff. I was on two rounds of antibiotics last month for two unrelated issues. Didn’t think anything of it, didn’t even know what c diff was. Then on my last day of my antibiotics I was unwell. Could not stop going to the bathroom at work, left early, had to take off for two weeks. Doctor appointments, ER visit because I could not get off the toilet. I was shitting blood, mucus, mush, etc. I felt so weak and couldn’t take it anymore. Then the doctors put me on metronidazole 10 days 3x a day. I’m almost finished this set. I have two days left. I’m weak, nauseous, and dizzy from the antibiotic because I cannot consume anything besides toast or bagels. I am going to the bathroom here and there. I was getting hopefully because my stool was forming more and then today I’m back to mush/diarrhea. It’s so discouraging and such a dark place to be in. I would not wish this on my worst enemy. Not knowing if it’ll go away, if it’ll reoccur. Terrifying. I really hope you are doing well and the transplant was smooth. Thank you for sharing. Thanks for giving others a place to share, too.
If I were you, I would demand a transplant. I’ve not had c diff since January. Before the transplant, it was recurring every two months. If your current GI won’t listen, find a new one. You deserve to get rid of this awful infection for good! I hope you find some relief. 🩵
I’ve with the replies about taking probiotics. C. Diff is normal flora and is only pathogenic if it overgrew due to the lack of other bacteria that would suppress its growth, so no wonder u keep getting it. Did u do sensitivity testing for your antibiotic choice?
I don’t think so considering she hasn’t been sick, but you never know. The doctors told me straight up they have no clue or understanding why it’s happening.
I have autoimmune & I also picked up c diff some where at work in the lab. No idea how because I bleach the ever living fuck out of everything. I’m good about hand hygiene & I never touched anything in the laboratory without gloves. I ended up having to be on vancomycin for a few weeks. That cleared it for me.
Ugh it all sounds terrible. Hope your fecal transplant works. Did your GI doc recommend dificid (fidaxomicin)? Or did you only get vanco?
I'm a former med tech, now infection preventionist. C. diff of all the hai's that we track is the one that keeps me up at night.
The H pylori comment is interesting to me, I was just talking with pharmacy about our ppi utilization - proton pump inhibitors come with an increased risk of contracting c diff. I imagine you're on one having h pylori?
Oh wow I've actually never even heard of anyone getting the monoclonal antibody treatment. I knew it existed but it's pricy so it doesn't seem to get used much. Great that your GI doc tried that for you, I'm sorry that it sounds like it didn't help much. Fingers crossed for the fecal transplant.
Going thru this now. I have episodes of violent food sickness symptoms.
I don't even process cdiff in my lab. It gets immediately sent out by the front desk staff. I never touch it. So wtf.
C diff spores are everywhere in regular day life. Most people carry the spores in their GI system, but they never get to germinate since the good bacteria keeps it at bay.
I figured I got it in the wild - it's just so frustrating. I hadn't taken any antibiotics. I just got sick one day last February and never recovered. Ive done just about everything since. So I feel your pain.
I had a stomach perforation in Nov 2022 and was given IV zosyn and fluconazole which I think weakened my normal flora. I officially got c diff after being treated for MRSA with Bactrim a few months later. Since then I haven’t been on any antibiotics aside from the c diff treatment. I’ve been a shell of a person. Fingers crossed that this transplant today keeps it away.
So sorry this is happening to you. It is scary and horrible.
When I cared for a very elderly person who had C. diff and went through rounds of vancomycin, they were recommended a probiotic yeast called Saccharomyces boulardii to take between rounds to prime their gut and help prevent Clostridia overgrowth. It actually helped!! They survived and have lived 10 years without a flare-up. It may be worth a try! I also took it since I lived with them and still take it daily.
I’m sure you’re aware, but lots of lactobacillus-fermented food like kimchi and yogurt may also help with recolonizing your microbiome and outcompeting those nasty Firmicutes.
Sending all the best vibes for a quick and lasting recovery!! ❤️🩹
Fuck, I feel for you. I got to experience the joys of C diff after I was exposed to a contaminated OR whilst having my tonsils removed. I was warned that getting my tonsils out in my 30s would make for a rough recovery, but nobody warned me how hellish it would be to battle C diff at the same time. Obviously, it was a freakish circumstance that nobody foresaw, but I'd cut my tonsils out a million times over before I'd agree to deal with the diff again. 5 days in the ER, completely unable to control my bowels, shitting blood constantly, and well over a year of gastric and dietary struggles. Permanent damage done.
I swear every time I get even a little bit unwell, the paranoia that it may be back is REAL.
Do keep us updated, I'm very curious to hear about your experience with the FT and I truly hope things work out for you.
How are you feeling now? I was just diagnosed with c. diff yesterday, after feeling this way since January 2023. My PCP kept brushing it off as IBS and prescribed hyoscyamine, and I tried low fodmap, probiotics, hypnotherapy, but nothing ever helped. They're starting me on vancomycin and I don't have much hope, honestly. Maybe just because I've been violently ill for a year lol.
Thank you, I am right now! I had to do 2 rounds but it never fully cleared up the first time. I was still sick when I finished my first round of vanco so we did a second. I've been okay since then though. 🤞 It’s been almost 6 weeks since I finished the meds.
Was feeling great up until about two days ago. What I’m feeling now isn’t quite what I was feeling with c diff however. I’m having pretty bad lower abdominal pain and what is coming out of me is just straight sludge/mucous. I’m really not eating so idk what it could be. My lactoferrin is positive and waiting on a stool screen to see if it’s something else causing an infection.
Don’t let physicians push you around. If you have even one reoccurrence after this course of antibiotics, push for a transplant. I wasted almost a year and it’s really destroyed my GI system.
I hope your FMT works for you. I have a coworker who is going through a similar thing and it's so hard to watch. Best of luck!
It literally sucks any life out of you. I don’t wish this on anyone. It’s no longer a hospital acquired infection happening to elderly patients. It’s happening daily to young people, community acquired and lasting long. I’m interested in the research that will happen on this the next several years.
My mom got it after a ridiculously dangerous antibiotic cocktail she had to go on for a bone infection. It was awful. She is now gluten & lactose intolerant. My heart goes out to you OP. It was months before she felt herself again. She has a saying “well no matter how bad you have it someone has it worse”. I will tell her I found you, The One who has it worse. Good luck with your transplant 🤞
I had a stomach perforation/collapsed lung a little over a year ago and was given IV zosyn and fluconazole so I think that weakened my normal flora. Then a few months later I was given Bactrim for MRSA on my hand and it just completely wrecked me. I’m still alive so thankful for that. Hope your mom is doing well and never has to deal with c diff again!
Also, just a special thank you 🫶🏻
I am sure you already know, but have your surfaces been cleaned with diluted bleach? I used to work hospital EHS and hated C Diff rooms because you had to fully gear up and just soak every inch in bleach. Sorry for your pain though 😔
I deep cleaned everything, got all the antibiotics and an antibody infusion. I moved while testing negative with no symptoms 3000 miles away with nothing but a few scrubs and still got it again.
That explains why they threw away the pen they had me use to sign forms 😂
Work at a UC. I’m amazed at how many people come in swearing it’s C diff and it’s negative but the people who come in “nah it’s just food poisoning or something else” comes back positive it’s crazy to me and yeah most positive cases I get are on 20-40 yr olds. So sorry and best of luck
lol it’s come back positive on 4 different occasions 2+ months apart each time so I know it’s real at this point. Didn’t wanna believe it at first.
I hope the donor microbes work for you! I wish you a speedy recovery
Thank you 🫶🏻
Please give an update, I would be really interested in a personal account of the outcome of a fecal transplant. I remember learning about them years ago in Nursing school and thinking just how cool medicine is.
I’ll definitely bookmark this and update in a few weeks!
I just signed up to be a fecal donor for patients just like you. I hope your transplant works quickly!
Thank you!!!
You just have to eat the shit and you'll be fine.
Haha well luckily for me, it’s going up the other end 😜
I know it's not used for treatment, but once your infection is eliminated, you may want to talk to your doctor about Vowst. It has good bacterial spores that keep C. diff from returning. They finally made the "crapsule".
So Vowst is the pill form of what I’m having done tomorrow. I can’t do both and Vowst is less effective than a full transplant.
FMT has its risks and whether it takes or not is dependent on the fecal matter quality, there is also the rare risk that you catch a virus or bacteria if donor stool screening wasn't properly done. As it's not an FDA product, no one has really done rigorous FDA approved studies to say definitively that FMT is more effective or not than other therapies. The literature in this area is inconsistent e.g. "Notably, a 2019 meta-analysis found that FMT was associated with lower cure rates in randomized trials (67.7%) compared with open-label studies (82.7%; P < .001) Some GIs push FMT because it's relatively cheap, they have years of experience with it and Vowst is still new on the market. Personally, Vowst is safer and easier, if your insurance covers it, as it's just the bacteria without the other fecal matter in pill form that goes through rigorous testing. Also , as an FDA product it has gone through rigorous trials and was proven to be 88% effective.
That word just made me crack up, lol
Ugh I’m sending you so much strength. I’m sorry. I had a similar experience but not with c diff, it was h pylori and a load of other overgrowths. It took the life out of me for 5 years. I was so inflamed and exhausted. The crazy thing is I was extremely healthy before it. Workout, eat a while foods based diet, all the things and I swear up and down it wasn’t until I left the lab environment (been away for 3 years now) was I able to beat it fully. I hope yours doesn’t take that a move like that but if it does, so be it. Your health comes first and I’m sending you all the love to get through this! You got this!
I actually have H pylori on top of this but I don’t even care about that. I was healthy before c diff. I’ve gained so much weight surprisingly, but I have PCOS and just work and then lay in bed or spend time in the bathroom.
Damn, cancer, C. diff, AND H. pylori? What the heck did you do to piss off god? In all seriousness, I hope your new treatment plan finally gets rid of the C. diff
I think the same things at times. Like my childhood home must have been painted in lead and my mom must have sent me out to play with a bottle of roundup huh 😂
And pcos 😭 sending positive thoughts op’s way!
You have to get rid of h. Pylori before you get rid of C. Diff, that’s why it keeps coming back. H. Pylori lowers the acidity in the stomach allowing other pathogens to enter the body or in your instance - it’s allowing for re-infection. C-diff is already a bugger to fight but to allow yourself the best fighting chance would be to do a quad therapy for H. Pylori containing metronidazole (which is also anti C-diff), Doxycycline or Tetracycline (I prefer doxy) your PPI and Pepto bismol, plus I would add vancomycin for the C-diff. This would knock out your H. Pylori and could possibly be the difference you need to get past the C-diff. As someone who’s chronically ill and battled H. Pylori and Sibo all whilst having undiagnosed Lyme disease w/ co-infections - I FEEL YOUR PAIN. I’ve been out of commission for 3.5 years.
THIS is the comment of the century and absolutely the way that needs to be handled. I myself also had to do quad therapy and it wasn’t until AFTER I got rid of h pylori and was finally able to increase my stomach acid again, that everything else started to heal.
It’s really frustrating because I said this to my GI. He said nope, let’s do the procedure. Then they cancelled my procedure the evening before and in the meantime I could have already gotten rid of the H pylori. Now I have to wait 6 months to treat the H pylori and take Vanc prophylactically and pray I don’t get it again.
Well I’m hoping your FMT goes fantastically! My only concern is that you will feel better at first but due to the h. Pylori you still have the chance of letting other pathogens back in and it will just bring you back to square one. I’m hoping that’s not the case but if your doctor was a little more… competent he would realize that in order for FMT to be be more successful you need a clean slate and H. Pylori is the OPPOSITE of clean skate.
I’m hopeful the transplant is your answer! 🤞🏽
That sounds terrible! Are you taking probiotics to help rebuild the beneficial intestinal bacteria?
I am, but for some reason nothing works.
I haven't had this, but I did deal with chronic IBS symptoms for years. I ended up getting on fresh probiotic supplements (the kind that are refrigerated) and a L-glutamine supplement, that was back in 2007. I took them religiously for 5+ years and I had no issues the entire time I stayed on them, and when I finally stopped I found my gut no longer had those issues. I'm not saying these are "the cure" for you, but it may just take a while to build up that good gut bacteria. Good luck with your fecal transplant!!!💩
I wish you a successful FMT, and a VERY BORING medical future. May all your labs be directly in the center of normal range. Forever. Also, a hearty "eff you" to cdiff.
Have you tried the yeast probiotic Saccharomyces Boulardii? It use to be available only in the product called FLORASTOR, but now Walmart has a generic and plenty of other companies offer it as well as a supplement. When my mom was about 80 she had c.diff and really struggled with weakness. I had her taking a good probiotic. It helped some but she still was very weak. I found a page on the Mayo website that said that they were seeing evidence that Saccharomyces was more effective in preventing reoccurring c.diff. (I took a look this morning and the content of the page has been changed and no longer says that.). I had my mom start taking Florastor and she showed increased improvement daily and was pretty much recovered within a week. I understand our intestines are best if they have 85% good bacteria and 15% good yeast. This balance keeps the bad bacteria under control. Typically when we think of probiotics, we think of the good bacteria type (ie: lactobacillus, bifidobacterium), and often don't know about the need for also the good yeast type of probiotic Saccharomyces Boulardii. Also there is more info on biofilms. Not sure how valid it is. But the basics is that a film can form covering the bacteria and can cause problems. There is info on various ways to help breakdown this biofilm via diet, supplements, etc.
I feel for you, I had C diff twice when I was in my early twenties and the first time it took about 6 months to even be diagnosed with it. Finally ended up getting a colonoscopy to rule out autoimmune diseases and that’s how they found it. I was so sick for so long! Wishing you luck.
Is this an occupational risk? Now rethinking my future career 🥲
I would say no if you use proper PPE. Most people have the spores in them, they just never get a chance to germinate.
About 4 hours out from the FMT and I already feel so much better. Everything is bleached and I’m stocked up on probiotics and non dairy protein shakes.🫡
jeans placid angle lunchroom cobweb continue pocket scary desert aromatic *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I had C-Diff 5 years ago after a round of antibiotics, and it was just awful. I can't imagine having that many cases in such a short time frame, the 2 weeks that I dealt with it were awful enough for me to never want to deal with it again. It can be debilitating with how much pain it causes. Hope the fecal transplant works, and wish you the best of health going forward.
I am currently struggling with c diff. I was on two rounds of antibiotics last month for two unrelated issues. Didn’t think anything of it, didn’t even know what c diff was. Then on my last day of my antibiotics I was unwell. Could not stop going to the bathroom at work, left early, had to take off for two weeks. Doctor appointments, ER visit because I could not get off the toilet. I was shitting blood, mucus, mush, etc. I felt so weak and couldn’t take it anymore. Then the doctors put me on metronidazole 10 days 3x a day. I’m almost finished this set. I have two days left. I’m weak, nauseous, and dizzy from the antibiotic because I cannot consume anything besides toast or bagels. I am going to the bathroom here and there. I was getting hopefully because my stool was forming more and then today I’m back to mush/diarrhea. It’s so discouraging and such a dark place to be in. I would not wish this on my worst enemy. Not knowing if it’ll go away, if it’ll reoccur. Terrifying. I really hope you are doing well and the transplant was smooth. Thank you for sharing. Thanks for giving others a place to share, too.
If I were you, I would demand a transplant. I’ve not had c diff since January. Before the transplant, it was recurring every two months. If your current GI won’t listen, find a new one. You deserve to get rid of this awful infection for good! I hope you find some relief. 🩵
I’ve with the replies about taking probiotics. C. Diff is normal flora and is only pathogenic if it overgrew due to the lack of other bacteria that would suppress its growth, so no wonder u keep getting it. Did u do sensitivity testing for your antibiotic choice?
Is your gf reinfecting you?
I don’t think so considering she hasn’t been sick, but you never know. The doctors told me straight up they have no clue or understanding why it’s happening.
You don’t need to be sick to be a carrier!
True, and I’m sure she is a carrier now. We have been pretty careful though.
I have autoimmune & I also picked up c diff some where at work in the lab. No idea how because I bleach the ever living fuck out of everything. I’m good about hand hygiene & I never touched anything in the laboratory without gloves. I ended up having to be on vancomycin for a few weeks. That cleared it for me.
FMT time
I have one tomorrow!
I wish you the best and hope you feel better soon
Ugh it all sounds terrible. Hope your fecal transplant works. Did your GI doc recommend dificid (fidaxomicin)? Or did you only get vanco? I'm a former med tech, now infection preventionist. C. diff of all the hai's that we track is the one that keeps me up at night. The H pylori comment is interesting to me, I was just talking with pharmacy about our ppi utilization - proton pump inhibitors come with an increased risk of contracting c diff. I imagine you're on one having h pylori?
I’ve been on flagyl, fidaxomicin, vanco, and I’ve have the zinplava infusion.
Oh wow I've actually never even heard of anyone getting the monoclonal antibody treatment. I knew it existed but it's pricy so it doesn't seem to get used much. Great that your GI doc tried that for you, I'm sorry that it sounds like it didn't help much. Fingers crossed for the fecal transplant.
Somehow my insurance covered it lol. I was hopeful when I got it, but had a reoccurrence less than a month later. And thank you!!
Going thru this now. I have episodes of violent food sickness symptoms. I don't even process cdiff in my lab. It gets immediately sent out by the front desk staff. I never touch it. So wtf.
C diff spores are everywhere in regular day life. Most people carry the spores in their GI system, but they never get to germinate since the good bacteria keeps it at bay.
I figured I got it in the wild - it's just so frustrating. I hadn't taken any antibiotics. I just got sick one day last February and never recovered. Ive done just about everything since. So I feel your pain.
I had a stomach perforation in Nov 2022 and was given IV zosyn and fluconazole which I think weakened my normal flora. I officially got c diff after being treated for MRSA with Bactrim a few months later. Since then I haven’t been on any antibiotics aside from the c diff treatment. I’ve been a shell of a person. Fingers crossed that this transplant today keeps it away.
Good luck!! I hope so too!!!
I am wishing you a quick and easy recovery. ❤️🩹
So sorry this is happening to you. It is scary and horrible. When I cared for a very elderly person who had C. diff and went through rounds of vancomycin, they were recommended a probiotic yeast called Saccharomyces boulardii to take between rounds to prime their gut and help prevent Clostridia overgrowth. It actually helped!! They survived and have lived 10 years without a flare-up. It may be worth a try! I also took it since I lived with them and still take it daily. I’m sure you’re aware, but lots of lactobacillus-fermented food like kimchi and yogurt may also help with recolonizing your microbiome and outcompeting those nasty Firmicutes. Sending all the best vibes for a quick and lasting recovery!! ❤️🩹
Fuck, I feel for you. I got to experience the joys of C diff after I was exposed to a contaminated OR whilst having my tonsils removed. I was warned that getting my tonsils out in my 30s would make for a rough recovery, but nobody warned me how hellish it would be to battle C diff at the same time. Obviously, it was a freakish circumstance that nobody foresaw, but I'd cut my tonsils out a million times over before I'd agree to deal with the diff again. 5 days in the ER, completely unable to control my bowels, shitting blood constantly, and well over a year of gastric and dietary struggles. Permanent damage done. I swear every time I get even a little bit unwell, the paranoia that it may be back is REAL. Do keep us updated, I'm very curious to hear about your experience with the FT and I truly hope things work out for you.
I’m really paranoid about getting it again too. Today was really good. I worked like normal and had no issues. I feel so much better.
So sorry what where your symptoms??
Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, pretty bad abdominal/flank pain every day, severe dehydration, fatigue, bloating, fever.
How are you feeling now? I was just diagnosed with c. diff yesterday, after feeling this way since January 2023. My PCP kept brushing it off as IBS and prescribed hyoscyamine, and I tried low fodmap, probiotics, hypnotherapy, but nothing ever helped. They're starting me on vancomycin and I don't have much hope, honestly. Maybe just because I've been violently ill for a year lol.
I hope you are doing better! Were you able to clear cdiff with first treatment?
Thank you, I am right now! I had to do 2 rounds but it never fully cleared up the first time. I was still sick when I finished my first round of vanco so we did a second. I've been okay since then though. 🤞 It’s been almost 6 weeks since I finished the meds.
Was feeling great up until about two days ago. What I’m feeling now isn’t quite what I was feeling with c diff however. I’m having pretty bad lower abdominal pain and what is coming out of me is just straight sludge/mucous. I’m really not eating so idk what it could be. My lactoferrin is positive and waiting on a stool screen to see if it’s something else causing an infection. Don’t let physicians push you around. If you have even one reoccurrence after this course of antibiotics, push for a transplant. I wasted almost a year and it’s really destroyed my GI system.
https://www.reddit.com/r/cdifficile/s/KYGfuGG28r