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Anyone had campylobacter?

51 replies

Orchid90 · 18/09/2024 13:03

Hi!
so I think I might have it .
lets start by saying that I was exposed to the bug at work ( nurse)
Won’t go into the lovely details , I let it to your imagination .
anyway stated with a temp last week, didn’t think much of it, then on Friday I had a temp of 40 , starts with diarrhoea, tons of it . Horrific pain , cramps …Sunday it turned bloody . Now , I’m still a/w culture that went off on Monday afternoon. I still have diarrhoea in the morning ( touch wood the rest of the day seems better ) it’s still moucusy and still has some blood streaks, less than it was though . I need 48 hours diarrhea free before going back to work , can’t see that happening any time soon. I’m living off bread and dyoralite …has anybody had anything like this? I don’t know what else it could be . GP made me do a FIT test too ( occult blood in stool) which obviously is positive as I could see the blood, nothing hidden there ..so I guess that would win me a colonoscopy at some point anyway .
Just checking if anybody has a timeframe as to when things got back to normal ish xx
also how long to have the cultures back ?? We have a very quick test in hospital that only takes 1 hour …I thought they might be in by now being 48 hours later …

OP posts:
BluLagoon · 18/09/2024 13:14

i had this when I was 8 and was ill for 2 weeks, 3 before I felt normal as had lost so much weight. Amusingly had a letter from the council telling me I wasn’t allowed to work in any kitchens. Imagine it would be much less for as adult though.

Calypsocuckoo · 18/09/2024 13:20

I had it and had anti biotics but I was off work for nearly four weeks as I had loose stools the whole time and was working with pregnant women so couldn’t go in, I felt terrible for the first two weeks.

REP22 · 18/09/2024 13:59

I had campylobacter poisoning in 2016. I worked at an emergency vets' practice and caught it from one of the animal patients. You have my sincere sympathies @Orchid90 - I was very, very ill and lost a lot of weight.

I started to feel unwell at the end of May. Looking back at my old work log, I had tests on 28 and 31 May, results confirmed campylobacter on 3 June had antibiotics (and much Dioralyte). Felt better on 8 June. Unfortunately, the campylobacter returned and brought its mates with it on 12 June (this may not happen to you though; I've also had kidney failure in the past (and was also probably drinking more wine than I should back then), so my immune system was fairly shot). Started to feel on-and-off better by 19 June, much better by 21 June. Sadly, it was back for another round on 24 June. By that time I don't think it was just the campylobacter and I ended up in hospital for a week or so on a drip, in isolation for a bit. I did lose quite a lot of weight (all back with reinforcements before too long).

I did have to have a colonoscopy and an endoscopy (throat one). The throat one was worse, the bottom one doesn't really hurt. Watch out for the stuff called Moviprep that they give you to drink beforehand, if you have one. Tastes grim and the effects are, er, "impressive".

I was finally out of hospital and back at work by the middle of September. Touch wood, it has not been back.

I hope that this is helpful. Please don't be alarmed by the unfortunate history I have related above - I am sure yours won't be as bad. I just had other significant health issues going on as well at the time.

Good luck with it. I hope you feel lots better very soon. xx

AgainandagainandagainSS · 18/09/2024 14:02

Had it at 19. Went from being a healthy active student to being unable to dry my own hair or eat more than a 5 year old. Honestly never been as ill as that and wouldn’t wish it on anyone.

tangoboxing · 18/09/2024 14:22

My husband & daughter both caught it when she was about 18 months old. Thankfully (!) he was much sicker than she was - both had high fever, horrendous bright green mucus filled diarrhoea & dh particularly was really quite unwell for about 10 days. Neither had any lasting effects, we think that they picked it up at a petting zoo.

Covidwoes · 18/09/2024 16:20

I had it last year, and was admitted to hospital. Felt terrible. Took around six weeks to get back to 100% normal. Still no idea where I got it from.

JudyJulie · 18/09/2024 21:10

I had it years ago. Off work (office job) for a month. Testing clear by then, but symptoms continued for the best part of a year, by which time I weighed under 7 stone. Investigated for UC, but eventually diagnosed with IBS. Feel that my gut has never really been the same since.

crunchyleavesontheway · 18/09/2024 21:17

I had it years ago. Seriously ill food-poisoning like symptoms for 2 weeks and lost half a stone in weight.
I had to give a stool sample and infectious diseases phoned me and asked where I had been. They deduced that I had probably caught it from a farm that I visited (DH family). None of them had it as they were in regular contact with cows and therefore had immunity.

Soluckyinlove · 18/09/2024 21:26

I had it about ten years ago. I gave in and went to the doctor's on day 8. It slowly, slowly improved after that, but I lost a lot of weight and it was weeks before I felt back to normal. I think I got it from handling raw chicken. I didn't eat chicken again for a few years and even now I never handle it without gloves.

CardinalCat · 18/09/2024 21:29

Yes, I had it while I was a student. Unfortunately it was during university finals and I had to sit an accountancy paper in a separate room with a toilet. Horrific!! (Thankfully I didn't need to go to the loo with the invigilator but it was touch and go.)
I had diarrhoea for about ten days and it was another week or so before I felt fit and well again.
Hope you turn a corner soon!

BabbleBee · 18/09/2024 21:34

DD had sepsis secondary to campylobacter last year. It was very sudden onset and she was very, very ill. In hospital for 10 days on IVABx and took several weeks to fully recover. It’s hideous.

JulietSierra · 18/09/2024 21:35

I had it on holiday in Turkey a few years ago. I had all of the symptoms you mention…fever, felt faint, terrible bloody diarrhoea etc. Most of the symptoms passed after a few days but the diarrhoea went on and on. After about a week I started taking Imodium and it mostly dried up. I had a couple of days still on holiday and then literally the minute I got back home it started with a vengeance again. The gp requested a stool test, Campylobacter was diagnosed, antibiotics prescribed and it cleared within days.

Ukhotelsareshit · 18/09/2024 21:53

DH had it years ago, caught it from chicken we think. He ate no food at all for a full 7 days, spent most of that time camped in the toilet and lost a load of weight. Took about 3 weeks for him to recover properly, even with antibiotics. Nasty thing. And he’s never eaten chicken again.

Joco34 · 18/09/2024 21:53

I had it last Summer on holiday. I have never felt so unwell. Couldn't even drink water without it going straight through. Diarrhea was horrific and vomiting. After 3 days I was admitted to hospital due to dehydration. Had IV antibiotics and drip. Stayed for 5 days. Was the most horrible time. Hope you feel better soon.

coverp · 18/09/2024 22:08

Yep, had it after drinking iced water in Brazil. Really awful for about 2 weeks but took another 4 weeks before my stomach was vaguely normal again.

Simplelobsterhat · 18/09/2024 22:10

Orchid90 · 18/09/2024 13:03

Hi!
so I think I might have it .
lets start by saying that I was exposed to the bug at work ( nurse)
Won’t go into the lovely details , I let it to your imagination .
anyway stated with a temp last week, didn’t think much of it, then on Friday I had a temp of 40 , starts with diarrhoea, tons of it . Horrific pain , cramps …Sunday it turned bloody . Now , I’m still a/w culture that went off on Monday afternoon. I still have diarrhoea in the morning ( touch wood the rest of the day seems better ) it’s still moucusy and still has some blood streaks, less than it was though . I need 48 hours diarrhea free before going back to work , can’t see that happening any time soon. I’m living off bread and dyoralite …has anybody had anything like this? I don’t know what else it could be . GP made me do a FIT test too ( occult blood in stool) which obviously is positive as I could see the blood, nothing hidden there ..so I guess that would win me a colonoscopy at some point anyway .
Just checking if anybody has a timeframe as to when things got back to normal ish xx
also how long to have the cultures back ?? We have a very quick test in hospital that only takes 1 hour …I thought they might be in by now being 48 hours later …

I had it when I was pregnant. Not as bad as some people here, but a lot of mucus and completely wiped out. I saw the doctor quickly because I was pregnant (thankfully no ill affects for baby) and the tests came back positive and I had the obligatory environmental health phone call from the council (as it takes UK up to 2 weeks to incubate, couldn't say for sure when I got it, but I did stop eating a chicken item after one bit because it was a weird texture at a wedding buffet about a week earlier so I suspect that). I can't remember how long tests took but I think only a day or two.

The GP prescribed me antibiotics she says were safe for pregnancy but I initially didn't take them as thought Id rather not if I could avoid, but after a week of still having diarrhea and no appetite I wanted to get back to work so too them and it cleared up quickly after that.

Hope you feel better soon!

Goingncforthisone · 18/09/2024 22:10

You have my sympathy! I had this too, confirmed by poo culture test. I ended up in A and E but didn't get admitted even though my inflammation levels were through the roof and I was pooing a lot of blood. The one thing that saved me needing to be admitted was sipping on Diarlyte throughout.
Think the test took a week or so to come back actually.
One of them they couldn't do as there was too much blood.
Lost a lot of weight during all this.
No problems since though.

movingnorthsoon · 18/09/2024 22:24

I must have had it mildly, judging by these tales! Maybe that will give you some hope that it doesn't always turn out so bad.

It was on holiday in Mauritius, I was 6 months pregnant. Last night before travelling home, I threw up and had bad diarrhea through the night. Our flight was late in the evening of the following day. By the time we checked out from the hotel, I was 'stable'. We did less that day than planned, but did get some last sights in. Didn't eat anything at all that day, drank a few sips of water. Flew to Dubai, where we acquired Dioralyte, before flying home overnight.
Due to being pregnant and just having been in a tropical country, went to GP next day to be safe, not really worried though as feeling much better already. GP ordered stool sample and advised rest, but I had a once-in-a-lifetime academic opportunity coming up and after discussing with GP, she agreed that if I felt up to it, I should go, just taking it easy where possible. So next day (before sample results came back) I was in a plane again, to Europe, and working.
A few days after I got back, received a letter notifying that I had Campylobacter, and advising me to avoid public transport and travelling (and handling food etc). By then I had passed through four countries since first symptoms, four planes, two hotels, numerous buses and trams and trains... That horse had well and truly bolted!

I am very sorry that I potentially spread this nasty disease so far and wide! But I truly never would have guessed, after the first night I had no further vomiting or diarrhea, sure, I was feeling weak but that would be expected after a night of no sleep, and with being pregnant. Even the GP didn't really suspect anything serious.

So I'm saying, there's hope, you might not be too badly affected. Still, I would avoid situations in which you could pass it on, as a precaution - waiting for the sample/test results can mean the advice is no longer relevant once you receive it!

Hope you feel better soon.

Angrymum22 · 18/09/2024 22:32

I had it a few years back, I really thought that my insides were going to end up on the outside. I was passing neat blood for nearly a week.
Awful pain, similar to contractions every 15 mins followed by copious bloody diarrhoea.

I saw GP after a week who told me I shouldn’t have been working, but I’m self employed. Anyway I had colonoscopy and all was clear, it was about two months after so my colon had healed well.

During the first 24hrs I thought I was dying. It was exhausting and with a young baby technically very difficult to manage. As an HCP I just operated my normal cross infection control and wore gloves and a mask. Wiped every surface with disinfectant wipes continuously and fortunately didn’t pass it on.

I never worked out where I picked it up though.

FatOaf · 19/09/2024 09:47

I never worked out where I picked it up though.

It's usually undercooked chicken. A study 10 years ago found Campylobacter in 70% of supermarket chicken. As it survives higher temperatures than most bacterial contaminants of food, it's very important to ensure chicken is cooked thoroughly. Barbecues are heaven for Campylobacter because meat often doesn't reach the necessary temperature in the middle before it chars on the outside.

Orchid90 · 19/09/2024 19:02

Thank you everyone for your messages ,
I just had it confirmed , so it is indeed campylobacter .
Truly horrific, norovirus it’s nothing compared to this .
Anyway I work at hospital do definitely not going in until the diarrhoea stops and I have had a few meals because at the moment a baby can definitely eat more than me . Already down half a stone in a few days 🙈🙈🙈
at least all the bloods is ok and I’m not dehydrated.
hoping it’ll go soon 🤞🏻

OP posts:
redtrain123 · 19/09/2024 19:05

Dh had it. Ended up in hospital on a drip, twice. Was dehydrated and potassium levels were very low. Weeks later, , still not properly eating.

Mabs49 · 19/09/2024 22:58

would some probiotics help? Like some really strong ones like Vivomixx? You’re probably massively depleted now in good bacteria and pretty inflamed.

Amiokay · 19/09/2024 23:11

I had it - the pain is horrendous and literally 10 days straight of diarrhoea. Co-codamol and dry crackers were my only relief!

spiderlight · 19/09/2024 23:37

DH had it a couple of years ago, immediately after having COVID. He was incredibly ill for about ten days with constant diarrhoea, and it took him a good couple of weeks afterwards to get his strength back. No idea where he got it from. It was really scary though - you have my sympathy!