Elizabeth’s Story

I first went into my primary care physician after having five days of diarrhea and was tested for and diagnosed with C. diff right away. This diagnosis came in October of 2019, roughly a month and a half after I took a course of antibiotics for an animal bite. I was immediately prescribed Vancomycin, which resolved my symptoms after a few days. However, about two weeks after I stopped taking the Vancomycin, the C. diff infection came back. I went back to my doctor again, got another course of Vancomycin, was fine until two weeks after I stopped taking the Vancomycin, and then the C. diff came back again.  That cycle repeated seven times before I was finally considered for FMT. Doctors kept telling me that because I was young and otherwise healthy, this next round of Vancomycin would surely do the trick. During this time period, I was also traveling all over the country to interview for PhD programs. I was constantly terrified that I would have a recurrence during an interview and would need to pay for Vancomycin out of state, which my insurance did not cover. This would have cost me $700 for two weeks of antibiotics, and would have prevented me from interviewing. During the eight months I spent with recurrent C. diff, I also ended up in the emergency room overnight twice due to a 105 degree fever and dehydration. When I finally received FMT in mid March of 2019, I was afraid I would never recover.

I have felt pretty much back to normal since my FMT a year ago, and able to live my life without fear of recurrence. I am still very careful about avoiding antibiotics at all costs, but my physical and mental health has improved dramatically since IMT.