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Diarrhea for 10 days now

I developed watery explosive diarrhea 10 days ago. After 5 days I went to my PC doctor and they did bloodwork and a stool sample. The stool sample came back negative for whatever they tested for however my whiteblood cells were very elevated and I was told if it was still bothering me to go to the ER. I went to the ER on day 8 and they again did bloodwork, CT Scan and Urinalysis. All came back fine although WBC was still high. I was sent home with metronitazole, immodium and pain medicine. All the while I have been extremely dehydrated. The ER said it was a probably a stomach virus. So it has now been 10 days with no end in sight! Would a stomach virus lact this long? What else could it be? I have been on a clear liquid/bland diet the last five days and am frustrated with what seem to be generic answers. Please help any advice is greatly appreciated!


This discussion is related to Diarrhea more than 5 days.
11 Responses
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Avatar universal
I am also going through this. Day 11 and no signs of stopping. Doing a stool sample but no real insight yet as to what could be causing this. Curious if anyone on here has any follow up stories to what ended up being the culprit. And wondering when you know you're at the point if dehydration?
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8583321 tn?1398810110
Tea. Too much green tea.
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Avatar universal
Did you finally get better and if so how long did it take ?  I have had diarrhea for 10 days now and the doctor wants me to wait 15 days before I do any type of stool culture sample.  I let him know that I had my wisdom teeth pulled a couple of months ago and they put me on antibotics for 2 weeks and then a couple weeks later it became infected, so they put me on antibotics again for a week and I started to notice I had to go to the bathroom after I ate and then it just turned into an all day upset stomach.
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611999 tn?1298758291
Yes the flagyl helps some with cdiff.  Others have to take a few rounds of it.  They get the same diarreah as soon as they come off it since it has not been killed.  Since you are on the flagyl the a cdiff test will come back neg.  Its best to wait a few weeks before testing again.  

  Some strains are resistant to flagyl and they have to take vancomycin one of the very potent antibiotics.  This even does not always cure it and they have to do tapers off of it to try to kill the hatching c diff spores.  Cdiff is becoming very resistant to antibiotics.  
Its now one of the mega bugs you hear about.  

The WBC was not very high but It could be high if you normally run low.   If it was 15- 20,000 I would be more worried. My normal WBC runs 10- 13 and when I have infection it runs 15- 19.  


Maybe you could have an infection from the diverticulitis.  I would get in with a GI immediately since you need more testing done.
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Avatar universal
When I went to the ER they did give me fluids to help get me hydrated and I have been on a restricted diet for the last 5 days, saltines, bread, gatorade, pedialyte and etc... I have still felt like I am dehydrated so I have been drinking as much pedialyte and gatorade as I can. I'm unsure what they were on the original test but on the ER test they came back at 10.1 the ER did give me metronidazole which from my understanding should help if it is C. Diff. I saw a GI about 4 months ago and after a colonoscopy said I was fine other than some diverticulitis.
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1 Comments
Hey I'm going through the same experience that you did. I have food poisoning and I too, went to the ER and literally have not received any accurate information. They took blood test and stool test, both came out negative. It's painful and it's frustrating to go through these symptoms every day for two weeks. Can you tell me what was your solution? I am also on a strict diet and I have tried Imodium as well.
611999 tn?1298758291
That was the same antibiotic that caused  my problems.  I would insist on 3 tests for c diff to be sure.    If you are having really bad diarrheah then do go to er to get hydrated because your electrolytes can really be off from going that much. It concerns me since your wbc is high and you are still having symtoms.  Some ERS can get you an emergency appt with a Gastro.  I am not sure if your ER works that way .  If not I would tell your GP that you need something done right away and can he get you in with a GI immediately.   Most viruses would have cleared up by now.  

What was your WBC?
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Avatar universal
I would go back to primary care; 10 days is way too long.  you should have been hydrating, eating saltines, rice.  Did doctor review prior diet and standard diet for treating your symptoms.  Even stomach flu would start to slow down; if WBC high, see:

http://www.buzzle.com/articles/high-white-blood-cell-count.html.

Having a high (how high) is not an illness; simply put, white blood cells can increase (also from antibiotics, stress, etc.) when they have to fight to protect the body from something; so if they are higher than normal (again, how high) what are they fighting?

ER is not there to diagnose an ongoing illness; I have a problem with a physician who advises to go to ER if symptoms continue rather that to contact them again.  Either find a new doctor or get a referral for a gastroenterologist.  Stop fooling around with this.
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Avatar universal
The antibiotic was zithromax. I actually had to take the samples back to the lab itself and I took them to the lab as soon as I had them ready which was less than an hour. I started on culturelle about 2 or 3 days ago. I was told to contact my PC doctor on Wednesday if my symptoms had not improved. Just seems like a long time to me for a stomach virus to last.
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611999 tn?1298758291
What was the antibiotic?  Antibiotics can cause C diff to flourish because it wipes out your good bacteria and the bad take over.  

The standard testing for C diff is 3 stool cultures because of high false negatives. Also you should bring in the sample within the hour.  The toxins break down very fast .   Did you do that?  

I also had this testing before and found my drs office was letting it sit out all day before the labcompany picked it up.  I told the young girls in the lab they should have froze it until the lab came because it breaks down.  They did not realize this and looked it up and were like wow you are right.  Then the dr had me take it straight to the hospital next time to get it tested there.  


Also,  it would not hurt you to start on a good probiotic such as culturelle and align.  You can find these at drug stores.  They will at least help get some of the good bacteria back  in your system to balance it out.  Always take these with antibiotics to help prevent yeast and c diff.  A lot of GIs recommend these.  They are pricy but do help.  

If I was you I would go ask for more cdiff tests and then if negative then more types of stool cultures for parasites and infections.  If your symptoms are real bad you should go back to ER since you cannot keep having this horrible diarrheah.  
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Avatar universal
I had been on antibiotics the week previous to this starting. I had to do two different samples in two separate containers. I know they tested for C. Diff as my doctor specifically mentioned that due to the antibiotics, but they said it was negative.
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611999 tn?1298758291
hmm have you been on antibiotics in the last few months?  What did they test for with stool samples?  There is a parasites test, and infectious organism test and c diff test.  This would be 3 stool samples in different containers.  Did you do 3?

I am wondering if they suspect c diff since they gave generic flagyl which is used to treat that. But if C diff you would not want to take immodium because that will keep the toxin in you longer or infection if you have an infection.  
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