Alarmed: positive test Toxin B, 3 yrs later - but no symptoms
Posted: Tue May 18, 2021 6:32 pm
Hello friends, I'm having serious anxiety. Just tested positive for c.diff toxin B DNA, after 3 years recovery -- yet, stool normal. Asymptomatic. Feel pretty good. Other than occasional brief bout of loose stool, fixed by a couple of doses of Pepto-Bismol, or lactose-free kefir, stool is normal.
If I get into trouble, it's due to having indulged too much dark chocolate, or drank too much decaf or coffee. Dumb choices I know I should avoid. I was thinking it was just occasional IBS; but instead, do DNA toxins "turn on and off" sometimes? Am I danger to family and friends? Do I need to be bleaching again? Does a positive DNA test mean I'm infectious? Or does it mean I am a "carrier"? Might it be leftover from the original infection 3 years ago, or does it mean it's a new one (God knows where I could have picked it up, I'm mostly at home)?
I'm spooked. I swear that I read somewhere that after treating an infection, the residual DNA finally disappears - after about six months! But to still have this showing up, three years later? Maybe the DNA is not considered a worry, but a leftover artifact of the disease, and can always be "there?" I am so confused.
DNA test results positive for c.diff toxin B 2.78e3 (normal would be <1.00e3). Would this number be considered low-grade, and maybe that's why I have no symptoms?
Granted, this is a very sensitive test, took a month to return. It's not a quick assay (who knows if the DNA would have shown up on the usual, quick turnaround local test?). I recall that 3 years ago, both toxins A + B were present on the rapid test my local doctor set me up with.
Reason I got this test is because my functional medicine doctor (a trained internist) ordered it as part of a comprehensive gut checkup. Test is "GI Map DNA Stool Analysis" by Diagnostic Solutions Lab. He will be planning to treat it with a combination of small amounts of antimicrobial Pepto-Bismol, Saccharomyces Boulardi, Biocidin, I think maybe Olivirex or such, and some sort of other probiotic. I recall someone on the forum mentioning her doctor treated her low-grade infection similarly, if I'm not mistaken, using a run of small amounts of Pepto.
An aside, but I also had a separate SIBO breath test, which was positive for hydrogen-dominant; we are treating that with some of the herbals and probiotics listed above, as well as the FODMAP diet. It's been a month since starting, and I feel much better. I got in trouble back in February after a crazy dinner one night, where I dumped a load of crushed red hot pepper on one slice of pizza! It threw my system into a tizzy, after a long stretch of normalcy. Never again!
If I get into trouble, it's due to having indulged too much dark chocolate, or drank too much decaf or coffee. Dumb choices I know I should avoid. I was thinking it was just occasional IBS; but instead, do DNA toxins "turn on and off" sometimes? Am I danger to family and friends? Do I need to be bleaching again? Does a positive DNA test mean I'm infectious? Or does it mean I am a "carrier"? Might it be leftover from the original infection 3 years ago, or does it mean it's a new one (God knows where I could have picked it up, I'm mostly at home)?
I'm spooked. I swear that I read somewhere that after treating an infection, the residual DNA finally disappears - after about six months! But to still have this showing up, three years later? Maybe the DNA is not considered a worry, but a leftover artifact of the disease, and can always be "there?" I am so confused.
DNA test results positive for c.diff toxin B 2.78e3 (normal would be <1.00e3). Would this number be considered low-grade, and maybe that's why I have no symptoms?
Granted, this is a very sensitive test, took a month to return. It's not a quick assay (who knows if the DNA would have shown up on the usual, quick turnaround local test?). I recall that 3 years ago, both toxins A + B were present on the rapid test my local doctor set me up with.
Reason I got this test is because my functional medicine doctor (a trained internist) ordered it as part of a comprehensive gut checkup. Test is "GI Map DNA Stool Analysis" by Diagnostic Solutions Lab. He will be planning to treat it with a combination of small amounts of antimicrobial Pepto-Bismol, Saccharomyces Boulardi, Biocidin, I think maybe Olivirex or such, and some sort of other probiotic. I recall someone on the forum mentioning her doctor treated her low-grade infection similarly, if I'm not mistaken, using a run of small amounts of Pepto.
An aside, but I also had a separate SIBO breath test, which was positive for hydrogen-dominant; we are treating that with some of the herbals and probiotics listed above, as well as the FODMAP diet. It's been a month since starting, and I feel much better. I got in trouble back in February after a crazy dinner one night, where I dumped a load of crushed red hot pepper on one slice of pizza! It threw my system into a tizzy, after a long stretch of normalcy. Never again!