Positive TB test

[VCgirl]

So, I had the two-step TB test...and I am positive both times! My arm looks disgusting. My doctor prescribed me a medication that I have to take for six months, but the icing on the cake is that I can't drink any alcohol while on the med! Has anyone else out there tested positive?

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[xanthomondo]

So, I had the two-step TB test...and I am positive both times! My arm looks disgusting. My doctor prescribed me a medication that I have to take for six months, but the icing on the cake is that I can't drink any alcohol while on the med! Has anyone else out there tested positive?

yeah i tested positive when i went to go volunteer, it was out of no where as a test 2 years prior was negative

i didnt follow it up and get that stuff prescribed that youre talking about though

 

[Vvandenn]

Yeah I tested positive for TB also. But once they took a chest x-ray they said everything was fine and I didn't have to be on any antibiotics.

 

[VCgirl]

Hmmm.... I am getting the chest x-ray Monday. If it is negative, is treatment necessary?

 

[kiddingme]

I always test positive because I got the BCG vaccine eons ago. However they always stick me before they ask! Once your chest x-ray comes back negative you're fine no treatment necessary.

 

[MicroBugs]

I have a friend that tested positively recently. SHe had a chest xray done, which was negative, but still got put on INH. The stuff is pretty toxic to the liver so hence the no drinking. And you have to be on it constantly. She had a small problem that most of us would have been given antifungals, however, the combo would have been really bad the liver but the INH takes priority so she's gotta live with the foot fungus, fun huh?

 

[macinici]

If you have been born outside the US there's a good chance you'll test positive. This has to do with certain vacinations that you got as a kid-BCG vaccine I think like kiddingme stated .

I was born in Europe and due to some vacinations i got as a child they reacted in some ways with the body and make me test positive. When I came to the US and was younger the docs gave me pills for 6 or so months. I think that's the treatment you're probably talking about. Anyway I had the treatment and whatnot but will always test +. They gave me a sheet telling that I'm excused from all tb testing.

Just take the x-ray, there's nothing to lose. 99% is that you don't have TB. The treatment I'm not sure what to advise since I'm not familiar with your background

 

[AlternateSome1]

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/PDF/rr/rr4906.pdf

Here are the CDC guidelines for treatment of latent TB. The chest x-ray will help to detemine if you have active tb or not. Active TB is a serious public health concern as you would be contagious, latent TB is not contagious but requires treatment due to the risk of reactivation (don't quote me, but I believe it is 1-2% per year). This second website details the differences between active and latent TB.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/tb/pubs/tbfactsheets/250101.htm

Please take the not drinking thing seriously though, there really are worse things in life than abstaining for 6 months.

 

[lord_jeebus]

This site is not for medical advice (and judging from some of the input here I can see why) but negative CXR does not necessarily mean a PPD converter should stop taking isoniazid. Consider this not medical advice but info for your future medical education.

For your specific case, ask your doctor.

http://www.cdc.gov/nchstp/tb/faqs/qa_latenttbinf.htm has some basic info about latent TB.

EDIT: The wikipedia article on "latent tuberculosis" is also quite good.

 

[Wizard of Oz]

By the way, it just means that you've been exposed to TB--you may have never had an active case. You will probably need to be x-rayed wherever you take a new healthcare job, but plenty of people skin test positive who never get sick.

Isonazid is nasty. Some public health labs provide rifampin as well, but I don't think that rifampin alone is enough to kill the mycobacterium.

 

[Guile]

Yeah I tested positive for TB also. But once they took a chest x-ray they said everything was fine and I didn't have to be on any antibiotics.

I've also tested positive. Same story as above. Negative chest x-ray, and I was given the all-clear. They told me that this simply means that I've been exposed to TB at some point, not that I had it. The upside is that I don't have to take any more TB tests anymore.

 

[VCgirl]

Thanks for the advice. I am from Canada so I may have had the vaccine Kiddingme is talking about. I am sure that I don't have TB. I have never had a positive test before, which I am assuming I would have if I had the vaccine. My doctor says just to take the treatment regardless so that I am in the clear in the future. However, I am not a fan of taking drugs of any sort...and six months is a long treatment...that's why I am wondering if it is necessary. I'll discuss with my doctor. Thanks again.

 

[Nomemory]

So, I had the two-step TB test...and I am positive both times! My arm looks disgusting. My doctor prescribed me a medication that I have to take for six months, but the icing on the cake is that I can't drink any alcohol while on the med! Has anyone else out there tested positive?

I tested positive....wait, no....that was VD not TB. My bad.

 

[GuzzyRon]

I'm thinking you're prescribed Isoniazid (INH). Ensure you adhere STRICTLY to the instruction not to take any alcohol during treatment. As it is, INH is a VERY toxic drug that is VERY hard on the liver. I've been very healthy my entire adult life but while on this medication I suffered some liver damage and had to stop the medication just after one month. You'd have to visit your doctor weekly (or biweekly) while you're on this medication for liver enzymes tests. Rifampin is milder though...plus you only have to take for 4 months, not six.

 

[GuzzyRon]

My doctor says just to take the treatment regardless so that I am in the clear in the future.

Don't be mistaken. You're taking this medication so that you can be in the clear for any RECENT exposure. God forbid you get exposed again in the future then you'd have to take this drug again. It's a medication, not a vaccination.

 

[DropkickMurphy]

It could be worse....my throat closed up the last time I had a TB test.....now I just have to get a chest x-ray every couple of years.

BTW, it's such a shame that you can't drink. What ever will you do to occupy your free time?

I'm thinking you're prescribed Isoniazid (INH). Ensure you adhere STRICTLY to the instruction not to take any alcohol during treatment. As it is, INH is a VERY toxic drug that is VERY hard on the liver.

The intractable seizures that accompany an overdose aren't exactly fun either.

 

[Creightonite]

I am TB+ but chest x-ray and liver enzymes were fine. They presribe this Nasty-a$$ antibiotics that do not really work. TB can be still reactivated even if you take the antibiotics. Just do chest x-ray, and I would not bother with this treatment unless they find something.

 

[soeagerun2or]

You kids are ridic. Mycobacterium has a very slow incubation period (days; 3-4 weeks for solid media culture) so you may not have a granuloma formed yet that is observable on CXR. Furthermore, if its not an active infection it is walled off by the body and can recur later in life. Yes isoniazid & rifampin have liver toxicities but compared to dying from TB its much safer. Take the meds. You can not see patients if you have a positive PPD and have not undergone a treatment regimen.

 

[lord_jeebus]

TB can be still reactivated even if you take the antibiotics.

HIV can kill you even if you take antiretrovirals.

Cancer can kill you even if you get chemotherapy.

A blow to the head can kill you even if you undergo emergent neurosurgery.

Perhaps we should just give up on the medical profession.

 

[baylormed]

So, I had the two-step TB test...and I am positive both times! My arm looks disgusting. My doctor prescribed me a medication that I have to take for six months, but the icing on the cake is that I can't drink any alcohol while on the med! Has anyone else out there tested positive?

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think you've said in other posts that you are Canadian (or from another country at least).

If so, check you vaccination records. Some countries do give the TB vaccine and that can cause positive results.

 

[Law2Doc]

Many of these posts are dispensing medical advice, which is against the rules of pre-allo. Some of the advice in this thread is pretty questionable. Closing.