I’ve been sick since last Wednesday. That’s 6 days of not being able to keep any food in me. I’ve lost at least 6 pounds. I had to go to urgent care on Sunday to get a bag of IV fluids. I’ve been very sick.
When we went to urgent care, Josh mentioned to the doctor that we drink raw milk and asked if that’s what could be causing this. I was, I admit, partially afraid he might be right. I mean, our FDA makes drinking raw milk feel like the equivalent of drinking rat poison. No benefits, only diseases and death. And it’s scary going against the FDA, so yeah, I was afraid I might be wrong and they might be right.
But then, why was I the only one sick? My kids were fine, my husband was fine… we all drink the same milk. However the doctor really picked up on that factoid about our lives and lectured me on how raw milk is bad, especially for pregnant women. I felt like I’d put my body and my baby in danger in my quest to make us both healthier. Then I waited 48 hours for cultures to come back, dreading what I would hear.
Well, I found out today. It’s a bacteria called C. diff. The first thing I did was look up what causes C. diff. What did I do to myself to put my baby and body at such risk?
The answer? I took an antibiotic.
C. diff is everywhere. Air, dirt, water, grocery stores… But don’t get too scared – healthy people can fight off C. diff with ease. God made your gut prepared with healthy bacteria to fight off the bad stuff like C. diff. But after you take, say, clindamycin for, say, an infected cyst under your arm, your gut gets cleaned out. And I had an infected cyst under my arm. So I was prescribed clindamycin. Finished my prescription about a week before I got sick. Oh… wait…
When I look up clindamycin on teh interwebz? The most common side affect is C. diff.
So my question is this, Mr. Urgent Care Doctor:
I told you I had been on an antibiotic for an infected cyst. I also told you I drank raw milk. The number one side affect of raw milk is… NOTHING. General good health. Honest to goodness sicknesses caused by raw milk is rare. In fact, the CDC even admits that not a single person has died from raw milk in 11 years! I’m actually laughing now, remembering, Mr. Urgent Care Doctor, that you asked me if I’d had a specific brand of cheese that had been causing listeria locally. I know for a fact, that particular brand pasteurizes their milk and cheeses. Yet it causes more sickness than well-cared for raw milk.
Right, back to my question: Why did you focus on the raw milk, then? Why did you leave me feeling like I had failed my body and risked my baby? It was a medicine prescribed by another doctor that had ended up causing me the harm. Harm that could have been avoided by an accompanying probiotic. I ate yogurt with every dosage, but not knowing my antibiotic was a top offender, I’m positive I didn’t eat enough. And I should have continued after my prescription ran out.
Mr. Urgent Care Doctor was not a mean man. He was genuinely concerned for me. He was afraid for my health. He was acting in the way he’d been taught. I guess I’m more upset at what they teach him. Why do natural health and hospital health have to be so polarized? Why can’t they work together?
Mr. Urgent Care Doctor, I’m not perfect either. You assume the worst about me… and I assume the worst about you. You prescribed me another antibiotic to take care of my C. diff. But I’m not taking it just because you tell me to. I’m going to do my research first and see if there is a more natural way to cure this. I’m going to research the prescription you gave me and see what the top side affects are.
(Funny how the side effects you can find on Google don’t match the ones on the warning sheet that come with the prescription. Just read the one I got with my clindamycin. C. diff isn’t mentioned on there at all. But it’s in the first sentence of the second paragraph in this Wikipedia article.)
If I can’t find anything credible and effective, then yes, I will take the prescription. I still need hospital health. I just wish you worked more hand-in-hand with natural health.
Instead of assuming the worst of it.
————————————–
*sigh* This sort of thing enrages me. . .
Something similar happened to me after a 3 week antibiotic routine – I was hungry all the time but couldn’t eat because after 2 bites I felt full. Then I would be doubled over with cramps so painful I couldn’t move. I went to a naturopath who told me I had no gut flora left and had me do a program from Natren with 3 different pills. It helped.
I bet that your case went into some database as a ‘raw milk related incident’. That happened to a friend of mine – she was sick but none of her family were. Somehow she ended up telling them she consumed raw milk. They pounced on that and refused to consider any other possibility.
I drink raw milk and if they ever find ecoli in our system I will tell them it is from our well (since we have had it tested and it has been in there).
I often wonder where it all went wrong. When did the realm of medical knowledge leave behind common sense and wisdom? I’m glad you are better (along with your baby) but I understand how frustrating and frightening it can be to have decisions you make challenged by a doctor.
Hello! I am the Family editor at Before It’s News, a people-powered news site serving over 4 million people a month. We publish over 4,000 user-generated posts each day at BeforeItsNews.com.
I was wondering if you would be interested in receiving a short email of our top 5 Family stories each week?
We have a lot of stories that the mainstream media don’t cover. I think you’d find it a great source of unique information.
If it’s ok, please just email me at Zstieber@beforeitsnews.com with a yes and your blog name. You have my iron-clad promise that your email address will not be used for any other purpose or be added to any mailing lists.
I would also be your personal contact at Before It’s News, should you ever have questions or need anything.
By the way, we also offer free WordPress blog hosting, and we can syndicate your RSS feed, if you’re interested. Just let me know.
Thanks! -Zack Stieber
I’m so sorry that you went through that! Ack, antibiotics!! I hope you’re feeling better now & on a probiotic.
A friend recently asked if we were drinking raw milk.. it’s “illegal” in our state, but she has a source. My kids have dairy intolerance & she thought drinking raw might help.
I’m really thinking of trying it…
glad to find your site.
Wow, that sounds terrible! Doctor’s are quick to assume the worst about natural things, and slow to realize that sometimes the medicines they prescribe are not the best for people. Clindamyacine is one of the worst antibiotics out there as far as side effects go. I hope you are feeling better.
Your situation is really hard. How come the doctor overlooked the most dangerous part? It’s good to have the internet because in a way, we could defend ourselves from the doctor’s recklessness.
Thanks for airing out your problem here! I hope you get well soon!
-Patty
Being sick is something that irritates me the most. I know what you went through.
How are you now?
Take Care.
– Jamie
Doctors always tend to focus on high-risk factors, because they are likely to cause problems. Drinking raw milk is a high-risk behavior, so admitting that is likely to draw attention.
If a drug user came in with an infection and mentioned that he indiscriminately shares needles, even if that did not end up being the cause of the infection, a doctor would likely focus on that behavior.
(I know, I know, no one likes the comparison, raw milk is better for you, all companies and doctors want to kill us, facts are evil, etc.)
Oh, goodness. I just found your blog and I have a feeling if we were neighbors we’d get along quite well. Sorry you had to go through this! My 8-month-old was just prescribed an antibiotic for his eczema *grumble* We’ve been fighting this condition for months, though, and almost all of the natural cures have failed us – or so we thought. Because I started researching the probiotic to go with this antibiotic, I found a whole new list of things to try. Isn’t google wonderful for us weird natural people? 😉
This is a really serious issue that the doctors have overlooked, which they shouldn’t have done.
I really think they shouldn’t have overlooked this issue…
I guess having the doctors advice what not a good idea…. It is a serious think that shouldnt have happened.
Hi Thenaturalmommy,
Speaking of which For example, we have this guy in our group for an economics class. He only says like 2 or sentences during group meetings so naturally everyone else assumed he was one of those “deep,mysterious,methodical” types. Then when we were working on an economic model for the project all of a sudden he just blurted out “Hey, why doesn’t the government just print more money so that way everybody can have enough?”
Kindest Regards