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How to encourage Nuerotransmitters despite a depleted microbiome ?

Bansaw

Senior Member
Messages
521
As we know, many of the neurotransmitters we need are made in the gut.

I think I have a depleted microbiome because of lengthy antibiotic courses in the past.

In the meantime, how can I encourage my body to manufacture the dopamine, serotonin, gaba etc. I need. Can I give it a helping hand somehow.

I don't know if there are any probiotics I can take that really make a difference. I tried even keifer, Kombucha and other supps in the past. No effect.
I am currently pursuing the FMT avenue. Some bacteria comes from breast feeding as an infant, vaginal delivery etc., and these are very hard if not impossible to replace.

Any ideas?
 
Last edited:

pamojja

Senior Member
Messages
2,384
Location
Austria
I'm curious- which neurotransmitters are made in the gut?

For example GABA and serotonin, according to my only ubiome report from 2019, before the company went off-line:

Overview: 95.8 Wellness Match Score (This score represents the overlap between the microbes in your sample and the average microbiome of individuals in our group of Selected Samples. These are samples from individuals who report no ailments and high levels of wellness.) - down from 96.4 from 2 years ago (due to much greater samples size)

Healthy Weight Microbes: 0.33x than Selected Samples (Akkermansia muciniphila, Bifidobacterium, Coprococcus, and Roseburia..)

Unique Microbes: 10 bacteria in your sample that are found least frequently in our results (Seldom seen bacteria are less likely to have been studied in depth, but the rarity of these specimens does not indicate they are beneficial or harmful.)
0.9% of Samples: Elusimicrobia - Elusimicrobia - Elusimicrobiales - Elusimicrobiaceae - Elusimicrobium
1.8% of Samples: Spirochaetes - Spirochaetia
1.3% of Samples: Fretibacterium
2.1% of Samples: Sedimentibacter
2.6% of Samples: Syntrophococcus

Gluten-Digesting Microbes: <0.05x than Selected Samples (Enterococcus faecalis, Lactobacillus rhamnosus, and Bacillus licheniformis..)

Anti-Inflammatory Microbes:
- Butyrate-producing microbes: >2x than Selected Samples (Anaerostipes, Faecalibacterium prausnitzii, Eubacterium, and Roseburia..)
- Propionate-producing microbes:
0.28x than Selected Samples (Akkermansia muciniphila, Eubacterium, Roseburia, and Ruminococcus..)
- Polyamine-producing microbes:
1.23x than Selected Samples (Bifidobacterium..)

Lactose-Digesting Microbes: 0.29x than Lactose Intolerant People (Your sample has a lower abundance of bacteria that may help reduce the symptoms of lactose intolerance than people who identify as lactose intolerant. Bifidobacterium, Lactobacillus, Faecalibacterium, and Roseburia..)

Artificial Sweeteners and Your Microbes: 0.19x than Artificial Sweeteners Consumers

Probiotic Microbes:
0x than Selected Samples (Lactobacillus, Bifidobacterium)
0.24x than Selected Samples (Akkermansia)Probiotic Foods Microbes
0x than yogurt, pickles and sauerkraut consumers (which I consume daily!)

Microbial Diversity: 8.60 out of 10 diversity score (Microbial diversity scores can range from 0 to 10, with 10 being the most diverse. Most people have a score between 6 and 9. A score of 10 — maximum diversity — is not common.) 89th precentile - down from 93rd

Alcohol and Your Microbes (microbes often reduced in people whose alcohol use is damaging their gut barrier):
0.87x than Selected Samples (0.85x in Alcohol Consumers)

Alcohol Metabolism (compared your abundance of two groups of bacteria):
1x of Accumulators (those that turn alcohol into toxic acetaldehyde)
10x of Decomposers (and those that then break it down: Lactobacillus, Streptococcus, and Bacteroides)

Sleep Microbes:
- Serotonin-producing microbes (Streptococcus and Enterococcus):
0.14x than Selected Samples
- GABA-producing microbes (Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium):
<0.05x than Selected Samples

Vitamin-Producing Microbes:
- Vitamin K (bacteria which use vitamin K1 to produce vitamin K2):
3.30% compared to Selected Samples
- Vitamin B9 (folate) producing bacteria:
31.33% compared to Selected Samples

Nutrient Metabolism:
- Complex Carbohydrates metabolizing bacteria (Bacteroides, Roseburia, Butyrivibrio, Ruminococcus, Bifidobacterium, and Prevotella..):82% compared to Selected Samples
- Lipid metabolizing bacteria:61% compared to Selected Samples
- Amino acid metabolizing bacteria:38% compared to Selected Samples

TMA-Producing Microbes (gut microbes that produce trimethylamine (TMA), a chemical that is later converted within the body to trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO):0.53x than Selected Samples

Microbiomeprescribtion with the same test sample showed even less GABA-producers:

So in my microbiome vitually zero GABA or serotonin producing bacteria. Interestingly, never had any anxiety or depression at all.

Other inconsistencies: I've always been skinny, am not lactose-intolerant, and ate pro- and prebiotics every day (sauerkraut, curd, natto, pickles).

Only the wellness sore did stike a chord with me, because the same year as that ubiome test my remaining ME/CFS symptoms (PEMs) ceased.

So take with a grain of salt. The more so if only suspecting microbes lacking. We still understand it too little.