Questions about cdiff

I had c-diff 7 years ago in December. I was given Flagyl first & it did nothing. I ended up in the hospital for 11 days on high dose IV steroids & Vancomyacin. Even after I tested negative for the c-diff I had a horrible time getting the UC under control. It's a horrible bacterial infection that is exacerbated when you have UC. It took me months to get over it. Several thousand people each year die from it. I'd never heard of it before but I read everything I could find on it after I got it. My mother was in a nursing home at the time & it is rampant in hospitals & nursing homes that are not disinfected properly. I was told you could get it pushing a grocery cart after someone infected had it; that the bacteria can live 2 weeks on a hard surface.

Creepy - it survives for 2 weeks on hard surfaces?!? Good reason to use the cleansing cloths that some grocery stores offer near the shopping carts.

NJK, please have your friend look into s. boulardii http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccharomyces_boulardii, it's a probiotic that may help prevent c. diff reinfections.

I contracted c. diff during my first hospital stay for UC in '92. They couldn't figure out what it was until I was on death's door. Was given metronidazole (flagyl) via IV. I never got it again, thank goodness. Got my jpouch a year later.

Hope your friend finds an answer soon.

had c-diff for just over a year. I had the same problem with antibiotics, the c-diff would adapt to them in less than a week. Absolutely nothing worked. Finally, my doctor suggested fecal transplants. This is a very simple procedure in which a small amount of stool that is taken from a person without c-diff (or any GI issues) is sprayed into the pouch (or colon) via scope. After the procedure my c-diff nightmare was over, gone and hasn't come back. As gross as this procedure sounds, it does work. Anyone who is dealing with reoccurring c-diff should look into this treatment and find out if it's available in their area.

FYI - you may want to save your money and skip the cleaning cloths. A nurse told me that hand sanitizers and wipes are ineffective against c-diff infection, and the best way to prevent the spread is to wash your hands.

Yes it is not spread in a sneeze, it's direct contact. Like someone with it not washing their hands and preparing restaurant food.

I had it with UC and have had it with my pouch. I had to go through 3 rounds of flagyl to get rid of it. The next step is vanco and if it still doesn't go away you need a fecal transfer like Bryan explained above. I had it with cuffitis and for months before I was checked for it.