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Hello, I have been successfully living with my j-pouch since 1993. I used to get scoped every couple years or so but have never had any major complications other than the connection where a small amount of UC remained. An occasional flare up of this UC was characterized by a small amount of bleeding,loose bowels,and soreness. It was easily remedied by the surgeon prescribing hydrocortisone suppositories. A couple of weeks ago I was prescribed an antibiotic called Doxycycline Hyclate. After taking it for the 10 days as prescribed I am having abdominal cramping and diarrea for the first time in many years. My surgeon has since retired and the doctor who I had been seeing is not available until March 2013. I made an appointment with a local gastrointerologist but that appointment isnt until August 7th. So I went to my primary care phsycian but she was clueless and she said I know I had to study that stuff in school. So i told her to prescribe hydrocortisone suppositories. And she did. Well they dont seem to be working. I have never had an obstruction or pouchitis so I dont know what that might feel like but I get this abdominal cramping/urgency/and diarrea about every 2 hours. Can anyone relate to this? Would it be wise to go to the emergency room since there is not doctor in near future? Could the antibiotic have caused pouchitis to set in? Any advice is certainly welcome!

Chris
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Oh my gosh! This is not good at all! Any doctor who is not a county bumpkin, should be well aware of antibiotic associated diarrhea (C. difficile infection). The CDC has sent numerous alerts to all medical providers over the past ten years or so. You need to be tested for C. difficile and probably a course of Flagyl or even vancomycin for this.

I am not calling your doctor stupid, as I like to give everyone the benefit of the doubt, but.... It has been years since they thought you could not get C. difficile without a colon.

I would see about getting an urgent referral to the GI, not a routine appointment. They always leave room for urgent appointments. Get your primary doc to push it through if necessary. Avoid the emergency room if you can, since this really is not an emergency, and you'll wind up sitting there all day, and possibly spreading your or picking up a new infection!

Hopefully, I am wrong, but the fact that this occurred right after antibiotics and is not resolving, point to C. difficile. In the meantime, you can take double or triple doses of probiotics.

Jan Smiler
Last edited by Jan Dollar
Jan,
Thanks for the quick response. I was totally unaware of C. difficile infection. I just had the test done for it and luckily a friend who happens to be a surgeon told me to come into his office today. He recommended metamusil,yogurt, and said the probiotics might help but he wasnt sure how long a process they might be. He says that he will get the test results within the day so I am incredibly relieved that things are moving so fast. I think it is caring people like you that make this such a great site!

Chris

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