Oral thrush & C-diff

[Barbie516]

I have been getting oral thrush off and on for maybe 10/15 years. I was recently diagnosed with c-diff. Is there a possibility that these two things are associated with each other ? The c-diff has already progressed to colitis. I recently started on probiotics, have been tested for HIV since thrush is associated with it.It just seems like my gastrointestinal system is out of whack.. how to I get it back to normal and healthy ? Thanks in advance.

[mkh9]

Glad to help. You may have to look around a bit for the newest version of the "fecal transplant" or bug mixture. The bacterial mixture is the latest information. Sorry the vancomycin isn't working. Are you taking a probiotic too if you are off of the Vanco? I think Florastor  is one of the better ones. The spelling may be off. Sorry you have back problems too. Mine were luckily not spinal. I now only have a muscle imbalance and am going to gym 4 times a week. I got a personal master trainer who works with injuries. He believes in a chiropractor. But I don't know about that. But he sure helped me get out of knee and back pain. It is amazing over the last year how well I've done. Exercise helps a lot but start out pretty slow with just walking across the street.

Let me know how your progress goes and if you find a place that does the procedure. I hope you can knock this out.
mkh9

[Barbie516]

Thanks for the link, I did check it out. Will know soon if vancomycin worked, have to take a specimen in. Sadly I do not think it did. I like the idea of a pill to repopulate my gut flora as opposed to the link info ! Read your bio, I also have back problems, have had 5 surgeries on my spine. I go to pain management for help !! Thanks for all your help here, there are good people out there !

[mkh9]

Glad to help. Sorry you got C diff . A GI doc or infectious disease doctor. Probably the GI doctor would give the C.Diff. I also understand they give you a mixture of bacteria now instead of the fecal transplant. This is the latest strategy that just came out. So, I would talk to them about that. I will message you. But if Vancomycin doesn't work I would go with that.
mkh9

[Barbie516]

Thanks for the quick response. I have taken diflucan. Not diabetic.Have had blood work, all good. Was never tested for thrush, I guess doctor just assumed, since the diflucan worked. I believe I have had the c-diff for quite some time. I understand not doctors here, but you being a microbiologist seems like that's exactly what I needed. I am on vancomycin right now for the c-diff, started with flagyl which didn't help !! Wondering if there is a certain type of doctor that specializes in this sort of trouble ? Thanks for the response, you are a gem !

[mkh9]

Hi and sorry you have these problems. We are not doctors on these sites but I am a microbiologist and understand your situation.

Have you taken a lot of anti-fungal medication and if so what types? Also have you taken antibiotics before you got C-diff?

I assume since you are taking probiotics because you know that getting your intestinal bacteria out of whack can promote getting C. diff. You have to be exposed to it but it has a toxin and that doesn't generally get activated until you take antibiotics that offset the normal gut flora. Then it can take over and produce the toxins. So at some point you were exposed to it either by being in a hospital, (doctors office) or just in the environment.

Yes that is a long time to have oral thrush. Do you have diabetes? Have you been checked for that? Have you had any other blood tests such as a complete blood count to see if you white blood cells are low or your immune system is low or compromised?

Did someone actually test you for thrush? Do you know what type it is?

Some yeast are resistant now to the type of anti-fungals that end in azole. This is like fluconazole etc. So you can get an oral rinse with amphotericin B or take terbinafine (Lamisil) if your liver enzymes are okay. I don't know if they have a oral rinse with terbinafine (Lamisil). The yeast are not resistant to that or amphotericin B rinse. You don't want to take amphotericin B pills because the side effects are harsh.

What have you tried to get rid of C.diff so far? If you have tried standard treatment (antibiotics) and it had recurred then you may want to think of finding a doctor or place that does fecal transplants. It may sound gross but they have pills that you can take to repopulate your gut and it is extremely effective. You can use a family member or whoever you trust to do it for you. They will test the person to see if they have it. So there are a lot of facets to this.

mkh9