Has anyone had C Diff? Help

[FFSToEverythingSince2020]

TW: Post is about C Diff, a contagious disease that causes diarrhea. Do not read if you have a weak stomach or health anxiety.

I’ve been sick since around 10 November. GP sent me to the hospital, where they found I had low potassium and an infection. I got IV antibiotics and more antibiotics to take home. About three days into taking the antibiotics, I started having the most violent diarrhea of my life. It’s now been a little over a week. I called the GP yesterday and they wanted me to go to the hospital again for suspected C Diff as I feel quite sick and I’ve stayed within about 15 feet of the toilet since I practically have to go once an hour or more; I didn’t feel like I could leave the toilet to go to the hospital, and I didn’t have any fever, heart palpitations, or trouble breathing.

I thought maybe it had stopped because nothing big from midnight to 9am. But after awakening, I hadn’t eaten anything for something like 20 hours, and yet, the diarrhea started again within an hour (it’s completely unformed, but there’s no blood that I can see). It seems common sense that my GP should just let me send in a stool sample and urine sample, as opposed to seeing someone with something very contagious to either their office or the hospital. Thank you for reading all my codswallop - my questions are:
Has anyone here had C diff?
What was it like?
How hard was it to get well??

For info: I am not elderly, not in a care home, but I am immunosuppressed, and also take omeprazole.

You poor thing, that's miserable, a stool sample would show different which is treated with even more antibiotics, I wouldn't want to sit in the surgery or hospital either, can they send you a pot and the microbiology form instead. Are you able to hold liquids down, if you've had low potassium before then the diarrhoea could cause this again. Could it be noro but that doesn't usually last too long.

Thank you, thank you! I know it’s such an unpleasant topic that I wasn’t sure anyone would reply. Yes! The doctor who called yesterday was kind of alarmist then, I think? A GP I know better called back today and said a stool sample would be fine, and that I don’t need hospital unless I stop being able to pee or keep fluids down, I have fever, or blood shows up. My DH is going to go pick it up from the doctor for me, but they said it could take up to a week for results?! I’m trying to just view it as a week-long Netflix binge with lots and LOTS of bathroom breaks.

Also, from this thread, it’s popped up “related threads” and it looks like someone in the past asked for C Diff advice so I’ll check that.

I always get terrible diarrhea with antibiotics and they always come with a c diff warning on the label. Usually stops when the medication does. How much longer do you have on the anti Bs?

I get this on clindamyacin and ceflurexane/metronidazole.

The trouble is you're not absorbing the antibiotics with diarrhoea, keep hydrated, maybe rehydration salts, if it continues tell the GP, are they ordering a blood test too for electrolytes. It takes 2 or 3 says to get the result in hospitals, longer by the time the GP gets it, take care and maybe yogourt or probiotic might help.

My major worry for you would be your low potassium. If you’re having persistent diarrhoea then this may affect your levels and could have serious consequences. When did you last have your bloods done and were you given potassium tablets / infusion in hospital? Why did your potassium drop initially? I am really surprised given your symptoms the GP has not arranged for urgent bloods to be done alongside the stool sample.

Thank you all for sharing advice and experiences! To answer the questions so far:

I finished the antibiotics on 30 November. I’ve had diarrhea ever since.

@Justputsomeyoghurtonit (which is maybe what I should do) mentioned metronidazole always causes them horrible diarrhea. I was on both metronidazole and co-trimoxazole, for five days, 25 Nov to 30 Nov.

@TangoWhiskeyAlphaTango123 @MissMoneyFairy I really appreciate what both of you said. As for the GP overlooking the potassium, I don’t think they’ve actually managed to GET a copy of the hospital report (they still didn’t have it a week ago) so I probably need to tell them I had low potassium or they won’t know? When I had low potassium in hospital, I had been not eating or drinking for several days and I still managed to vomit (nothing but bile) RIGHT on arrival to triage.

The GP seems less concerned because I’ve not had fever or blood in the toilet. I just look and feel peaky AF. I mean, I normally have chronic pain, but still don’t usually feel as “miserable” as this. Even when I’m not in the toilet, I have this constant feeling I’m about to lose control. Not to mention feeling like there’s a knife in my stomach.

I started some really good (but expensive!) probiotics that have worked in the past when I had serious stomach sickness, but I imagine I won’t see any effects for a few days.

OP They should have been sent it via email but I would 100% let them know. If they have not got it ring the relevant ward you were treated in and ask them to email it asap. Hypokalaemia is not to be messed around with and as you've been losing a lot of fluid via the diarrhea I would urging you to keep an eye out for the symptoms and 100% push for a blood test.

Please google Hypokalaemia and make yourself aware of the symptoms. I hope you feel better soon.

@TangoWhiskeyAlphaTango123 Thank you so much!!! I’m looking up the symptoms now and will call the GP back.

Hi OP, I’m in remission from cancer and had C Diff last January after taking metronidazole and Ciprofloxacin. C Diff developed after about a week finishing those antibiotics.

Like you I was rushing to the toilet at least every hour including at night. C Diff poo has a very distinctive smell. I rang my Clinical Nurse Specialist who advised me to go to A&E. My hospital is a 30 minute drive away so I took LOTS of Imodium so I wouldn’t have to go to the toilet during the journey. I gave the staff in A&E three stool samples, they lost one. After a 30 hour wait in A&E (my nearest hospital is a disaster) I was diagnosed with C Diff and given an isolation room. I was in the isolation room for ten days and was given an antibiotic called Vancomycin around every six hours. It cleared the C Diff and it hasn’t come back since.

Oh no. This is making me wonder if hospital is the only place that can treat it if you need IV vancomycin that long and that often; I’m not in remission from cancer, but I am clinically vulnerable and immune suppressed. I’m going to give it until tomorrow morning to make the decision if I should go to hospital. Hopefully it’ll be a little more “spaced out” by tomorrow maybe, but that might be a false hope. But I’ll have to take a box of Imodium to reach the hospital (and you’re not supposed to take any if it’s actually C Diff) because yes, usually you take Imodium and it stops you up for a day or two after, but with this! I took FOUR Imodium (following instructions) to try to get to the doctor yesterday and it was like I hadn’t taken a thing.

I see a PP has mentioned this, but I used to work in a nursing home and C Diff has a very very distinctive smell (horribly strong sickly sweet sort of smell). If any residents went into the local geriatric hospital, you could pretty much guarantee they came back with C diff and would need barrier nursing.

I had it from taking clindamycin after pneumonia (allergic to penicillin) and it took a further 4 weeks of doxyclycline to stop the diarrhoea - then another good 3 to 6 months to feel my gut health was back to rights.

Thank you @MrsLizzieDarcy and @Berlinlover as well, for mentioning the smell. I’m not sure I would describe it as sweet, but it’s a very weird smell. Almost like I’m going past a cow farm? I don’t know if that’s the right smell. But it definitely doesn’t smell good; I lit three matches after I used the loo about an hour ago, AND I’m making sure my DH uses the other bathroom until we know for sure what I have. It’s definitely gone on too long to be noro, so I really don’t know.

Many NHS Trusts offer IV anti-biotics at home, I do this for a living. You urgently need to get your bloods checked not just because of your potassium levels but also sodium and kidney function if you are having such persistent diarrhea. They will not diagnose c-diff until they get the stool sample back which can take a little while to grow the culture. Your bloods may also show infection. I would head to hospital if it were me given your history, you can't be cautious with a low potassium level and persistent diarrhea.

I have had c diff. I caught it in hospital following an admission for appendicitis.

It has a distinct smell and colour ( very yellow)

I was diagnosed from home approx 10 days post discharge. I sent a stool sample via the GP and was called by infection control from my local hospital that evening with the diagnosis.

It can be quite hard to get hold of the required antibiotics in the community, but it can be treated with oral vancomycin. I ended up having to go to the hospital pharmacy just to get the tablets, but was treated at home.

Sadly, I went on to develop recurrent c diff, but have never been admitted due to it, it has always been caught early.

my experience is that if it is confirmed c diff, they are very proactive and rapid with confirming and treating. Each time I’ve had a recurrence, I’ve known within 12 hours of dropping off my stool sample. I like to imagine it causes an alarm to go off somewhere when a positive comes in!

@TangoWhiskeyAlphaTango123 I didn’t want to overshare but I’m already dying. If it’s not this, it would have been something, and I’m already in a lot of pain. I’m honestly too sick to get to the hospital at 9pm and risk a long A&E wait (and fear I might be “too well” to not face a long wait). I agree though that I’ll call the GP at 8am tomorrow about the potassium and if they say to go to the hospital at that point, I will, as I know it would distress my partner if I didn’t. Thank you so, so much for your kindness and advice. It has made this feel much less lonely.

I hesitate to post this, OP, as I dont want to upset you, but my darling grandmother died following a C Diff infection. She was already immunocompromised following a major surgery earlier in her life, she was very unwell, very weak and unfortunately just couldn't get on top of it. So different to your situation as she was already in the hospital.

One thing that was under consideration before she became too ill was a fecal transplant (you can Google, but essentially it transfers good bacteria back into the body of the person with C Diff). In our case, family member was going to be the donor. If you find the antiobiotics are not working or it becomes recurrent, then I would ask whether your hospital offers this as a treatment as unfortunately by the time it was discussed as an option for my DGM, she was too unwell to go through with the procedure. Apparently it is a very effective treatment.

I'm sorry you are not well and hope this is resolved so it isnt an added burden on you.

@NewName2025 Oh no, it doesn’t upset me at all. I know it’s quite dangerous and probably especially dangerous for me; I’m afraid this will just sound crazy, but I felt like delaying hospital until I have to be there, might give me a better chance of surviving it? Just because I think the closer you get to the end, you get this fear that you can’t even describe to anyone, that if you go into hospital, you won’t come out. That might be incredibly foolish thinking. My partner is starting to get distressed by how ill I am, and he has ADHD so keeps forgetting NOT to go in the loo I’m using (I’m making a sign for the door right now), so I think it might be the hospital in the morning for me.

At least they'll keep you isolated OP, and not on a ward. The sooner you get IV antibiotics, the sooner you'll be home.

Ah shit OP I am so sorry. There are plenty of community services now that can help treat you at home (Virtual Ward, Rapid Response etc). 100% reach out to your GP tomorrow and have a conversation about things. Even though you are terminally ill you need to be comfortable and have your symptoms managed as best as possible as you know i am sure, I hope you've got a good GP / palliative care team. Sending you huge hugs your way and I hope you can at least get this problem sorted swiftly. x