# Infection, IBS and fallout



## mikehoncho (Nov 1, 2016)

Let me start this ever evolving journey by stating a disclaimer: I am just an average guy sharing "MY" opinion and experiences. I am in no way giving medical or scientifically proven advice. I can merely share what I have been through and what has worked/has not worked for me.

First of all, I am a mid-thirties male who is overall, generally healthy. I am 5'7" and started out weighing roughly 150 pounds. I am very active with exercise and have been a runner most of my adult life. I more or less ate whatever I wanted as far as normal meals were concerned. I particularly enjoyed hot and spicy food, coffee, and truly enjoyed trying new beer styles/brands from around the world. I did not eat much sugar, nor do I really like sweets or sodas.

Chapter 1: Infection

Where to begin? I guess I will begin with when I noticed things just were not "right" with my gastrointestinal tract. Earlier this year, roughly in the April/May timeframe, I noticed that things were steadily getting worse. No matter what I did or ate, the frequency of diarrhea and persisting GI pains and cramps were increasing daily. There were times where felt like I could not get to the facilities fast enough. I always traveled with baby wipes, soap and/or sanitizer. It became embarrassing and very annoying. Then, on a Tuesday in May, things took a turn for the worst. I was in the bathroom roughly 25 times that day with violent, terrible smelling watery diarrhea. Describing what was in the toilet after going is difficult. I remember asking myself, "What the f**k is that?" It looked like clear slime. I was so bloated and had these awful gas pains throughout my abdomen and back. I could not, nor did I feel like eating anything. I slammed about 12, 20oz Gatorades per day to try and keep up with the fluid loss. This continued through Wednesday and Thursday and seemed to get slightly better on Friday. I just assumed there was nothing left in my system. Despite the urging of my wife to seek medical care, I put it off assuming that the worst of it was over. Boy was I wrong. The weekend was f-ing miserable! By Sunday, I looked like a pale ghost and actually thought I might die. I could not replace the fluids fast enough. But still, I was steadfast about not going to the emergency room. It was more of a personal pride thing. I feared having to sprint to the nasty, germ infested bathroom of the local hospital 100 times during the six hours that I would surely sit in the waiting room. I somehow made it to Monday morning and went to see me primary care physician. She was immediately concerned and looked concerned too which is what made me worry even more. She asked me the same question at least three times during the exam, "Has anything like this ever happened before?" So, after consulting with the other physicians on staff, she wanted to run some tests. She gave me a kit to go home and collect some "specimens." Then, she said I need to do my best to isolate myself from my family and thoroughly clean my personal area with bleach while we wait for the test results to come back. That was it. She started to walk out of the room when the exam was over and I had to stop her. Obviously I was very concerned at this point. I asked her what she thought it was and what she was not telling me. She said she was not sure yet but that it might be a bacterial infection of E. Coli or C. Diff. I have heard of the first but not the latter. She gave me a very rough definition of it being a very bad "bug" that can wreak havoc, spread easily and can be challenging to defeat.

Chapter 2: Nuclear fallout

This is the point when my life changed forever; seriously, nothing will ever be the same. I will explain in more detail soon. As soon as I left there, I googled C.Diff. Wow, this is not good. It is never a good day when you find out that you may have acquired what many articles and even the CDC have labeled as a "super bug." After also doing some research on E. Coli, my spidey senses quickly ruled that one out. The next two days while waiting on a call for the results were agonizing. I was so stressed out and worried about my family contracting it. I got a call Wednesday morning from my doctors' nurse telling me what I already knew; C. Diff. positive. Great! She provided no comfort. It was more scare tactics. She said, "Mr. Smith, please go pick up your prescription, continue to isolate yourself, clean everything everyday with bleach and go to the ER if things get worse." Notice that she said go to the ER, not call us or come see us if things get worse. The last thing that she asked me was, "Do you have any idea how you might of picked it up, we have to report it to the local health department?" I was pissed by this point and responded with something along the lines of, "No! I do not have any idea how I picked up a disease that usually only effects older, hospitalized, sick people who have been taking antibiotics." Now I was not only scared, but confused. How long have I been sick? How did I even get it? I did not have a good answer for this. I had taken no antibiotics in over a year. The best answer I ever came up with was visiting my grandmother in the nursing home, one of my visits to our lovely local VA hospital, or finally, I won the disease lottery and touched the wrong doorknob on the wrong day.

Chapter 3: More fallout and new quirks

That same day I went and picked up my prescription. It was called Flagyl. I had to take it three times a day for 14 days. My doctor did not warn me how bad that the GI side effects can be with this drug. I read the pamphlet, but all drugs more or less say the same thing, I.E., bad side effect, worse side effect, terrible side effect, and maybe death. It tapered the diarrhea after about day two. I dare say that the cramping/bloating/gas/pains were actually worse than the original illness while taking it. I did not know if I was still sick or if this was just normal. The more research I did, the more I just assumed it was normal. The good news was that the diarrhea was almost gone, the bad was that all the other symptoms were still there. Worse still was that I did not feel like eating. I was rarely hungry. When I did eat or drink, it always resulted in bloating and cramping. I knew a little about probiotics at this point. A bacteria based probiotic would be pointless because the AB would likely kill it. I started using a yeast/fungus based product called Florastor. (I will touch more on this later.)

All of these physical symptoms and problems count not compare to the psychological warfare that it plays with your mind and your immediate family. For me it was and still is like having a strange, medically induced form of PTSD. For the first three weeks I completely isolated myself from my wife and kids. I probably only left my house under ten times the first month. I was completely terrified of infecting them or others and my doctor obviously offered little comfort. My wife slept in a different bed and was not allowed to step foot in the bathroom I was using. She did not understand, she just wanted to be there for me. I could not possibly explain to her how scared I was. I tried to keep my diet very simple until the med regiment was complete. I used the all American sick diet that consisted of the following: Sprite, Gatorade, crackers, toast, banana, chicken noodle soup, cheerios, etc.. Still, it caused nothing but distress. I became a complete hygienic basket case. I washed my hands so many times during the day that I was quite literally taking the skin off. I washed my clothes and bedding daily with bleach. It was exhausting. I would not touch anything and I definitely did not want anyone touching anything of mine; not even my wife or kids. I always carried a bandana or wore a hat so that I would have something to open doors with besides my hands. The bottom line, I did not, and still do not, touch ANYTHING outside of my house that is not absolutely necessary. I cooked my own food. I could not eat at a restaurant without thinking of who or what may have touched my food.

Chapter 4: The road to recovery, I think&#8230;

Two weeks later I finished my antibiotics. I assumed that life would surely return to normal. I was wrong. I was 129lbs. I still was not hungry. I was not feeling well, I was still cramping and bloated no matter what I ingested. The next week I got another case of diarrhea and panicked a bit. I was retested for the bacteria but it came out negative this time. I got the feeling like I was not wanted (nor did I want to be seen there anymore) at my current physician's office anymore, so I asked for a referral to a GI specialist and changed my PCM. I saw the GI specialist a few weeks later. He did another test and it was also negative. He diagnosed me with spastic colon/IBS and wanted to do a colonoscopy to rule out Chron's and UC. I was gun shy about the procedure because I did not want the chance to introduce any new bacteria into my already fragile GI ecosystem. He understood my concerns and said that a CT with contrast was a suitable alternative. I eventually got the scan and it did not reveal any bowel disease. Good news, right? Yes and no in my case. So, to summarize, no trace of C. Diff., no bowel disease but also no real explanation as to why I couldn't eat or drink anything with feeling like sh*t. The doc said give it time. The antibiotics wiped out both good and bad bacteria and mentioned that the Florastor I was taking could commonly be rough on the guts. I changed probiotics. I started using Culturelle and got some mild relief. Still, what gives? Through my own research I discovered that it was common to develop several conditions after having a GI infection like IBS and Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO). From there I searched what was common to help with symptoms of both. The common denominator seemed to be a diet that was developed in New Zealand called, Low FODMAP, http://www.med.monash.edu/cecs/gastro/fodmap/low-high.html. After reading about the diet, I quickly realized that the basic all American sick diet is about the worst think I could have been doing. It was loaded with things that are high on the diet scale including tons of sugar from the soda and Gatorade. Adjusting to this type of diet is a lifestyle change, both with food and money. It is common knowledge that eating better can be very expensive. I committed to the diet and that meant saying goodbye to lots of things that I really enjoy: Gluten (bread, noodles, etc.), most dairy related products, caffeine, cabbage, onions, garlic, broccoli. This is not a one-size-fits-all. Some things are tolerated better than others. In the case of SIBO, the goal is to starve out the bacterial overgrowth by not providing the things it likes to feast on.

Conclusion:

I am slowly starting to feel better and gain back some of the weight I lost. I am still scared of most of things I mentioned earlier, especially the bacteria coming back. I have a hard time being intimate with my significant other because I always feel "dirty." The bloating and cramping is much less frequent. I take calculated risks eating certain things, but that is ok. Sometimes you just want pizza (or whatever). I know my body better now. My IBS is technically considered IBS-A, as I go through stages of both. If it is on the D side, I eat more fresh fiber. If it is on the D side, exercise and a cup of strong coffee can fix that. I hope that this provides some help to anyone that might have gone through a similar situation.


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## anthonyb (Nov 22, 2016)

I am sorry that you are going through this.

How is your recovery coming? Do you feel as though you are being progressively better over time, even in the slightest?

I am going through a similar situation, I became sick in Hawaii and was bed ridden with nausea and diarrhea for a few days but I recovered from that. Now I essentially just have a almost constant stomach ache and lack of appetite with the occasional case of diarrhea or mucus in stool.

However, the duration of the flares have shortened from a week + to a few days and occur less often. I noticed stress plays a huge role in the flare but the stress doesn't affect me as much as it used to. I take omeprezole and it helps to decrease my nausea. My GI doc found mild inflammation (gastritis) while performing an endoscopy and I think that this mild inflammation is what is causing my pain.

Hope you find relief soon


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