Bacterial Overgrowth

[anerissara]

I saw the dr. on wednesday, and she ran some tests. I'm trying to figure out why after going gluten-free I am still not 100% better....many of the more serious and difficult symptoms went away, but I still have D on a regular basis. Anyway, she wanted to see if I have bacterial overgrowth somewhere in my digestive system, which I think is a good possibility. But she ran the test as a stool test (along with one for paracites and the like). I thought the test was a breath test? Does anyone know if you can test that with a stool test? Thanks!

[burdee]

  anerissara said:

I saw the dr. on wednesday, and she ran some tests. I'm trying to figure out why after going gluten-free I am still not 100% better....many of the more serious and difficult symptoms went away, but I still have D on a regular basis. Anyway, she wanted to see if I have bacterial overgrowth somewhere in my digestive system, which I think is a good possibility. But she ran the test as a stool test (along with one for paracites and the like). I thought the test was a breath test? Does anyone know if you can test that with a stool test? Thanks!

My naturopathic doc uses a comprehensive stool test for bacteria, fungus (like Candida Albicans) and parasites. My test results showed I had a Klebsiella (bad bacteria) overgrowth and no bifidobacteria (good bacteria). So I took capryllic acid for awhile and then probiotics (good bacteria) to improve the balance of good to bad bacteria in my gut. Here's a link to the page on his website which explains the benefits of that stool test for bacteria: Open Original Shared Link

I've never heard of using a breath test for bacteria. How would that show the presence of intestinal bacteria?

BURDEE

[jcc]

  anerissara said:

I saw the dr. on wednesday, and she ran some tests. I'm trying to figure out why after going gluten-free I am still not 100% better....many of the more serious and difficult symptoms went away, but I still have D on a regular basis. Anyway, she wanted to see if I have bacterial overgrowth somewhere in my digestive system, which I think is a good possibility. But she ran the test as a stool test (along with one for paracites and the like). I thought the test was a breath test? Does anyone know if you can test that with a stool test? Thanks!

One of my daughter's had a comprehensive stool analysis done by Doctors Data (I think) that looked for bacterial overgrowth, but I think you are right that a breath test is often done~

  Quote

and 10 patients showed small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) by lactulose H2-BT.[/b]

High prevalence of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in celiac patients with persistence of gastrointestinal symptoms after gluten withdrawal.

Open Original Shared Link

Good thing to be looking for... though. You might find some other things to consider listed here:

Open Original Shared Link

While my daughter's diarrhea dropped in frequency from 6-8 times a day to 1-2 times a day within weeks, it was over six months before we saw a formed stool of any sort. I've heard others say it took them a year to feel well. But, so many other things can co-exist... it is good to be looking for those things!

Hope you find some answers soon~

Cara

[anerissara]

Thanks, guys...I am still waiting for results on all the tests (am nervous about some of them). I will look at the link you posted and see if anything matches up with what's going on. It's been about 2 years gluten-free, so at this point I"m pretty sure it's not the gluten that's getting to me. I can sure tell if I've been glutened, but I'm still not normal after all this time! I went from having D 5 or more times a day and feeling awful and tired etc. to only having it maybe 1 time a day, but still...I just want things to be normal!