Topic: c. difficile test - negative -- now what???
randibear
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 11290
posted
my gastro's office called. my tests were all negative except for the hemoglobin which was high -- almost 16. but the nurse said it was a low high, so not to worry. she also said that i probably was dehydrated.
how many people have false negatives? the nurse said they are "not common". i thought they were...
i got scared and said, "well let's do the damn colonscopy."
i am waking up in pain and have for the last 3 nights. it overrides the elavil which he gave me.
i have one soft mushy stool in the morning and at elast 2-3 watery types throughout the day.
i am terrified i don't know what to do.
my colonscopy is at 9:30 next tuesday.
he took me off milk, no other products tho. i finish the flagyl on thursday. man, i gives me a headache. i think it has helped with the burning sensation but not the pain.
i am going off the charts with this imaging having my colon taken out, all kinds of things. i'm trying to stay calm but i get to thinking and then i physically start shaking i get so scared.
how much damage can you do to your colon before it gets really bad?
anybody have really really really bad colon problems? maybe jimbob will email me and give me some encouragement. i sure could use it.
-------------------- do not look back when the only course is forward Posts: 12262 | From texas | Registered: Mar 2007
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posted
You had a negitive test.. that is fairly accurate.
Try to take a deep breath and relax. Put a fair amount of good faith in that the test is correct (because it is a test) and that you are not going to have your colon damaged. You can keep your poopy colon. No one else wants it.
Have the colonoscopy with the expectations are that they will not find damage.. your pains will be explained in time... for now, don't do more damage to your psyche and put yourself through the ringer.
I'll feeling positive for you because your initial test is NEG! Breath.. relax.. Go for a walk and talk to God....
-------------------- 26 months of treatment. And counting....... Posts: 298 | From Northeast Kansas | Registered: Oct 2006
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posted
Are you taking probiotics? How much? Have you tried an elimination diet? Colonic? Maybe you are blocked somewhere that only lets the liquid through? Have you tried eating brown rice, etc.?
Just throwing out ideas. I really haven't seen you post what it is you are doing to try to help yourself. So, what is your regime for trying to control this? Forgive me if you HAVE posted this and I did not see it.
My mother started having problems with diarrhea. It has been helped by the probiotics. As soon as she stops, there it is again. I think i have convinced her to stay on them for a while. She has been to the doctor, etc. They have found nothing wrong. I think if she stays with the probiotics long enough that her gut will have a chance.
Please try to stay calm. Being upset in itself can cause loose stool.
Robin
Posts: 276 | From Maryland | Registered: Dec 2006
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I'm a newbie here but wanted to reply to your post. I've had C.Diff in the past. My stool test came back negative for it but my symptoms were textbook for C. Diff. My internal med doc and also my gastro doc told me that the stool tests for C. Diff are only 70% accurate. I don't know whether that's true or not, but they both told me that at the time.
I was treated with Flagyl first and it just wasn't eradicating everything. So the docs also placed me on a short course of vancomycin as well. And that seemed to clear the worst of my symptoms up.
My gastro doc insisted that I try the probiotic Florastor. It's a probiotic with sacchromyces boullardi. It's a type of yeast which will take up residence in the gut for the time you take the probiotic. After you stop taking it, the sacc. boullardi will leave the body in about 5 days.
I was scared to death to take the Florastor due to my terrible yeast overgrowth problems. But it did not (and has not) made my yeast worse.
I also take other probiotics and the docs have also recommended some other natural vitamin/herbal products to incorporate into my program in order to heal my gut. But the Florastor was really, really important in helping me manage and control the C. Diff.
Perhaps you could talk with your doc about the Florastor? Or you can Google for C. Diff and Florastor or Sacchromyces boullardi.
By the way, this does need to be taken away from antifungals, because an antifungal would kill the ingredients in the Florastor.
Hope this helps and I hope you feel better soon. I found my C. Diff episodes to be frightening for me. It's really not a fun place to be, I know.
FuzzySlippers
Posts: 503 | From Maryland | Registered: Oct 2007
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daise
Unregistered
posted
Hi,
I had a colonoscopy and they are very revealing!
They can biopsy some things and find various other infections, if these are present.
The stuff you drink ahead of time isn't as bad as it used to be. I found the procedure itself to be a piece of cake.
posted
I agree that you can have severe pain and not lose your colon.
I had much more severe diarrhea than that for two years and my GI tract is now healed. You will get there.
You need an endoscopy to do the biopsy for celiac disease. An endoscopy can be done at the same time as a colonoscopy, but it goes down through the throat, not up through the colon. But it is correct that you must be consuming gluten for celiac testing to be accurate.
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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quote:Originally posted by sixgoofykids: I agree that you can have severe pain and not lose your colon.
yeah, I was going to say "Just go to www.celiac.com and you'll see that plenty of people have had severe pain for years and still have their colons!"
Glad sixgoofy was here to clear up the testing thing.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96222 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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Geneal
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 10375
posted
Dear Randibear,
Just sending you a big hug
And positive thoughts and prayers.
Hugs,
Geneal
Posts: 6250 | From Louisiana | Registered: Oct 2006
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WildCondor
Unregistered
posted
Hey Randibear
When you go testing for c.diff, it has to be THREE tests, done 3 separate days and all THREE have to be negative. One test is not enough. Make sur eyou test a liquid diarrhea bowel movement and get it to the lab within one hour. If it will take you longer, put the sample on ice. Get it to the lab as fast as you can.
There are new strains of c.diff that are not detected by the standard lab tests.
If you do 3 tests in a row and all 3 are negative, then you are probably c.diff free.
In any case, you should get a colonoscopy so they can rule out other things and you can get a diagnosis. Colonoscopies are not a big deal, you are put out for it.
I hope you do feel better. Do more stool tests, make sure they check you for parasites and other bacteria too.
Make sure the colonoscopy includes biopsies of all parts of the colon to rule out Crohn's, IBD, and microscopic colitis, plus c.diff.
Do not collect your stool samples for testing of you are on Flagyl or Vancomycin, it will alter the test and give a false negative. Did I read you first post right? You are ON Flagyl now? If so, your test can easily be a false negative. You also have to wait 2 weeks after you finish it to re-test. So! You may be better off empirically treating for c.diff with the Flagyl for a longer period of time. After a full course of Flagyl, usually 500 mg 4x per day for 3 weeks, wait 2 weeks, re-test. C. diff has an extremely high relapse rate.
Your Elavil will also cause constipation, and if you do have c.diff, that will make you sicker by not allowing the toxins to escape the colon. be careful with meds like Elavil and Immodium when you might have an active infection.
Florastor is key in treating c.diff along with Flagyl and oral vancomycin. Fecal enema/transplant is the best treatment in bad cases.
Hope you get a diagnosis soon! let me know if I can help you.
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