C-Diff Infection

[snowlady90]

Hi, I am writing on behalf of my mother, she has suffered for over six months now with a horrible c-diff infection. The biggest struggle has been getting proper treatment. They have done every test imaginable and she has been on several rounds of Vancomycin which seems to be the only thing that helps but as soon as she finishes a round ( last one was thirty days at 6 a day) she relapses within a week or two. She is now down to 107 lbs., extremely weak with pronounced shortness of breath with no exertion, she has these symptoms every time she finishes her Vanco and now the Doctor is sending her for even more test. My Dad has recently lost his job and his insurance coverage, they are paying for Cobra but it is running out. My mom is 67 but they say she doesn't have enough work hour credits for Medicare so they are struggling. Please point us in some direction for help we are at our wit's end. We did manage to get an article written in the New York Times about C-Diff but no medical answers as of yet.
Thank you, Lisa Snow

[CalGal]

Lisa, is the relapse symptoms only, or a true relapse verified with a C. diff test in tripliate?

If it is true C. diff, she should be under the care of an infectious disease doc. It may be the only way to go. You may also want to check out cdiffsupport.org which is a group with some grat advice from people who have had C. diff, or who are living with C. diff.

Has your mom 'added back' with probiotics after finishing the Vanco? If the Vanco has 'trashed' her GI flora, just the skewing of that alone could make the symptoms appear that she still has C. diff, when she might have cleared it already.

[bobbie911]

I'm sorry to hear about your mum suffering from C-diff - I am 60 - got C-diff somewhere (not in hospital - probably because I was under stress and had IBS) ....anyway took both types of antibiotics - flagyll and vancomiacin - neither did any good and the vanco made me worse.  

I eventually cured myself (with a good docs help).  He gave me Cholestyramine which is usually used for binding up cholesterol (or in this base binding toxins) which I took at evey meal.  Then I repopulated my whole intestine with good bacteria - lots of it - a good acidophilus - I took Natures Way Primadophilus Optima which contains all the correct bacteria (and this is difficult to figure out but I eventually did by trial and error taking different acidophilus) plus taking Vitazyme (probiotic enzymes) and an enteric coated Oregano which is a natural antibiotic (enteric coated means it will not dissolve until it reaches the gut) with every meal.  I also took generic (Walmart brand) Metamusil which bound up my poop!  

I also keep up on my daily vitamins, CoQ10, garlic, fish oil, folic acid and glucosameine!

Anyway - I took 4 of the acidophilus x 4 a day - many more than recommended because my doctor said "let's overwhelm the bug" and it worked!  Note: you cannot take too many acidophilus so keeping popping them.  The one I had  was 35 billion strains.

I hope this helps your mum and anyone else.

....and it's worth noting that my IBS is now completely gone because I take Slippery Elm capsules 4 x 2 times a day with warm water and all symptoms are gone.  Apparently says Dr of Chinese Medicine I research, Slippery Elm will strengthen bowel walls if taken for 9 months.

Bobbie