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
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