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NFT: C. Diff Infection

nyjuggernaut2 : 12/13/2018 4:50 pm
So we've been having renovations done on our house since October and have been staying at my mother-in-laws for the time being since she lives in town. She came down with bronchitis a couple weeks back and had to go on antibiotics. Since Sunday she's been having diarrhea and found out today she has C.Diff, and it was from her antibiotics. My wife is freaking out and wants us to go stay in a hotel for a while. She's more worried about my 6 and 9 year old catching it than anything. House won't be done until after the New Year but I don't really want to spend the money on a hotel room.

Anyone familiar with this bacterial infection? My wife claims it can be life-threatening.
...  
BleedBlue : 12/13/2018 4:53 pm : link
you dont want to spend the money? lol cheapo! maybe we are just different but my ass would have had my kids out of there in a hotel LONG before having time to type this post out for BBI. Google would probably help, but health of your children isnt something to play with.
My wife is a nurse  
GIANTS128 : 12/13/2018 4:56 pm : link
sees it quite a bit. Not something to mess with. It can be fatal
Got C Diff  
mmf551 : 12/13/2018 4:59 pm : link
from taking antibiodics for strep in the spring. Really sucked. Was a rough couple of months before I finally got past it. My wife and I used separate bathrooms at home throughout the duration. Besides that nothing else was different. She didn't catch it. However I read the "spores" can exist in the air for months.

C. Diff  
ColHowPepper : 12/13/2018 5:01 pm : link
often picked up in hospital settings. It is a nasty bug, often resistant to antibiotics, nothing to mess with. If one is very careful to avoid touching an area or person that/who is infected, it can be avoided, but you have to be scrupulously careful, not likely with young kids around their nana.

What does not make sense is that you say she contracted it from her antibiotics. That simply does not sound plausible and you may want to clarify your understanding of that, to avoid some other source of infection that is not being taken into account.
They  
XBRONX : 12/13/2018 5:01 pm : link
shove shit up the ass to help. That is layman terms
CDiff is a bacteria we all have  
Vanzetti : 12/13/2018 5:04 pm : link
It can just get out of control when antibiotics are taken over an extended period

However, it can be controlled with special antibiotics. The problem is they are expensive. But so many people are coming down with CDiff that alternatives are emerging

The real key is to get it right away. My GF always keeps extra antiobiotics so she can start taking them as soon as the symptoms start without having to wait to see the doctor. Problem is once you take the antibiotic the test for CDiff is nullified and insurance won’t cover the antibiotics.

So, it is very treatable but it can be a headache dealing with the medical and insurance bureaucracy.

It is basically nasty but it seems now that it is fairly treatable.
There is  
g56blue10 : 12/13/2018 5:06 pm : link
Direct correlation with being on antibiotics and getting C-diff. Very rarely will someone who isn’t on anitbotics contract C-Diff. I am a therapist and worknin skilled nursing. I am sure you can get C-diff without being on anticbotics but I’ve neber seen it happen but pts with C-Diff have contact precautions
Did you even bother to Google it?  
BlueLou'sBack : 12/13/2018 5:08 pm : link
The C. Diff stands for Closteridium difficile.


"Difficile" means difficult in French - as in hard to get rid of or overcome - and Closteridium is the same genus of bacteria that give us the killer known as botulism.

Get the hell out of there!!! It's prolly more fatal to kids than adults...
RE: C. Diff  
nyjuggernaut2 : 12/13/2018 5:10 pm : link
In comment 14217803 ColHowPepper said:
Quote:
often picked up in hospital settings. It is a nasty bug, often resistant to antibiotics, nothing to mess with. If one is very careful to avoid touching an area or person that/who is infected, it can be avoided, but you have to be scrupulously careful, not likely with young kids around their nana.

What does not make sense is that you say she contracted it from her antibiotics. That simply does not sound plausible and you may want to clarify your understanding of that, to avoid some other source of infection that is not being taken into account.


Her dr said she contracted it while being on the antibiotics she was taking for her bronchitis. Wife is gonna call the kids pediatrician and get his thoughts on what we should do.
I've had C. Diff at least twice.  
Anakim : 12/13/2018 5:11 pm : link
I actually thought I might have it again, but that's another story.

It's a HORRIBLE bug. HORRIBLE. Truly horrible. But it's only really fatal in the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.


There are four courses of action:

1) Vancomycin

2) ...I forgot what this one is called

3) Difficid

4) Fecal transplant


And I think they came out with a new one. Like Fyvanc or some shit (no pun intended). Difficid, from what my GI told me, is the most novel drug and the most effective. It got rid of my c. diff the second time around and I think I haven't had it since.
It is a serious infection that can  
Snifflenick : 12/13/2018 5:13 pm : link
re occur. Had a patient that required a fecal transplant after repeated courses of Vancomycin. Please treat this as a serious infection, especially if immunosuppressed.
Correct. We all have C. Diff.  
Anakim : 12/13/2018 5:14 pm : link
But think of your gut as a forest. It has billions of different bacteria living in this ecosystem.


When you take antibiotics, it's like dropping an atomic bomb on that forest. Yes, it will kill the "bad" bacteria, but it will also wipe out the "good" bacteria that keeps the bad ones inline. So when the good bacteria is killed off, the bad ones like c. diff can grow back uncheckered.
FLAGYL!  
Anakim : 12/13/2018 5:16 pm : link
That's it. FLAGYL.

Flagyl is usually the first course of action (mainly because it's the cheapest). Doesn't always work and I actually had terrible side-effects from using it.

Then I used vancomycin, which did the job, but the c.diff ended up coming back. Then I took difficid, which was VERY expensive, but you can always call the pharm. company and see if they'll work with you.
It sure felt life threatening when I had it!!  
Boy Cord : 12/13/2018 6:08 pm : link
CDiff screwed me up for about six months. Your MiL is going to need help.
I had C.diff  
adambear : 12/13/2018 6:09 pm : link
for over a year and it almost killed me.

I had to get a fecal transplant because no antibitiotic would keep the bug dead.
Tell your wife to relax some...  
Tom in Kzoo : 12/13/2018 6:26 pm : link
1. ~20% of people, particularly kids carry it natively in their/our stool, so carriage much more common than infection.

2. Infection doesn't usually occur in healthy folks even when present, but when it does its a consequence of ABX wiping out other GI flora.

Sum: don't freak ,like MRSA , carriage is pretty normal, and if not clinically with large volume ,frequent diarrhea, not relevant.

Tests are too sensitive these days, and we get alot of [+] reports that represent colonization/carriage, and not infection. gotta be the right scenario.
No  
AcidTest : 12/13/2018 6:28 pm : link
advice, but I hope everyone feels better soon.
get out  
ImThatGuy : 12/13/2018 6:28 pm : link
People get quarantined for this sh*t.

I'd get out if it was just me, add kids to the mix and it's a no brainer. Fecal transplants aren't that cool
My wife is an MD  
ImThatGuy : 12/13/2018 7:06 pm : link
(so completely ignore my previous advice)

She says as long as you practice good hand hygiene AND the mother in law uses a separate bathroom - she thinks you'll be ok.

We don't ALL have clostridium  
rmc3981 : 12/13/2018 7:30 pm : link
diff as a bacteria in our intestine or anywhere else. One to three percent do. Don't let your google search confuse you with my medical degree :)
My mom was diagnosed with it at age 91  
tangled up in blue : 12/13/2018 7:44 pm : link
and thereafter anytime she needed to be hospotalized she was put into a private isolation room and we had to wear a gown, gloves and mask whenever visiting with her. C diff is serious stuff.
I think there's a little misunderstanding here...  
Tom in Kzoo : 12/13/2018 8:25 pm : link
Gowns and gloves are only designed to keep C.diff from spreading inside the hospital.That's all.

Patients with Clostridium difficile colitis are placed in isolation,and anyone entering the room is, to prevent the spores that exist in that room from being transported out of that room and into the general hospital environment.

This is all designed to prevent other hospitalized patients, many on antibiotics, or in otherwise fragile heath from getting C.diff- not from having family members get it.
My wife has ulcerative colitis, very similar  
jgambrosio : 12/13/2018 8:52 pm : link
To chrohns, and she gets c diff more than we would prefer, usually every other year. I've been fortunate to not catch it after three bouts in about 7 years so it's avoidable, but we are also pretty careful about it - cleaning the bathroom with bleach is a must. With kids probably better to be cautious, part of the reason we haven't yet.
RE: My wife has ulcerative colitis, very similar  
Anakim : 12/13/2018 10:27 pm : link
In comment 14218045 jgambrosio said:
Quote:
To chrohns, and she gets c diff more than we would prefer, usually every other year. I've been fortunate to not catch it after three bouts in about 7 years so it's avoidable, but we are also pretty careful about it - cleaning the bathroom with bleach is a must. With kids probably better to be cautious, part of the reason we haven't yet.


I have UC (possibly Crohn's) as well. All the best to your wife.
My father got C. Diff. while in the hospital  
81_Great_Dane : 12/13/2018 11:43 pm : link
And while I can’t prove it, I am sure it killed him. He was dying of cancer anyway but the infection got him bleeding into his intestines. They gave him a couple of transfusions that kept him going. But on a Friday he signed the papers for hospice care, and they don’t give transfusions to people in hospice. We hoped to bring him home Monday but he rapidly got weaker. Saturday night he went into a crisis and Sunday morning he was dead. I think he just ran out of blood.

Brutal infection. Very dangerous.
My father got C. Diff. while in the hospital  
81_Great_Dane : 12/13/2018 11:46 pm : link
And while I can’t prove it, I am sure it killed him. He was dying of cancer anyway but the infection got him bleeding into his intestines. They gave him a couple of transfusions that kept him going. But on a Friday he signed the papers for hospice care, and they don’t give transfusions to people in hospice. We hoped to bring him home Monday but he rapidly got weaker. Saturday night he went into a crisis and Sunday morning he was dead. I think he just ran out of blood.

Brutal infection. Very dangerous.
Everybody has C. Diff.  
WideRight : 12/14/2018 7:51 am : link
Even your little kiddies.

It's a normal part of the gut microbiome. C Diff Colitis occurrs when the microbiome's natural balance is perturbed (by anitbiotics or immune suppression) and C Diff overgrows disproportionately.

The poste above was correct. Good hand hygiene is sufficient. And obviously don't take or give your kids antibiotics unless its really necessary.
Thanks for all the insight  
nyjuggernaut2 : 12/14/2018 8:45 am : link
Wife and I decided to play in safe. Gonna stay in a hotel for the next week. The following week we will be away for Christmas at my parents, and then re-evaluate after that. Rather be safe than sorry...
I got C-Diff  
I Love Clams Casino : 12/14/2018 9:18 am : link
back in 2004 from an anti-biotic I was on for strep throat.

They treated me w/Flagyl and that took care of it..

About a year later, my wife, after my 4 yr old son (at the time) had cleared his bowel, went into the bathroom and said "I don't like the smell of that, I am taking him to the Dr. immediately" and he tested positive for it as well. I don't think they treated him with Flagyl, though.

Hospitals have new cleaning protocols aimed at containing these things, but it still happens.

I'd say, spend the money on the hotel, you really don't want to take the chance that everything will go as medically planned if somebody gets it.
RE: Thanks for all the insight  
Anakim : 12/14/2018 9:41 am : link
In comment 14218276 nyjuggernaut2 said:
Quote:
Wife and I decided to play in safe. Gonna stay in a hotel for the next week. The following week we will be away for Christmas at my parents, and then re-evaluate after that. Rather be safe than sorry...


Thats fair. It is contagious if someone's hygiene isn't the greatest. Luckily, I don't think I spread my c. diff to anyone or else I'd have to make some pretty awkward phone calls. :P
Lots of soap and water-  
DoctorT : 12/14/2018 10:24 am : link
Purell won't kill the bug. About 25% of patients will relapse-After 3 relapses we start to talk about fecal transplant (not as gross as it sounds).
It can kill- most susceptible are the extremes of age, and the exposure to antibiotics could have been months before the onset of symptoms.
It's not the bug, its the toxins that cause disease.
If you're immunocompetent and practice good hand hygiene, you should be okay.
You can't spring for an extended stay type place  
bradshaw44 : 12/14/2018 10:28 am : link
like Homewood Suites? Or even ABNB?
c.difficile infection  
nkleppel : 12/14/2018 2:10 pm : link
I am a physician and a Giant fan. I happen to be one of the experts in this illness. C. diff enterocolitis can be a very serious problem and as I read some of the comments it is clear that many are from lay people and inaccurate. My suggestion is to seek out a physician specializing in infectious diseases who should be competent in treating this illness and not to rely on suggestions from the laity. Good luck; a proper specialist should be able to handle this with proper medications and fecal transplant is rarely necessary since we do have effective antibiotics in MOST cases where C. Diff has been identified as the offending organism.
RE: I've had C. Diff at least twice.  
short lease : 12/16/2018 7:11 pm : link
In comment 14217828 Anakim said:
Quote:
I actually thought I might have it again, but that's another story.

It's a HORRIBLE bug. HORRIBLE. Truly horrible. But it's only really fatal in the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.


There are four courses of action:

1) Vancomycin

2) ...I forgot what this one is called

3) Difficid

4) Fecal transplant


And I think they came out with a new one. Like Fyvanc or some shit (no pun intended). Difficid, from what my GI told me, is the most novel drug and the most effective. It got rid of my c. diff the second time around and I think I haven't had it since.



Wtf? Fecal transplant? You have to explain that one to me ... please.
RE: RE: I've had C. Diff at least twice.  
jgambrosio : 12/16/2018 7:17 pm : link
In comment 14222042 short lease said:
Quote:
In comment 14217828 Anakim said:


Quote:


I actually thought I might have it again, but that's another story.

It's a HORRIBLE bug. HORRIBLE. Truly horrible. But it's only really fatal in the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.


There are four courses of action:

1) Vancomycin

2) ...I forgot what this one is called

3) Difficid

4) Fecal transplant


And I think they came out with a new one. Like Fyvanc or some shit (no pun intended). Difficid, from what my GI told me, is the most novel drug and the most effective. It got rid of my c. diff the second time around and I think I haven't had it since.




Wtf? Fecal transplant? You have to explain that one to me ... please.


Its literally what it sounds like. Taking fecal matter from one person and putting it in another to try and promote healthy bacteria.
RE: RE: RE: I've had C. Diff at least twice.  
short lease : 12/16/2018 8:02 pm : link
In comment 14222050 jgambrosio said:
Quote:
In comment 14222042 short lease said:


Quote:


In comment 14217828 Anakim said:


Quote:


I actually thought I might have it again, but that's another story.

It's a HORRIBLE bug. HORRIBLE. Truly horrible. But it's only really fatal in the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.


There are four courses of action:

1) Vancomycin

2) ...I forgot what this one is called

3) Difficid

4) Fecal transplant


And I think they came out with a new one. Like Fyvanc or some shit (no pun intended). Difficid, from what my GI told me, is the most novel drug and the most effective. It got rid of my c. diff the second time around and I think I haven't had it since.




Wtf? Fecal transplant? You have to explain that one to me ... please.



Its literally what it sounds like. Taking fecal matter from one person and putting it in another to try and promote healthy bacteria.


Thanks Jg ... that's what I thought it was but, it sounded like I had it wrong.

ooof ... I hope I never end up with C.Diff. I never even heard of it before today.
RE: RE: RE: RE: I've had C. Diff at least twice.  
Anakim : 12/16/2018 10:33 pm : link
In comment 14222127 short lease said:
Quote:
In comment 14222050 jgambrosio said:


Quote:


In comment 14222042 short lease said:


Quote:


In comment 14217828 Anakim said:


Quote:


I actually thought I might have it again, but that's another story.

It's a HORRIBLE bug. HORRIBLE. Truly horrible. But it's only really fatal in the elderly and those with weakened immune systems.


There are four courses of action:

1) Vancomycin

2) ...I forgot what this one is called

3) Difficid

4) Fecal transplant


And I think they came out with a new one. Like Fyvanc or some shit (no pun intended). Difficid, from what my GI told me, is the most novel drug and the most effective. It got rid of my c. diff the second time around and I think I haven't had it since.




Wtf? Fecal transplant? You have to explain that one to me ... please.



Its literally what it sounds like. Taking fecal matter from one person and putting it in another to try and promote healthy bacteria.



Thanks Jg ... that's what I thought it was but, it sounded like I had it wrong.

ooof ... I hope I never end up with C.Diff. I never even heard of it before today.


I've never done it, but it's a lot less gross than you think. The poop is obviously vetted and sanitized to make sure it doesn't contain any diseases or anything like that. And it's in a capsule form so it's not like you even see the shit and I'm pretty sure it doesn't give you shitty breath.
I'm actually going to be tested for c. diff and any parasites  
Anakim : 12/18/2018 12:32 pm : link
or bacterial infection. Because I've had c. diff twice, I'm at an increased risk...not to mention the fact that I have U.C. and Crohn's.

I've been feeling absolutely awful since May so hopefully the test reveals what's wrong or else I'll need a flex sig and/or a camera capsule.
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