My (ongoing) battle with a vicious bacteria.

I am just so very upset right now, I feel like I just need to explain my situation to the world. Hopefully it makes me feel better somehow.

I have always had problems with my wisdom teeth, and yes, I should have gotten them out a while ago, but I didn't.
As soon as I had a date for my wisdom teeth surgery, the same tooth got infected again (probably was for the 5th time or so).
I was out of town, so I couldn't go to my usual doctor for medication (it was very infected - needed to be put on medication), so I went to a doctor in the small town my boyfriend lives in (first mistake). He saw me, and gave me this medication I have never heard of before.
It was called CLINDAMYCIN (warning - stay away from this medication at ALL COSTS). I was desperate so I took it without researching it (second mistake).

All was well. My infection went away and I felt great. However, this new found healthy-bliss only lasted until about 2 weeks after I finished the medication (this puts us to about mid-to-end July).
One morning I woke up at 6am with extremely intense stomach cramps, and yes, I'm just going to say "all that comes with it", to avoid any unsightly visions.
I went back to bed, assuming that I just picked up the stomach flu, or I got food poisoning. Continuing for 5 or 6 days, I was getting sick of it and kind of worried. I had the "all that comes with it" about 8 - 10 times a day. When I went to sleep, I was up about every 1 - 2 hours to go to the washroom, every night, and to the washroom every 2 hours or so during the day. Intense stomach cramps that I have now deemed "attacks" occurred every 1 - 2 hours as well (sometimes even less).
One particular night it was so bad that my boyfriend and I decided that I should be heading to the emergency room (this was about 5 or 6 days since it started). We left at about 7am, and at the time I had very intense cramps (to the point of almost fainting).
Got to the ER (3rd mistake, we went to a hospital that seems to mess up a lot of diagnoses, but it was closer to my home), I was put into rapid assessment zone, and saw a doctor within 20 to 30 minutes.
He asked me a series of questions and took my blood, and asked me if I was able to do a sample.
My blood came back and was negative for whatever they were looking for.
I wasn't able to do my sample at the hospital so they told me to do it at home and bring it back.
He brushed me off and said I just had the stomach flu or food poisoning.

I did what they said, and brought it back the next morning. THEY. DID. NOT. ACCEPT. IT. They said it was because I was an "outpatient". Okay, fine. I was angry with them for giving me wrong information, but they gave me a new sample kit and told me to bring it back to the hospital labs when I was done with it.
Off I go, home, and brought it back the following Tuesday (Monday was Labour day I do believe). THEY. DID. NOT. ACCEPT. IT. AGAIN.
Strike #3 with that hospital. Done with them.

Keep in mind that throughout all these weeks, I was still having my attacks 8 - 10 times a day. I wasn't eating much at all (I couldn't keep anything into my system), and I was losing weight.

I went to my doctor, and she started from scratch. Told me to stay away from gluten (to see if I had a gluten intolerance), and I was only eating plain rice, and chicken breasts, and water.
She took some tests (parasites, bacteria, and other things).

Another week goes by, and she tells me that I'm clear of parasites, they are just waiting for the other test result back.
Meanwhile, I'm still having these intense attacks, I think we're going on 3 weeks to a month now.
A couple days later I get a call from the doctor, saying that I need to see her.
I go in to see her after work, and she tells me that I have an antibiotic-resistant bacteria called Clostridium difficile, also known as C. difficile.

C. difficile is notorious for breaking out in hospitals, and is very hard to get rid of (hence the anti-biotic resistant label it has). It kills, but mostly people who are elderly and people who have some sort of immune system disorder.

I get put on 2 weeks worth of anti-biotics, 4 times a day. The ministry of health apparently requires treatment of all patients diagnosed with C. diff.

I get home, obviously frazzled, upset and angry. Upset that I have been sick for so long. And angry at the hospital for making all the mistakes it did.
I researched the medication I got put on for my wisdom tooth infection. It is apparently not used in the UK and Europe because it is known to cause this serious side effect. I am FURIOUS. I would LOVE to go to that doctor and give him a huge smack across the face.

After the anger passed, I realized that at least FINALLY I had a diagnosis.

I started the medication I was prescribed, and I started to feel better.
I did get a side effect from this medication. I got oral thrush, which although was very very unpleasant and painful, I was prescribed some anti-fungal mouth wash to take every 4 hours and it cleared within 10 days.
At least I felt better from the C. difficile. Great! Maybe my young body will conquer this after all, right?!

Wrong. At least for now.

About a week ago, I started getting symptoms again. The attacks. The pain. The not being able to leave the house.

I get discouraged, and before my doctor was able to prescribe new medication it is a requirement that I needed to get tested again.
So, I went and did the sample.

Yesterday morning I just got contacted and was told that I still have C. difficile (surprise, surprise). I need to see an Infectious disease specialist, and I am being put on a "last resort medication" that will be 2 pills a day for 1 month.

I haven't been able to start the medication yet, because I must consult with my doctor, and perhaps even the specialist before I am able to be put on it. I'm extremely scared of this medication that I will be prescribed, but it is my only hope left in curing C. difficile.

I'm really glad that you spent the time to read this all to the last sentence, but mainly this was for me to just vent and get my story out.

Here's hoping for a recovery after this new medication, and hoping for no side-effects from it.

Thanks a lot.:tears:

You poor thing, any anitbiotic can cause c-diff, feel better soon

Kinda why you're supposed to eat yogurt or take probotic meds when you're on antibiotics and then a week or two after.

^ I read that any anti-biotic can cause C. diff, but Clindamycin is one of the most prevalent ones. Thanks, it's been a real uphill battle so far.

And to Raptor: Serious? I was taking pro-biotic capsules as well as eating lots of pro-biotic yogurts. With the amount of suffering I have been through, I do not appreciate your insensitivity and witty tone.

..Right. I'm supposed to be psychic and know that you were taking them. You'd be surprised at the people who don't.

Who are you and where's the nice young lady who sent me some loverly PMs?

It sucks. You'll get through it. Obligatory encouragement accomplished.

Now, knowing you as little as I do I'm sure you're done whining and will be back to your happy go lucky self in no time.

I know it's tough, especially on that 8th or 10th trip of the day, but be positive about your ability to fight it off. I mean seriously, can anything REALLY get YOU down?

Positive energy heading north. You are north of just about everything, aren't you?

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Originally Posted by wilomn

Who are you and where's the nice young lady who sent me some loverly PMs?

It sucks. You'll get through it. Obligatory encouragement accomplished.

Now, knowing you as little as I do I'm sure you're done whining and will be back to your happy go lucky self in no time.

I know it's tough, especially on that 8th or 10th trip of the day, but be positive about your ability to fight it off. I mean seriously, can anything REALLY get YOU down?

Positive energy heading north. You are north of just about everything, aren't you?

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;)

I was hoping you'd reply. I know what you've been through and although this seems extremely minimal compared to what you and a lot of other people are going through, I just needed to get it out.

Going to school is really tough while all of this is going on. I also can't work one of my jobs because of it.

Thanks for making me smile. I giggled at your first sentence!
:)

if crossing all my fingers and toes for you actually helps, you should have as much good luck coming your way as I can. Also, rubbing my cranium after a short buzzcut has proven to be the key to winning baseball games, so I'll give that a shot too.

Seriously though, good luck with getting better.

Thank you. It seems every time I go to a baseball game, they lose. Surprisingly (:rolleyes:) whenever something can go wrong with me, it does!
So I need all the luck in the world!

Although I won't be able to drink yet, my goal is to be able to be better so I can at least go to Oktoberfest mid-October!

that is lamecakes Cat.thanks for sharing now ill be skeptical of all antibiotics.:evileye:

look on the bright side,at least you know whats going on now and you know you wont have to get a coloncleansing for a lifetime.:gj:

OMG, as soon as you said you were on an antibiotic for dental work and to NEVER EVER TAKE IT, I knew where this was heading. You poor thing. I hope you recover, completely and soon. What a nightmare.

I feel for you... I somewhat understand how you feel...
Early August I got sick, mainly awful nausea and yeah.... no appetite and another symptom, I also won't mention to not give people the image..
But I thought it might be stress related since the reptile expo was coming up and I really wanted a python... I talked to dad about it and I got permission to get my python... Oh yeah, the thing about my sickness was that it only lasted from 8-3pm, the nausea that is, the other symptoms no...
The day of the expo was tough. It was the one day I actually threw up and thought I wouldn't be able to go to the expo.. Luckily we had some nausea and vomiting pills I took one of and felt a little better and managed to get through it and get my snake and have a great time at the expo. :3

After that I got a little better and the nasuea went away a few days to a week after I got my snake, but only maybe a couple weeks ago I became pretty much completley better and I've had no symptoms for awhile, but I'm still scared to eat too much too fast.
And I've lost like 10 pounds over that whole time... Not a good way to lose weight, but I'm trying to maintain it at where it is. (By excersising and stuff like that)

Sorry to hear about that. I'm surprised that a doctor would prescribe a pill that has high chance of causing this side effect. At least you now know what your diagnosis is, and have a good chance of curing it. Good luck on the new pills. You are young. I'm sure you will be able to fight it off.

Thanks everyone.

More attacks have come today. My abdomen is just in knots right now. At least I don't have any classes today.

Sigh. I'm seeing the doctor tomorrow. I'm hopeful yet scared. I have no immunity right now (I've come down with a cold too yay!), and I wonder what side effects I will be getting from t his month-long medication.

(My optimism has run out).

My grandmother had an old thing she used to do. She would take a sterling silver chain and bandaid it to where the trouble was. Old wives tale... I just wanted to try to be constructive. :please: I'll also rub my bald noggin in case that helps too... A smile and small chuckle is worth 50 pills. Good luck.

Haha, thanks.

I wish the cure for this was that easy. I thought I was going to be on one medication, and be done. Boy was I wrong.

Today has been a worse-than-usual day. Sigh. The intense abdomen pain hurts pretty bad, but its weird to say I am getting used to it.

We'll see what tomorrow brings.

Oh my gosh, that sounds absolutely terrible! I've never even heard of that anitbiotic and I've been on just about every one there is. I spent 6 months on antibiotics last year, and my doctor likes to try different ones just to see how they work. I'm kind of a guinea pig, but I don't mind, might as well do it considering that I respond well to antibiotics and it's just for sinus infections.

:hug: I hope you get better soon! :hug:

Well, it turns out that I'm going to be on a couple different medications for a few months.
One medication will be for 5 weeks, 4 times a day (worst!) and one will be some drink concoction mixed with water that I will have to drink in the morning. That will last for a couple of months.

So much for Oktoberfest! :tears:

Here's to recovery! *Pops first pill*.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CatandDiallo

and I was losing weight.

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OMG! U R sooooo lucky!!!

just kidding...hope you get everything sorted soon and are back to feeling better! That whole ordeal sounds miserable...

I wish for you a Refuah sh'leimah.....a complete healing.

Shalom,
Yosef :)

Hope you get better soon.... that sucks about the c-dif there are a lot of the stronger antibiotics that can bring it on real quick.... my wife got it taking Vancomycin which is an antibiotic they use to treat c dif go figure ...

I am truly sorry that you are going through all of this. I can't even imagine what this must feel like to you. I hope you get better soon! :hug:

Oh my! I'm so sorry that you're having to go though this. Sending you positive thoughts and prayers!

Thanks everyone. :oops:

I'm really very anxious about going to see the specialist tomorrow. All of this is just so overwhelming. The past couple of days have been really bad with the attacks.

I guess this is all just nervous chatter. This is the second day of the 5 week course of meds. Force feeding myself 4 times a day just for medication has been very tiring.

Thanks again.

:please:

:tears:

Here's for a speedy recovery :oops:






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Wow, sorry your having a rough time, I hope you get better soon!

Just as a quick update:

I met with the Infectious Disease Specialist one week ago. He told me that we're going to try the medication I was on before one more time (that's typical treatment for the first "relapse") before going on to the other medication.

I can say that this medication isn't doing much again. My symptoms are mild-ish now, but they are still there. I have about 7 1/2 more days on this medication, and then I'm to see the specialist again.

If I still have symptoms, then I will be put on a 6 week course of the last-resort medication. THAT'S the one that I was talking about in my original post that I am scared of. I am actually terrified of it and I'm so discouraged that my symptoms aren't gone yet.
The specialist said that it is more likely that I will relapse for a 2nd time, since I have relapsed the first time.

Just a quick question for dragonmoon: Was your wife's case hard to cure? My case is being extremely stubborn, and I'm terrified that it won't go away. What medication did they cure her with?

Anyways, that's just my rant of the evening, of course being lead by the good ol' anxiety monster.

:please:

YIKES! that all sounds so super-duper awful. that's why i refuse to take anti-biotics anymore. they are EVIL!!!

I found this treatment for C. Diff on Wikipedia; it apparently has a 90% success rate. Have any of the doctors or specialists suggested this?

"Stool transplant

Fecal bacteriotherapy, known in colloquial terms as stool transplant, a procedure related to probiotic research, has preliminarily been shown to cure the disease. It involves infusion of bacterial flora acquired from the feces of a healthy donor to reverse the bacterial imbalance responsible for the recurring nature of the infection. In fecal transplantation, donor stool is collected from a close relative who has been tested for a wide array of bacterial, viral, and parasitic pathogens. The stool is often mixed with saline or milk to achieve the desired consistency, then delivered through a colonoscope or retention enema, or through a nasogastric or nasoduodenal tube. The procedure replaces normal, healthy colonic flora that had been wiped out by antibiotics, and reestablishes the patient's resistance to colonization by Clostridium difficile. However, there is often patient resistance due to the perceived unpleasantness of the procedure that must be overcome first before proceeding with this often-effective treatment.

There are currently over 150 published reports dating back to 1958, though many more have been performed. It has a success rate of about 90%.[40][41][42] A guide was released in 2010 for home fecal transplantation.[43]"

I didnt read all the replies, but if you have the means id consult a lawyer about your first doctor visit and the way the hospital treated you. Its things like this that make healthcare in our country a failure.

Good luck with your ordeal!

Sent from my DROID3 using Tapatalk

Quote:

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Originally Posted by SquamishSerpents

YIKES! that all sounds so super-duper awful. that's why i refuse to take anti-biotics anymore. they are EVIL!!!

I found this treatment for C. Diff on Wikipedia; it apparently has a 90% success rate. Have any of the doctors or specialists suggested this?

"Stool transplant

Fecal bacteriotherapy, known in colloquial terms as stool transplant, a procedure related to probiotic research, has preliminarily been shown to cure the disease. It involves infusion of bacterial flora acquired from the feces of a healthy donor to reverse the bacterial imbalance responsible for the recurring nature of the infection. In fecal transplantation, donor stool is collected from a close relative who has been tested for a wide array of bacterial, viral, and parasitic pathogens. The stool is often mixed with saline or milk to achieve the desired consistency, then delivered through a colonoscope or retention enema, or through a nasogastric or nasoduodenal tube. The procedure replaces normal, healthy colonic flora that had been wiped out by antibiotics, and reestablishes the patient's resistance to colonization by Clostridium difficile. However, there is often patient resistance due to the perceived unpleasantness of the procedure that must be overcome first before proceeding with this often-effective treatment.

There are currently over 150 published reports dating back to 1958, though many more have been performed. It has a success rate of about 90%.[40][41][42] A guide was released in 2010 for home fecal transplantation.[43]"

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Thanks! My doctor has already mentioned it and told me to mention it to the specialist but when I saw him I just blanked and completely forgot.
I think before that option is executed, they will put me on the last-resort medication.
It is a little comforting to know that if the last-resort med doesn't work, there is still another option.


And Salodin, I'm not interested in doing that, but thanks.

UPDATE:

Hi all,

I've been off medication for 2 weeks now, and all seems to be going OK.

My system still is very, very far from normal, but the specialist told me that post-disease symptoms (well, this may not be pretty but more specifically post-infectious IBS) happen after a c-dif infection. These symptoms still really suck, and the specialist told me they can last for a very long time.

Even though I'm still underweight,apparently I look a lot better (in the face, colour wise, etc) and such. People who haven't seen me in a long time still get a shock from the weight-loss though.

I've been able to increase my diet to a more wide-variety of foods, and I have started exercising (I go to the gym at least 5x a week, nothing strenuous, just for exercise) to try to lead the healthy life that I had before the infection kicked in in July.

I'm also working with a nutritionist to try to get me and my body back on track!

Thanks for everyone's support and kindness. You all helped me through this.

Glad to hear the good news.

I had cdif when I got my transplant, it's not a lot of fun.

The positive attitude helps, keep it up and you'll be giving me crap (like the good old days) in no time.

Awe sorry to hear this deary, I just found this thread and I hope you complete a full recovery!

I totally sympathize with getting bad news after bad news. I have just almost completely gotten over a nasty UTI that I didn't know I had for close to half a year (I lost a TON of weight, was at 93 pounds at my lowest, couldn't eat, etc), meaning I have finally gotten back all the weight and feeling good. I went to my GYN and had my first Pap, and what do they find? That I'm high-risk HPV positive, and THEN THE CALL ME AGAIN saying they found abnormal cells, which turned out to be moderate to severe dysplasia, aka cells that may possibly become cervical cancer. And then to top it off my dentist tells me I need fillings on pretty much every tooth in my mouth. Insult (and pain!) to injury! At least they caught all this stuff super-early, and I'll be fine. I cried though.

Here's hoping to speedy and complete recoveries! :D Cry, vent, but don't let it get you down! It might hurt, but at least they're a damn good chance you're gonna get cured soon. :gj:

Again, hope you get well soon!






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I read an article on MSNBC about an extreme form a treatment for C.Dif yesterday and it made me think of you. Glad to hear you're feeling better and hope you keep moving in that direction... :D

Quote:

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Originally Posted by xFenrir

UTI that I didn't know I had for close to half a year

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Thanks! I hope you recover too, but how in the heck did you not know that you had a UTI for 1/2 year!?
I get UTIs chronically (lucky me), and let me tell ya, I knooowww when I have them! But man, that must have been hell!

But I know how you feel waiting for a diagnosis. I had to rely on my "STOMACH FLU" diagnosis from the horrible hospital, until I got diagnosed 1 month later.

I also have some dental surgery coming at me when I get better, too! Yay!..


I'm glad you're feeling better though.


And thanks to everyone else.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Inknsteel

I read an article on MSNBC about an extreme form a treatment for C.Dif yesterday and it made me think of you. Glad to hear you're feeling better and hope you keep moving in that direction... :D

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Thanks!

I don't even want to know... do I?

Haha.:oops:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CatandDiallo

Thanks!

I don't even want to know... do I?

Haha.:oops:

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PM sent... :gj:

glad you kicked it butt and on road to recovery. It sucks when your sick for long periods. now if everyone done losing weight please take what I gained in the last year back I uncomfortable at 212 lbs ( I went down whe nI stop sodas but shot right back up after a while. )

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CatandDiallo

Thanks! I hope you recover too, but how in the heck did you not know that you had a UTI for 1/2 year!?
I get UTIs chronically (lucky me), and let me tell ya, I knooowww when I have them! But man, that must have been hell!

But I know how you feel waiting for a diagnosis. I had to rely on my "STOMACH FLU" diagnosis from the horrible hospital, until I got diagnosed 1 month later.

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I've never really had one, and the only symptoms I had were gradual loss of appetite (I just never felt hungry) and occasional stomach pains, which I passed off as gas or PMS. Plus I didn't have healthcare at the time, so I tried to wait it out as long as I could to see if I got any better.

Still, it sucks that they didn't catch it the first time. The doctor was probably super inexperienced and only looking for common/obvious aliments. :rolleyes:

Read every word. Hoping that you get better soon. Good luck :)