Jan, Just a little help please - C Diff

Think I found part of my answer, take S. boulardi. Should I take it along with the Equate or at different times, and I'm wondering if I should switch back to the Culturelle and PB8. Unfortunately, I don't know the difference between those probiotics and the Equate, so I guess I still need some suggestions. Thanks in advance.

Cipro does not cause C dif. It makes the environment a bit more hospitable for C dif, so a small minority of Cipro users get it. There is no recommendation for C dif preventive measures when on Cipro, though folks who've had C dif in the past might need to manage things differently. You have bigger things to attend to, IMO.

Yes, pretty much all of the antibiotics, except vancomycin, Flagyl, and Dificid, are prone to precipitating a C. difficile infection. I don't believe any of the probiotics you list are known to specifically compete with C. difficile. S. boulardii is the only one I know of. It is a yeast and you can take it while on antibiotics and with other probiotics. Florastor is one brand, but there are other brands too, like Jarrows.

It is more of an issue if you have had C. diff before, because the spores can lay dormant for years in your system. Scott is right, that at the moment, you have more pressing issues, so it is important to deal with those. If you are feeling better on the Equate probiotics, I'd stick with those. Most probiotics do need to be spaced out from your antibiotic doses to get the most benefit. S. boulardii is an exception.

Jan

quote:

It is more of an issue if you have had C. diff before, because the spores can lay dormant for years in your system

Jan, is there a number of years that you are out of the woods with the spores laying dormant? or is it the rest of your life they lie dormant? you said "for years", but do they know for sure at all? thanks

Thanks Scott and Jan for always being there. Sometimes ignorance IS bliss, and with all the posts talking about Cipro and C Diff, being the crazy person that I am, got very frightened thinking that I just couldn't deal with another thing at this moment. So thank you both for putting my mind at ease.

Jan, I usually take the probiotic 3 hours before the antibiotic - think that's the right timing, hope so anyway.

Am sticking with the Equate and forget about putting one more thing in my mouth except for food which I haven't been able to eat because of how lousy I've been feeling!

So thanks again - that's what this site is all about, caring people like the both of you that put people's minds at ease!

C. diff spores can live a long, long time outside the body, even without suitable nutrient media. One source I read said 5 months. This is why it is such a bugger in hospitals. You cannot get rid of it with a quick wipe down of alcohol or weak bacteriocidal solution.

Inside the body, where it is basically in a "happy nest," it can lay dormant from antibiotics that the growing germ is susceptible to, or other resident flora that prevents it from flourishing. It also can can be active, but suppressed (not in the spore state, but not growing enough to produce symptoms). Of course, it is only if you have the toxin producing strains that it actually matters, as it is the toxins that cause the damage, not the bacteria itself.

There are a number of bacteria that can lie dormant essentially your whole life. Probably the best known is tuberculosis. There are some very virulent strains of this as well.

I was not able to find any definitive answer about the life span of C. difficile spores in the body, but essentially, once infected, you may never be fully rid of it. Antibiotics mostly kill the active, growing cells, but do not kill spores.

Other sources indicate that half of the time, recurrence is a reinfection with a new strain, not a relapse of the old infection. I don't know if this means new external exposure, or mutation within you. But, it seems that the longer you go without reinfection/relapse, the lower your risk is that recurrent infection will occur. Looks like several months is the usual timetable. Still, once you have had it, it should make you very cautious about taking antibiotics unless clearly indicated. If you have chronic illness or are immune compromised, you need double caution. Adding to the confusion is folks like us who live with chronic diarrhea anyway, making it hard to tell when something is brewing.

Some articles with more information:

http://www.uptodate.com/conten...-in-adults-treatment

http://www.gihealth.com/html/e...ficileRecurrent.html

Jan

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S. boulardii

This is the only one that helps prevent c.diff from coming back it doesn't stop it though or get rid of it. It is a good thing to take if you are on an antibiotic like cipro. For me since I have had c.diff if I have to ever take cipro I have to take flagyl at the same time to fight the c.diff.

Shen doesn't ever recommend I take cipro though again. If you are on cipro, suprax, omniceff or any of those other antibitoics that can cause it. Stay out of public bathrooms, wash your hands religiously and no hospital visits. I picked mine up in a hospital while on cipro since that is a haven for the thing.

It is horrible to get. I wanted to die, literally.