Diet and Health FAQ

Tagged As: Clostridium Difficile Colitis

Question:
I have been having severe, severe watery stools for the past month or so, but really bad in the last two weeks.  I had also been nauseated, and had low grade fevers.  I saw my Doc, and because I had been on antibiotics just prior to being sick, she wanted to do an emergency colonoscopy.  I had it done yesterday and I was diagnosed with pseudomembranous colitis, in addition to my usual Crohn's Disease.  I am being treated with Vancomyacin. Have any of you been through this?  Do you have any advice, or things to watch out for?

Answer:
Pseudomembranous colitis is a complication of antibiotic therapy that causes severe inflammation in areas of the colon (large intestine). Alternative Names: Antibiotic associated colitis; Colitis - pseudomembranous; Necrotizing colitis Causes, incidence, and risk factors: Almost any antibiotic can cause pseudomembranous colitis. The bacterium Clostridium difficile, which occurs normally in the intestine, may overgrow when antibiotics are taken. The bacteria release a powerful toxin that causes the symptoms. The lining of the colon becomes raw and bleeds. In addition to antibiotic use, chemotherapy, advanced age, recent surgery, and history of previous pseudomembranous colitis are risk factors for this condition. This is about the last thing that an IBD patient needs on top of everything else. I would push to receive an optimal C. difficile treatment and if this means getting a second opinion then go for it. Other than that probiotics, as previously suggested and a low sugar diet, perhaps low residue diet should hopefully be of some help, but it might be limited - i.e. no instantaneous cure, but perhaps slight improvement. I suggest that you discuss this with a nutritionist and your doctor and do some reading around the subject in the internet. So that you are in a stronger position when dealing with the doctors. Vancomycin and metronidazole (flagyl) are cited as two of the most effective antibiotics for treating C. difficile. It might be that they have to infuse you with the antibiotics. The hospital environment is where patients generally get infected and some can be asymptomatic carriers. If you are in hospital check that staffs are washing their hands in between touching different patients and that stethoscopes, etc., are sterilized.