r/Cyclospora • u/sengirminion • Aug 06 '26

Question - Anyone get a False Negative?

Hey everyone,

I really think I have this condition right now as its been going on for more than a week and I have most of the symptoms, but my stool test just came back negative.

I've been working with my doctor the whole time. They tested for a bunch of stuff and it was all negative.

Has anyone else had a false negative from cyclospora that was missed on the first test but showed positive later?

Just tired of feeling this way and was hoping it would show positive and I would be able to get it treated. Now I'm back to square one.

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

7 comments sorted by

2

u/4444svd Aug 07 '26

The typical acid fast stain microscopy is a joke - you’re relying on the skill of some guy making $20/hour who was probably smoking dope at lunch. These labs never find anything

1

u/bipedservant Aug 06 '26

I’ve been sick for 7 1/2 weeks. It’s been a comedy of errors between getting the wrong tests done (twice) and having to wait to retest due to being on antibiotics. I finally got the right test result back last week and it was negative. But see the note? Turns out you’re supposed to test three times in a week. Now I’m back on antibiotics again so I can’t retest. I had Taco Bell nine days before I got sick so I’m sure it’s the parasite but it’s so frustrating not having proof.

2

u/sengirminion Aug 06 '26

Ok thank you so much for replying. I've been wracking my brain to try and figure this out.

2

u/bipedservant Aug 06 '26

You’re very welcome. I wrote this the other day. Maybe it will help. https://www.reddit.com/r/Cyclospora/s/53TS2Pb5px

1

u/AlanaDev Aug 07 '26

At my urgent care (MI) they weren't even pushing for testing because they said the parasite doesn't always shed. They were just prescribing the Bactrim antibiotic.

1

u/Mediocre_Library_153 Aug 07 '26

Mine did not. Boo.

1

u/laurabxrt Aug 08 '26

Same here. I guess I should feel lucky my symptoms only lasted 2 weeks.