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has anyone had a really comprehensive stool test done and been a bit confused by the results? i am going to see the doctor to have the results explained to me on monday, but i have them in hand now and have been using the lab website to help understand. i had no yeast/fungi, which i knew would be the case. but my bacteria levels were not all over the place. i was hoping they would be to give confirmation to matia's theory, but the only pathogenic bacteria that came up high was c difficile. although that is a really nasty pathogen, usually if it is really causing a problem people will have major intestinal issues (bloody diarrhea, cramping, etc.). since starting the diet/treatment with matia 15 months ago, my ibs symptoms went away (and they were never bloody or over the top bad) - in fact, i now have more constipation than anything. and from what i've read if a person is asymptomatic, c difficile doesn't have to be treated because it is not causing a problem just by being there - even in high quantity. so this makes me think it doesn't have anything to do with my pain issues.
so of course i'm feeling like once again a dead end, but then other markers on the test showed something different. i tested high for a marker (putrefactive short chain fatty acids - SCFA) that indicates that i don't have enough stomach acid, am not digesting proteins properly and/or have a bacterial imbalance. but then i had no markers for inflammation. inflammation is the key that ties gut imbalance to vulvodynia/IC as I understand it, so does that mean i have a gut imbalance but it's not what is causing my pain? i know these are all questions for matia and the doc, but people on this board seem to have such a wealth of knowledge and experience, i wanted to ask if anyone has any insight.
thanks.
wow.......pretty specific
wow.......pretty specific questions and sorry I dont have any answers for you. I would be interested though to hear what the docs and Matia says.I think Matia may have a different answer or can enlighten you more than maybe your regular docs can. I know I had a lot of different tests done. To my regular docs, everything was within normal limits and not to be treated/changed. To my naturopathic docs, there was definitley an issue, with some things needing to be addressed. So, different docs with different backgrounds have different interpretations to the tests. Maybe that is what will happen here? I don't know but thought I would share what happened to me. Sorry I didnt have any more answers for you.Good luck!xoBecky
yeah - sorry about that!
yeah - sorry about that! could you tell i had just been deeply entrenched in reading my results when i wrote that? :) thanks for your response though. it's interesting that you say some docs think there is an issue even if things are within range. it's so confusing as to who to listen to! i guess what i would like to know is whether there are other people who did stool tests and didn't have massive amounts of bacteria or inflammation show up. probably should have just said that in the first place!
Stool test
I did have one a few months before Matia. I had no bacteria or yeast show up, which I KNOW is not right! I def. have a yeast problem, and the die off to prove it. The only thing mine found was dysbacteriosis. I am highly lacking in the good bacteria. I have also read that they are not 100%, and it all depends on the one sample you gave them and our bodies are always changing. So, I did not learn to much from mine, just that I needed probiotics.
i had a candida test done and
i had a candida test done and my results said completely normal. and i for sure have lots of yeast my main symptoms are ibs..and i remeber matia saying that yeast are so tricky and they can hide in other parts of your body so those test dont matter
Stool Test
I had a stool test a couple of times years ago that came up high in a couple of bad bacteria. I decided to take Cipro for it, although my symptoms are still here now. I have had the antibody blood tests run for candida twoice in the past year, and they have come up in the normal range for current infection. Like you, I don't know what to believe. Matia thinks I have yeast issues. My bowels are very loose and haven't improved much with treatment. It's confusing, to be sure.
be cautious
Yes, to echo what others have said, be cautious in dealing with traditional docs. Like the thing you said that "if it's in the body but not causing symptomatic problems, it's ok".... I don't trust that right off the bat. Sounds like typical Western paradigm.
Also ask Matia to share w/ you more her experience w/ testing. From what I remember she's talked about her high suspicion if not distrust/disregard for them b/c of many things, incl like ppl said on here it's only a snapshot in one moment of time of the body, things can hide out in other places, etc. etc.
I understand wanting to search to find more explanations, to make sure this treatment isn't a waste, esp when you're still suffering like you are. It is still a big deal that your IBS went away in this treatment!, showing that things are working in there, esp the restoration of the gut. Also consider whether in some ways Matia's done more for you, even if not on a symptomatic level, than any other doc? It must be so hard to hang in when you don't see enough progress in what you came for. Maybe talk to more people who took some time to finally turn around symptomatically -or ask Matia for contact info of ppl beyond this site. I did that re: the acne issue and it helped to talk to another that had it forever and felt like it'd never go away.