C Diff and Crohns?

[jrudd]

Hi Guys and Gals....new here...but with lots of self taught experience! ha

Recently, I've become fascinated with Crohn's, not for myself, but for a 19 yr old I know. I have had IBD all my life, and at one point, not long ago....was told I might have Crohn's. My dx turned out to be C Diff from antibiotics.
It wasn't pleasant at all, but after a year and a couple of months, it's completely eradicated.

I can't help but be curious, of how many members got their symptoms and dx of Crohn's disease, following a course of antibiotics? Were any of you tested for Clostridium DIfficile or treated for it before being diagnosed Crohn's?

 

[JillianB82]

I was in antibiotics when I was younger from strep throat, which I would get about every 6 months. They finally removed my tonsils at 16 & 10 years later, I've only had strep once.

Looking back I've at one point or the other had crohns "symptoms," but never all at the same time. I had a cold in December, took cold med for that & was fine until Aug. of that next year when everything hit at once.

 

[Guest1]

This thread got the little wheels in my head turning -- I always see people talk about C-Diff, but didn't really know what it was. I did a quick google search to learn more about it and I think it's definitely worth mentioning to my GI! Back in Oct. 2008, I started taking antibiotics for what I thought what a UTI. I had a box of Keflex and started taking them. I ended up in the ER 7-ish days later with severe lower abdominal pain and 8-9 months later I'm still here with zero answers. According to http://www.medicinenet.com/clostridium_difficile_colitis/page3.htm, Keflex is one of the top antibiotics that cause C-Diff. Daily I feel inflammation in my lower right quadrant that's not affected by food and there have been a few times where my "belt line" has felt on fire. I think I definitely need to let my GI know so we can schedule some additional testing.

 

[kello82]

yep thats exactly how my dx went down.
in the fall of 98 i got sick with ear infection, after bronchitis, after cold, after virus it just went on and on. i was on like 3 courses of antibiotics in a row. i landed in the hospital with c-diff in late october, and recovered, but there was still something wrong with my tummy. this led to barium follow thrus, and a colonoscopy in january 99 which confirmed crohns.
this totally looks like c-diff completely caused crohn's in my instance, BUT theres one kink in the story. i had been complaining of my tummy hurting since i was three or four. so hmmmm...
my thoughts are that i had crohns way back then, but it wasnt really detectable until after the c-diff triggered me into a full blown flare.

this thread has a lot of members' stories. i have noted in there myself that MANY of our dx's happened after an antibiotics regime and/or c-diff infection. very curious. heres the link:
http://www.crohnsforum.com/showthread.php?t=5858

 

[crohnsappleadams]

My symptoms started when I was seven or eight. I had a severe allergic reaction to penicillin at age four and wasn't given much in the way of antibiotics after that until I had a staph infection at age fifteen. I was diagnosed with Crohn's at age sixteen, but I draw absolutely no correlation between the large dosing of antibiotics used to save my leg.

I believe antibiotics might be able to exacerbate Crohn's, but I don't believe even for a second that it's the root cause. I'm firmly convinced that paraTB is the cause, and the likely culprit is the fact that we don't pasteurize our milk at a high enough temperature, nor do we properly purify our water supply.

http://www.mad-cow.org/00/paraTB.html