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Symptoms of C-diff

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 3/28/2010 6:11 PM (GMT -5)
     How do you know whether you have this or not?  Do you run a fever?  The only time I was tested for this was in the hospital in May of 08.
Posted 3/28/2010 6:30 PM (GMT -5)
I think it's same as UC symptoms! There are blood and stool tests that help determine. Are you thinking you want to rule this out before your surgery meetings? BTW C, any change from Humira? How are you?
Posted 3/28/2010 7:05 PM (GMT -5)
yup, pretty much the same symptoms as UC...you'll have to get a stool test done. I've had C Diff a few times in the past due to antibiotic treatments
Posted 3/28/2010 7:11 PM (GMT -5)
For me, a flare I can tell it's coming. I have mucous and blood and a gradual build up to the flare. With C Diff, it just came out of nowhere and no blood or mucous.
Posted 3/29/2010 5:27 AM (GMT -5)
Is it possible to have c diff and not have blood? I keep reading about the symptoms and one of them is dehydration, and, even though I haven't had D in a while (on the stool chart its number 5 but not passed easily) I still notice I'm thirsty a lot.

Gonna stop by CVS today and get a probiotic, cause I haven't tried those yet (and to be honest, I thought they wouldn't work/do anything).
Posted 3/29/2010 11:49 AM (GMT -5)
I was misdiagnosed as CDiff with massive amounts of watery BMs. It turned out to be wrong and it was a medical nightmare for us. There was no blood, but I wasn't responding to flagyl. The egomanical PCP wouldn't let me get scoped or turn me over to a GI.

Finally, when I got scoped and the GI saw the problem, I was immediatly put on pred and it stopped the diarrhea like a faucet -- instantly. This after 7 weeks of suffering.

You made a point that the absence of blood could indicate CDIFF. CDiff is nasty and hard to eradicate. But if the meds aren't improving the situation, you probably have UC.
Posted 3/29/2010 7:53 PM (GMT -5)
     OK, thank you for the replies.  I doubt it is C-diff then.  I have had bleeding but every day is getting better, less blood, although I still have urgency.  Today, I honestly didn't know my colon could hold so much poop!!!  Sheesh, I eat like a freakin bird.  My rectum doesn't hurt as much and the cramping has lessened a LOT. 

     Jennifer, not much change from my initial Humira injections but it hasn't even been a week yet and I hear it takes Humira longer to show results than Remicade.  I figured I would give the Humira a fair shot, at least until June.  I am reading the book Prescription for Nutritional Healing which I found in my local library and there is a very interesting, although small bit, about Ulcerative Colitis.  According to this book, diet does play a very active role in this disease.  Think I will go to my pharmacy tomorrow and get some extra B6 and B12.

Posted 3/30/2010 12:29 AM (GMT -5)
I was never tested for C-diff, but my GI said he could tell that it wasn't C-diff by looking at my colon. Do you think that's possible?
Posted 3/30/2010 10:30 PM (GMT -5)
I was recently at Mayo Clinic for a second opinion on my UC due to a very slow response to Prednisone and Remicade. Beware: my doctor at Mayo (who specializes in IBD and seemed to really know what he was talking about) said that c. diff can be extremely difficult to diagnose due to a high rate of false negatives. He said you can often take 4 stool samples from an infected patient and 3 of them will be negative. Make sure that if you're tested in this manner, the doctor requests multiple samples.

Also, this same doctor said that c. diff leaves a tell-tale inflammation pattern in the colon. So by that logic, it' may be possible to tell by just looking at the colon. However, the gold standard is the stool test for certain toxins released by the c. diff bacteria.
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