Metametrix Microbial Ecology Stool Profile Test

[cludwig]

Hi Friends,

It's been over a year since I posted and you may or may not remember me but I was Dx about three years ago with LC. I did enterolab testing and was found to react to gluten,dairy, soy,egg and yeast. I spent an entire year eating paleo, a year on entocort and another year eliminating fruit all with mixed results..not horrible D, but soft stools and terrible upper abdominal pain...cramping and bloating. It's unfortunate that we don't have more adjectives to describe abdominal pain as I have experienced many different types of cramps but no good way to describe them.

Anyway, been to many many MD (worse than the abdominal pain...not joking) but my naturopath came across this stool test that uses a DNA probe to see exactly what is in the stool....so no culturing...much much more accurate. I have WORMS. I have been Dx with IBS and unexplained anemia for decades...had 14 colonoscopies since I was 15
years old and I have whipworms. And not just a few of them because when one takes a steroid entocort when you have worms you get a hyperinfestation.

No, I am a poop watcher and I never saw them ever, however since I started the medication my stools are peppered in what looks like white rice (eggs).

Anyway, this is a wonderful test if medication or diet doesn't seem to help and you suspect the MC is a symptom of something else going on .

This is the only site that has intelligent info on it about the digestive system and everytime I visit I learn something and it gave me the courage to keep looking for answers. Wayne...you are so wonderful to explain all of our tests to us and keep us sane during difficult times. You are just the best. I hope this test will help others like it has helped solve my mystery.

Love,
Cristi

[tex]

Hi Cristi,

It's great to hear from you again. That's incredible news, (to say the least). Do you think they were there since you were in your early teens, (or maybe even earlier)? It's almost unbelievable that over all those years, no one ever did a thorough check for helminths, especially in view of the persistent anemia. Did you live in the southeastern U. S. when you were growing up?

Thank you so much for the kind words, but I'll bet that I learn as much here every day from you and everyone else, as anyone else learns from me. Together, we'll eventually figure out all this stuff, as we continue to learn from each other.

We really appreciate the update - this gives us another "tool" for those who have tried everything else, without success. I remember reading somewhere that tests are available for only about five percent of the known varieties of human parasites, and typical testing accuracy is only about twenty-percent. I don't know if that's correct or not, but if it is, that's incredibly poor diagnostic odds.

Please keep us informed on your progress. I hope this is the final piece of the puzzle.

Love,
Wayne

P. S. I can't help but wonder if this might have somehow had something to do with the unusual condition of your gallbladder when it was removed, a couple of years ago. As I recall, your doctors couldn't explain it's unique characteristics. I can't find any connections between the gallbladder and whipworms, but giardia are known to live there, sometimes, and the liver fluke lives in the bile duct.

[barbaranoela]

Hi Cristi---sure do remember cludwig

So happy that U finally have an answer to all that U have been thru--
Too bad U werent a pooper* watcher-----but all things seem to be getting to that *wellness* road--

Take care--continued wellness and do keep us updated---

luve Barbara

[angy]

Hi cludwig welcome... im pretty new here..

A anyway regarding the helminths.

I got ill last september ..had chronic diahrea for 2 solid months non stop, couldnt keep food or liquid down...severe stomach cramps..and severe pain .. constantly in the bathroom..I thought i had cancer and was going to die.. i was really ill..weak and dehydrated..I waited 9 months for a colonoscopy to investigate this..

It wasnt until about 2 months after being ill that i checked my stools..and discovered white wormy things and lots of them...( i was off work sick at this time)they sure looked like worms to me , white and threadlike ,all sizes long and tiny..

I thought right the docs aint helping assuming it was part of my bowel tissue..so im going to research this myself..I did and decided to purchase my own meds for this...I thought what the hell ,ill soon find out if this is!! pinworm making me ill...obviously i had a high infestation..I thought well see what happens when i take the med..

Any way i bought PIPERAZINE PHOSPATE both powders and tablets..(powder was the best) and oh my god!!! i hour later the senna started cleaning me out...I couldnt believe what i saw literally tons of white thin wormy things...they didnt move though..piperazine paralyses these critters..so they can be easily evacuated from the bowel..later that evening and the next day my diahrea stopped..and for several days later no diahrea...I was astonished and happy too Then i thought maybe this is the problemm..

I work in dirty houses as i am a community care worker and thought god i must be getting infected from this particular client..and yes every time i used the medication i was better but had to repeat every 2 wks..

The only problem is i was still visiting this guy at home and every time i was in his dirty house 2 days later they were back..i was being re-infected..even with taking treatment..these eggs can hatch in the bowel within 6 hours of infection..

Yes your thinking... why did u go in there..if that was the source..and yes i have stopped working with this guy and have never had these critters back....and the diahrea. vey soft watery bm has stoppped completely..

So my advice is use this medication for helminths i tried others but had no success with them..I did this on my own with no docs consent...as i say they didnt give a jot about me then so i decided to take care of myself until the biopsy..


no doc did a proper stool sample for me, and they didnt find any of them in the colonoscopy or biopsy either..Probably because i totally anihalated them with meds...on a regular basis...before they had the chance..

I just couldnt take it anymore...My docs were quite amazed i had done this...

Later when i got diagnosed my gi doc hit me with cc and said its possible with the colitis these little worm looking things is tissue from your bowel...well i totally disagreed the only tissue type i saw from my bowel was mucus. I still have not seen any worms at ll now i regularly de worm myself to prevent them from coming back..

so good luck with that

[cludwig]

Hi Friends,

I am on my fifth day memendazole 100 mg. The usual dosage 2per day for three days, but I was still passing eggs and worms on day three so I am doing 6 days. Passed worms last night and more eggs this morning. DISGUSTING! I am feeling soooo good. For the first time in three years I don't have pain in my small intestine. I am on an emotional roller coaster...one minute angry, the next elated, but mostly just grossed out.

I don't know if I'll ever know for sure Wayne when I was initially blessed with these worms. I never had the intense cramping( for lack of a better word) or pain in my small intestine before my surgery in 2005. However, I have had chronic indigestion and a burning sensation in my small intestines( which I was told was impossible by many GI) since I was a teenager....and the always there, unexplained anemia.

I also wondered about my poor gallbladder. I had gallbladder attacks since I was a teenager as well with no evidence of any stones. The only thing I ever came across that sounded like what i went through was spasms in the billiary ducts...but in my mind it is conceivable worms could have made their way there. Given the possible decades they have had access, it doesn't seem such an impossible feat.

Hey Barbara...I worded my sentence poorly. I am a poop watcher and I have never seen eggs or worms before starting the medication.

Hi Angy....I am glad you are as lucky as I was in finding such a great site. I am wondering how I was infected. If it's been since childhood then that"s not so uncommon. I've been to Hawaii numerous times, I have dogs but that's a different whipworm than the human strain. My husband has a bad nail biting habit ( he is taking the stool test to see if he has them)

I don't think there is a way to get whipworms in the hospital when I had my surgery...so why did they cause me so much more pain after I was in the hospital. I did catch some infection in the hospital...I was treated for c-diff....perhaps this overwhelmed my immune system and allowed the worms to become a huge infestation. Or taking entocort calmed my intestinal immune system so much that it allowed the worms to take over. Supposedly people can go along with a few worms and their healthy immune system keeps them in check and they are unaware of their existence.

So, it will be interesting to see how my food issues change post worms. I always wondered why I tested sensitive to everything on Dr. Fine's test yet I didn't have the double something gene that the sensitive ones here have. My fecal fatabsorption was completely normal when so many here have problems there as well. I couldn't tolerate potatoes, tomatoes, spinach,fruit....but I never had a 5 hour or 10 hour reaction...it was more flu like reaction.


This is a great test.It costs $204. My daughter caught giardia last summer and is testing negative for it but the tests out there are so inaccurate that I am sending one to her so it doesn't fester for years as well.

My naturopath was at a seminar on digestive health when she learned about this test and said there were a couple of MD in the crowd who were upset that doctors don't know about this test and how this could happen. The reply was that most doctors rely solely on what drug companies are selling. This test using a DNA probe will be the gold standard in the future, hopefully not too distant.

I'll keep you posted as to how my food issues progress. I am going to take it slow to give my body a chance to heal, but I will never eat gluten or dairy again regardless. I have a strong family history of autoimmune problems and you all have educated me on the connection to gluten.

Love,
Cristi

[tex]

Cristi,

The reply was that most doctors rely solely on what drug companies are selling.

Now there's a mouth full if there ever was one. That phrase should be inscribed over every doctor's office door, so that patients are reminded of it now and then. LOL.

Has your doctor analyzed any ova samples to positively identity the species? Many sources cavalierly claim that infection with the canine strain, (Trichuris vulpis), is nothing to be concerned about, but such a problem is far from impossible. In fact, it may be a lot more common than is realized. The two species can be easily confused, unless the size of the ova is measured and compared. Please read this:

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articl ... tid=120537

According to a publication by Iowa State University:

Most cases of human trichuriasis are due to T. trichiura;
in some parts of the world, up to 98% of children may be
infected with this parasite. The prevalence of zoonotic trichuriasis
is uncertain. Until recently, T. vulpis was thought to
be an uncommon zoonosis; however, a recent study in India
suggests that it may be relatively widespread in some slums.
In three surveys, the reported prevalence rates of T. vulpis
trichuriasis were 0.2% in New York, 12.3% in Vietnam, and
6% in India.

http://209.85.135.104/search?q=cache:i3 ... cd=6&gl=us

or,

http://www.cfsph.iastate.edu/Factsheets ... riasis.pdf

Love,
Tex

[tex]

Angy,

What you are using is a very safe treatment, but as you no doubt know, it's not completely effective on adult phase worms, and woefully inadequate on immature forms. It will never completely eliminate all of them.

That's one of the problems with having to treat yourself, of course, the doctors have all the best meds locked up, so that you can only gain access to them by paying for their "expert" services, and if they do not agree that you need any particular medication, then you will be denied the right to purchase it. You sure could use the services of a good doc, so that you could get a prescription that would eliminate the problem once and for all.

Tex

[geargirl]

Hi all....I know that I am new here but am continuously keeping my eyes open for more information as all of us are. I am in the process of the Enterolabs and wonder if I should be tested for worms as well. Where or how do you go about testing for them? Is there an independent lab much like Enterolabs? I want to leave no stone unturned in my quest for a more normal life. I have 3 dogs and 2 parrots....so my ears perked up when I read this information and the articles posted by Tex. I am willing to check on anything and everything.
Thanks again to all for all of the invaluable information!

[cludwig]

Hi geargirl,

I got my test through my naturopath, but the test she used is from metametrix. You could work backwards and contact metametrix directly at www.metametrix.com and ask which naturopaths use their labs in your area or you may be able to order the test directly from them. I had two other stool tests through other labs using the old way of detecting problems, but with worms you shed eggs every 15 days ...so it's easy to miss them. It also found a yeast overgrowth problem with me that other tests missed.

I took the microbial ecology profile stool test and they tested the predominate bacteria in my stool along with any opportunistic bacteria, pathogenic bacteria, yeast/fungi,parasites, adiposity index,and drug resistance genes.

Like I mentioned before, because they use a DNA probe...it is way more accurate than other stool tests. If you have problems figuring out how to get one of these tests I could ask my naturopath if she knows someone in your area.

Love,
Cristi

[angy]

Hi cludwig..
Glad to hear you have discovered what probably is the likely source of them cramps..i had them too. I also used memendazole, cant really say how affective that was for me but i did see them critters with that med as well...Maybe i should just get someone to give me an electric shock lol!!! that would fry them little sh*** lol!!!Anyway good luck with the memendazole and i hope you start to feel better really soon..

[cludwig]

Hi Angy,

I remember about 30 years ago I adopted a dog from the humane society and she had worms and I tried all kinds of meds to get rid of them without success. Then one evening she was under the sofa and I hear her scream and hit the bottom of the sofa. Come to find out she had bitten through an electrical cord and shocked herself. Well, she was fine thankfully and she never had a problem with worms after that. We always said it was the perfect strength of current....strong enough to kill the worms but not enough to kill her. I think I'll stick with the meds tho.

Love,
Cristi

[angy]

omg!! poor little thing.. did the trick though!! maybe i should stick my finger in a light socket hehe!!!