antibiotics... how brutal they can be!!!

[sylviayasgur]

hi all!
i've been away for a few weeks, all because of some antibiotics i took for a sinus infection!

i know most, if not all of you take antibiotics when premedicating for dental work and other things.
i have never questioned taking them before i had this awful experience.
four days after starting on augmentin, i started having severe diahrrea (sorry to get graphic). i had cramps that were so bad, they felt like labor pains. i have a tremendous tolerance for pain and i was on the floor, almost passed out from the pain, breaking out into cold sweats for three days straight and about 7-8 times a day!!!
no food was staying in me and i was sooooo hungry.
picture this: me, in bed (i rarely stay in bed!), weak as anything, trying to stay hydrated,in between trips to the bathroom, and watching the food channels_ starving!
gotta laugh about it.

anyway, by the time they figured out that the antibiotic was doing this damage, they put me on metronidazole (given for amoebas and parasites that form as a result of antibiotics offsetting the balance of the intestinal bacteria).
we went away the second week of this illness (vacation) and i spent much of the time in the room!
it took me a whole two weeks to feel better. even now, i still get crampy and am scheduled to see a gastro man.

i will never look at antibiotics in the same way again.
i know many of us take them very freely; i know i did.
i am so gun-shy. it was such a horrible nightmare.
hope this never happens to any of you!

i am so glad to be back. missed you all.
stay well, sylvia

 

[Nancy]

Hi Sylvia-

It's a bummer BIG time. Joe had to take some pretty powerful antibiotics when he had an extremely high temp. He was in the hospital, and sure enough he came down with C. Difficile diarrhea, commonly known as c-diff. It was a horrible experience. It took months for him to get over. He was so dehydrated.

They had him on courses of Flagyl at least three or four times, plus had to go on Questran to line his intestine to keep things from irritating it. It took him about 3 months to get rid of.

It's a real baddie. Sounds like what you had.

I hope you and Joe never get that again, or anyone else either.

 

[Ross]

Glad to have you back Sylvia.

Augmentin knocked you silly huh. I've taken it and had the bathroom problem but nothing more. You obviously are one that should not use it. Too bad you didn't know before hand. You do now!

I guess I don't need to ask if you had a good trip or do I?

 

[epstns]

Yuk!

Yuk!

Sylvia - I know what you went through. I don't react to augmentin, but I get a similar reaction to most direct forms of penicillin. I also get a full-body rash and edema from sulfa derivatives. I always make it a point to list "severe allergy" to both of these when I fill out medical history forms or when a new doc interviews me. Best that they are forewarned.

Glad you're back to yourself, and truly sorry it happened over a vacation.

 

[sylviayasgur]

hi you guys!

nancy,
it was just that, c.difficile! what a nightmare!!! i can't even imagine someone like your joe having to deal with that!!!
atleast i started out in perfect health! ugh! i hope it doesn't take me four months to totally get rid of it. i still feel the remnants of it in my stomach every day! i know it's not fully gone....
thanks for letting me know that i'm not the only one who found this to be so awful.

ross,
sorry that you had that reaction to augmentin too. now we both know not to go there!

steve,
funny you should mention sulfa drugs. i became highly allergic to those right after college and had a severe reaction one day_ haven't taken them since. but, that was the only one i thought i had a problem with....
now i can add this to the list!!! oh, it was just so terrible.

to all of you,
i really appreciate that this was a small problem to go through compared to what most of you go through and live with.
i look at my wonderful husband and am so lucky that this is the worst (hopefully) i'll ever have to experience. your loads are much greater.
i pray you are all well. i'm so glad to be back.
-sylvia

 

[Nancy]

Hi Sylvia-

There are two drugs which can be used for c-diff (that I know of), if one doesn't work. The first one that docs like to use is the Flagyl, then if that doesn't work, they can use Vancomycin. But Vancomycin is really expensive. Joe finally got rid of it with 500mg of the Flagyl, and I can't remember if it was 2 or 3 times per day.

The Questran helped a great deal. It really protected his intestines, although it was yucky tasting, and it can interfere with the absorption of many drugs.

I hope it's gone forever for you.

 

[joy]

You know I was on IV antibiotics when I was fighting psuemdomonas, and I had HORRIBLE diarhea! It was all watery(not that you guys wanted to hear that) but I was wondering if we should get together and invent some kind of hospital bed "poopy potty?" I don't mean to make a joke of it, because it was an aweful thing for me, too, but after having a nurse wipe me and have to change my bed...I think we could make VR.com a very rich website! What do you think? I hope you never have to deal with this kind of reaction again! My nephew had nasty gas pains after his liver transplant. He would just scream out for his dad when he had them! One of the times, Sid was outside smoking with me, and when we got back he felt all guilty. I no longer smoke, and neither does Sid(my brother)

 

[sylviayasgur]

thanks you guys!
nancy,
i took flagyl for 12 days, 3 times a day. it took a long time for it to work though.
our friend who is a gastro doc, said it should start working in a day or two, but it took about 5 days for me to see any change.
i am feeling better, no more diahrrea (and, yes joy, same kind of "nothing stays in you, just pours out" thing), but i still feel discomfort every morning and i am not over this as far as my body tells me.
i made an appt. to see the gastro doc and hopefully he'll just say that this is how it gets out of your system.
thank you all for being here for me.
hope you are all well,
sylvia

 

[sylviayasgur]

still struggling ...

still struggling ...

hi all!
would you believe that here we are two months later and i am still struggling with this nuisance of a stomach problem?!?!?! i haven't been able to leave the house for two days!!! and, kind of hang out near my bathroom!!!
so hungry though!!!

nancy,
looks like i'm going your joe's route. have taken flagyl twice already to no avail. finally went to a gastro doc who did all this testing. should get my results tomorrow and maybe, finally knock this thing out of me!!!!

how horrible these antibiotics can be!!!

glad to see you are all doing well,
sylvia