Our Battle with C Diff...

This is going to be a long one but I am hoping that fellow mothers and friends in general learn from our experiences and in return never have to go through it. 

Our troubles go all the way back to the month of November.  It all began when Grant came down with the croup on 11/12.  We went to the doctor and he was given a steroid shot and we saw an improvement in his breathing and cough nearly immediately.  However, the croup continued for another 2-3 days which is very typical and then his cough started to loosen up.  The cough was very junky and his breathing was raspy.  He woke up on 11/16 and his fever was back so we headed back to the doctor.  We learned the croup had turned to bronchitis and he was put on an antibiotic (specifically Azithromycin) which was the first antibiotic he had ever been on. 

Just a side note: the doctor that prescribed the med was not Grant’s regular pediatrician.  She was out of the office the day we had to go in and we had to see another doctor.  I like to think that our pediatrician would have told us to take necessary precautions when putting a child on an antibiotic such as supplementing with probiotics. 

Grant’s cough seemed to be on the mend but two days after starting the antibiotic he began vomiting.  Looking back I really do think that on top of what was starting (the early stages of C Diff) he also had a flu bug and all symptoms seemed to point in that direction since Grant had also developed diarrhea.

The doctors were still convinced it was a virus but after 5 days of VERY bad diarrhea we were back at the doctor (4^th time in two weeks) and I was insisting on a stool culture.  I suspected it could possibly be giardia because we have the dogs and thought maybe they could have tracked something in and Grant got a hold of it.  Another side note: During this time Grant lost 1 ½ pounds and his weight dropped from the 75^th to the 25^th percentile.  Well, with in three hours of dropping off the stool sample we received a call saying that Grant had C Diff or clostrium difficile.  We were extremely relieved to finally have an answer although we were rather miffed as to how this could have happened. 

What is C Diff?

C Diff is sometimes called antibiotic induced diarrhea.  Antibiotics naturally kill off the good bacteria or flora in the intestines which allow the bad bacteria that normally live in our bodies but are kept at bay by the good flora to take over and wreak havoc.  Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, nausea, bloating, and fever which is why C Diff can often go undiagnosed for long periods of time… the symptoms are common viral or flu type symptoms.  C Diff IS contagious and cannot be killed by antibacterial, alcohol based hand gels.  It is very common in the nursing home community or after a hospital stay and can be fatal if left untreated.  The best combat is good hand washing and a bleach solution.  My biggest suggestions… anytime you take or give an antibiotic to a child always supplement with probiotics whether it is a store bought supplement or with yogurt or other products containing probiotics.  The physician who prescribed the original antibiotic NEVER told us this and I truly think it could have all been prevented in our case.

Now back to our journey…

Grant was immediately put on Flagyl (one of two meds that can treat C Diff) for 10 days.  After just 2 days on his meds, we saw a drastic improvement and his BM’s were back to normal.  When he finished his course of meds, we re-cultured his stool and it was negative!  We were so relieved but wary because in 30% of C Diff cases it reoccurs with in two months.

I’d like to say this is where our C Diff journey ended but unfortunately it is not.  Not too many days after Christmas we noticed the symptoms of C Diff reappearing (mainly looser stools).  On 12/29 Grant tested positive for C Diff again and had lost another ½ pound.  We started another round of Flagyl for 10 days and after the round was complete he tested negative... again.  Just like last time we were relieved but wary because individuals who have two or more relapses have a 50-65% chance of yet another reoccurrence. 

So with that little statistic you have probably guessed that Grant’s C Diff did indeed reoccur for a third time.  He had one day where he had only 2 looser stools and then the following days they seemed to be back to normal.  At this point, we are paranoid and hyper vigilant so I called the doc and requested that he be cultured again and sure enough on 1/24 he tested positive again.  Our pediatrician chose another medication this time for treatment call Vancomycin which is much stronger.  We have completed a 10 day course and Grant tested negative. 

We are keeping our fingers crossed and saying prayers that our journey with C Diff has ended.  If it reoccurs again, our next step will be to see an infectious disease doctor at Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee since there are many long term negative side effects some of which include inability to properly absorb nutrients, lactose intolerance or many other food sensitivities, IBS, and/or bowel perforation among others.

As I had mentioned, it is my hope that someone reading this will learn from our experiences and it may help to prevent C Diff in their lives or help to catch the early warning signs if it does ever happen.