A dear, close relative of mine recently had severe diarrhea and had no idea why. She called me and I remembered that she had recently been treated for Strep. throat. After discussing her signs and symptoms, I immediately thought of Pseudomembranous Colitis (PMC). I had had patients with this many years ago when I was in Internal Medicine Residency. I also remembered studying about this in Medical School. It is not as rare as you might think and can range from being relatively mild (and resolves on its own with conservative management) to being extremely serious. If it causes toxic megacolon, it can kill you. Anyway, the problem here is that many antibiotics, including the penicillins, used to treat many different types of bacterial infections, can kill off the good and the bad bacteria in your gut. Clostridium Difficile (C. Diff.) is all around us and certainly in our gut. Usually this bacteria doesn’t give us problems as our good bacteria keep it in check. But if we kill off our good bacteria, C. Diff. can go wild and cause severe diarrhea from PMC. The way this works is that C. Diff. can release toxins that damage the cells lining the intestinal wall, causing the diarrhea as mentioned above. Certainly, you need to see your Doctor. Depending on your other health problems, your age, etc. he/she might decide to treat you with Vancomycin and Flagyl. It is also important to eat/drink the proper food and beverages your doctor advises. Clear liquids, especially water, are helpful as well as soft foods such as crackers, rice, oatmeal, or jello. I have also read that sugar, caffeine, carbonated beverages, and dairy products should be avoided. But you should follow your doctor’s orders on all of this treatment.
Another article I read stated how contagious C.diff. is. In other words, you can get the diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain, etc. from a person suffering from the problem who did not wash their hands after using the toilet and then touching the door handles, or other surfaces that you then touch. My advice here is the same as I have/will stress over and over. That is, wash your hands more often and especially after using the bathroom. Try not to touch the door handles of a public bathroom with your bare hands.
There is a ton of info. on the internet about this subject but I hope I have helped shed a little light on this important subject.
