During Covid lockdown I developed a problem with alcohol , like many people did. I entered one of Chicago’s top hospitals on Nov 2, 2023 for thirty day treatment. During the stay I had chronic diarrhea which they said was gut inflammation from alcohol. They put me on Imodium four times a day.

When I returned home I saw my Primary Care doctor and he said be careful with the Imodium, you could develop the opposite problem. I felt healthy and so happy to be alcohol free. During my hospital stay they had also put me on Protonix , a powerful PPI drug. I continued to use it at home, but stopped as i had no heartburn or any upper GI problems. I cut down on the Imodium and my diarrhea worsened. I lost all appetite. I was suddenly unable to eat anything. I started to have 10 to 15 stools a day.

After six weeks I had lost 15 pounds and went to one of the nations best ranked hospitals for GI issues in Chicago. They took an x-ray and said I had overflow diarrhea, that I was really actually constipated. They prescribed enemas and laxatives. I still had 10 to 15 stools a day. Two weeks later, despite numerous messages through the patient portal to GI to explain I was so sick I could only drink Pedialyte and Ensure, their response was just to stay hydrated.

I eventually ended up at the ER and barely could walk. They gave me an IV of fluids and said they were discharging me. I said I was NOT leaving. This again, at the top Chicago Hospital. After admission to the medical floor, they cultured my stool and said they were shocked to discover I had C. diff. That this usually only happens to the elderly or the very ill. Most people never get sick from C. diff. They started vancomycin and said “oh you have a mild case, you can go home.”  Still unable to eat and barely walk, they discharged me.

No follow-up appointment. No instructions on what to do at home to disinfect or try to eat . Nothing. One week later I am still so ill and the vancomycin is not working. I spent an enormous amount on Florastor and a bacterial probiotic, which I always took prior to my drinking problem.

I have lost over twenty pounds now. It has been ten weeks and today marks my third month sober, and here I am so sick with C. diff. I am living on Pedialyte, Ensure, vitamins, and probiotics. I feel like a truck hit me. I plan on going to the ER in the AM at Chicago’s other top Hospital which was one of the first in the country to do Fecal Transplant, Northwestern Memorial.

I am very frightened. I live alone and have no one who can help me. Even if I could eat , I can barely walk a block to go to the grocery store. I have also developed severe pain in my back and joints. It started around the same time the severe diarrhea and appetite loss happened. A good friend who is an internist of 45 years told me it could be Reactive Arthritis from the C. diff. I cannot understand how a top GI Clinic could have missed the clues that I might have C. diff. I am still going to fight through this. Praying the other Hospital can help me in the AM.