Probiotics to treat C Difficile?

[hazelnut316]

I am 36 weeks pregnant and was diagnosed with C Difficile after taking two strong antibiotics for an infected vein. They put me on Flagyl for the C Difficile, but it caused me to have severe panic episodes. I told my OB/GYN and he said I could discontinue it, but he didn't want to put me on anything else for it. Will it just go away on its own? I take probiotics (Primodophilus Bifidus) every day, so I thought maybe increasing the dose would help treat the C Difficile. Does anyone know about this?

[sbgrace]

Probiotics won't kill it (Flagyl won't usually either and Flagyl is a nasty drug side effect wise for some people as you experienced). Oral Vancomycin is more effective and my son took something not typically used but appears to be effective--Alinia

Probiotics can help control symptoms though specific strains only are effective and I don't know that they will do much without treating it first to at least knock it back.
The probiotics helpful for c. diff are: culturelle, florastor, and one more specific one whose name has left my brain right now. Get Culturelle (widely available) and florastor (likely have to order online) and see if that does what you need to get through.

[deditus]

Yup, Culturelle and s. boulardii.

[sbgrace]

I think I remembered the name of the other probiotic as VSL #3 but I'm not entirely confident of that. I'd do both culturelle and florastor(s. boulardii) together. Start culturelle while you wait on shipping for the florastor.

[traycanadian]

My husband got rid of C. difficile without abx. He took lots (I think about 4x the reg. dose) of probiotics and it was gone within a month, never returned in almost 4 years.

[sbgrace]

Originally Posted by traycanadian

My husband got rid of C. difficile without abx. He took lots (I think about 4x the reg. dose) of probiotics and it was gone within a month, never returned in almost 4 years.

That's interesting. Is he still taking probiotics as maintenance? Any certain ones he used?

I can't figure out how a probiotic could really irradicate c. diff but maybe it just crowded them out enough they died!

Interestingly, my son was dxd with c. diff recently. It is weird as it "appeared" in a stool sample after a number of samples without any detectable c. diff but he had been no where (literally, home..and no one else here has c. diff) and wasn't taking any meds to make him susceptible. However, he had a parasite that, among other things, eats probiotics. I keep wondering if he picked up c. diff during a hospitalization almost three years ago and probiotics kept it undetectable until this parasite.

OP, I hope the above post is how it works out for you too!

[traycanadian]

Originally Posted by sbgrace

That's interesting. Is he still taking probiotics as maintenance? Any certain ones he used?

Yes, he takes a regular dose daily. He picked up c. diff. while spending 9 days in hospital for a ruptured appendix. At the time we were using Kyodolic Kyodophilus because we were travelling and they don't need refrigeration. I had been taking them regularly but he had never taken them. I started giving them to him while he was in the hospital. He still takes the same brand. I suppose it's possible that he is still carrying the bacteria (because I don't recall if he was ever retested) but he has had not a single recurrence of symptoms in 4 years.

[sbgrace]

Originally Posted by traycanadian

Yes, he takes a regular dose daily. He picked up c. diff. while spending 9 days in hospital for a ruptured appendix. At the time we were using Kyodolic Kyodophilus because we were travelling and they don't need refrigeration. I had been taking them regularly but he had never taken them. I started giving them to him while he was in the hospital. He still takes the same brand. I suppose it's possible that he is still carrying the bacteria (because I don't recall if he was ever retested) but he has had not a single recurrence of symptoms in 4 years.

Our doctor told me (in reference to my son) that usually people still carry it but as long as we use probiotics it stays in check so to speak. OP, good news for you! I'd load up on the probiotics mentioned above and I hope it keeps things in check for you too!

[momtoalexsarah]

My DD had c-diff after IV antibiotics for a masisive infection. She was put on oral Vancomycine - it worked very very well - we also used cultrell and florastor. She beat it and a year later we haven't had a reocurance. We also have avoided any other antibotics as well - if we need abx again we will treat with probiotics profilactily, and if she comes down with it I would do the Vanco again.

[BeagleMommy]

My sister got rid of c. diff by taking high dose (Alli-med) Allimax and Allimax Pre-pro probiotics.
She still takes maintenance doses of both and not only has had no recurrence of the c. diff, she is the only one in her office who hasn't been sick at all since then. She got c. diff in April 2009.

nutrimedical.com carries Allimax garlic products. IMO, very good stuff.

[WuWei]

Kefir!

Probiotics (specifically sacchyromyces boulardi) have been shown to be effective in the treatment of recurrent c-diff. An alternative is store bought kombucha which has S. boulardii in significant quantities. The S. boulardii will decrease diarrhea associated with the antibiotics also. Additionally, kombucha has Lactobacillus in large quantities.

Btw, kefir also doesn't allow c-diff to grow. So, daily dosing with kefir is another possibility. Even just a Tbls daily would help to recolonize the gut. Most probiotics don't "stay" in the gut. They have to resupplied on a regular basis.

Water kefir is dairy free.

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...f#post14290673
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...f#post13931562
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...f#post13258100

Clostridium Difficile (C Diff)

HTH, Pat