Any experience with C. Difficile?

[Jen_in_NH]

My 2 year old son was diagnosed with C difficile yesterday, and started antibiotics this morning. He was in the hospital before Christmas with pneumonia, and was on 2 different antibiotics then. It's been a month since then, which seems odd for developing C diff now

Has anyone else dealt with this? Does it clear up with the antibiotics? I've spent hours reading on the internet today, and have read tons of horror stories. I'm sure those tend to be the extremes, so I'm hoping people have had good outcomes as well.....

 

[suemom2kay]

The time frame seems absolutely within limits.

What type of instruction were you given? What signs/symptoms of a worsening condition were you told to watch out for.

Most important is hydration & make sure you follow the directions on the antibiotics to the T.

Calll you're doctor right away if your child becomes lethargic or seems off. Use gloves when dealing with bowel movements and wash your hands religiously. You need bleach based cleaner (clorox wipes will do) to use in your home.

I hope your baby gets better fast.

 

[Jen_in_NH]

Thanks a lot. He's been taking Flagyl without a problem, so that's good. The odd part is that he's not sick at all - he came home from China 8 months ago, and always has diarrhea. This was just repeat stool testing to make sure it wasn't some strange parasite.

I'm hoping the Flagyl works well, and ths will clear up. All the internet stories are of recurrent infections and such. Yikes!

 

[kellyg403]

When my mom had a couple extended stays in the hospital a few years ago, she contracted C Diff, they think, in the hospital.

She took the Flagyl as well. She did end up in the hospital again for dehydration because my mom just thought it was a flu, side effect from the chemo radiation and became very ill.

Regardless, it was recommended that we clean everything we could at her home with a bleach based cleaning product. I went over and did everything I could. I wiped down light switches, door knobs and everything in the the kitchen. In her bedroom where she spent most of her time, I washed the sheets in bleach and everything. It was probably overkill but I did the same internet searches...and I scared myself more than the dr's could!

I hope your ds feels better soon. I want to tell you that my mom was better in about a month. I mean totally better. That was 5 years ago and she has not had a reoccurrance.

Kelly

 

[clm10308]

My MIL had it for quite a while.
The big problem is cleaning everything so that the patient does not get reinfected after the antibiotics are finished. That is what happened to my MIL. I can't remember the exact timing, but we were told that the bacteria spores can survive on flat surfaces (such as a counter or dresser) for several days and that standard disinfectant wipes did not kill the bacteria. My SIL would make up bleach/water solution daily and cleaned the bedroom and bathroom after every trip to the bathroom. It wasn't until my MIl was taken out of the skill nursing facility and stayed with her DD that they were able to get the infection under control.

 

[chicagoshannon]

My son had this from about 4 months old to almost a year. It's very hard to get rid of. Make sure to get probiotics for him. We used Floristor Kids. It really helps. My son was on the antibiotics for it twice and then just the probiotics.

 

[mcknurse]

My 2 year old son was diagnosed with C difficile yesterday, and started antibiotics this morning. He was in the hospital before Christmas with pneumonia, and was on 2 different antibiotics then. It's been a month since then, which seems odd for developing C diff now

Has anyone else dealt with this? Does it clear up with the antibiotics? I've spent hours reading on the internet today, and have read tons of horror stories. I'm sure those tend to be the extremes, so I'm hoping people have had good outcomes as well.....

C-diff is present in the normal flora of the intestines. The C-diff infection is caused by several rounds of antibiotics that kill off the good bacteria in the intestines, causing the C-diff to over grow. Even thou caused by antibiotic use, antibiotics are needed to cure. Eating yogurt, and taking OTC pro-biotics helps bring back the good bacteria. I hope your child gets well soon.

 

[mamamary]

My mom has it right now. She was in the hospital for a few days around the new year and has been on antibiotics. About a week ago she started having "stomach issues" that were so bad she went to the ER again. While there they discovered it was C-diff. They told her it was either from the meds she was on or she picked it up at the hospital during her last stay. I can totally see that because it is very contagious and the hospital unfortunately did not take such great precautions with her to make sure it didn't spread to others.

She was released a few days ago and is on Flagyl (sp?). She is doing much better.

Also my bil had this a few weeks ago - also been on antibiotics and has been in a hospital.

I had never even heard of this before but since my family members had picked it up we are learning more and more people have been diagnosed with it.

 

[ashmarie06]

I had it in 2006, after an urgent care doctor gave me a way higher dosage of antibiotics than I needed.

It went untreated for a week before we realized what it was. At that point I was so dehydrated that I ended up in the ER. The flagyl took care if the cdiff pretty fast.


However I haven't been the same since! I deal with my own personal version of ibs hell daily that mimicks cdiff. But it's not.

 

[disney1990]

I won't go into details, but my 8 year old granddaughter, while being treated for childhood cancer, developed this. Hers was so bad, that they thought that they were going to have to remove her colon. Fast forward 5 years, she is cancer free and a freshman in high school.

It can be really scary stuff. A friend of mine, her 20 something daughter, gets it almost every time that she is prescribed an antibiotic now. She has to be very careful.

All the best to you.

 

[dis-happy]

I second the yogurt suggestion. I had a period of many antibiotics back to back and it led to problems. After research I added good yogurt to my diet and it helped. Don't get Dannon or something like that, go with the organic stuff that lists 5 or 6 active cultures in the label. hope your dc feels better soon.

 

[Disney Doll]

Yogurt or probiotics will help. Keep your child well hydrated....maybe even some Pediasure every day to add back in some electrolytes. Make sure you follow the Flagyl directions exactly and use the entire prescription. Do not think "oh my chil is better so I can stop this". Cleaning with bleach, as others have stated.

Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, make sure you wash your hands for a good long period of time....sing the whole Happy Birthday song while you are washing and when the song is finished, your hands have been properly washed....anti-bacterial solutions such as Purell do not kill c.diff.

 

[dis-happy]

Yogurt or probiotics will help. Keep your child well hydrated....maybe even some Pediasure every day to add back in some electrolytes. Make sure you follow the Flagyl directions exactly and use the entire prescription. Do not think "oh my chil is better so I can stop this". Cleaning with bleach, as others have stated.

Wash your hands frequently with soap and water, make sure you wash your hands for a good long period of time....sing the whole Happy Birthday song while you are washing and when the song is finished, your hands have been properly washed....anti-bacterial solutions such as Purell do not kill c.diff.

Pediasure is for meal replacement....you may be thinking of Pedialyte for the electrolytes. I always have to think twice about those two!

 

[glammadiva]

Protein pump inhibitors are also known to cause c-diff.

 

[beachlover9395]

This is just FYI and TMI - I know some of you are dealing with this, or your family members are. But the most effective treatment for the severe cases (90%+ cure rate) is a fecal transplant. Definite ick factor, but I'd gladly take it if I was suffering and my quality of life was poor. Here's some links:

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162...cs-for-curing-diarrhea-caused-by-c-difficile/

http://vitals.nbcnews.com/_news/201...l-transplant-may-relieve-severe-diarrhea?lite

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/01/16/patients-fecal-transplants/1837575/

This one is about synthetic "materials" being developed http://www.scientificamerican.com/p...=fake-fecal-transplants-for-gut-repo-13-01-10

 

[HonnyDipp]

I had C.Diff back in November of last year. I spent most of the fall months in the hospital. I found out that I was allergic to most major antibiotics. Flagyl is at the top of that list.

After our Sept WDW trip, I suffered a stroke due to a sinus infection that traveled to my brain. I'm only 35! I was in the hospital for 2 weeks. They sent me home with an IV drip for 2 hardcore antibiotics and Flagyl pills. After 10 days, my body broke out in an allergic reaction. Head to toe I was red and blistered. Back to the hospital for another 2 weeks.

I was sent home peeling and itchy. But anxious to recover. 2 weeks after that I started showing signs of C.Diff. It was awful. The 10 day hospital stay was worse. I was in isolation. My stomach was so infected. The main antibiotic was Flagyl. The doctors insisted that because the Flagyl was in pill form, I would be alright. So I started taking it, and 24 hours later, my skin started to turn red. They were running out of antibiotics for me. But they finally found one that helped. Before I left the hospital , the infectious disease doctors gave me some pointers. Probotics 3 times a day and eat Stonyfield yogurt. If that didn't work...FECAL DONOR. Yeah. He told me that DRINKING it would help rebuild my "good" bacteria.

Now....I'm much better. I'm eating the yogurt and taking the probotics. It took a while but I'm actually back to wanting to eat regular foods again. NOt to mention I LOST 20 pounds! When I tell new doctors and nurses that I had C Diff they all give me this look . Even my DS's school nurse gave me that face! Its a very scary illness.

 

[hereyago]

My mom has had recurring c diff infections she was admitted to hospital earlier.this evening they are now going to try vanomicin because a few days after stopping flagyl , it cimes on again. she has been eating live ans active culture yogurt, i havee to figure out probiotics is the best.

 

[HonnyDipp]

My mom has had recurring c diff infections she was admitted to hospital earlier.this evening they are now going to try vanomicin because a few days after stopping flagyl , it cimes on again. she has been eating live ans active culture yogurt, i havee to figure out probiotics is the best.

My doctors recommended Raw Materials Probotics for women from Garden of Life. You can find at your local health food store.

 

[NYEmomma]

My mom has c diff right now. She's been fighting it since this past fall. She's been at my house almost every day since my twins were born in June, helping me... my daughter brought home a cold from preschool & when my mom and I both caught it, we both went & got on antibiotics in the hopes of not passing it onto the babies. She's been struggling with c diff ever since. Did one round of antibiotics, was off that for a while and now it's back again. She's really, really on top of the bleaching of EVERYTHING around here because we don't want the babies (or anyone for that matter) to catch it.

DH read something about the fecal transplants that a PP mentioned... he told my mom he'd totally donate some of his poo if it was for a good cause. She was appropriately grossed out.

 

[HonnyDipp]

Yeah my family was more then happy to donate. No way in hell. So far so good with the probotics and yogurt. I don't want to even think about option B.

The doctors all said that its a sure way to get over C. Diff.