C. Dif or Clostridium Difficile
C - difficile is a bacteria in your intestines. It is found normally in healthy and ill people alike. There are millions, perhaps billions of different types of bacteria in your body. Bacteria are an important part of your health. They help break down and digest food. They also ward off many "bad" or foreign bacteria that you may come in contact with. In fact, the "good" or normal bacteria on your hands can kill certain bad bacteria which you may pick up handling food or touching everyday items and fixtures.
How do I get Clostridium Difficile Colitis or Antibiotic-Associated Colitis?
Your body has lots of "good" and necessary bacteria. It also has some "bad" or dangerous bacteria. Clostridium difficile is a "bad" bacteria. Fortunately, when you are healthy and not taking antibiotics, the millions of good bacteria in your system keep the c - diff under control and in smaller numbers. However, when you take an antibiotic, the levels of good bacteria are reduced down to a smaller number. If your c-diff is strong and doesn't get killed by the antibiotic along with the good bacteria, then it is possible that the c-diff will overpopulate inside your intestine or colon. When this happens, you may get the illness called clostridium difficile colitis.
When you have an imbalance of bacteria and c-diff takes over, it creates two main types of toxins that affect your body and give you the symptoms of the actual disease. The toxins attack your intestinal wall and left untreated may cause ulcerations. Your symptoms may include diarrhea and cramping at first. The later stages are commonly flu-like symptoms of weakness, dehydration, fever, nausea, vomiting and in advanced stages - blood in your stool / feces. If a patient is left untreated, they can die from it. This is rare. It has been reported that clostridium difficile is mostly only contagious from other people through the fecal-oral route To avoid spreading this - one should clean thoroughly all toilets, utensils and fixtures (wearing rubber gloves) while in the same house or ward to avoid cross-contamination. In addition, people should always wash their hands while preparing food regardless of if they have c-diff or not. While using these simple precautions, normally it is rare to spread c-diff and there is no need for hysteria or paranoia about catching it. I lived with my wife for over a year in the same house and did not catch it. Also, even if you did get a spore - you may not actually become symptomatic.
Antibiotic usage is usually the initial cause of developing this disease. Additionally, antibiotics are usually the cause of recurrent cases of c-diff. Ironically - two very powerful antibiotics are used to primarily treat the disease! Ironic, isn't it?
How is it diagnosed?
First of all, you must have some symptoms to suspect that you have it. Normal symptoms are listed in the previous question. You must see your doctor to be diagnosed and treated. Under no circumstances shall you use the information here as a method of diagnosis or treatment. You cannot be certain that this is what you have until a test is done. A diagnosis includes a test done by a lab with a stool sample to be sure that you actually have the illness. A gastroenterologist is the main specialist which normally handles this illness because they deal with illnesses of the gastrointestinal tract (stomach & intestines) and are trained in that area of the body. The gastroenterologist may perform a colonoscopy to assess the damage to your intestines and the presence of the c-diff and polyps. Click here to see a picture of a colonoscopy.
Some regular physicians can treat and cure you. If you have a stubborn case, you may ask your physician to refer you to a specialist. There have been cases where non-specialist physicians did not know enough about c-diff.