C diff infection from metrodizanale?

[Psm92]

On the last day of taking metrodizanole (antibiotic) for a dental infection. Diarrhea and achey legs and feeling very tired and sleepy. Worried this could be c diff? Or just stomach upset from the ABs?

More likely to be a reaction to the antibiotics, metronidazole is a harsh one

Metranidozoke used to be first line treatment FOR c diff

it's probably just upset your stomach.

are you in a hospital or place where c diff is rife? It seems odd to jump to c diff as the first likely cause of your stomach upset.

Probably just reacting to the antibiotics. If this is your last today, hopefully you'll improve from tomorrow

@EmmaEmerald no, just at home. I just googled antibiotics and diarrhea and it's one of the first things that came up. I think I just have a tendency to assume it's the worst since I also have some relatively uncommon underlying health issues.

Metronidazole would usually be an effective treatment for C. diff. It's possible that your symptoms are a side effect of the antibiotics and not likely that they are caused by C. diff

We're randoms on the internet though - please seek medical advice from a clinician if you continue to feel unwell or get worse. All the best

With kindness, did you look at the search results properly?

it probably says "used to treat diarrhoea, especially from c diff".

Antibiotics often make me feel awful btw, but there doesn't seem to be any reason to think you've acquired c diff

I know it's not the antibiotic most commonly associated with c diff, but having looked at reddit etc people have listed it as one that caused it. I've only been on it 7 days though. Damn health anxiety!

@Psm92 the thing about Reddit is you have no idea what their qualifications are (or aren't!) in the same way you can't verify mine. People can say anything online. If it is causing you distress please call 111 or make an appointment to see someone. It's very possible to test to see if you have C diff, but I think it's unlikely.

For me, the thing that people often don't understand about antibiotics is they're not "strong" or "weak" as such (although you can take a more powerful dose, or more powerful type within the same antibiotic "family" ) they have different methods of working - kind of like tools in a tool box. You can use a bigger and bigger hammer on a screw, but what works best of all is a screwdriver. The different methods of working are suited to different species of bacteria

Metronidazole is effective against anaerobic bacteria. C diff is an anaerobic bacteria. Metronidazole is good at killing C diff.
C difficile associated diarrhea occurs when someone takes a different antibiotic, effective against aerobic bacteria, which kills off both harmful and "friendly" aerobic gut bacteria, and gives space for the anaerobic C diff to thrive. It's a different situation to yours which is why I think it's unlikely you have C diff.

@Coffeepott Thanks so much for explaining that (are you a doctor?!) - it has reassured me somewhat. I think I just got spooked as I've had upset stomachs from antibiotics before but this time it's very fully on, I feel shaky and stuff too etc so it felt kind of "infection-like" iyswim. I am feeling a little better this morning though!

@Psm92 no worries! I'm a scientist. I've worked with C. difficile before, plus quite a lot of other species of bacteria.