Thanks for your information on high dosage probiotics. My gastroenterologist told me to take a probiotic, but didn't specify what kind. I will compare the dosage of what I purchased with the PB-8 Probiotics.
I didn't personally take care of someone with C-diff but watched my dad didn't contract it while he was in a nursing home getting therapy for 3 weeks. Also have a friend who is her mom's caregiver, and her mom got C-diff. It is caused by excessive amounts of antibiotics in the body. The antibiotics destroy the good bacteria in the colon which in turn causes symptoms of irritable bowel syndrome. The good bacteria (probiotics) is needed in the colon to fight off the bad bacteria. If there isn't enough probiotics the bad bacteria take over and cause the C-diff or IBS. My friends mom was eating yogurt and on a low grade probiotic prescribed by her doctor. It could have taken months to replenish her probiotics with those. I take high dosage probiotics you can buy at most health food stores or vitamin shops because of chronic fatigue I suffer from. I gave her an extra bottle I had (it's called PB-8 Probiotics). She asked her doc if she could take them, and he said it was fine since it really is just made from food and you cannot overdose on it. She had C-diff going on 3 months without hardly any healing, but when she took the higher dosage probiotics I gave her she was totally healed within 2 weeks and thanked me up and down. Hope this information helps :)
my mom got it from an antibiotic prescribed for a uti- dr. sent a hydrating iv to her house and she thankfully started feeling better after 2 days- I'll make sure she is never prescribed that drug again!
How does someone get c-diff? Can a caregiver pass it to my Mother at my home? I always make my caregivers wash their hands before they start working and I buy gloves by the case. Is it very contagious and how? Sounds horrid!
In 2008 at age 82 my mom had 5 occurrences of C-diff. The diarrhea would come, we would go to ER, get a round of antibiotics, it would seemingly clear up, then come back. We ended up on a convoluted, interval round of vancomycin - a last-ditch antibiotic when the others don't work - ta process hat I found online and that the doctor agreed to go along with. I then put her on Dr O'Hira's probiotic - a high-quality probiotic available in many health stores that does not require refrigeration. The dr would probably say it was the vancomycin, but I am convinced it was this probiotic that literally saved her life. She is now 89 and never had a recurrence.
Yes, your mom should be checked out by a medical professional in a dr's office or hospital setting, but unless it is an acute situation, I am a big believer in staying OUT of the hospital, where many of the germs that cause C-diff in the first place are. Good luck!
My mom also lost her appetite many times, I just kept trying to find things that were a little more appealing. I bought Ensure, Boost, any of those ready made milkshakes, protein bars, even candy if she wanted it. Any calories was better than none. She would turn crazy shades of yellow on her fingernails while she was on the antibiotics. She felt bad. Try to get her on the Florastor, ask about the Xifaxin. I don't know if that is typically used for C-diff, but that is what our Infectious Disease doc ordered for her. She took two rounds of it and has been negative since. FYI, she was in the nursing home for therapy, they did NOT isolate her, did not use anything to keep from spreading C-diff. Nursing homes are breeding grounds for this nasty disease. The only time she was isolated was when she was at the hospital.
Yes, your mom should be checked out by a medical professional in a dr's office or hospital setting, but unless it is an acute situation, I am a big believer in staying OUT of the hospital, where many of the germs that cause C-diff in the first place are. Good luck!