http://www.webmd.com/digestive...um-difficile-colitis

It's a type of bacteria that causes very bad diarrhea that can lead to serious/fatal complications. Occurs for a number of reasons, but one of the main reasons it happens is heavy use of antibiotics. Oddly enough, the best treatment is antibiotics. I've never had it and I'm grateful for that. I've heard it's really bad.

copy and pasted from WebMD:

As the bacteria overgrow they release toxins that attack the lining of the intestines, causing a condition called Clostridium difficilecolitis.

Symptoms of more severe C. diff infection include:

• Watery diarrhea, up to 15 times each day
• Severe abdominal pain
• Loss of appetite
• Fever
• Blood or pus in the stool
• Weight loss      

In some cases, C. diff infection can lead to a hole in the intestines, which can be fatal if not treated immediately.

Diagnosis & Risk Factors

C. diff can be diagnosed by stool specimens tested for the toxins. In some cases, a colonoscopy may be needed for diagnosis and more tests ordered.

While use of any antibiotic can potentially lead to C. diff overgrowth, it most commonly occurs with the use of an antibiotic that is broad-spectrum, or able to kill a wide variety of bacteria. It also happens more often when multiple antibiotics are needed to fight infection and when the antibiotics need to be taken for a long period of time.

Other risk factors for C. diff infection include:

• Surgery of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract
• Diseases of the colon such as inflammatory bowel disease or colorectal cancer
• A weakened immune system
• Use of chemotherapy drugs
• Previous C. diff infection
• Advanced age -- 65 or older
• Kidney disease      
• Use of drugs called proton-pump inhibitors, which lessen stomach acid

In addition, if you ever were diagnosed with C. difficile infection, you'd know it. Caused by antibiotics and difficult to treat. It can mimic UC.

Jan

I was hospitalized last year with C-Dif. Rough experience but fortunately one course of antibiotics took care of it (was re-tested twice in future months after diagnosis).

Several of the risk factors identified above apply to me so I wasn't surprised:

• Several different antibiotics within a couple months
• Past use of chemotherapy drugs
• Surgery of the GI tract