Another gross stomach question
June 3, 2019 4:32 PM Subscribe
What's going on with my stomach / how can I stay calm? (Warning: poop within!)
Hello wonderful MeFi folk,
About a week ago, I took a small course of an antibiotic, Bactrim, for a skin infection. I realize antibiotics are suboptimal, but I took yogurt full of probiotics (which I thought was the right move ...) and had no issue. (Plus, this is an antibiotic that I have tolerated well before.)
Unfortunately, on Memorial Day I began having endless bouts of diarrhea, such that I was just running to and from the bathroom all day long. As the day went on, I totally lost my appetite and was weak and had a barely-fever (99.99). I was traveling to an out-of-town job interview, which just made it all the more exciting. I took some Imodium, made it through the interview (it seemed to be okay??!!) and gradually seemed to improve. I regained my appetite, ate carefully, and things seemed to proceed on schedule as per a stomach bug recovery. I even pooped semi-normally.
Except. Yesterday I woke up with those insane runs again. I am still on that bland diet - the most exciting thing I ate before was plain chicken and mashed potatoes. I took more Imodium but I am now panicked that I might have given myself some terrible complications such as c.diff. My appetite and general feeling of well-being remain overall good and no fever ... I just, well, keep pooping. (I've pooped one more gross time today, but so far just once.)
I just came from my GP, who told me to wait it out just a couple more days but that if it continues through the end of this week, she'll send me for tests and stool samples. She seemed to think that c.diff was less likely and that I would be sicker if I had that, but certainly not impossible and she will test me accordingly.
Mefi, answer me this:
1) What could I have possibly done to my stomach? Have I done irreparable damage? This is obviously not just a regular bug?
2) How do I stay calm as I manage this? I already tend to catastrophize when it comes to my stomach and my health (in case that wasn't obvious), plus I am already going through some super stressful times which definitely merit their own question some other day. (I have put in a phone call to my therapist, which she will eventually return, but in the meantime I'm still freaking out.)
Thanks everyone. Much appreciated.
Hello wonderful MeFi folk,
About a week ago, I took a small course of an antibiotic, Bactrim, for a skin infection. I realize antibiotics are suboptimal, but I took yogurt full of probiotics (which I thought was the right move ...) and had no issue. (Plus, this is an antibiotic that I have tolerated well before.)
Unfortunately, on Memorial Day I began having endless bouts of diarrhea, such that I was just running to and from the bathroom all day long. As the day went on, I totally lost my appetite and was weak and had a barely-fever (99.99). I was traveling to an out-of-town job interview, which just made it all the more exciting. I took some Imodium, made it through the interview (it seemed to be okay??!!) and gradually seemed to improve. I regained my appetite, ate carefully, and things seemed to proceed on schedule as per a stomach bug recovery. I even pooped semi-normally.
Except. Yesterday I woke up with those insane runs again. I am still on that bland diet - the most exciting thing I ate before was plain chicken and mashed potatoes. I took more Imodium but I am now panicked that I might have given myself some terrible complications such as c.diff. My appetite and general feeling of well-being remain overall good and no fever ... I just, well, keep pooping. (I've pooped one more gross time today, but so far just once.)
I just came from my GP, who told me to wait it out just a couple more days but that if it continues through the end of this week, she'll send me for tests and stool samples. She seemed to think that c.diff was less likely and that I would be sicker if I had that, but certainly not impossible and she will test me accordingly.
Mefi, answer me this:
1) What could I have possibly done to my stomach? Have I done irreparable damage? This is obviously not just a regular bug?
2) How do I stay calm as I manage this? I already tend to catastrophize when it comes to my stomach and my health (in case that wasn't obvious), plus I am already going through some super stressful times which definitely merit their own question some other day. (I have put in a phone call to my therapist, which she will eventually return, but in the meantime I'm still freaking out.)
Thanks everyone. Much appreciated.
I'd go to your pharmacy and ask for a recommendation for a probiotic to help. Something like strain GG could be your ticket. Just in case that's your problem.
posted by Kalmya at 4:45 PM on June 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
posted by Kalmya at 4:45 PM on June 3, 2019 [2 favorites]
Stress can certainly contribute to this. Agreed it may be worth trying an actual probiotic supplement, they help way more than yogurt. I hope you feel better soon.
posted by impishoptimist at 4:53 PM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
posted by impishoptimist at 4:53 PM on June 3, 2019 [1 favorite]
Your GP's advice sounds super good, I think. It is not very likely, from what you outline, that you've got a c.diff situation, but it's good that you'll be getting follow-up and testing if things don't resolve soon.
Anecdotally: no antibiotic ever messes with my own personal GI system like Bactrim. For me, it is some rough stuff, and what you are describing is well within the bounds of typical Bactrim side-effects I have experienced -- not even compounded by a stomach bug, not even compounded by potential stress of travel and a job interview, just the Bactrim alone! Bodies are weird and react weirdly to medications and sometimes those reactions just happen to involve hella pooping. But the pooping almost always goes away on its own, with no permanent damage or sequelae. (And I know you said you'd had Bactrim before with no issues, but I've definitely had Unexpected Poop Issues from meds I'd previously taken with zero Poop Issues. Again: bodies, weirdness.)
posted by halation at 5:06 PM on June 3, 2019
Anecdotally: no antibiotic ever messes with my own personal GI system like Bactrim. For me, it is some rough stuff, and what you are describing is well within the bounds of typical Bactrim side-effects I have experienced -- not even compounded by a stomach bug, not even compounded by potential stress of travel and a job interview, just the Bactrim alone! Bodies are weird and react weirdly to medications and sometimes those reactions just happen to involve hella pooping. But the pooping almost always goes away on its own, with no permanent damage or sequelae. (And I know you said you'd had Bactrim before with no issues, but I've definitely had Unexpected Poop Issues from meds I'd previously taken with zero Poop Issues. Again: bodies, weirdness.)
posted by halation at 5:06 PM on June 3, 2019
I’m not a doctor, but from personal experience with something that sounds similar: keep yourself properly hydrated while you are enduring this.
posted by doctor tough love at 6:53 PM on June 3, 2019
posted by doctor tough love at 6:53 PM on June 3, 2019
Someone allergic to Bactrim here. No stomach issues, but fever + total loss of appetite + exhaustion, yes. (Eventually resulting in polka dots, at which point the doctor said, "huh, you're allergic to sulfa antibiotics.")
posted by thomas j wise at 7:19 PM on June 3, 2019
posted by thomas j wise at 7:19 PM on June 3, 2019
Yogurt has never been enough for me to fix my gut flora after antibiotics. I have to go for the probiotic supplements that have large numbers of organisms and I take them for several weeks. I think this is an issue with weak gut flora and a possible bug you picked up. I don't think it's C diff. In your place, I'd take probiotic supplements and stick with a gentle diet.
posted by quince at 12:00 PM on June 4, 2019
posted by quince at 12:00 PM on June 4, 2019
Probiotics... a very small fraction of live bacteria survive to colonize your gut and if there are hostile bacteria there, there's little hope of the 'good' bacteria surviving long and fruitfully multiplying.
Do you still have an appendix?
Trying a little prebiotic might help; inulin is a soluble fiber that beneficial gut flora absolutely love (and the bacteria that play less nice don't use very efficiently).
The question about the appendix is that it's now thought to be a reservoir for gut bacteria.
But by all means, you can keep taking oral probiotics, but supplementing them with prebiotics might give them a better fighting chance.
posted by porpoise at 4:39 PM on June 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
Do you still have an appendix?
Trying a little prebiotic might help; inulin is a soluble fiber that beneficial gut flora absolutely love (and the bacteria that play less nice don't use very efficiently).
The question about the appendix is that it's now thought to be a reservoir for gut bacteria.
But by all means, you can keep taking oral probiotics, but supplementing them with prebiotics might give them a better fighting chance.
posted by porpoise at 4:39 PM on June 4, 2019 [1 favorite]
Sorry I don’t remember where I saw this, but in the last couple of months, I read reporting on a study that countered the usefulness of probiotics after antibiotics. It said that taking them actually delayed the recolonization of the gut with the desired broad array of natural flora, because they were temporarily out-competed by the few strains in the probiotic.
Other than that, I don’t know anything about what you’re experiencing. I will say that personally, if it were happening to me (a person without health anxiety), there’s nothing in what you said that would be making me think, “irreparable damage,” “obviously not just a regular bug,” or “c. diff.” I’d have called my nurse line by now, and I’d have seen my doctor if they suggested it, but I wouldn’t be particularly worried while I waited for things to resolve themselves.
posted by daisyace at 5:30 AM on June 5, 2019
Other than that, I don’t know anything about what you’re experiencing. I will say that personally, if it were happening to me (a person without health anxiety), there’s nothing in what you said that would be making me think, “irreparable damage,” “obviously not just a regular bug,” or “c. diff.” I’d have called my nurse line by now, and I’d have seen my doctor if they suggested it, but I wouldn’t be particularly worried while I waited for things to resolve themselves.
posted by daisyace at 5:30 AM on June 5, 2019
I had a prolonged round of recovery from a stomach situation recently, and it sounds about like what you're describing. So one more vote for "keep an eye on it, but no reason yet to assume it's outside the realm of normal."
In my case, doc recommended going no dairy when things didn't quite normalize after about a week - I'd been eating yogurt - and while my diet was deadly boring for about a week, things did settle down.
posted by EvaDestruction at 8:18 AM on June 5, 2019
In my case, doc recommended going no dairy when things didn't quite normalize after about a week - I'd been eating yogurt - and while my diet was deadly boring for about a week, things did settle down.
posted by EvaDestruction at 8:18 AM on June 5, 2019
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I actually think it could be a regular bug, or at least part of your body’s ramping back up to normal as it recovers from the bug, on top of you already dealing with stress. Keep eating bland stuff (maybe some crackers instead of meat?), listen to your doctor, and give it a couple more days.
posted by sallybrown at 4:39 PM on June 3, 2019 [6 favorites]