People who take opioids for pain relief for extended periods of time may need higher doses to ease their pain. They may develop tolerance to the drug and experience withdrawal symptoms if the medication is abruptly stopped. They become physically dependent on the drug.
Antibiotics most likely to cause C. diff infections are clindamycin, amoxicillin, ampicillin, and cephalosporins, and to a lesser extent, penicillin, erythromycin, and quinolones.
C. difficile, also known as C. diff, is a multidrug-resistant bacterium that most often causes diarrhea; in severe cases the infection can cause a potentially deadly inflammation of the colon. Two antibiotics are now available to treat the infection, and relapses are common during treatment.