After Five Months.......relief!

[PattieW 3]

Hi All,

In the past I have begged for help with ideas for my diahhrea...I now have the answer. I'm 5 months out of band to sleeve conversion. I have had diahhrea for all that time. Not enough to keep me at home at first but lately yes. I was told " watery in watery out " meaning no solid food and no solid you know what. Next it was "you eat too much or too fast", no results there. Next is was my gall bladder, so I had it out ( I did have stones). Next it was "lactose intolerant" so I tried that...no change. Next "gluten free"...no change. All this time I kept asking if I caught a "bug" and I had antibiotics about 6 weeks after surgery for a sinus infection. Guess what he thinks I have "c-diff" a bug you get when you stir up the flora in the gut and you get it from being in the hospital. I am currently taking the meds for it and have had such relief. I hope when I get off the meds I am cured, My doc has assured my I will be. So the lesson here is keep asking and if you get no good answer ask again. You know your own body better than anyone.

[O.T.R. sleever 3,386]

Wow, Thais a long process of elimination. Gotta say though they do all kina make sense. Great to hear you've found your relief. Happy days are here again!!!

[whitsmom08 17]

I'm having the same trouble. They are checking me now for c diff. Did yours start right away. I'm 6 weeks out and mine just started a week ago.

[PattieW 3]

Hi Whitsmom08,

Believe it or not I did have c-diff and one round of antibiotics did not help. I did have my gallbladder out five months after the sleeve surgery and that did make it worse. I am now seeing a GI doc. my primary doc thought I might have IBS. It has been hell. I love the sleeve as far as eating. It is a dream. But if I don't get the GI problems under control....well I don't know what to do with myself. To finally answer your question my c-diff did not show up for a few weeks also. So keep asking questions, don't just sit back and let them control your treatment. You can look up c-diff on the internet and there is alot of info. Get involved! Good luck and I hope it is cured quickly.

[whitsmom08 17]

So what else have they done for you. My sample was sent off yesterday and I'm up to at least 6 lomotil a day. Have they given you multiple rounds of antibiotics. I know a little about c diff from working in the medical field. So what treatment are you on now? And how long has it been going on with you

[whitsmom08 17]

So what else have they done for you. My sample was sent off yesterday and I'm up to at least 6 lomotil a day. Have they given you multiple rounds of antibiotics. I know a little about c diff from working in the medical field. So what treatment are you on now? And how long has it been going on with you

[whitsmom08 17]

So what treatment are you on and how long has this been going on? I'm up to 7 lomotil a day and just sent cultures off yesterday

[PattieW 3]

I was diagnosed with c-diff 5 months in and after the gallbladder removal. I had 2 courses of flagyl. I then got two negative samples. But still diahhrea. So at the same time they put me on Cholestyramine 4mg 1 x daily. That seems to hold the diahhrea in ck but I still break thru and then I too take Imodium or if I have to travel I take it preventatively. My primary tried to switch to Fiber and that just caused so much gas and more diahhrea. So they gave up meaning my Bariatic doc and primary and said GI doc next. I see him next week. I did take Amoxicillin about 2 months after surgery and they think that is how I got the c-diff. I think I got it from the hospital too. I had my surgery Dec. 2011 so it has been almost one year of hell. I feel for you and I hope they start with Vacomycin which I hear is the best course of action. Please keep me informed. You have a sister in GI issues.

[CowgirlJane 14,259]

Okay, I hope you don't mind my hijacking this to get help with my own recent symptoms.

Okay, I have never been a person who is prone to Constipation, it has happened, but pretty rare. I think i only had one bout of it since being sleeved. I have always been prone to "softer" BMs and just figured that is normal for me. I drink alot of Water and do try to eat some veggies and fruit after the Protein to get some Fiber in.

Well, I have noticed a few things recently. One, is my BMs are getting more and more diarrea like. I am still only going once a day and it is semi solid so not sure if it can be called diarrea. For about the last week, I have noticed that it is kinda grayish colored - not occassionally, but all the time now. I have also noticed a big increase in gas. I thought maybe I was eating out of the ordinary so I did a couple of days of tracking on MFP and I feel like I am eating the same type foods as always. I have also had a little bit of tummy upset, nothing severe but due to these other symptoms I guess I have been paying attention and looking for symptoms.

I don't have pain like gallbladder attack, but when I read online about the grayish stool it indicated that is caused by not getting enough bile and is a sign of some kind of issue. So I am scheduled for an ultrasound 2 weeks out, I am not in pain to it isn't a huge priority, but I am curious those of you going through treatment for these kind of issues - are my symptoms at all similiar to what you experienced? Gallbladder disease doesn't make sense to me without the pain, but I really don't know much about it.

[PattieW 3]

Cowgirl Jane,

You are not hijacking you can ask anything at anytime. We are in this together. The docs can talk all they want but they don't have a sleeve and live with it everday like we do....so with my gall bladder I did not have pain either but I did have the diahhrea and vomiting. The of course with the ultrasound the quote from the tech was "if these were diamonds you would be rich"! Remember as weight loss patients we are more likely to have gallbladder problems. I had the lapband first and it slipped 2nd surgery for correction and then another (3rd) hiatel hernia and that is when they decided the band was not working would I like to have the sleeve done. I am 90 lbs down and it has been since 2008. So I can say this all or you in our group...3 surgeries, 4 hiatal hernias, now diahhrea for 10 months..Am I glad I did the surgery...yes would I do it again...NO WAY.

[whitsmom08 17]

10 months of this wow is all I can say and sorry you've gone through it. My surgeon's nurse doesn't seem to think its surgery related but while he has been a general surgeon for several years he is new at the sleeve so who knows. My pcp sent my sample off and gave me cipro until we have the results along with lomotil no more than 8 a day. He also gave me another prescription but our small town pharmacy has to order it so it won't be in until tomorrow. I hate that anyone else has gone through this but glad I have someone who I can talk to.

[PattieW 3]

Please be very careful with the antibiotics you have been given and taking Imodium. I was told not to take it (imodium) because it will cause the toxin in c-diff to stay in the bowel longer and that my cause some form of colitis? Please get on a good website and do some research. Give me a few minutes and I will see which ones have been very informative for me......

[PattieW 3]

Me again...mayo clinic, web md, wikipedia are all good. Just put c-diff in the google line and you will get alot of info. I also have some sites you can ask questions of professionals and they will answer you back. mayo I thought was the best with general information.

[whitsmom08 17]

Thanks guys. I called the pharmacy to double check about my antibiotic since I'm taking lomotil and not Imodium he says I'm in the clear. But thanks I would have not known about it

[Nicole Sikes 1]

C-diff is very tricky to get rid of for a lot of people. It can take several rounds of antibiotics to get rid of it. Sometime it will colonize and you will always test positive for it but as long as the diarrhea has stopped you will be fine. C-diff has a smell like you will never forget once you know what it is! I am a nurse at a nursing home and we have had several cases over the years. You know it when you see and smell it! It generally takes them longer to recover because they are older but generally younger people recover much faster. Hope they get you straightened out soon!