what is c'dif and how did i get it?

Clostridium difficile (many people in the medical field abbreviate it as c-diff) is a bacteria that is ubiquitous in nature and is normally present in small numbers in your GI (gastrointestinal) tract.

It is a gram positive anaerobic (grows best in less than ideal oxygenation) rod (rod shaped bacteria) that is resistant to many antibiotics. Most likely you have been given a course of strong, broad-spectrum antibiotics that have wiped out pretty much most of the bacteria in your GI tract. Since the c-diff is resistant to those antibiotics, they survive and replicate, without other bacteria to compete with for space and nutrients (as the other bacteria were all wiped out with the antibiotics). C-diff bacteria produce toxins which cause you to become sick. Your body can tolerate small numbers of this bacteria and the toxin it produces (as before you were given the antibiotics). When large numbers of these bacteria grow, they produce more toxins (simply by sheer volume of bacteria) and that is what gets you sick.

Treatment of c-diff is with a drug called metronidazole. If a course of metronidazole does not work, usually oral vancomycin is the next line. You may also receive cholestyramine powder or tablets in addition, which works by binding the toxins in your gut, allowing you to excrete them.

Hope you feel better.