Sunday, December 1, 2013

Clostridium Difficile



Visualize this pain in the belly that just won’t stop.  Nausea sets in and fluctuates, but you fight the feeling with determination to continue with your life.  You get up, not that you’ve had sufficient rest.  Off to work you go, but throughout the day you are left with multiple visits to the bathroom.  I’m warning you that this just might get a little too descriptive for you.  So, read on if you dare.  

Early November, a few years ago, I began experiencing digestive complications.  Did I drink enough water?  I felt really constipated for several hours.  The other visits to the bathroom were more like runs to the commode.  I called my doctor, at the time.  He simply though I was “okay”.  I was sent home with a little prescription of Phenergan, from a summer food bug.  After enduring this for over two weeks, and losing over twenty pounds, I felt compelled to pester my doctor’s office until they took me seriously.  Eventually, I was directed to a gastroenterologist.  After submitting blood and completing a barium x-ray, weeks after the initial onset of my symptoms, the specialist requested a fecal sample.  This was the turning point.  I had been diagnosed with the superbug Clostridium difficile.  I was warned that there were two antibiotics that may help combat this bug, but that one other alternative would be to endure a fecal transplant from a family member.  Fortunately, this was just under a month of living hell, and the first round of antibiotics helped rid my body of this invasion.  My Christmas was spent weak and thankful for my life and the loved ones I was able to spend time with.  

I bring this to the blog, because I’m seeing more news over the years that mention how this is becoming a common superbug.  One such article is in the link below.  I was the healthy young adult who was neither hospitalized, nor ingesting antibiotics within five months of the first signs.  The only thing I could think of was visiting two friends in the hospital about a month apart that had just delivered babies.  Antibiotics were for a summertime food poisoning occurrence.  Other than that, I was clean as a whistle.  This could have been deadly had it continued without the proper medical attention, and my persistence.  

It has taken me a long time to bounce back to eating and feeling 100%.  I was concerned for about a year of revisiting the superbug.  Thankfully, that was the only occurrence.  

Again, we are dealing with more antibiotic drug resistance bacteria.  What will the future hold?   


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