C diff in my baby ((prayers please))

[TracyP]

Does anyone have experience with/knowledge about C diff? My 6 mo old baby has had diarrhea for 6 days. She started having bloody diarrhea on Friday. Friday night I went to my local Urgent Care and was told it was just an anal fissure. The nurse GOOGLED it and said that was really common. Saturday I took her to a different center because I wasn't comfortable with that diagnosis. Her blood work showed colon inflammation, white blood cell count was good. Diarrhea has continued but bleeding seems to have stopped. Last night at 10 the doc called to say her stool culture came back positive for C diff. He suggested calling my regular doc this morning to figure out treatment. My doc was supposed to be in at 9:30 but I'm still waiting for him to return my call. In the meantime, I am starting to freak out. She seems fine (minus the diarrhea) but C diff sounds like a very nasty bug. I don't think an ER visit is in order, but I'm not sure.:confused: I'm also worried about my other children. Has anyone dealt with this? Regardless, please pray for my sweet baby.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Praying. I would think that as long as the baby is not dehydrated (a concern for babies with diarrhea) then you can afford to wait for the Dr. to call. Did you ask for the Dr's office to make an emergency appt. for you to actually see the Dr.? I know that at least here, the Dr. would call back only to tell me to come in. I would avoid the ER because unless the baby was in distress, you could be waiting for quite a while in the waiting area.

[serene]

:grouphug:

 

I think I'd be calling the dr's office every 15 min. until you actually talk to him - no more waiting. Sometimes you have to be the squeaky wheel.

 

praying your little one recovers quickly!

[trailofsparks]

Does anyone have experience with/knowledge about C diff? My 6 mo old baby has had diarrhea for 6 days. She started having bloody diarrhea on Friday. Friday night I went to my local Urgent Care and was told it was just an anal fissure. The nurse GOOGLED it and said that was really common. Saturday I took her to a different center because I wasn't comfortable with that diagnosis. Her blood work showed colon inflammation, white blood cell count was good. Diarrhea has continued but bleeding seems to have stopped. Last night at 10 the doc called to say her stool culture came back positive for C diff. He suggested calling my regular doc this morning to figure out treatment. My doc was supposed to be in at 9:30 but I'm still waiting for him to return my call. In the meantime, I am starting to freak out. She seems fine (minus the diarrhea) but C diff sounds like a very nasty bug. I don't think an ER visit is in order, but I'm not sure.:confused: I'm also worried about my other children. Has anyone dealt with this? Regardless, please pray for my sweet baby.

 

Is she nursing/eating OK? You said she seems fine except for the diarrhea. . . . :grouphug: Said a prayer for her and you.

[TracyP]

She is nursing well, no dehydration, no fever. She is a bit sleepier than normal but in good spirits, active, etc. when she is awake.

[Nakia]

C-diff is very very contagious so PLEASE be careful!!! You really should be wearing gloves when you change her diaper. And be persistent about talking to the doctor. Treatment needs to start asap!

[Tree House Academy]

Is this the one they give the vaccine for now? I had a friend who had both of her babies (ages 6 mos and 2 years at the time) in the hospital at the same time dealing with C-diff. Both kids had gotten dehydrated really quickly. Since your baby has had it for this long and is not dehydrated, that is a great sign. I think you are okay to wait for the dr to call back. Just keep giving lots of fluids (bottles of juice and water to supplement nursing if needed). My friend's kids came out just fine, but it was quite an ordeal.

 

Prayers for your sweet baby and your family. :)

[TracyP]

C-diff is very very contagious so PLEASE be careful!!! You really should be wearing gloves when you change her diaper. And be persistent about talking to the doctor. Treatment needs to start asap!

 

Good idea, I will wear gloves. A little extra protection can't hurt.

[Carol in Cal.]

To check for dehydration, gently pinch the skin on the back of her hand and see if it rebounds quickly. If it doesn't, she is dehydrated and needs care very soon. Another sign is if she cries but doesn't have any tears.

[athomemom]

I don't want to scare you, but I've had C-Diff. Take your baby to the nearest ER or walk into your doctor's office NOW. Your sweet baby will not get better without antibiotics!! If she is already showing blood in her stool, then you need to be proactive! :grouphug: Please keep us up-to-date!

 

I took C-Diff from antibiotics that I have to take before having my teeth cleaned. I have never been so sick in my life! I didn't have a fever either....

[deacongirl]

C-diff is very very contagious so PLEASE be careful!!! You really should be wearing gloves when you change her diaper. And be persistent about talking to the doctor. Treatment needs to start asap!

 

This can't be emphasized enough. Bleach is the only thing that kills it. (If I am recalling correctly). Hope she feels better soon!

[emeraldjoy]

Yep, fecal oral contagious....certainly take huge, huge percautions in that area for the rest of your family and yourself.

 

A lot of times C-diff is contracted because of an overuse of antibiotics, all the good bacteria and such is gone to ward off bacteria such as this one. Also, sometimes common in hospitals. It is sort of rare just to "get" it though........may want to look into source.

 

It is serious and needs some pretty severe antibiotics to treat. I have heard it compared more to a parasite than bacteria.

 

All of that being said I have a neighbor lady with a 1 year old who was very sick for a long time, like months. Eventually they diagnosed the baby with C-diff....she got treatment and is perfecty fine. Noone else in family got it, baby good and in perfect recovery' very succesful treatment options for sure.

 

I would def. get baby in ASAP to Doc, but not needing ER.

 

e

[fairfarmhand]

C diff is VERY bad. Ring your dr's phone off the hook. She is very small and dehydration can happen quickly in a tiny one like that.

 

Bleach everything, clorox wipe everything else. That stuff is VERY contagious too.

[dirty ethel rackham]

Yes, please take it seriously. My mom almost died from a hospital-acquired c-diff infection. After 3 hospitalizations from this, my mom finally listened to me about taking probiotics to help maintain a healthy gut flora to prevent yet another recurrence. The standard treatment is often antibiotics. BUT, this is a difficult bug to defeat so my mom only got better after she did a regimen of probiotics to help introduce healthy bacteria to compete with the leftover c-diff in her body.

 

Little ones can go south quickly so I would be calling repeatedly until I the doc treats it seriously.

[Susan C.]

Go to the health food store and get liquid acidolpholus. The one in the refrigerator. Dh got it from a strong antibiotic, and I got it under control so he didn't need further treatment. Every time there is diarrhea give the acidolpholus. I also used bentonite clay in liquid (you can't give the new formula of Kaopectate or Immodium with cdiff), the bentonite is close to the old formula of Kaopectate.

[courtney.byrum]

My daughter had c-diff 3 times as a baby :(

 

She got it in the NICU and they did isolate her and put her on antibiotics for it. She then got it again after coming home -- really we think it never cleared up the first time. Again antibiotics. After yet again having diarrhea her GI doc suspected it wasn't clearing up with antibiotics and had us use probiotics instead of any antibiotics and FINALLY it cleared up.

 

Now this baby was on a lot of antibiotics while in the NICU so it very well may have been due to that. She did also have non-surgical NEC prior to cdiff so I guess we ultimately don't know the root cause but probiotics definitely helped get rid of it.

[Twigs]

I got c diff when I was on antibiotics for MRSA (given before the culture was back & I did.not.have MRSA).

 

I learned alot from this site: http://www.cdiffsupport.com/.

 

I got the antibiotics for c diff, but it came back. I started on probiotics that I learned about at this site and used Floragen 3 and that's how I got the c diff under control.

 

Be sure to research treatments for babies, since my experience happened as an adult.

 

Best wishes.

[DianeW88]

DO NOT use any anti-diarrhea medicines unless you have consulted with your doctor. These are generally NOT given in the cases of bacterial diarrhea infections. They can make it much, much worse by slowing down your intestinal tract and allowing the bacteria to remain and multiply.

 

Please, please get your DD into the doctor ASAP. By the time you notice dehydration in a baby you are in dangerous territory with c-diff. They may want to hospitalize her and give her IV fluids as a precaution. A course (or several) of antibiotics and other drugs will be needed to treat it effectively.

 

Others have already mentioned how contagious this is. It can't be said enough...DANGEROUS bug. Clean every surface you've changed your baby's diaper on with bleach. Clean doorknobs, light switches, faucets, trash pails, soap dispensers....anything and everything contaminated hands or diapers may have come in contact with.

 

Again, get your dd medical attention. Insist on it and bring the lab results with you.

[TracyP]

I finally got a hold of the Dr. He is prescribing Vancomycin. He said it a nasty antibiotic but she needs it. She has been seen twice in the past three days and he said as long as she didn't run a fever, show signs of dehydration, etc. she didn't need to be seen again. He will see her on Friday.

 

I just got done bleaching the surfaces Diane mentioned. When naps are over (any minute now) we will go pick up the antibiotic and I'm also going to put the whole family on a probiotic. I hope that is enough to protect the rest of us.

 

Thank you all for your thoughts (and prayers). For those of you who had this or know someone that has I am glad all seemed to turn out well in your situations. It sounds like C diff can turn out very badly. I am hoping everything continues to go okay here.

 

Kandbp, definitely get back to me with more about your experience when you have a chance.

[sbgrace]

:grouphug: My son picked up c. diff in the hospital. It's a nasty bug.

 

Someone mentioned it's contagious and it is. I'd be careful but I wouldn't consider it an immediate threat to other family members unless someone is on an antibiotic or recently finished an antibiotic. You should know it lives on surfaces for a long time (unless scrubbed off). It can't be disinfected so bleach, alcohol, etc. don't kill it. Do be careful. Do a hot wash and dry of towels and anything else that came in contact with the stool/bum and, honestly, I would use gloves probably for clean up of the stool. At any rate hand sanitizer doesn't affect c. diff so good hand washing practices after diaper changes and etc. is important. No shared baths with other kids right now--that sort of thing. That said, people are at risk when on antibiotics that kill off their good bacteria allowing c. diff to take hold and over-run so no one in your home is likely at huge risk right now even if they've been exposed.

 

Since you possibly have it in your house now if anyone in the home needs antibiotics from this point out I'd recommend that person take a probiotic called florastor with the antibiotic/while taking it and continue it for at least two weeks after. This is in case they picked up the bug themselves. Keep it in check by having good bacteria in place and it's not a big deal. The florastor will help with that. My son still carries c. diff (not symptomatically anymore) and I don't worry about the rest of us though I also take reasonable precautions. It's not a big deal. I wouldn't freak out about the rest of the family.

 

Treatment for c. diff is usually flagyl as a first try. That drug is brutal. I'd think they wouldn't do it for an infant. It often fails. The second line treatment is vancomycin. It's more often but not always successful. With either of those the right kind of probiotics are important and using them both during and after treatment is very important. The thing about c. diff is that it only takes over when the "good bugs" in the gut are killed off with antibiotics. So it can coexist peacefully if the good guys outnumber the bad c. diff bacteria. You want to keep anyone with risk with good bacteria in their system at all times. You need to be especially careful if someone is going to take antibiotics. Otherwise, risk of symptoms is extremely low.

 

That's where we are with my son--he still carries c. diff because we couldn't get rid of it. That said, he doesn't have symptoms and doesn't even culture for it anymore because he takes the right kind of probiotics to crowd it and keep it under control. We know it's there though because we never successfully got rid of it. He actually does do antibiotics sometimes and we just power up more of those probiotics. The probiotics successful with c. diff would be florastor, culturelle and there is another we don't use that escapes me. But my point is if you can beat back the bug and then do the right probiotics you can usually control it. And sometimes vancomycin does wipe it out in my understanding.

 

Whatever you treat with do florastor with the antibiotic treatment and then I'd keep it going along with other high quality probiotics typical in infants with the florastor. I think prothera would have great infant probiotics. I trust their processes in terms of quality and potency. I would do this with a six month old.

 

Edited to add: I keep mentioning Florastor. This is the only probiotic that antibiotics will not kill because it's actually a beneficial yeast. So that's why it's important in prevention and control with c. diff--antibiotics will wipe out all the other good bacteria in the system.

 

And...I said all that and I thought I read somewhere that babies typically carry c. diff and then it goes away. I don't know where I read it or if that's accurate. But if this is something else and she just happens to carry c. diff that's important information. I'd hate to target the wrong thing. I'd hate to treat non-pathological c. diff if, for example, she caught another bacteria or a virus.

Edited June 15, 2011 by sbgrace
adding specific information re: florastor

[bzymom]

Lots of prayers for a quick return to good health for your sweet baby.:grouphug:

[dirty ethel rackham]

Glad to hear that you talked to the doc. Please do your research about recurrence and look into probiotics. The problem with the antibiotics is that they wipe out good and bad bacteria in the gut. Once the course of antibiotics is finished, any C diff that is left in the body (and there will be some) will have no competition for nutrients and will flourish even stronger. This is what happened to my mom and to several other people she knew who contracted it at this same hospital.

[Twigs]

From the Wikipedia article (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clostridium_difficile)

 

Clostridia are anaerobic, spore-forming rods (bacilli). C. difficile is the most serious cause of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea (AAD) and can lead to pseudomembranous colitis, a severe infection of the colon, often resulting from eradication of the normal gut flora by antibiotics. In a very small percentage of the adult population, C. difficile bacteria naturally reside in the gut. Other people accidentally ingest spores of the bacteria while they are patients in a hospital, nursing home, or similar facility. When the bacteria are in a colon in which the normal gut flora has been destroyed (usually after a broad spectrum antibiotic such as clindamycin has been used) the gut becomes overrun with C. difficile. This overpopulation is harmful because the bacteria release toxins that can cause bloating and diarrhea with abdominal pain, which may become severe. C. difficile infections are the most common cause of pseudomembranous colitis, and in rare cases this can progress to toxic megacolon, which can be life-threatening.

 

 

You don't get C.diff from antibiotics. C.diff forms spores which protects C.diff from being killed by antibiotics. The lack of good bacteria (that were killed by anitbiotic therapy) allows the C.diff to then multiply and cause the diarrhea. Probiotics help to re-establish the good bacteria which will keep the C.diff under control (if any remains after treatment). And the spores protect the C.diff from disinfectants.

[laundrycrisis]

When I had it I had to take a round of Levaquin, a very harsh antibiotic. Following the course of levaquin I had an intense probiotic regimen. It did get rid of the C-diff though, so I was finally no longer critically ill after two months of severe diarrhea. C-diff has to be treated.

[mom2hancjhe]

My little one had CDiff when she was about 18mos old. She too got it from antibiotics. From what I understood, we all have a certain amount of it in our bodies but the good bacteria is killed off with antibiotics and it grows. I would take precautions so no one in your family get it. We have a large family and no one else got it.

 

We had to go an hour and a half away to find the antibiotic. What helped the most was probiotics. The antibiotics didn't seem to do much so we did two types of probiotics and she was better in no time.

 

I think it is worse in adults than in children. They are resilient and with proper treatment bounce back.

 

She'll be ok! I'm glad you got the medicine called in and if you start some probiotics she should be good to go.

[Ann@thebeach]

Just wanted to urge you to watch for yeast/thrush that may develop from the antibx. You definitely don't want your nursing relationship to be compromised with all this.

The probiotics can be given to her as a powder on her tongue which may help counteract the antibx. Do more research on this for your own knowledge.

Good luck! Hope all are well soon!

[ondreeuh]

Does anyone have experience with/knowledge about C diff? My 6 mo old baby has had diarrhea for 6 days. She started having bloody diarrhea on Friday. Friday night I went to my local Urgent Care and was told it was just an anal fissure. The nurse GOOGLED it and said that was really common. Saturday I took her to a different center because I wasn't comfortable with that diagnosis. Her blood work showed colon inflammation, white blood cell count was good. Diarrhea has continued but bleeding seems to have stopped. Last night at 10 the doc called to say her stool culture came back positive for C diff. He suggested calling my regular doc this morning to figure out treatment. My doc was supposed to be in at 9:30 but I'm still waiting for him to return my call. In the meantime, I am starting to freak out. She seems fine (minus the diarrhea) but C diff sounds like a very nasty bug. I don't think an ER visit is in order, but I'm not sure.:confused: I'm also worried about my other children. Has anyone dealt with this? Regardless, please pray for my sweet baby.

 

This is the bacterium that was recently successfully treated with a feces transplant. http://www.slate.com/id/2282768/ (this is from Slate but it's also on numerous other sites).

[chicagoshannon]

My son has battled C.Dif since 4months old. He acquired it from being on antibiotics for an ear infection.

 

Try not to freak out. She needs to be given Flagyl. She'll be on it for 10 days. My son had to take it 4 times a day. Then after she's finished the course you'll have to get another stool sample to make sure it's gone. I encourage you to have them check twice. It's a VERY persistant bacteria. My son was on 3 courses of Flagyl. We finally took him to a GI specialist and he wasn't that concerned. They'll watch for weight loss and dehydration.

 

You should also get some Floristor Kids from the pharmacy. You have to ask for it but it's not prescription. It will reintroduce good bacteria into her.

 

We all have some level of C.Dif in our bodies at all times. There is no need to wear gloves when changing her diaper. Just make sure to wash your hands really well after changing her. As long as you have a healthy immune system you don't need to worry.

[DianeW88]

You can buy probiotics at most pharmacies. They will keep them in a fridge behind the counter, but you don't need a scrip for them. They can be mixed into any other food or drink. Sorry, I don't remember how old you said your baby is, but if she can eat yogurt, that's a good substance to mix them in. Give them 3 hours after taking the abx or 2 hours before.

 

Vanco is a VERY strong antibiotic (usually the abx of "last resort"), so it may make her sick, but she needs it. Read the insert that comes with it and make sure you give it with food if it says to (can't remember off the top of my head). Also, please have your pharmacist double-check the dosage your doc prescribed for your child's weight and age to make SURE it's the correct amount.

 

C-diff has an approximate relapse rate of 30%, so don't be surprised if she has to take another course of abx once she's finished the first one. Usually a repeat course of the same drug will do it.

 

Try not to worry. Babies usually do very well with c-diff infections as long as they stay hydrated and are treated promptly.

[TracyP]

This is the bacterium that was recently successfully treated with a feces transplant. http://www.slate.com/id/2282768/ (this is from Slate but it's also on numerous other sites).

 

Ewww, but cool!:)

 

 

 

When I talked to my doc about probiotics, he said not to bother because the antibiotic will just kill them. He said start the probiotics after the antib is done. Thoughts?

[dirty ethel rackham]

 

When I talked to my doc about probiotics, he said not to bother because the antibiotic will just kill them. He said start the probiotics after the antib is done. Thoughts?

 

Yep, the antibiotics will render the probiotics useless. But starting them immediately afterwards is important - before the C diff that's left can get a foothold.

[Random]

 

When I talked to my doc about probiotics, he said not to bother because the antibiotic will just kill them. He said start the probiotics after the antib is done. Thoughts?

 

Well, there is some data that suggests this isn't 100% accurate. It sounds like you are getting lots of great advice, but I'd like to add one more idea. The probiotic strain saccharomyces boulardii has been shown in laboratory testing to kill C-diff, and is sometimes more effective than antibiotics. My point is that the probiotics can be taken along side the abx.

 

http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/infections/common/bacterial/939.printerview.html

 

So sorry your baby is suffering! Hope it passes quickly.

[DianeW88]

Take the probiotics 2 hours before or 3 hours after you take the abx. That will help.

[joannqn]

I'm sorry to hear about your baby being sick. Watch for any sign of dehydration. I didn't know what "sunken eyes" or "skin turgor" looked like. Because of that, I didn't take mine to the ER until she was severely dehydrated and her electrolytes were way off. If you aren't sure, go in.

 

Definitely give the probiotics. Mine was given them in the hospital, and our pediatrician gave us samples of both pills and straws at her last visit.

[laundrycrisis]

This is the strain in Florastor which is easy to find. Kirkman labs also sells this strain.

 

The probiotic strain saccharomyces boulardii has been shown in laboratory testing to kill C-diff, and is sometimes more effective than antibiotics. My point is that the probiotics can be taken along side the abx.

 

[Catherine]

Cdiff is NOT contagious. It's a part of everyone's normal colonic bacteria. There's not need to fear you'll catch it. You've already got it. : ) The real question is, why did it make her sick? Normally it's not seen in healthy, young people.

[Catherine]

C diff is an infection caused by overgrowth of normal organisms, often because of antibiotics. The antibiotics alter the normal bacterial environment of the colon and allow overgrowth of C diff. Has she been healthy? Has she taken antibiotics?

[TracyP]

This is the strain in Florastor which is easy to find. Kirkman labs also sells this strain.

 

We cannot buy Florastor locally so we went with something different for now. We will go to town (yes, we live in the boonies) to shop this weekend and pick up some Florastor. It has been highly recommended everywhere I have looked.

 

 

Cdiff is NOT contagious. It's a part of everyone's normal colonic bacteria. There's not need to fear you'll catch it. You've already got it. : ) The real question is, why did it make her sick? Normally it's not seen in healthy, young people.

 

There seems to be a TON of conflicting info out there on C diff. The more I read, the more confused I get. She has been healthy and has never been on antibiotics. I start to wonder if we are treating the right thing but her symptoms: watery, bloody diarrhea, colon inflammation and positive stool culture for C diff cannot all be a coincidence. I hope? I'm confused but I have talked to three doctors now (between her urgent care doc, our regular doc and the doc who called with her culture results). They all think it is strange but they all agreed it is C diff making her sick and she needs an antibiotic. I don't know what else to think. Which then makes me think it could be contagious. I just don't know.

[TracyP]

Just wanted to urge you to watch for yeast/thrush that may develop from the antibx. You definitely don't want your nursing relationship to be compromised with all this.

The probiotics can be given to her as a powder on her tongue which may help counteract the antibx. Do more research on this for your own knowledge.

Good luck! Hope all are well soon!

 

I meant to follow up on this and forgot. I'm not sure how this would compromise nursing but I will follow up and see what I can find. Thanks for the heads up!

[LittleIzumi]

I meant to follow up on this and forgot. I'm not sure how this would compromise nursing but I will follow up and see what I can find. Thanks for the heads up!

 

Yeast/thrush is painful when nursing, is all, until it is cleared up. :grouphug::grouphug::grouphug::grouphug:

[sbgrace]

We can't get Florastor anywhere around here--that includes bigger city stuff. I always order online. I would order somewhere you can get fast shipping now because you may not be able to find it "in real life" in my experience. It's an important piece of the treatment imo so I'd prioritize finding it as much as you can.

 

You're right to want that strain while she's treated. Until you can get it (you want it fast) do the probiotics three hours after each antibiotic dose...even if you have to do them in the night. You could give them half way between doses too. Are you using a strain that's got some testing showing it survives digestion to get into the system? I would use Culturelle if you can get it--many drug stores and similar carry it. It is typically on shelf and not refrigerated. It's got excellent research including with c. dif. Acidophilus pearls are available in many drug stores and have research showing effectiveness I believe. Many probiotics won't survive to get where they are needed so what you use is important. It doesn't need to be a child or infant formula. You'd have to open and dump what you use of course. The pearls may need to be cut unlike a capsule.

 

I do wonder if the c. diff is responsible for the symptoms especially given she hasn't done antibiotics. I'm pretty sure all babies carry it. I will say that a healthy person even with diarrhea won't culture positive for c. diff. If there is normal bacteria in there the c. diff is held in check enough not to culture. This includes really sensitive testing like DNA. So while we do likely all carry some it's not like we would all culture positive. I know that for a fact. (All of my family was cultured when my son had it and all of us were negative...he still carries but cultures negative).

 

My question would be does a typical infant/6 month old culture positive even if it's not pathological just because they are still building the other bacteria in the system. Something I read once but can't find now makes me wonder.

 

 

We cannot buy Florastor locally so we went with something different for now. We will go to town (yes, we live in the boonies) to shop this weekend and pick up some Florastor. It has been highly recommended everywhere I have looked.

 

 

 

 

There seems to be a TON of conflicting info out there on C diff. The more I read, the more confused I get. She has been healthy and has never been on antibiotics. I start to wonder if we are treating the right thing but her symptoms: watery, bloody diarrhea, colon inflammation and positive stool culture for C diff cannot all be a coincidence. I hope? I'm confused but I have talked to three doctors now (between her urgent care doc, our regular doc and the doc who called with her culture results). They all think it is strange but they all agreed it is C diff making her sick and she needs an antibiotic. I don't know what else to think. Which then makes me think it could be contagious. I just don't know.

Edited June 17, 2011 by sbgrace

[Catherine]

I'm wondering the same thing-also because C diff (in adults at least) does not cause bleeding, ever. Just bad, bad diarrhea. I definitely second the recs for probiotics and for avoiding over the counter antidiarrheal preparations.

[TracyP]

We can't get Florastor anywhere around here--that includes bigger city stuff. I always order online. I would order somewhere you can get fast shipping now because you may not be able to find it "in real life" in my experience. It's an important piece of the treatment imo so I'd prioritize finding it as much as you can.

 

You're right to want that strain while she's treated. Until you can get it (you want it fast) do the probiotics three hours after each antibiotic dose...even if you have to do them in the night. You could give them half way between doses too. Are you using a strain that's got some testing showing it survives digestion to get into the system? I would use Culturelle if you can get it--many drug stores and similar carry it. It is typically on shelf and not refrigerated. It's got excellent research including with c. dif. Acidophilus pearls are available in many drug stores and have research showing effectiveness I believe. Many probiotics won't survive to get where they are needed so what you use is important. It doesn't need to be a child or infant formula. You'd have to open and dump what you use of course. The pearls may need to be cut unlike a capsule.

 

I do wonder if the c. diff is responsible for the symptoms especially given she hasn't done antibiotics. I'm pretty sure all babies carry it. I will say that a healthy person even with diarrhea won't culture positive for c. diff. If there is normal bacteria in there the c. diff is held in check enough not to culture. This includes really sensitive testing like DNA. So while we do likely all carry some it's not like we would all culture positive. I know that for a fact. (All of my family was cultured when my son had it and all of us were negative...he still carries but cultures negative).

 

My question would be does a typical infant/6 month old culture positive even if it's not pathological just because they are still building the other bacteria in the system. Something I read once but can't find now makes me wonder.

 

The probiotic I bought is Florajen3. It has L. acidophilus, Bifidobacterium lactis, and longum. It was in the pharmacists fridge and the only one he carried besides an L. acidophilus only that he said was only sort of a probiotic. The florastor site said our Walgreens carries it so we'll pick that up tomorrow. Thank you for your other thoughts too. Your info has been extremely helpful.

[TracyP]

OK, I called the big wigs - pediatric gastroenterology. They couldn't give medical advice because my dd is not a patient but they could answer some general questions. She said it is actually fairly common to have C diff even in an otherwise healthy, no antibiotic baby. There is a chance it is something else but the first course of action would be to kill the C diff. If the diarrhea would continue, then they would look at something else. That at least helps my peace of mind that we are doing the right thing for now.

[Twigs]

The probiotic I bought is Florajen3

 

That's the probiotic I used when I got C.diff (as an adult) & it worked better than the flagyl. I never had vancomycin. I started the Florajen3 after I was through with the prescription, so I don't have any experience using them together. I don't remember how long it took for the Florajen3 to take effect, but I didn't have to go back to the doctor after I started it. I did have to take it for several months (maybe 3-6 months) before I stopped relapsing. All my experience is as an adult, so maybe this in not relevant for your baby.

 

Hope your baby is better real soon.

Best wishes.

[Alice]

OK, I called the big wigs - pediatric gastroenterology. They couldn't give medical advice because my dd is not a patient but they could answer some general questions. She said it is actually fairly common to have C diff even in an otherwise healthy, no antibiotic baby. There is a chance it is something else but the first course of action would be to kill the C diff. If the diarrhea would continue, then they would look at something else. That at least helps my peace of mind that we are doing the right thing for now.

 

A fairly high percentage of healthy kids carry C. diff, I've read up to 75% in daycare settings. If we get a positive culture and clinically the symptoms are consistent with it then we treat even though we know it's possible the diarrhea could be due to something else, like another virus. If that's the case typically it will get better on it's own anyway. With kids, we don't typically reculture unless they still have symptoms, because the standard treatment often doesn't get rid of the carrier state. So what we want to avoid is having a carrier get tested over and over again and treated over and over again. If there are symptoms or if it's a child with other health issues (or in the hospital where infection control is an issue) than we reculture.

 

As to why...we don't really know. We see a couple of kids a year who have C. diff and are totally healthy otherwise. Possibly they are just carriers that happened to get tested but are really sick with some other virus. Some had a recent course of antibiotics, possibly some had another recent viral illness that left their immune system slightly weakened. I find one of the toughest things in medicine is that people always want to know why, but often there isn't a good answer of why. Sometimes kids get sick. But the good news with kids is that they usually get better.

 

Hope she's feeling better soon. :grouphug:

[Twigs]

C diff (in adults at least) does not cause bleeding, ever

 

Well, it did cause bleeding in me, definately an adult.

[Sugarfoot]

Praying she gets better soon. Two of mine have had that kind of diarrhea (vomiting started first) as infants due to Rota Virus. My oldest was already struggling health-wise and was tiny. He had no margin at all to lose even a few ounces, and he lost over a pound. It was horrible and scary.

 

I hope your sweet baby feels better soon.:grouphug:

[laundrycrisis]

You can order Florastor Kids here and get 2-day or overnight shipping:

 

http://www.drugstore.com/florastor-kids-probiotic/qxp208802?fromsrch=florastor

 

Kirkman has 2-day shipping on their product of the same strain but they only ship probiotics on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday in the summer. They ship them in cold packs and do not want them sitting anywhere over a weekend.

 

http://www.kirkmanlabs.com/ViewProductDetails@Product_ID@189.aspx

 

They also have a 3-strain blend called CD-biotic that you might want to look at. It is specifically for controlling "certain difficult to control bad bacterial strains".

 

http://kirkmanlabs.com/ViewProductDetails@Product_ID@503@Product_Group_ID@1.aspx

 

We used Kirkman products when our son had some bad gut problems a few years ago.

[KatieO]

Go on youtube and search Bio-k against C-difficile. This product was covered on Canadian newscasts and in many newspapers a while back when there were outbreaks of this bug. It's a fantastic product.