Tonight (before the 'excuseme' incident) I emailed my naturopath, who previously treated my c-diff symptoms with flagyl. I told him my symptoms are B A A A C K and I may need another round of treatment. I didn't mention whether I prefered flagyl or vancomycin. Previously I read comments by other patients, who took flagyl and said that they preferred vancomycin (with few side effects) over flagyl. However, when I checked the vancomycin side effects, there was one disturbing permanent side effect, which was unrelated to allergic reactions ... temporary or permanent hearing loss. There were some other unpleasant, downright dangerous side effects. However the usual side effects were similar to flagyl (dizziness, nausea) but did not include flagyl's metallic taste or diarrhea. As much as I hated flagyl's metallic taste, the diarrhea had a positive effect on my usually constipated intestines.
Since I did NOT get any 'stop taking and call your doc immediately' symptoms from flagyl, but did get most of the common 'keep taking this drug' side effects, I decided flagyl is a known enemy. I know the bad side effects and got through 10 days of those. I didn't have any really dangerous side effects. I really hesitate to take vancomycin, even if the side effects are usually fewer, because vancomycin's side effects can be permanent, unlike flagyl. I don't want to take that chance.
Nevertheless, I did not specify in my email to my doc, what course of treatment (drug) I preferred. If he mentions Vancomycin, I'll tell him about that hearing loss side effect. However, if he prescribes flagyl, I'll load up on ginger tea to prevent nausea. Nevertheless, I've read that some people don't react as strongly to a second round of flagyl. If I could only be so lucky ... Stay tuned. I probably won't get a reply from my doctor until Monday, at the earliest.
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2 comments:
I am so sorry that you seem to not get a break at all.
I send you a BIG HUG
and wish you the best and that the next treatment will do the trick
Claudia
Thanks, Claudia. Yeah, I did get everything at once. I'm really mad at myself for not reading the label of that 'excuseme' bottle. I had cramping pain all day, because I reacted to the vanilla in those pills. I don't know how long vanilla reaction symptoms last. Now I don't know whether the cramps are caused by c-diff or vanilla, but I definitely had c-diff symptoms before I got the vanilla contamination.
I still need to wait for my doctor's reply to my email. I plan to call his clinic tomorrow morning to tell his receptionist that I still have C-diff symptoms and emailed him. She can also tell me if he won't be in tomorrow.
I'm not looking forward to taking flagyl again, but maybe I won't react as strongly this time. At least I didn't get any dangerous side effects last time. However, I don't know which drug my doc will prescribe this time. For me, I think flagyl is safer, even though it made me feel bad.
We're having VERY hot weather this week. So if I'm feeling too bad, I'll just hide out in the house most of the day, after I take my late morning walk. I would feel much worse if I don't get exercise.
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