weird coincidence - I just had C diff. I was healthy before it, had not taken antibiotics in years, so I suspect what caused my c diff was years and years of taking pepcid. Long term antacid use are one suspected cause of c diff. Doctors like to act like antacids are pretty safe and you can just use (abuse?) them for years without consequence.
I went on a bender reading about c diff when I had it. The antibiotics for it have like 70% or less success rate [1]. The gold standard is a drug called dificid. With insurance my dificid was $1300, $4000 without insurance. There is a manufacturer coupon that makes the drug $50 with insurance - just a heads up if you ever find yourself in the same situation. The other antibiotics are not that great (vancomycin and metronidazole) and have more side effects, from my reading.
Fecal matter transplant (FMT) [2] seems to have the highest success rate [3]. There was recently a FDA approved drug for FMT called vowst, but its expensive as well. The whole science and process of FMT and FMT donors is super interesting and it will be exciting to see the developments in this field in the coming years to see what other things FMT can help out with (IBS, etc...). Its frustrating that FMT, with its high success rate, is considered a last resort method to cure c diff recurrence - it seems much safer than the general population using novel antiobitics with not-great success rates in preventing recurrence.
If you have GERD or similar you should be on a PPI, not over-the-counter antacids. I can't imagine a doctor recommending that except for mild, occasional complaints.
PPIs have their downsides, but they're the best available treatment to avoid acid damage.
PPIs do the same thing - suppress acid. That suppression of acid makes you vulnerable to bacteria like c diff. Long term use of PPIs is also linked to dementia.
Studies into the risks of using PPIs long term show all kinds of potential problems. Higher incidence of all kinds of mineral deficiencies, sometimes even life threatening. Increased risk of cancers. Increased risk of developing SIBO. Increased risk of respiratory and urinary tract infections. The list goes on.
Perhaps banking FMT might be considered pursuing? If one is hale and hearty, save that for later. It should alleviate some of the squeamishness for "dealing with other people's shit".
I always suspected that taking antacids might negatively affect bacterial infections. It was just a conjecture, and I hadn't researched it, so thank you for the information.
I went on a bender reading about c diff when I had it. The antibiotics for it have like 70% or less success rate [1]. The gold standard is a drug called dificid. With insurance my dificid was $1300, $4000 without insurance. There is a manufacturer coupon that makes the drug $50 with insurance - just a heads up if you ever find yourself in the same situation. The other antibiotics are not that great (vancomycin and metronidazole) and have more side effects, from my reading.
Fecal matter transplant (FMT) [2] seems to have the highest success rate [3]. There was recently a FDA approved drug for FMT called vowst, but its expensive as well. The whole science and process of FMT and FMT donors is super interesting and it will be exciting to see the developments in this field in the coming years to see what other things FMT can help out with (IBS, etc...). Its frustrating that FMT, with its high success rate, is considered a last resort method to cure c diff recurrence - it seems much safer than the general population using novel antiobitics with not-great success rates in preventing recurrence.
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3867563/
[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i6RBfoITbls
[3] https://www.mayoclinic.org/medical-professionals/digestive-d....