Has anyone taken care of their loved one that had C-diff at home?

WOW. you need to expand your question. C-diff ???
Your loved one should be in a hospital quarantine and on meds ASAP.

I agree with the other post - they should be in a hospital. Here's what docs don't tell you about c-diff. They give strong antibiotics to kill it, but those antibiotics also kill all the good flora in the gut -- the patient should be taking RAW probiotics in addition to the antibiotics. My spouse had c-diff, went through 2 courses of Vancomycin -- it was during the 2nd course we learned about probiotics (not from a doc, but from research). If your loved one is elderly they really should be in a hospital

I have a friend who is a home health aide and works with an elderly Chinese American couple. The husband has c-diff and his wife is trying to keep him at home. My friend has to use gloves and a mask and has refused to help shower him. My friend's opinion is the same as JustMoi's and she is trying to convince their daughter of that. My friend may have to leave this client soon for the sake of her own health.

Sorry to hear it. My father in law had c-diff and had a quick procedure called a fecal transplant! You must check it out! It was the only thing that worked and its out patient procedure!!!!

SOSDIL 1 - Please tell us more about RAW probiotics. My gastroenterologist told me to take probiotics in addition to medication, and I would like to learn more about what you mentioned. I had C-diff earlier this year. Was in intensive care for 2 days; then in regular part of hospital for a few more.

I have certainly read of others on here who have dealt with this. Try typing c-diff in the site search box.

My Dad (3 years before he passed away) nearly died of CDiff but the probiotic called FLORASTOR actually saved him, according to the treating physician. It was expensive but a last ditch effort we heard about from a friend. That was before the fecal transplant was around. Good luck--it is quite serious.

C-Difficil is so named because it is very difficult to get rid of, and requires constant monitoring with strong antibiotics. If it is not put under control orally, the better way to get it under control is an I.V. antibiotic. Unless you are trained to do this, a hospital is the option. (With the caveat that 20% of infections are acquired IN the hospital).

My mom had C-diff She still has some side effects, if that is what you want to call it. She has tested negative for a couple of years, thank God! She was on Xifaxan, then also took Florastor probiotics. After taking both she finally tested negative for C-diff. Before that she was on Vanco for 2 or 3 years. We tried different probiotics and nothing worked. She still has some bowel issues but her GI and Infectious Disease doctors both told us she may have damage to her bowels due to the C-diff and will probably always have those problems.

One other thing, I get our Florastor at CVS, I have a CVS discount card. Many times they have 25% to 30% off coupons and if you sign up for emails you can get other coupons that you can use all at the same time. Florastor is anywhere from $45 to $60 depending on the store, and I have saved up to 30% plus had coupons for $3 or $5 off and they will accept all of them at the same time.

docs thought my husband had C-diff. Hubby was in and out of the hospital and rehab for a few months. They even sent him home twice with severe diarrhea ! A visiting nurse here taught me what to say to the doctors in the ER. I had to make sure they kept him to figure what was causing the problem. He did NOT have C-diff. I wish they had told me to use gloves and a mask, etc. They really thought he had it! No one explained how to prevent others from getting it. But his was polyps they found during a colonoscopy! They removed these and eventually he had no diarrhea! So it is not always C-dif! chris

Raw Probiotics are live/active cultures - the bottle stays in the fridge. The dry stuff you can buy in bulk doesn't do anything because the cultures are dead. We take the 100,000 active cultures everyday. It's in a yellow/orange box at the health food store in the fridge

Had a patient with C-diff that was kept at NH for treatment with everyone in isolation garb. Family had a physician who knew of a new drug "Difficil" & after 2
10 day courses was pronounced "well". Drug is EXTREMELY !!!!!!!!! Expensive.
Most docs either don't know about it or won't use it because it is so expensive & does take 2 courses. Naturally heavy duty probiotics are also very necessary. Do some research about docs in your area knowing this treatment. Good luck...you're in for a long haul with the severity of the disease.

There is no valid way you can care for a person with C-diff at home! Get the person to a hospital STAT!!!

Cupton, can you share what to say in the ER?

They seem to think that she doesnt need to stay at the hospital once things seem to start clearing up. I feel that I can no longer handle this at home. I am a certified medical assistant of 11 years and I am saying this. I can only imagine if I had NO medical background. It seems like nowadays they push to get the patients out of the hospital ASAP, So my mom had been on Vanco for 8 days and they took a stool sample to test for C-diff, I said " its going to come back neg because she has been on the vanco, but she said I know but the doctor wanted to document this" ok document that its neg. when she does have it? And yes Cupton, what do you say in the ER? The reason they kept my mom is because she was dehydrated and had a UTI.

And Just moi she is in the hospital, the problem we run into is she is in hospice. I called them and told them she seem more dehydrated, they were out and even said she was dehydrated and malnourished. So I said I am calling the squad.

She quit eating good about 2 weeks ago so I got her the kelloggs shakes and was pushing her to eat and drink. But it wasnt going good. We will see today if they decide to send her home,

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.

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!

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!

Antibiotic over use.

Oh thats it, I thought it could be passed from someone.

I believe it can be passed from one person to another, I suggest you do a search for the word and read answers from authentic medical sources.

Yes it is transferable from person to person

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!

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 :)

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.