Gut microbe sampling

[cj20uk]

Hi, Has anyone else had their gut microbes sampled? I've just got my results back and would be interested to know if anyone else has high levels of Proteobacteria or Acinetobacter

[maz61]

No, but I'm thinking about it. Which lab did you use?

[cj20uk in reply to maz61]

The American Gut project (via the British Gut project website). I'm still researching the info I got from my results, but it is good to have confirmation that my microbes are different to average, whereas all hospital tests have come back as normal, yet I know that my symptoms are not!

[maz61 in reply to cj20uk]

Thank you so much for that info - I was not aware of this project. I was thinking of maybe using RED Labs in Belgium (which seems to be favoured on forums) but that costs €280. At £75 the British Gut project seems a very good deal.

Can I ask what your symptoms are? I have suffered serious distension and discomfort (on occasions escalating to excruciating pain) for over 2 years. All tests have come back normal apart from the fact that I have an enlarged stomach with slightly delayed gastric emptying.

Nothing has seemed to help until just recently when I started on a probiotic called Alflorex. For the first 2 weeks or so it seemed to make the distension worse. Then I had 2 days of non-stop intestinal gurgling and after that the distension was greatly reduced and has remained so for the last 3 weeks. However I'm still getting the discomfort, especially in the night. It feels like there is a lot of 'movement' going on in my lower abdomen - burbling and popping.

This has made me question whether my problem is due to bad bacteria in my gut. I asked my consultant about stool analysis but she said even if I paid to have it done there is no treatment pathway. However I feel I want to know just what bacteria I might have lurking. It will also be interesting to see if the good bacteria in Alflorex show up in the analysis and in what numbers.

[cj20uk in reply to maz61]

Hi, I have problems quite like you with a lot of gas and gurgling - not usually with pain though, just really uncomfortable. It often feels like something is trapped, but then it will all move around and gurgle and I'll feel a lot better. I went on a FODMAP elimination diet which helped with IBS-D but has not really had an effect on the gas and bloating. All tests came back normal, yet I knew there was something wrong and that I ought to be able to do something about it. Finding out what bacteria I have has given me a new insight to hopefully be able to get some answers.

[maz61 in reply to cj20uk]

That's really interesting - thank you. I, too, have been on the low Fodmap diet but it made no difference to me. I don't seem to have IBS as my bowel movements have remained entirely normal throughout.

I am going to give the British Gut project a go and see what results I get back. Three to six months is a long time to wait though!

Maybe give the Alflorex a try and see if it helps with your bloating?

[cj20uk in reply to maz61]

I will look into Alflorex and see if it works.

The British Gut project does say it takes a long time, but mine only took about a month. Not sure if I was lucky or if it has got quicker! If you try it , it would be interesting to know how your results compare.

[maz61 in reply to cj20uk]

I'll be sure to post my results when I get them.

[maz61 in reply to cj20uk]

After many months of waiting I finally got my results. Compared to 'average' and 'similar' bar charts, I seem to have normal levels of proteobacteria and acinetobacter. However I seem to have very few verrucomicrobia and next to no tenericutes. Apparently I also have 4 rare taxa: oceanobacillus, brevundimonas, acetobacter and enhydrobacter. Will have to do a lot of internet searching to try and make sense of the results.

[cj20uk]

Its good that you've got your results back. Now you can start researching! I also have no tenericutes and only a few verrucromocrobia but looking at the charts, they don't seem to be in abundance in average people anyway. I haven't actually researched the ones that are low, I'd been concentrating on the high ones, but you've got me thinking now that there may be some significance in this!

Good luck with the research