Has anyone ever gotten rid of a clostridial species?

I think a stool culture should be a bit more accurate in determining which species of Clostridium you have, but I could be wrong. I hope your GI can figure it out!

It doesn't sound like it. I'm not at all familiar with Quest Diagnostics and their services. When I did my stool culture, I had to collect two samples at home and put them into a special container the lab at my medical center provided. They had to be kept cold, too, to keep all of the bacteria that are normally present in the stool from overgrowing too much. I'm pretty sure that when they are looking for a specific organism, the stool is plated on to a special medium that will encourage the growth of that specific organism, and/or inhibit the growth of organisms they are not looking for.

I'm a plant researcher, and this is how many plant diseases (fungal and bacteria) are identified, so I assume it's quite similar!

I live about an hour north of Seattle.

I definitely would see your GI and get a real stool culture done.

I don't know who my medical center uses. I guess just ask him what the different options are as far as testing goes.

I got my results in 2-3 days, I think.