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Please take a look at my Metametrix Gi effects results

Messages
7
Hi there.
Hope i'm not too cheeky posting a thread as my first time post, but seems to be alot of good advice here.

Anyway, what lead me to have a GI effects test was about 6 months ago I started having fatigue, generally throughout the day, and felt it was affecting my work. I initially thought I had Low Testosterone, which i sort of do, then I went along the path of adrenal fatigue, when that seemed to be ok, I looked into Thyroid, and finally here I am looking at the gut.

My digestion hasn't felt great for a long time. Typical Symptoms are morning constipation or a feeling of not being able to empty my bowels fully, this is even though my stools are loose (not full on diahrea). This can lead to feeling bloated all day, and when I finally get to the bathroom again it often does become diarrhea. I feel like my digestion is poor and have been using digestive enzymes at varying amounts, at one time the max dose. I often can see alot of speckles of undigested foods in my stool. My energy is low, I tend to get brain fog quite easily. I can still exercise but dont feel the endorphin rush much anymore. Also for the past few months i've felt a "pressure" at the bottom of my left rib cage, makes me think my heart is playing up, but i think its digestion related. It comes and goes and i cannot associate if anything causes it.

I'm 26, consider myself to have a healthy lifestyle, i tend to eat a paleo diet as much as i can, although i work in food product development so it is impossible to exclude gluten for long periods of times, i just try and limit my exposures. IF i dont eat plenty of fiber i get very constipated, though i feel fruits help better then vegetables for this. I sleep 8 hours or so a night, dont really drink much anymore on weekends.

i've tried high carb and low carb diets and nothing seems to effect my brain fog. Also I feel like i get hypoglycemac between meals alot but havent tested this. I tend to crave sugar.
I've had anal itching for years, i tended to think it was sweat rash or some reaction to a cosmetic, but it does tend to get intense at night so i was expecting to have some kind of parasite. Years ago I did the treatment where you take the pill every 2 weeks to exclude this. Who knows.

Results:
I will attach the full report but i'll summerise what i've picked up based on reading the metametrix interpretive guide. I'm open to thoughts on all of this. MY symptoms aren't life threatening i'm just sick of feeling like i'm running at half mast despite seemingly being "healthy"
Preveotella SP is the highest obligate anaerobe. MM suggests this could be a sign of an oral/throat infection
Lactbacillus is top of the range. Bifidobacter sp. is mid range when this should be highest according to MM. E coli is towards the lower end.
I have yeast/fungi / taxonomy unavailable, at 3+
I have parasite present taxonomy unavailable, oh joys!
SCFA is on the lower end and Butyrate is marked as Low
Fecal SigA is just above the lowest part of the range


Everything else seems ok? So what do I do now. accept MMs thoughts that the PPTU is just "normal" and not harmfull. Do I target the yeast and see if that improves anything. Do i blast myself with pharmaceuticals and hope to destroy whatever these things are, but risk messing up my gut flora? Do i cycle the botanicals that are suggested and see if that helps?
I'm thinking i need to supplement certain probiotics to get the gut flora more in line
Any thoughts are appreciated
 

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sianrecovery

Senior Member
Messages
828
Location
Manchester UK
Hi Avcocado

I have blastocytosis, about which there is some debate as to its actual pathnicity. Did you also try looking at the pptu lefora parasite forum?
My thoughts over the years on the gut have evolved I guess - I do see it as a crucial part of healthy immune function, but I don't think there is a menu of easy answers to get it right. I am about to do the CDU triple cocktail to get rid of blasto - knowing that might be a red herring, but choosing to try and rid myself of at least one bug if I possible can.

I also have sugar cravings and itching, and while that could be a yeast overgrowth, it could also be a protozoan parasite.

I think in a healthy person, with a healthy gut, stomach acid, diet, metabolism, these bugs are probably harmless. But I am not that person...
 
Messages
7
Whoops Sushi, got confuse at the Chat thing and closed, never seen that on a forum, I thought it was a pop up. What similarities have you had between my lab results and your symptoms?

Sian ,how did you get the blasto diagnosed? Seems that or Giardia can be the cause of PPTU.
This test was expensive, so i'm going to have to deal with what I can for now. There's alot to learn about all the different treatments and we for sure cant depend on the NHS to help with this one haha
 

adreno

PR activist
Messages
4,841
I have the PPTU as well. Why would you think that could be giardia or blasto? Those are tested for.
 

globalpilot

Senior Member
Messages
626
Location
Ontario
I'm pretty sure they check for giardia. They have a list on their website somewhere of those that are checked for.
The yeast 3+ could be mold - they've ruled out candida but only check for a few species of mold. I have the 3+ yeast too and am doing a urine mycotoxins panel and mold Igg antibody testing to see if it is indeed mold.

Your secretory IgA is quite low. I found 2 separate papers showing average ranges around 100 (I think - I can dig them up again if that would help).

I have low SIgA too and really think it is the key, for me, of my gut symptoms. Why it's low is the billion dollar question.
 

*GG*

senior member
Messages
6,389
Location
Concord, NH
Hi there.
Hope i'm not too cheeky posting a thread as my first time post, but seems to be alot of good advice here.

Anyway, what lead me to have a GI effects test was about 6 months ago I started having fatigue, generally throughout the day, and felt it was affecting my work. I initially thought I had Low Testosterone, which i sort of do, then I went along the path of adrenal fatigue, when that seemed to be ok, I looked into Thyroid, and finally here I am looking at the gut.

Do you have a good Dr? Have you seen the Co-cure good Drs List? It's outdated some, but I found my Dr there 4 years ago, and he has helped me a lot! http://www.co-cure.org/good-doc.htm

I recently started clomiphene citrate to balance my hormones, boost testosterone. I think my adrenals are ok. I recently attended a support group and someone mentioned that you should have your thyroid tested without taking thyroid meds. I mentioned this to my Dr and he said that is correct, so better late than never! Will have some blood work done in a month.

GG
 
Messages
7
I have recently been experimenting with clomid, 12.5mg, not sure its helped with general energy though. I've also been taking iodoral to see if that changes my TSH. I'm geting bloodwork done on monday to see.

Mold is something i've been thinking about. I've lived in this apartment for 2 years and we've had problems with the shower ventiliation ever since, so we did have a large amount of visible mold on the shower roof for a long time until the agency finally stripped it and sealed it. The thing is, with mold i'd expect more respitory symptoms? but a specific mold panel may well be in order. I'm not sure how you would treat mold infection in the body?
 

sianrecovery

Senior Member
Messages
828
Location
Manchester UK
Avacado, mold is kind of a big topic, and I'd suggest having a look at the section here on biotoxins and environmental issues. Mold is a big player for me, but my symptoms aren't respiratory.

Another thing to try is seeing if you symptoms significantly remit in a mold free environment - but you need to give it a few weeks. Everytime I leave the UK and go to Arizona, while not magically cured, I am much better.

One thing you can do straight away is reduce the humidity in your apartment and ventilate as much as you can.
 

sianrecovery

Senior Member
Messages
828
Location
Manchester UK
ps diagnosed via a stool test done for a nutritonalist. You mention the NHS - my experience is the NHS pretty much do not recognise the existence of parasites, even with the test in front of them. Keep your expectations low on getting any help from them.
 

Daffodil

Senior Member
Messages
5,875
my metametrix results didn't show much at all even though I am very sick. however. small intestinal bacterial overgrowth was positive via breath test. I am now trying xifaxan. not sure if it will help.
 
Messages
7
i'm thinking now, what If i just run a course of Nystatin. It seems to have low side effects, i've sensitive to it, and the UK docs will probably be willing to prescribe it as its relatively cheap. I'm not sure how long a standard course is. My test said the fungi is sensitive to it.

Then i'll rotate 3 of the natural herbs. I've ordered, black walnut, olive leaf extract, and cats claw. Not sure on doses or for how long people rotate them. 3 weeks each?

Throughout i'll take jarrowdophilius and sacchomyces boulardi to try and fill the void.

Also i'll try and move to a more low sugar/low inflammation diet, which i'm planning to do soon anyway to cut fat for summer.
Then I retest in 3 months and see where things are at. Won't worry about the PPTU unavailable for now. Cant afford much further testing at the minute!
 
Messages
7
Doc has presribed me diflucan. He didn't really have a clue and was looking stuff up in his tatty book. He only prescribe 50mg per day for a week, which seems a very low dose, but hopefully combined with natural antifungals i may "feel something" enough to go back and ask to extend the treatment.

doctor actually laughed during the visit and said "do you have an interest in health or something" as I was asking loads of questions to deflect all his poor knowledge

LOL what?

Hate the NHS for this kind of thing
 

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
Doc has presribed me diflucan. He didn't really have a clue and was looking stuff up in his tatty book. He only prescribe 50mg per day for a week, which seems a very low dose, but hopefully combined with natural antifungals i may "feel something" enough to go back and ask to extend the treatment.

doctor actually laughed during the visit and said "do you have an interest in health or something" as I was asking loads of questions to deflect all his poor knowledge

LOL what?

Hate the NHS for this kind of thing

When I finally got a copy of my medical records I found that one GP had written that I was studying human biology, and he had put an exclamation mark after it. What an eccentric/hypochondriac I must be to be interested in health. Hilarious!
 

MeSci

ME/CFS since 1995; activity level 6?
Messages
8,231
Location
Cornwall, UK
ps diagnosed via a stool test done for a nutritonalist. You mention the NHS - my experience is the NHS pretty much do not recognise the existence of parasites, even with the test in front of them. Keep your expectations low on getting any help from them.

When I asked a GP if my bowel problems could be caused by a parasite, he asked me which particular parasite I thought I might have. Isn't that what they are paid to figure out?
 

sianrecovery

Senior Member
Messages
828
Location
Manchester UK
ha ha mine looked at the utterly self-evident diagnostech test, which said "parasites - many, identification Blastocytosis" or something complicated like that, and said, "I don't understand this, I will have to ask the lab". I went back in a week, and she said, "The chap from the lab can't make head nor tail of this." I went home, printed out some wiki stuff for her to explain it, and took it back in half an hour, I was so pissed off with their stupidity. After that, she didn't want to see anymore privately run tests. If its not diagnosed by the NHS, they don't treat it. And if they don't test for it, they don't have to treat it. Nice!
 

sianrecovery

Senior Member
Messages
828
Location
Manchester UK
i'm thinking now, what If i just run a course of Nystatin. It seems to have low side effects, i've sensitive to it, and the UK docs will probably be willing to prescribe it as its relatively cheap. I'm not sure how long a standard course is. My test said the fungi is sensitive to it.

Then i'll rotate 3 of the natural herbs. I've ordered, black walnut, olive leaf extract, and cats claw. Not sure on doses or for how long people rotate them. 3 weeks each?

Throughout i'll take jarrowdophilius and sacchomyces boulardi to try and fill the void.

Also i'll try and move to a more low sugar/low inflammation diet, which i'm planning to do soon anyway to cut fat for summer.
Then I retest in 3 months and see where things are at. Won't worry about the PPTU unavailable for now. Cant afford much further testing at the minute!

low sugar really is the thing. I don't know about rotating herbs, some people say to, some people reckon you should hit them with as much as you can stand. I do have a friend who cleared her parasite with long term dietary modification, and rotating herbs, will try and get her supps and post.