C. diff affects us all.

In December 2018 I had a miscarriage that caused an infection. My obstetrician prescribed Augmentin to control the infection, but my condition worsened before I was able to take more than one tablet. I was sent to the emergency department (ED) for intravenous antibiotics and a dilation curettage procedure (D & C) to clear out the infection. Though I initially felt better after the D & C, I was still weak and had diarrhea while in the…

(As told by his wife, Babette) Here is the story about my husband, John Morgan. On April 30th, 2011 only 14 days following his lung transplant my husband’s body started to shut down because of C. difficile colitis. This condition develops when bad bacteria living in your body overwhelmingly kills the good bacteria resulting in toxic megacolon. He had to have emergency surgery to save his life. The doctor removed his entire colon and performed an…

I was admitted to the hospital in August 2018 for 4 days. I was given some food that didn’t agree with me and I immediately had diarrhea within 5 minutes and I have been suffering from it ever since. I found out shortly after that I was diagnosed with a C.diff infection and I’m still suffering from it. I have been taking Vancomycin and Xifaxan off and on ever since. I have lost over 230 pounds. This is the craziest thing I have ever…

About seven years ago I started having severe abdominal cramps and diarrhea multiple times a day. At first, I didn’t think much of it, because I had always had a sensitive stomach (nothing diagnosed) and I was under a lot of stress at the time. Things continued to get worse. I would barely make it out of bed and to the bathroom each morning. And I didn’t dare cough or sneeze without being on the toilet because of the mess. So, I spent most of my…

Approximately three years ago I was diagnosed with C. diff. I had not been on any antibiotics but had taken Omeprazole for several years and was tapering off of it, which is when I started to have issues. I believe it was the Omeprazole that caused my C. diff. The doctor had to put me on a high-powered antibiotic to try and kill off the C. diff. and told me if it didn’t work, I would have to go to the hospital for further treatment. There was…

I got C.diff following an emergency room visit for a salivary stone, where Clindamycin was prescribed. The stone resolved itself, but now I have been fighting C.diff for nine months. I missed being present for my mother’s final illness and death, as I could not visit her in the hospital while infected. And, I have been on Vancomycin almost constantly since my original C. diff infection. I was passed up the line from my regular physician to a…

In May of 2019 after receiving the incredible news of being in remission of stage four cancer, I began having severe diarrhea. I already had IBS-D and initially wasn’t concerned. I contacted my GI who decided to do a stool test. I had never heard of C. diff before. My test came back positive and I was started on Vancomycin. After failing Vanco, I was put on Dificid which seemed to help. Unfortunately, I kept recurring. I’ve been hospitalized a…

In 2008 I had a tattoo done. About three days later I started to notice an infection beginning in the tattoo. My arm was swollen and hot, pus and ink weeping from the tattoo…I knew that I needed to see a doctor. I headed to the local ER and waited a few hours but eventually I was seen. The local hospital was in the midst of a C. diff outbreak, as well as MRSA. The doctor immediately confirmed the infection on my arm and ordered antibiotics…

I am 73. I had COVID last November (2020). I got what I later learned was C. diff a few weeks after getting my second COVID vaccine in March 2021. I really didn’t know or understand what was happening to me. I made several visits to emergency rooms for stomach cramping. My second visit brought a diagnosis. I had C. diff. I was shocked to hear the cost of medications. I went to see a new gastroenterologist after I made my fourth visit to an ER…