Help in Lieu of Anti-b's - Mrs D or ????
 

Last week I had surgery on my mouth - fell out of the shower and landed on my head - broke teeth - even cracked my jaw - had to have extractions, crowns, etc.... and had to be done in hospital as I'm allergic to novacaine and lidocaine lasts about 10 minutes for me....

Anyway, I had to have IV anti-b's 'cause of cardio-myopathy we hope is from autonomic PN (the docs keep bringing up amyloid and I will be having definitive heart test for it in near future) - and it appears I may have C-Difficile toxin... I had this when I first got PN from 3 days of Cipro - and was sick for 6 months treated with flagyl and vancomycin - (only drugs the docs said would work) - during that time my sensory nerves went from mild damage to complete nerve death and havent been able to eat any solid food since either - the autonomic symtoms got dramatically worse.... will be tested probably tomorrow and have results the next - and I will not take flaygl (after the last time I found out it was neuro-toxin and probably really helped finish off the nerves) - oral vancomycin is the other drug of choice.. (I took both together last time)....

Has anyone ever had this? And if so, know of any alternative treatment options? I know from experience how sick this can make someone - and it has to be treated - ideas????? Help??????????

Appreciate any feeback!!!!!!! Will be talking to doc tomorrow.....

Thanks.....

Vanco is still the standard
 

treatment for C.difficile.

Another drug sometimes used is Rifampin. But recent studies showed a more negative response for this drug. (I have seen it used successfully however, in the past).

I am sorry you have to go thru this... it sounds totally frightful!

You have been through the ringer, haven't you??
 

Honestly, after reading your post I immediately told myelf "stop complaining for every stupid little thing you wake up with".

I am praying for you that you find relief from your pain.

Sincerely,
melody

Kmeb, wow! ....
 

Can you do ANYTHING for the pain? It sounds like a no, but just thought I'd ask.

To think I USED to call CIPRO the 'wonder drug'...Guess not.

Perspective, well, it IS eye-opening!

Pain free moments to all? - j

Prescription for Pain!
 

You gotta keep your sense of humor!!!!:) :) :) :) :)

Gee to me...
 

Pain = Grumpy!

I tend to BITE, Have you chewed thru any walls yet? Oops, no teeth, OK gummed?

Can I take MY foot out of my mouth now? - j

Please?

gums?
 

Ok - keep it up!!!! I'll track you down and FALL on you!!!!!!!!:D

not an antibiotic
 

But I'm betting it doesn't appeal to patients or docs in large numbers:

1: Scand J Infect Dis. 1984;16(2):211-5. Links

Relapsing Clostridium difficile enterocolitis cured by rectal infusion of normal faeces.Schwan A, Sjolin S, Trottestam U, Aronsson B.


Repeated recurrence of Clostridium difficile-associated enterocolitis is uncommon but troublesome for the afflicted patient. The patient described here received vancomycin treatment several times but always had a relapse of C. difficile enterocolitis 2-3 weeks after discontinuation of treatment. She did not form serum antibodies to C. difficile cytotoxin (toxin B). Rectal infusion of enemas prepared from fresh faeces resulted in final cure.

PMID: 6740251 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]


But, on the other hand, here's a search on probiotics in the treatment of c diff. They seem to clearly help prevent it, but the jury's out on treatment, is my quick take. But I've not gone through the pieces thoroughly.

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...of+c+difficile

eeeeeeekkkkkkkkkk
 

I've actually heard of this as a treatment- makes me shudder!!!!! STILLL waiting for results and just trying to stay hydrated - although definatey getting worse - have to rule out C-Diff before looking for anything else.... But you what - vanco and flagyl make one feel so awful - maybe alternative treatments may be worth looking into... (but again - makes the hair on my head stand straight up at the thought!!!!!!)
:eek:

eeeeeeUUUUUUUWWWWWW....ditto that!
 

I did some searching tonight and found this;
http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/CID...268/36268.html

The "fungemia" mentioned in the article is defined here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungemia

But some of the probiotics mentioned might be of use to you, kmeb.

Take a look.

It somehow sounds as if....
 

the 'cures' we are given can and have done as much damage, if not more than the original problems? Or, am I merely being confused?

Must be confusion, all that chemistry - pain free moments and hopefully more of them daily! - j

Cures?
 

Yes - they are bad! And WE are creating many of these diseases in the first place... from only 3 days of the "mega" anti-b Cipro given to me by overzeleous doctors who didnt wait for test results (they thought I had food poisioning - had already been sick for a week - they could have waited) - I was sick for six months and told without treatment it could kill me - and YES, Flagyl is a neuro-toxin - part of the standard cure for the disease....

My docs get angry with me when I refuse anti-b's since then until they can prove I really need them - but I dont care... in this case I had no choice - I know that infection in your heart is of couse very dangerous and they believe that profilactic anti-b's during surgery help prevent this..... but again - overuse of drugs is a major cause of didsease in this country (and of course contributing to the mega drugs that are anti-b resistant).... when I had vanco before (I'm not sure if it is now) it was considered a "controlled" substance in that it should be only used as a last line of defense because it hasnt become resistant to many infections - yet.... it still took six months and many hospitalizations to get rid of an infection given to me needlessly - and I was treated with both vanco and flagyl - and thus the resulting increase in neruopathy.... is a viscious circle... yet I still hear people who have colds or the flu telling me they are running off to the doc to get anti-b's - who GIVE them to the patients - WHY????????? :confused:

HI Kmeb,

I'm sorry I can't help but wanted to say I'm sorry you are going through this! It sounds so painful.

Wishing you Luck,
Linda

kmeb, if I could go a little...
 

bit sideways on YOUR issue, isn't it strange that the FDA and other powers are soo DILIGENT regarding the dispensing of pain meds, and yet, NOT in the dispensing of potentially and actually disabling anti-biotics?

I guess I've been lucky in the past, in that my docs have and are now slow to dispense until after those cultures, etc. come in.

What's peculiar is that the insurance companies have and can correlate the grossest of statistics relating to our problems with out invasion of privacy AND have not done so? Is there something a bit 'off center' about this picture?

That all said and done, how are YOU doing? - j