Kylie's Case History

Hello, my name is Kylie, I live in North Vancouver, BC Canada and I am 28 years old. I have been suffering from clostridium difficile for 3 weeks now, so compared to most cases, I guess I am just in the beginning stages of the infection.

How it all started is on February 4th, 1999 I went to my Dentist for appointment #1 of my root canal (there are a total of 4 separate appointments). He did the first step, I went home, a few hours later the freezing came out and I found myself in quite a bit of pain. I was instructed to take Tylenol #3's for the pain, and that it would go away with time. As it turned out the pain didn't go away after a few days, so I called back my Dentist to report this. He determined that I must have an infection, therefore he would put me on some antibiotics to clear it up. He wrote a prescription for Clidamyacin 3 tablets for 10 days. I took them, and slowly I felt the pain dissipate in my jaw.

I went for my next dental appointment, and he said it looked much better. A few days later I started to get really bad gas, and then cramping. I thought it was just something I ate. So I left it alone for a few more days, then the diarrhea started. It was more like a mucus substance then diarrhea. It had a really foul smell to it and contained a lot of blood. After 3 days (the weekend) of this, I started to worry, I called and made an appointment with my Dr.

I went in the following Monday.  She suggested it may be something I ate, and questioned if I had eaten any raw meats, sushi, etc. I told her I hadn't. She then asked If I had left the country recently. I told her I hadn't. She asked if there was anything unusual happening in my life or my diet. I told her the story of the root canal, I don't know why, I mentioned the Antibiotics at that time. She said she had an idea of what I had, but she wanted to get her reference book to see. She at that point said I "may" have c-diff, but first she wanted me to adjust my diet. I was told to eat lots of fruit, veggies, and drink lots of water. To stay away from dairy and meats. I did so, and I noticed it got a lot worse the cramping was so bad, I slept with a hot water bottle and took time off work.

I went back 2 days later, almost not able to walk normally, and she thought I should do a fecal test right away. I did, and took it up to the lab right away. She told me in the meantime to go ahead and resume my normal diet. I did. The test was done on the 4th of March. I got the results on the 5th of March. She wrote me a prescription for Vancomycin 125mg 4 tablets/day for 10 days.

I am on my 9th day, and I haven't felt or seen much improvement, in fact the cramping is a permanent part of my life. It hurts around my Kidney's in my low back area, as well as my lower pelvic area. I am still very gassy, and I still have bad diarrhea. I urinate 1 to 2 times a day only, and I have what seems like a permanent headache! I have only seen my Dr. up to this point, she keeps me on the antibiotics, and constantly changes my diet to try to help "bind me up". I am now currently on the B.R.A.T. diet- Banana's,rice,apple sauce/juice,and toast. Yum! I have been on this for a week now. Some kind of nutrition.

I have still not recovered, and wonder how long it will be before I do, or if I do. I was a normal healthy female before all this, my husband and I were about to start a family, which of course now needs to be put on hold. My Dr. suggests I speak with my Dentist and warn him about the effects of the antibiotic clindamycin when taken for too long. My question is is if he has the authority to write such a prescription, shouldn't he already know about it's effects, and concerns? You would think so!

 

 

 

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