What's Next?

I called my doctor when I realized it's been a month since I finished that antibiotic, and I am not feeling better--on the contrary, steadily worse. The nurse promised to check with the doctor whether my suggestion to try another course of Flagyl before re-testing was a feasible one.

Right after I hung up the phone, I went out. A half hour into my errands, I was absolutely doubled by a sudden flare-up. I finished my list slowly, then got myself home and sat down with a yogurt and some peppermint tea (after a couple of trips to the bathroom, of course). I'm still very crampy, but upright at least - funny how simply "upright" is almost an acceptable state of being these days.

The Right Question

Nancy L. Logan, MA, an individual associated with Baylor University's 2005-2006 C-Diff studies, shared results with a C-Diff-infected individual in Connecticut. The individual's blog comment relays the study's findings as described in email by Logan:

"A drug called Nitazoxanide has proven to be more effective than vanco or metronidazole. It has been used previously, and world-wide, to treat pediatric patients for Giardia (a bug that is, as it were, child's play when compared to this new strain of c-diff)."

Read about study NCT00304408 on clinicaltrials.gov.

C-Diff Prevention

Alcohol-gel hand sanitizers do not kill C. diff, according to MedicineNet.com (this one might!) ...

... however, these smell delicious and they moisturize, too.

Pink Skies

VSL at night, UC delight;
VSL in morning, UC take warning!

I don't think my empty gut can handle a probiotic invasion - so PM dosage is preferable - when I don't take it at all ... total relapse. Not sure if I need it every night; looking for the happy interval.

I'm reading more about medication negatives, for both UC and C-Diff, but it's hard to find current articles on either topic. Here's one about the New C-Diff Bug.

"As it happens, [Fred Arthur Zar, MD] had been studying the best way to treat C. diff infection when the current epidemic broke out. In a clinical trial, he's been comparing the currently recommended treatment for C. diff -- the antimicrobial drug Flagyl -- with a powerful antibiotic called vancomycin.

Vancomycin is known to work against C. diff. But doctors have been reluctant to use it -- not only because it costs more, but also because it's the last line of defense against a number of other nasty infections. Once it's in common use, it's only a matter of time before many of these germs become vancomycin resistant."

Current epidemic?