Lab test for protozoals

[Peyt]

Hi,
Does anyone know of any tests that can detect protozoals?
Thanks

 

[BrightCandle]

Many common ones have a blood test available and a few can be found in stool tests. I don't know of one test for them all so it's expensive to cover all the possibilities and mostly it's microscope investigation to find them if a PCR isn't available but they do exist as individual tests that any PCP could do.

 

[LINE]

Testing is hit or miss and as @BrightCandle suggests, there are a multitude of possibilities. I have extensive experience with protozoal testing, treatments etc. which means that I have accumulated testing labs and protocols.

Q1: Did you travel outside of the country?

Q2: Any stool testing? (bacterial, parasites, yeast etc.)

Q3; Any treatment attempts?

 

[Peyt]

Testing is hit or miss and as @BrightCandle suggests, there are a multitude of possibilities. I have extensive experience with protozoal testing, treatments etc. which means that I have accumulated testing labs and protocols.

Q1: Did you travel outside of the country?

Q2: Any stool testing? (bacterial, parasites, yeast etc.)

Q3; Any treatment attempts

Q1: I am originally from outside of USA although I have been living here since I was 13. I have since traveled outside of the country but my IBS/SIBO problems started long before traveling.

Q2: Yes I have done several stool testing. I have done the Dr. Data which showed no Giardia or Cryptosporidum. I have done regular stool tests which also showed no no Giardia or Cryptosporidum. It was also negative on Salmonella/Shigella, Campylobacter and E coli Shiga.

Q3: The treatment attempts have all been for eradicting SIBO. I have done the SIBO breath test 3 times since 2013 and each time they gave me antibiotics. As you might know, the usual antibiotic for sibo is Xifaxan. So all 3 times they gave me Xifaxan. However, I noticed the first time they gave me Xifaxan they combined it with another drug called alinia. That was the only time I got temporarly releif. Alinia is a drug specifically for Protozoa. What was more interesting is that I have been suffering from low back pain for over 25 years (almost the same amount of time as I have been suffering from SIBO symptoms) and when I took the Alinia my back pain went away!!(The same did not happen when I took Xifaxan combined with other medications other than Alinia) .... I never put the two and two together until recently that I may have an infection other than regular SIBO that may be from some kind of a parasite. Since Alinia is specific to Protozoa I want to go back to my doctor and ask them to run more tests on parasites instead of SIBO.. That's why I put up this thread so hopefully I can get some options to ask my doctor about.
Thanks

 

[Wayne]

I have done the SIBO breath test 3 times since 2013 and each time they gave me antibiotics.

Hi @Peyt -- don't think it would work for me to try to do extensive conventional testing for various kinds of protozoa, candida, parasites, etc. The reason being is that I don't believe conventional medicine knows how to thoroughly and effectively diagnose these kinds of issues, much less know to effectively treat them. They may be able to use drugs or antibiotics to temporarily reduce a toxic load, but then what?

I choose to "assume" I have any number of GI or colon infections, and then treat them (preventively) with more natural and effective methods than I think conventional medicine can match. My solution is to use therapeutic retention enemas, using various kind of solutions to achieve various kinds of results. If you're interested, THIS WEBSITE has a number of videos on how to self-treat all kinds of colon and GI issues.

Best!

 

[LINE]

Q1: I am originally from outside of USA although I have been living here since I was 13. I have since traveled outside of the country but my IBS/SIBO problems started long before traveling.

Q2: Yes I have done several stool testing. I have done the Dr. Data which showed no Giardia or Cryptosporidum. I have done regular stool tests which also showed no no Giardia or Cryptosporidum. It was also negative on Salmonella/Shigella, Campylobacter and E coli Shiga.

Q3: The treatment attempts have all been for eradicting SIBO. I have done the SIBO breath test 3 times since 2013 and each time they gave me antibiotics. As you might know, the usual antibiotic for sibo is Xifaxan. So all 3 times they gave me Xifaxan. However, I noticed the first time they gave me Xifaxan they combined it with another drug called alinia. That was the only time I got temporarly releif. Alinia is a drug specifically for Protozoa. What was more interesting is that I have been suffering from low back pain for over 25 years (almost the same amount of time as I have been suffering from SIBO symptoms) and when I took the Alinia my back pain went away!!(The same did not happen when I took Xifaxan combined with other medications other than Alinia) .... I never put the two and two together until recently that I may have an infection other than regular SIBO that may be from some kind of a parasite. Since Alinia is specific to Protozoa I want to go back to my doctor and ask them to run more tests on parasites instead of SIBO.. That's why I put up this thread so hopefully I can get some options to ask my doctor about.
Thanks

I started a website devoted to protozoa. https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/pptu/ so if you need some help navigating, let me know.

In the microbe world there are known protozoa such as giardia and cryptosporidium - these are typical of North America then there are other well-known protozoa such as e. histolytica and many others.

I am not sure how advantageous it is to get a specific identification as there can be some issues with that such as subtypes. Subtypes are genetically modified which means that even with identification, treatment can vary.

I have a link to the archives of badbugs.org which is only available as an archive. She had a great site that posted many personal experiences with treatment. https://web.archive.org/web/20170512062516/http://www.badbugs.org/index.html

The overview of the experiences posted on badbugs was that there were seldom similar treatments that worked. This fits into the other research on protozoa, in that certain treatments may work for some but not necessarily for all.

Of course, that is my opinion, I put more emphasis on eradication rather than identification. ParaWellness is a trusted lab. If he does find a pathogen, then he usually recommends natural antibiotics rather than pharma. I have a list of other trusted labs if you want those.

Alinia (Nitazoxanide) is a great drug and had remission with it along with Paromomycin. I did a lot of combinations of different pharmaceuticals. Alinia did not have any side effects for me. Typically, cocktails are what seem to be the most effective.

 

[LINE]

I should note that badbugs was largely devoted to Blastocystis hominis but also had other protozoa treatments listed as well. (d. fragilis, e. histolytica).

The microbiome is quite complex as you know, meaning that there well could be a number of troubling organisms in the gut. Treatment time should be considered, e.g. you might need a longer treatment time than the standard protocol (example, most give prescriptions for 7 days.

Treatments in general terms are better when cocktails are given (more than 1 drug).

The other potential issue is the presence of biofilms, I have a video series on that if you like.

Protozoa treatments typically require either specific pharmaceuticals or some directed herbal remedies. Other treatments may help manage some of the problems but likely will not fix the problem.