C. diff affects us all.

In February 2025, I saw my dentist about a toothache. Upon examination she saw an infection at the root of the tooth on which a root canal had been performed in February 2023. She referred me to the same endodontist who performed the root canal and he determined I would need apico surgery however he was booked out several months. He prescribed clindamycin but warned me to only take it if the pain in the tooth became unbearable. It did and so I…

My experience with C. diff started after what I thought would be a routine recovery from breast implant replacement surgery. I was prescribed antibiotics after the procedure, and about 10 days later, I began experiencing intense chills and persistent diarrhea. I went to the hospital and was diagnosed with C. diff. But that was only the beginning. After two weeks of treatment, I woke up one morning and could barely walk. The pain and…

At the time of writing this personal account of my C. diff journey I am a 36 year old male that has had Crohn’s disease for 26 years. My C. diff journey starts in March 2022. Towards the end of the month I started noticing an increase in bowel movement frequency and a trend towards nothing but diarrhea. Diarrhea had never been a part of my Crohn’s symptom profile and I suspected something was wrong. My doctors just assumed that this new…

I had my gall bladder removed in 2015. Ever since then, I’ve had chronic GI issues. So it was not really too bizarre that I didn’t know I had C. diff in October of 2024. I had taken clindamycin for an ear infection in August of 2024, not knowing that the medication was known to cause C. diff. Fast forward 6 weeks later, and I found myself being a little lazy one day, not feeling 100%. Maybe I had a low-grade temperature, but I wanted to go to…

Before this happened, I had heard of C. diff and knew it was serious, but I never truly understood what it could do to someone’s body and mind until it happened to me. In early October 2025, I became suddenly and severely ill. What started as cramping and diarrhea quickly turned into relentless pain, weakness, and fear. I could barely eat, and I was rushing to the bathroom constantly. My heart was racing, my body felt foreign, and I knew…

I thought I just had irritable bowel or that the antibiotics I was taking for a UTI were giving me diarrhea – which they were, but in a different context. I then spent the next three months on antibiotics for bronchitis and pneumonia, then again for an ear infection. Finally, I went to a gastroenterologist because of alternating constipation and explosive diarrhea. They did cultures for several things, but it came back positive for C. diff. I…

I have been on proton pump inhibitors for at least twenty-five years. When my hematologist refused to give me an iron infusion despite my iron levels being barely above the cut-off of normal, I took an iron supplement. That caused gastritis. So I ate a bland diet of oatmeal and buckwheat for a few weeks. A nutritionist said to try my usual vegetarian dinner. That caused torturous hunger pangs in the middle of the night. My Gastroenterologist did…

My battle with C. diff started when I cut my ankle and was prescribed multiple antibiotics to prevent infection. About a week after finishing my last antibiotic, I began experiencing symptoms of C. diff. I visited a gastroenterologist, and while waiting for test results, she advised me to take Immodium, which I later discovered was the most detrimental course of action. My tests confirmed the positive diagnosis of C. diff. She offered me the…

I ended up with C. diff after being treated for diverticulitis. I contracted Covid eight months later and had severe diarrhea. I knew instantly that it was C. diff, I am a nurse and have taken care of many patients with it. My heart sank when I saw the positive results. I was treated with Dificid initially due to being allergic to vancomycin. I had three fecal transplants at a local hospital sourced from OpenBiome but they all failed. I then…