Did anybody get C-diff?

Letlet

Hello! I have been having horrible, horrible diarrhea since the weekend. It stopped after 6 imodiums but is back with a vengeance today the whole day. I feel so sick. My onc asked for a sample to test me for parasites (yuck, I hope not) and C-diff. Has anyone had c-diff? What were your symptoms and how did it go away? I took Lomotil earlier and so far so good. I am forcing myself to eat and drink because I don't want to go to the lovely ER.

208sandy

Letlet:

My husband got C-diff when he was hospitalized and it can be very serious - please make sure if you're living with family to keep all your stuff separated it spreads like wildfire - lots of people get normal diarherrea when undergoing treatment but C-diff is different and it's mostly seen so far in hospitals, nursing homes and the like - it can be out in the general population - but depends on where you live - lots of good info on it if you go to good medical sites - it is called clostridium (sp) difficile - keep your fluids up and if you aren't getting better in the next couple of days the ER is where you should be.

Hugs, Sandy

Letlet

Gosh Sandy, I hope I don't have it! I have small children !

Survivorwoman

Letlet,

Make sure you drink Pedialyte, Poweraid and Gatoraid to rehydrate. I had seven day of diarrhea after my previous chemo treatment. I was told to take two immodium after the first loose stool and eat slightly green banana and plain toast. Hope you feel better soon.

Survivorwoman

Another thing Letlet,

I hope you are not eating anything raw that could have bacteria on it. No cheese with mold on it either.  All fruits, veggies and foods should be cooked, or blanched in hot water to remove bacteria that might cause diarrhea. I eat canned fruit only.

carcharm

Have u been on anitbiotics lately? They can cause it. My son at age 4 had it. Bloody diarrhea and took months to get his energy back. Take acidophyllus if your doctor hasn't prescribed it yet. It will help get you guts nomal flora back.

Letlet

Thanks Katiaw, I am feeling better today.

Carcharm, no antibiotics at all. I just found out that it takes some days for this result. So far so good today.

208sandy

Hi Letlet:

Doesn't sound to me like you have C-diff if you are better this fast without antibiotics - I am hopeful you're going to be just fine - looks like you're getting lots of good advice from the ladies on this thread - keep us informed.

Hugs, Sandy

krista613

HI there!  I am new to the boards and had to reply to this thread about Cdiff.

I got Cdiff wtih my first chemo treatment!  It was really awful. I work as a nurse in the ICU, so my oncologist thinks I was colonized with Cdiff and when I had severe neutropenia, the CDiff flared up.

Cdiff is tough to treat, but it is treatable. I took two antiobiotics while I was in the hospital and then left with a two week prescription of Vancomycin which I took 4x a day.  I was religious with my antibiotics--- set an alarm to take them, never missed a dose.

I also bought a supplement, you can google it.  Something like Sacchylrides B  and I swear that helped too. The infectious disease md said that Cdiff can come back after the antiobiotics were done, so I did everything I could to make sure that didnt happen.  I really feel the supplements helped, because I got severly neutropenic three more time while on chemo and no Cdiff.