Has Anyone Ever Heard of or Experienced C. Diff?

My daughter is 10 months old. She just got over this. She lost a pound in just 3 days. If you are worried, ask your doctor for a prescription for Levsin (the generic form anyways). My daughter's only other symptoms were being clingy and throwing up. She ate fine. She played fine. The bananas may be one of the culprits, though, since they make you go. See if the Levsin helps, and if not, demand that your doctor do some uninvasive tests (a fecal culture or something). We let our daughter eat as usual, but we gave her bland foods (this was more for our sake because her diapers were already more than we could handle), and she nursed. My husband also ended up with the same illness. let's just say that between them, I was CONSTANTLY airing out the house.
I hope that this helps you some. The medicine won't hurt your son if given in the right dose. They will give him liquid. It says to mix it with food or water. it didn't work until I started giving it to her straight. If this doesn't clear up the problem, remember to demand that your doctor look into it more closely. Losing that much weight is not good.

Take him to the emergency room and have him tested for salmonella food poisoning immediately.

C. diff is a highly contagious bacterial infection. It doesn't sound like you got that diagnosis yet. I say keep going back to the doctor until you get to the bottom of this (didn't mean to make a pun). I would question not giving any food if your baby is hungry and what you would give him is part of the BRAT diet (bananas, rice, applesauce, toast). Good luck.

My son had C.Diff when he was four months old. He vommited so much and ran a 101 feaver he didn't however have the diarrhea. I took him to the ER and that is were he stayed for five days with IV's in his head. The Doctor told me that the only thing we could do was flush him out with the IV fluid. He did as well lose a ton of weight, but he did recover from and gained the weight back in no time at all. I know nothing I have written was of any help, I just wanted to tell you to not get to frustrated and to hang in there.

Could he be teething? My 11 month son gets clingy when his teeth are coming in and i've heard that some babies get diarrhea when their teeth are coming in. Though 3 pounds is a lot of weight to have lost! My son would starve if he didn't get any real food for a few days. I would probably just supplement with lots of extra liquid to make sure he's not getting dehydrated and then take him to see the doctor...

My son (who is now 6) actually had C.Diff when he was 10 months old. He had diarrhea for well over a week, so the pediatrician decided to test his stool. It came back positive for C. Diff. Also, my son at the time had been on lots of antibiotics due to recurrent ear infections, and people who are on antibiotics a lot can be prone to C.Diff. He was put on a strong antibiotic to get rid of the C.Diff bacteria (I believe it was Vancomycin). But he continued to have diarrhea for 6 weeks (sometimes up to 8 times a day). The C.Diff finally worked its way out of his system. From what you are saying, if it has only been a week, it could still be a G.I. virus. If it continues over a week, see your dr. and have the stool tested for bacteria or parasites. Good luck.

Honestly, I would follow your doctor's orders. Your son won't starve. He gets most of his nutrition from the breast milk. Your doctor may be trying to rule out a reaction to other foods in his diet. I know that in addition to different types of infections, food allergies can also cause diarrhea. If your son's bowel problems were to begin to clear up when you take him off of the other foods, it would make an allergy more likely. If they don't then your doctor will know to look for other things. Also, what your doctor is probably most concerned about right now is keeping your son hydrated. Starving is not really an issue as breast milk is high in calories. Your son should be fine on a restricted diet for two days. With the diarrhea, he is probably not keeping in much of what he eats and may actually process more calories on the restricted diet since liquid calories tend to process more quickly into your system than solid calories which have to be broken down.

Good luck and follow up with your doctor regardless of whether the diarrhea stops or not.

C-Diff is a bowel Infection. There are really strong antibiotics to help treat it. I would say listen to the doctor and give him only what he wants him to have. I know as hard as it is (mother of 3 myself) but C-Diff can be serious, and the medication is just as serious. Your son isn't going to start to death! And the more he eats the more he's going to go to the bathroom! The breastmilk is already broken down so much that it will give his digestive tract a huge break that it really needs right now

C. diff is Clostridrium difficile, and it can only be diagnosed by stool culture. E. coli is another intestinal tract infection that kids (and adults) pick up. Again, a stool culture would be necessary for a diagnosis. Make sure the doc knows about the weight loss. I think waiting two days to see how things go is reasonable to rule out the run of the mill gastro infection, but the weight loss is concerning. Talk to your doc about it. I hope your baby simply has a stomach virus and will get over this quickly!

I just saw your note today, but c diff is not something to play with, they can culture the stool. If a child is given lots of fluids, they should not dehydrate. I would see the dr today and have them check his stool, if no answer, get a gastroentrologist involved.

Hi E.,

I am 27 and had C. Diff at the beginning of 2004. I was diagnosed with the C. Diff and Crohn's Disease at the same time. I don't know what the treatment would be for a young child, but my GI put me on a medication called Colestid. It is a cholesterol medication, but she told me it help the stool to bind---helping to stop the diarrhea. I really feel for your little guy. I had C.Diff for about 6 months before I finally went to the doctor after experiencing significant weight loss. Before I went to the GI specialist, I was going to a family doctor who diagnosed me with Colitis without running any tests and put me on several rounds of antibiotics. Turns out the antibiotics are most likely how I got the C. Diff!!! I hope this helps you out somehow.

K.

Does your doctor know about his weight loss? That sounds concerning to me. My daughter is a few ounces shy of 18 pounds at nine months, and the pediatrician wants her to gain weight. I would definitely check to make sure your ped. knows about the weight loss. You know your child best--if you're uneasy, get a second opinion to put your mind at rest. Good luck!

My sone is in the same boat....I think he's teething, but no teeth yet...he just turned 6 months yesterday. The dr. seems to not be concerned, as he's the same as always, just the runny BM...I am though because it is a change. IF you get any advice, or find a reason, Let me know!

c diff usually occurs after antibiotics or with a decreased immune system.. It's treated with flagyl and vancomycin for severe cases. The antibiotic Levaquin causes "non c diff Levaquin induced diarrhea. I urge everyone to eat yogurt with active cultures on any antibiotic. OTC Acidophillus helps too. Good luck, W.