C. diff affects us all.

On June 1, 2024 I started feeling super fatigued and just generally unwell. Sunday June 2nd I woke up with stomach pain and I had diarrhea that soon turned to yellow, stringy, mucous-y and happening way too often. It continued all night. Monday morning I knew something was wrong. I had the chills but no fever. I went to the ER which thank goodness I had a doctor who just took over and started running tests. I was able to provide a stool sample…

I had developed a UTI in September of 2021 and I was desperate to get rid of it, but my former primary care physician did not treat me effectively and I was given numerous antibiotics that did not work. I ended up getting a kidney infection from it and by then I had become so frustrated with my former PCP. I turned to a virtual doctor who at first gave me antibiotics that didn’t work, but then finally found one that worked and I took that from…

I am a 68 year old retired nurse. I was infected with C. diff in the spring of 2002 at 46 years old.  I developed watery diarrhea, abdominal pain, cramping, and eventually blood streaked. I tried to tough it out, thinking it was a GI bacterial or viral illness. I had just relocated to North Carolina and I tried to stay active, working. But everything I ate went straight through me. After several weeks I saw a PCP. I was misdiagnosed with a…

My story started mid December 2023 when I had a Colonoscopy. Two weeks later between Christmas and New Years I became sick , though I could have been sick before just did not know it. It seemed like the flu, low temp and a sore throat so bad I could not speak. On New Years even I made a call to the on call doctor who happened to be my GP. They prescribed an antibiotic for 10 days so we could rule out that part of equation. At that point, I was…

It all started on a weekend in August of 2023 with what I can only describe as a constant need to use the bathroom and a tingling sensation throughout my entire body that felt like pins and needles. I felt ill but I didn’t understand why. It didn’t feel like the stomach flu but something else entirely. A week previous to this I had taken a round of clindamycin for what they thought was an infection in my tonsils. I walked around for a week…

I put off writing this for a very long time because it’s like ripping open an old, giant wound that never even healed. To my family and friends I’m the best person to ask about C. diff infection. But to me, I’m the worst person to ask about it because it completely destroyed my life. I’m just so extremely grateful that I lived when so many others never got the chance that I believe I have to share my story for those that can’t. So get…

I was pulling vines and weeding in my yard when I felt something on my forehead. An hour later I noticed four small bumps on my eyelid. My forehead was sensitive and swollen. I drove to Urgent Care nearby and a very young nurse practitioner prescribed clindamycin AND Bactrim.  I took as directed, and 10 days later I had stomach pains and diarrhea. I went to the hospital and the fecal test showed I had C. diff.   I was given metronidazole(Flagyl)…

As a nurse, I had heard of C. diff and treated many patients with it. I never imagined I’d soon become a patient myself. In January of 2023, I was prescribed antibiotics for what I thought was a dental infection. Shortly after, I developed chronic, painful diarrhea. I could barely eat. About a month later, I ended up being admitted into the hospital for 3 days with nausea and the worst pain in my entire life. Finally, they gave me my answer:…

I had a severely infected tooth, but my dentist misdiagnosed my tooth abscess for a more serious facial infection and referred me to the local emergency room. I was given IV Clindamycin, and was sent home with a 10 day prescription for Clindamycin. It was confirmed I had a tooth abscess and not the facial infection originally thought. During the oral treatment of Clindamycin, I had a little cramping, abdominal pains, and diarrhea. But I assumed…