Is A Blood Culture Test The Way To Go In My Situation?

[yerrag]

If I want to know what bacteria is in my blood, and what antibiotics the bacteria are sensitive to, is a blood culture and sensitivity test the test I should take?

Having linked my hypertension to its root cause - periodontal bacteria in biofilm colonies in my blood vessels - I'm thinking of using antibiotics to slowly rid my system of these bacteria. Most of these bacteria are dormant, embedded in the plaque. But they ones that are active are enough to cause my blood pressure to go really high.

What I want to do is use an appropriate proteolytic enzymes to lyse plaque. With the right enzyme (one that's not ony fibrinolytic, but also thrombolytic), I minimize the chance that the removal of plaque would lead to thrombosis, where chunks of lysed plaque block the passage of blood in a narrow section of a vessel. And with the right dosage, I would be able to keep the plaque coming off from blocking my blood vessels. At the same time, it would also limit the release of bacteria awakened from their state, as a deluge of bacteria would overwhelm my body's innate immune system.

I had 15+ years of periodontal infection that I wasn't able to fix, mainly because the infection was hidden. During that time, it had released a lot of bacteria into the blood stream, and these bacteria now line the vast network of blood vessels in my body. Over this time, the bacteria has not only developed strong biofilms that are resistant to being broken to antibiotics, but they have also developed a symbiotic community, where bacteria and even fungus would help each other survive and thrive.

To get a good blood culture that would contain these bacteria and fungi, I would have to use biofilm busters before I head to the lab to get my blood drawn. This way, having biofilms broken would mean the pathogens are released to the blood, and when collected, the blood would contain these pathogens. This would allow more pathogens to be identified in the blood culture, for which suitable antibiotics would also be identified for me to use.

I want to make sure whatever antibiotics I use would be useful, in that the bacteria and fungi are not resistant to any of the antibiotics used. Although I'm no longer a heavy user of antibiotics, it's still possible my past frequent use of antibiotics still have lingering effects.

These are the antibiotics I'm considering, which have been effective against Porphyromonas Gingivalis -

-tetracyclines
-macrolides (erythromycin)
-lincosadimes (climdamycin)
-B-lactams (ampicillin, amoxicillin)
-nitroimidozoles (metronidazole)

I haven't taken a blood culture before. Is this the best way for me to go about it, and would the sensitivity test cover all the antibiotics mentioned?

Thanks.

FYI: I'm dealing with hypertension. My theory is that this comes from two main causes. One is low blood volume, a result of low blood albumin. Albumin is either being used up or excreted because of the action of bacteria. Low blood volume leads to higher blood pressure, as Ray Peat has mentioned many times. The other cause is from low nitric oxide. This is because arginine, the precursor to nitric oxide, is being used up by bacterial enzymes. Nitric oxide is a vasodilator, and relaxes blood vessels, leading to lower blood pressure.

My task is to kill these bastard bacteria. Help me kill them with your advice. Thanks again!

 

[yerrag]

I forgot, but this is another major cause of my high BP: immune complexes, what's leftover from white blood cells fighting antigens (bacteria) accumulates in the capillary walls and they narrow the passage for blood to go through; higher pressure is needed to allow blood to get thru, to provide nourishment to the organs and to remove metabolic wastes from the organ.

 

[yerrag]

This isn't a common topic, but I'll still share what I've found out for the benefit of the forum, even if there is no current interest nor response.

The answer: No, the blood culture and sensitivity analysis test is not an appropriate test.

This test only tests for the usual suspect bacteria. It doesn't test for the bacteria I'm interested in. Even if the bacteria, porphyromonas gingivalis is present in the test, it would likely not come out in the report. The reason: this bacteria's presence is usually considered a case of colonization, and not considered an infection. It is considered a colonization when no outward signs are manifested in the patient, such as a fever.

So, I've asked the lab if there's a special test that can be ordered for porphyromonas gingivalis. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. If there's such a test, it would have to be a lot more expensive, because it is out of the ordinary.

 

[yerrag]

I give up. Too much trouble looking for a lab to test the blood for porphorynonas gingivalis. The test is not common, and is the subject of studies using methods that are specialized. The need for such testing is a fringe need, and therefore it's going to be expensive.

I suspect there's colonization of my blood vessels with porphyromonas gingivalis, and as I said earlier, this is the main cause of my high blood pressure. I will just have to work this assumption, given the state of availability of tests to help me validate my suspicion.

I'll proceed with this assumption. Tried to work with more certainty, but in the absence, what can you do but move forward on logic that underpins my assumptions.

Cest la vie!

 

[yerrag]

46% of the population has periodontitis. I don't know how many have hypertension as result of periodontitis, but I'm willing to bet it's a large portion of it. Especially when you consider the chances of one becoming hypertensive over one's lifetime. The probability that the periodontal infection gets into the blood is high, and when this infection is allowed to go on because the infection is hidden and asymptomatic, over many years (or even decades), it will not be given its due attention. For one, the medical establishment attributes hypertension to old age and to genetics, and since the person is still alive and breathing, it is not considered as important nor urgent.

Which is why there is no blood culture test for periodontal bacteria. Sure, the widespread presence of periodontal bacteria is not a concern, mainly because it is not cause a fever. It is what they consider to be low-grade infection. They actually don't even consider it an infection. They dress it up as colonization. It's like humans landing on Mars and planting a flag.

With this being the case, pathogens are just allowed to colonize in our blood vessels, establishing biofilm colonies together with other pathogens in a symbiotic kumbaya with each other, except that they're feasting on us for their nutrition. Parasites, and the medical establishment is allied with them. Seeing that the establishment is itself a parasite on humanity, it makes absolute sense.

But don't be surprised when our immune defenses should falter, that suddenly we have a case of sepsis, or life-threatening infection. The infection had been there all along. It was just euphemistically called "colonization."

Sure, there are worse things to worry about, right? Like COVID-19. Worrying about periodontal bacteria is for losers.

 

[J.R.K]

An interesting story Yerrag. Curious how you made out with this scenario and what if any interventions you found to be effective?
You are probably correct in your assertion that this affects a better part of the population than most would believe.
What do you do for your dental maintenance and hygiene in order to prevent any additional bacteria joining the systemic population?
I look forward to your thoughts

 

[yerrag]

An interesting story Yerrag. Curious how you made out with this scenario and what if any interventions you found to be effective?
You are probably correct in your assertion that this affects a better part of the population than most would believe.
What do you do for your dental maintenance and hygiene in order to prevent any additional bacteria joining the systemic population?
I look forward to your thoughts

Thanks for reading and giving it consideration.

If there's no underlying issues, it's about prevention and maintenance. Minimizing gut endotoxin production is a must to avoid excessive dental plaque that causes tooth decay and periodontal issues. Also good calcium and vitamin D to keep your body from leaching bones for calcium, which when it occurs with teeth causes it to be more easily penetrated by microbes. And then good oral hygiene not only brushing but flossing and using waterpiks.

If there's tooth decay, it's easy to improve with the abovementioned.

But if there's periodontal issue, it would be harder. This is where I'm at.

Have lost 5 teeth and a 6th is loose and I'm trying to save it by not yet going back to my dentist for it to be extracted. As it won't be the last. The periodontal infection is hard to eradicate. Antibiotics do it only temporarily but surviving bacteria will bounce back and recolonize and take one tooth after another till I'm out of teeth.

So, I'm trying to see how I could eradicate the periodontal bacteria without using antibiotics, which isn't effective at all for a long-term strategy.

So I'm using potassium iodide in the form of SSKI, and methylene blue together, with red light. And I tried gargling with 100ppm lugol's iodine, and stopped it, and now trying oxalic acid solution (150mg/300ml water). I don't know how effective these will be.

Also considering eating raw meat for dinner and just flossing and using waterpik without using a tooth brush. Thinking maybe the enzymes in raw meat would somehow be able to kill periodontal bacteria. Trying to mimic wild animals that eat raw meat and are able to maintain their oral health.

But all this is experimental but I hope to hit paydirt.

 

[qwazy]

Have you tried using chlorine dioxide with dmso as a mouthwash?

 

[yerrag]

Have you tried using chlorine dioxide with dmso as a mouthwash?

Thanks for asking. I missed mention of that, as I had tried that. I didn't see it work in a way where I could see results in 2 weeks of use. It may be more about my not having found a suitable combo that works.

 

[qwazy]

Thanks for asking. I missed mention of that, as I had tried that. I didn't see it work in a way where I could see results in 2 weeks of use. It may be more about my not having found a suitable combo that works.

Getting rid of any infection is super important but have you looked into chelation therapy? It appears that it is also quite helpful in hypertension.

 

[yerrag]

Getting rid of any infection is super important but have you looked into chelation therapy? It appears that it is also quite helpful in hypertension.

I had mercury chelation and it fixed my blood sugar control, excessive sweating, and improved my endurance greatly. Also my immunity as since then haven't had a case of flu where it used to be once or twice a years. It's been 20 years already.

But hypertension is a different animal for me. Its cause - infection and inflammation - is bacterial as well as related to immune complexes. The b-cell antibody response that creates immune complexes has been too active, which I blame on vaccination.

 

[Jam]

Another angle that may be worth investigating is potential insulin resistance caused by the periodontitis. Any chronic infection can really mess with insulin sensitivity, which can bring about a host of issues such as hypertension, UTIs, unexplained weight gain, high triglycerides/low HDL, etc. How are your trig/HDL markers? It may be worth trying a lowish carb (50-100g) diet for a bit while also avoiding the high GI foods.

 

[Jam]

Severe Periodontitis Is Associated with Insulin Resistance in Non-abdominal Obese Adults​

 

[yerrag]

Another angle that may be worth investigating is potential insulin resistance caused by the periodontitis. Any chronic infection can really mess with insulin sensitivity, which can bring about a host of issues such as hypertension, UTIs, unexplained weight gain, high triglycerides/low HDL, etc. How are your trig/HDL markers? It may be worth trying a lowish carb (50-100g) diet for a bit while also avoiding the high GI foods.

I actually did have insulin resistance and gained 20 lbs. after I began using systemic enzymes, which released bacteria and immune complexes from arterial plaque.

That was about 2 years ago. I developed arthritis in my hip joints as well. Along with that my bp increased greatly. Since then, I've fixed all those issues. Only the bp and some of the added weight remains.

Good catch!

 

[J.R.K]

Good morning Drereg!
Thanks for sharing your story. Sounds like you have had a rough go of things dental wise. I am curious if your dental routine uses any type of fluoride?
I think that I heard Dr Peat mention that fluoride and chlorine can both on there own have a negative effect upon thyroid. I wonder if that might possibly be linked to your insulin resistance?
Also do you know of any Peat friendly dental hygiene products? The only ones that I am aware of is baking soda for brushing and a homemade mouthwash like you are using with methylene blue.
I hope that this finds you on an upswing towards resolving these issues!

 

[yerrag]

Good morning Drereg!
Thanks for sharing your story. Sounds like you have had a rough go of things dental wise. I am curious if your dental routine uses any type of fluoride?
I think that I heard Dr Peat mention that fluoride and chlorine can both on there own have a negative effect upon thyroid. I wonder if that might possibly be linked to your insulin resistance?
Also do you know of any Peat friendly dental hygiene products? The only ones that I am aware of is baking soda for brushing and a homemade mouthwash like you are using with methylene blue.
I hope that this finds you on an upswing towards resolving these issues!

Good morning! I think Drareg has good teeth but who knows, right?

Pulling teeth with VCO is good. That just means gargling with VCO.
Using 100 ppm Iodine is another, which Jam recommends. (10 drops of 2% Lugols in 100 ml distilled water)
Using 75 ppm chlorine dioxide solution also helps (10 drops of a 3000 ppm CDS -chlorine dioxide solution- to 200ml distilled water)
And lately, I'm trying an oxalic acid solution (150mg oxalic acid: 300 ml water).

To get higher absorption through gums, you can add 0.5ml of a 70% solution of DMSO to each 100 ml. I use this in attempting to get through to bacteria hiding beneath the gum. I don't know if it will kill 100% of them, but I'm using this regularly so I hope it will keep them at bay to keep more of my teeth from falling off.

Of course, always remember to spit out after gargling.

With the oxalic acid solution, you need to rinse with water and spit out the water also.

But I don't know if they are Peat friendly. But since they're not swallowed, I guess they are.

As far as insulin resistance goes, I'm good. I think my problem with blood sugar control is very much due to lack of potassium, after I'd been urinating excessively for two years and excreting a lot of potassium along with my urine.