C. diff affects us all.

Several years ago, I received clindamycin (should be taken off the market) for an infected tooth. As a result I got C. diff and all the symptoms that go with it. I was treated with vancomycin, and I felt better, but not completely normal. A few days upon completion, it came back full force. I repeated the medication again with the same results….

I had a urinary tract infection in October of 2021 for which I took Cipro. A week after the last Cipro dose, I started having diarrhea. My doctor ordered a stool test and it showed I had C. diff. I was prescribed vancomycin for 10 days. But the C. diff came back after I finished the vancomycin. I was then prescribed flagyl for 10 days, but the C….

It all began after I gave birth to my child (Cesarean section in 2019) when my body went downhill. A time that is meant to be joyous was filled with dread. I had an unknown movement in my lower abdomen that felt like a baby was still trapped in me with random bouts of diarrhea (1 diarrhea bowel movement a month) that weren’t bad at all. So I…

I developed viral pneumonia and was hospitalized. My immune system was weakened by pneumonia and I was treated with high-dose IV antibiotics. Once I went home I became busy with learning how to care for my newly diagnosed diabetes. I began having excessive diarrhea, which I ignored for six weeks. I finally sought treatment when I was once again…

I am a public health dentist and practiced clinical dentistry for nearly 30 years. On January 11, 2022, I underwent periodontal surgery (tooth extraction and socket graft). The periodontist prescribed clindamycin for 6 days. There was no infection present, it was a “prophylactic” protocol to prevent possible infection. I returned to the…

In May 2020 I got strep throat. So I was prescribed antibiotics. After 10 days, my strep seemed to have cleared up. While on the antibiotics, I started to develop diarrhea. I wasn’t too concerned because this had happened to me before. Usually, once I finished the medicine, it would go away. However, 3 weeks went by and it hadn’t stopped. I was…

When I was 33, I had to have a hysterectomy due to endometriosis. For the next 9 years, I was treated by several doctors for IBS and was even hospitalized for Colitis at one point. But not one single doctor in all that time thought to test me for C. diff. When the pandemic hit in 2020, I was to the point of pooping blood and couldn’t get in to…

Last year, just as the COVID pandemic started to break out, I felt pains in my head, I felt dizzy and I was tired. I went to see the doctor and I was told to go and get some blood tests done. They found out I had glandular fever. This was bizarre, as I have had the same boyfriend for the past 5 years. My immune system was weakened by this…

In 2018, I had surgery to remove a brain tumor. Five weeks later, I had a brain infection and they had to do another surgery to remove part of my skull. I was sent to a care facility, Park Manor of Tomball, to receive my IV antibiotics three times per day. Two weeks into the stay, I had terrible stomach pain. I couldn’t eat went to the bathroom…

While many of us who battle C diff have quick success with the usual antibiotics, the purpose of my entry here is to emphasize the high rate of success of the Fecal Microbiota Transplant. My C diff experience was such that A) a lengthy course of Vancomycin failed, B) a course of Dificid failed, and C) an infusion of Xinplava in coordination with a…

I had emergency surgery for a ruptured appendix and was given SO MANY antibiotics in the hospital. I was also given Protonix for the acid reflux that resulted from all the antibiotics. Looking at the list of risk factors for C. diff, I fit every one of them. I was hospitalized for a week and continually told the staff that I had not had a solid…

I’ve been suffering from this infection for the past few years. When I was first diagnosed, I was shocked and thought this was something that only the elderly suffered from. It’s been 3 years since my first infection, and I still suffer daily. I’ve been through rounds of various antibiotics and am in pain almost every day. I’m hopeful that…

As a nurse for 35 years I thought I knew a lot about C. diff but as a patient I’ve discovered I knew NOTHING about C. diff. I have had 2 episodes of C. diff in my life. The first was in 2017 following (prophylactic) antibiotics after surgery. That lasted approximately 5 months with 2 recurrences. I was given Flagyl twice and Vancomycin but I did…

At the start of 2018 I was diagnosed with C. diff. I never really heard much about C. diff outside of people acquiring it in a hospital setting or people of advanced age contracting it. Oh, was I wrong….

I am a healthy active older woman. On March 1, 2019 I had an explosive episode of diarrhea, out of the blue, no idea what caused it. The smell was indescribable, like nothing I had ever experienced in my long life. That was the beginning of a long saga I’ll try to condense here. I’ve always had IBS-C so this was very unusual. I thought the…