So, I was hoping to tough out my stomach bug, but by last night, when THREE BITES of pancake resulted in HOURS in the bathroom, I had to admit defeat.
I went to the walk-in this morning, along with all the other poor motherless sadsacks in town who found themselves at the walk-in on a holiday Sunday, and talked to a doc lite.
"Eleven days, hmmm?", he said. "And you were on antibiotics right before that?"
"Actually", I said, "I was still ON the antibiotics when I got sick! Isn't that crazy?"
"Weeeelllllll ......", he said.
And that's when he started mentioning "C diff", whatever the hell that is because I refuse to Google it, and how it may have been CAUSED by the antibiotics (THANKS, PETEY), and here's your handy little take-home stool sample kit
bwahahahahahahaha KILL ME NOW.
But then he's all, like, "But on the bright side, you don't have a fever, and you're not vomiting, and ya don't LOOK sick!"
Gee, thanks, doc. I don't LOOK sick, so obviously everything's FINE. Good to know.
I dunno, guys. I just miss food.
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8 comments:
Must be going around - a coworker's child has c-diff and ended up in the hospital - first I'd ever heard of it. Now both his parents have it, although it's much less severe for them, than their son, who has other medical issues.
Keep hydrated - that's the crucial thing, and what will keep you out of the hospital.
C-diff is serious. It attacks and erodes the lining of your intestines and can be fatal if it erodes all the way through. Treatment is a more specific antibiotic, and pro-biotics to restore the proper balance of bacteria.
I'm going to stop worrying about you now. You're smart enough to battle those bugs now that you know.
You said that you'd always had a sensitive tummy. Is it possible that you had a really bad c-diff attack once, perhaps as a child, and that now makes you more susceptible?
What Spiffi and Silk said....
In the event you ever wind up in the hospital, who will take care of the kitties? You know that if your readers lived there, we would be over in a heartbeat to help.....hardly snickering at your knick knacks at all.
Keep folks updated. ..........Ginny
"Hardly snickering"? Heck, I might even steal a few things.
Silk, you don't want to impair the Nugget's design sense by bringing such strange objects into your home............Ginny
Dudes, I am DEATHLY ILL and you are making fun of my KNICK-KNACKS???
Ha. I'd be lucky if you guys didn't start a pyre out back and burn everthing.
spiffi, I'm glad to hear I'm not the only one. Well, not "glad", exactly ... I hope your coworker's family is feeling better soon.
and ~~Silk, it's possible I've had this for years ... how long has C-diff been around?
Ginny, I'm sure that between my coworkers and the rescues, I can find someone to watch the kitties - actually, the last of the fosters went to Petsmart last weekend so it's just my three, and Soda brought in a mouse this morning as if to say, "See! We can take care of ourselves, mom!"
Now it's just a waiting game for test results. They have to "culture" the "sample" (GAAAAAG), which will take "a couple of days", according to the lab tech who was not at all enthused to be working on Memorial Day.
Clostridium difficile is a bacteria that lives in the intestines along with all the other beneficial bacteria, so it's been around as long as humans have had intestines. Normally, the other bacteria keep C-diff in check. Some (most) strains of C-diff are resistant to most antibiotics (super bug!), so when you have been taking strong or broad-spectrum antibiotics, the other bacteria is killed off, and the C-diff goes crazy. It's dangerous because it gives off a corrosive toxin that can attack the lining of the intestines, and cause ulcers. Perforating ulcers in the intestines are bad news.
The treatment is an antibiotic specific to C-diff. It's possible to kill off enough of the bacteria that symptoms go away, but still leave enough alive that at the next opportunity, they overgrow again and the symptoms return. (The BRAT diet achieves nothing when C-diff is the cause, because it's the C-diff toxins causing the irritation and diarrhea, not the food.)
Treatment is usually Flagyl. For a bad case, you take it for a period, go off it for a period, then back on, etc. If that doesn't work, there are other antibiotics, but I hope you have good insurance, because the others are expensive.
It's important to restore balance by building up the other good bacteria. Plain yogurt with LIVE cultures is one source. Also, you can get pro-biotics. Or you can eat the poop of a healthy person (known as a fecal transplant, except you don't actually eat it, if you get my drift).
And yes, it's possible or likely you've had a problem with C-diff overgrowth for decades. It can cause chronic colitis.
But then - we don't know yet if that's what you actually have....
~~Silk, thanks for all the info. I did buy some pro-biotics today. (Culturelle*, if anyone's interested.) It seemed more ... pleasant than the alternative. Ahem.
*Doesn't that sound like the name of a brand of, I don't know, maxi-pad or something?
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