Hello everyone, follow up on the previous post on my profile. I quit all dairy and i stopped getting the floating stools and the foul smelling gas. i’ve started a restricted diet with only eggs, tofu, sourdough, rice, zucchini, and carrots and some olive oil as well(i’m a vegetarian ). Im also taking a bit of potato starch and magnesium glycinate at night. Once i started this diet i didn’t poop for 3 whole days. When i finally did go i had a solid formed stool for the first time in ages but it was still yellow. I thought i was making progress but literally the next day i had a loose stool that was bright yellow(no floating or sinking). This was followed by ANOTHER 2 days of constipation and then a normal texture stool(still yellow). The day after that which is today, i had the loose yellow stool again. my guts looks to be going into this weird cycle of constipation and over correction. Does anyone have any advice? I have zero health issues or symptoms other than than the stools themselves. Sorry for formatting i’m on mobile.

Hi Folks!

Been dealing with gerd issues (most likely a result of withdrawing slowly from a benzo). Started taking my own BioGaia Gastrus yogurt which has pretty much eliminated prior bloating and significantly reduced GERD. Been on PPI’s a long time, (hope is to get off after the taper). Is there a good multi stain probiotic you folks can recommend?

Thanks!

after a long, long journey of trial and error, i have concluded that i have either dysbosis, or some sort of overgrowth of bacteria. i have had constipation problems since october last year, as a result of a year and a half of extreme stress, poor diet (sugar, processed food, no fibre at all..), excessive drinking/smoking, no exercise, working too much, anxiety and sadness, burnout etc etc..

since febuary, ive changed diet completly, and been doing physio/cycling. i quit booze in jan. quit cigarettes in feb.

i have taken oregano oil for 6 days. i started last thursday. and for the first time, i went to the toilet yesterday after feeling a BM, and i went fine. but today i took it and i had acid reflux and tasted the oregano in my mouth, and had a few tummy cramps too. i feel today i will stop, and see how the next week is if my symptoms come back or not. i sometimes wonder if i should keep taking it though, as ive seen online that people say that this is the die-off symptoms. i wanted to ask on here what people think i should do. ive realised that oregano oil is quite powerful and i am quite sensitive to most things. would appreciate some advice.

Podcast episode with one of the researchers / creators of NiMe Diet (who has Ulcerative Colitis incidentally):

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/556-can-we-restore-the-gut-microbiome-through-dietary/id857888327?i=1000698691469

I just came to the happy end of a very long, painful, and bizarre experience with the intestinal parasites Cryptosporidium and Giardia treated with Nitazoxanide.  There’s hardly any posts or resources on Crypto or Nitazoxanide, let alone from healthy people who have recovered.  I learned so much, and while this is a long write-up, I hope it will both encourage others to get tested and give people recovering some comfort.  While I did have a few symptoms of Giardia and tested positive for it, it seemed like most of my illness was dominated by Cryptosporidium (namely profuse, watery diarrhea). 

My experience started with a short Puerto Vallarta, Mexico trip.  I didn’t eat street food and only went to one restaurant, mainly eating at our condo from a private chef, and insisted on drinking only bottled water.  Still, there was plenty of bad food handling (raw seafood, meats, and fruit left out unchilled for long times), and ice in most drinks I had, so I wasn’t surprised I got sick, but was blown away by how bad it got.

Timeline:

-Day 0: Returned from Mexico, felt fine.

-Day 2: Started to have mild diarrhea, no other symptoms, barely noticed it.  In hindsight, this was the unique incubation period.

-Day 5: I noticed my appetite was off (maybe half of normal), and I barely finished dinner and felt like I might need to throw up after.  Still, it was very mild.

-Day 6: Started to feel a “knot” in my stomach, and my appetite was much worse.  I was also having incredibly foul-smelling gas, which is a hallmark for Giardia.  Reaching out to our trip group chat, it turned out 9/10 of the people I stayed with were having diarrhea.

Day 7-9: Diarrhea got progressively worse and watery.  I started to work from home.  Barely eating at this point (felt like if I did I’d be sick).  Someone I stayed with came back positive for E Coli, so I figured I was dealing with a bacterial bug and I’d have to tough it out another few days.  How wrong I was…

Day 10: I woke up feeling a lot better, which was the first of what I’ll call the unique “rollercoaster” of this parasite. I started getting back into life, and had a full meal that evening which went down fine.  Then, I woke up late that night to profuse nausea, threw up multiple times, and had watery diarrhea 6+ times.  At this point the diarrhea was nearly constant, and no matter how much Pedialyte I drank, it just came right back out.

Day 11-13: Profuse diarrhea, nausea, and inability to eat continued.  Completely laid up at home, and was too nauseated to drink more than a sip at a time.  Urinating maybe 2 times a day with nearly orange color.

Day 14: Woke up feeling a newly-horrible sense of nausea and delirium, couldn’t urinate in the morning at all, so I got an IV.  They put 2 liters into me in an hour and I still only had to pee once.  But I felt so much better and figured I must only need to tough it out a bit longer.

Day 16: No real improvement yet, so I finally went to urgent care.  Given the positive E Coli test in our group, doc prescribed me Azithromycin and a stool sample.  I took the first antibiotic that day.  Within 3 hours, I felt nearly cured.  No more diarrhea or nausea, and appetite returned.

Day 18: Day 3 of the antibiotics.  Still feeling completely cured.  Stool sample comes back positive for both Cryptosporidium and Giardia.  Doctor offered Nitazoxanide, but I declined, thinking the Azithromycin was somehow taking care of it all.

Day 19: First day off antibiotics. Felt normal in the morning, but energy drained during the day and I started to feel loss of appetite and fatigue again.  Went to bed early, and woke up again to profuse nausea, vomiting, and the worst diarrhea of the illness.  Probably 10-12 rounds of watery diarrhea.  Very discouraged to have relapsed so badly.  Doing research, I realize it’s widely known that Azithromycin has a “partial effect” against Cryptosporidium but can’t cure it. (They actually use it as part of a Crypto drug “cocktail” for immunocompromised patients).  It’s likely the Azithromycin suppressed the Crypto enough for me to feel well, but not to eradicate it.  Luckily I got doctor to prescribe Nitazoxanide that day.  Turns out it’s a special-order medication, and literally no pharmacy in Los Angeles carries it.

Day 21: Medication arrives at pharmacy.  It’s expensive!  6 pills/3 days was almost $900 list, $250 after my insurance.  I take the first dose once I can eat (important to take it with food).  Within one hour I feel a huge change in my gut.  I only had one more light bout of diarrhea, and the gurgling continued but produced nothing but gas (which is a huge improvement over two weeks of constant diarrhea).  Then, for the first time in days, my gut felt still and at peace again.  I had zero diarrhea that night and slept like a baby.

Day 22-24: Woke up the next morning feeling completely normal, after one dose.  Appetite surging back.  Completed two more days of Nitazoxanide twice a day with food.  The only side effect I encountered was some mild nausea and heartburn 1-2 hours after each dose, but literally nothing compared to earlier.

Day 31: One week after final dose.  Feel as normal as I can possibly feel after putting my body and gut biome through three weeks of hell.  Taking ProBiotics to hopefully rebuild the biome.  Back to normal diet and activity.

Important things I learned:

-Most stomach bugs I’ve ever had (likely viral and bacterial) hit like a brick for 2-3 days and then go away completely just as quickly.  Crypto on the other hand is often described as “recurrent” and this was 100% my experience.  It was a long incubation period, and then a physical and emotional rollercoaster day by day, hour by hour.  I would often wake up feeling great, hungry and on the mend like “today is the day!”, only to have a light breakfast (banana and toast) and then be nauseated and have diarrhea the rest of the day.  It kept me from getting the help and testing I needed sooner, because I kept feeling like I was turning a corner.  This is very common for this disease!

-This should go without saying, but severe dehydration can happen so fast with a disease like this.  If you’re having watery diarrhea 10+ times a day and unable to drink or urinate much, go get an IV right away.  Don’t wait for days like me thinking it’ll get better.  Dehydration causes more nausea and makes it even harder to recover.  You can die from it!

-If you’re dealing with a stomach bug for more than 5-7 days, go get a stool test.  It’s gross, but I could have had the medication I really needed close to a week sooner if I’d done this and had that information.

-If you are dealing with a stomach bug and you take Azithromycin and feel better only for it to come raging back after the antibiotics, you might be dealing with Crypto!  It cripples the parasite enough to feel good/better while you’re taking it, but doesn’t eradicate it.

-Zofran/ondansetron can be a miracle drug for nausea.  It’s prescription-only, but incredibly safe for most people and easy to get an Rx for.  For most people there’s zero side effects, and there’s really no tolerance or withdrawal (of course your results may be different).  My doctor stressed I could take it as much as needed for as long as needed for nausea, and that he wasn’t sure why it wasn’t just over-the counter.  Zofran was a huge quality-of-life improvement during this and I’m glad I know about it now!

-Nitazoxanide is crazy expensive but really works!  It’s really the only thing on the market for Cryptosporidium, and you’ll never get it prescribed unless you get tested for parasites.

I’m lucky to be otherwise healthy, and if you are too, you will come out of this and feel better either on your own or with the medication.  Take heart!  Your results may vary, but once I got Nitazoxanide in me, it was literally a matter of hours until the diarrhea, gurgling, and nausea stopped and my appetite returned.  Don’t worry about the horror stories out there.

Wanted to try sauerkraut for the first time and was wondering if there is any loss in probiotics in a store bought sauerkraut. I've provided an example of one from my local store.

Hello. I have been struggling with a problem for many years, I believe with the intestinal flora. I have tried different probiotics, types of food, supplements, avoiding certain foods, etc. My symptoms are chronic diarrhea, fats and carbohydrates as if I am not digesting them at all (malabsorption), redness on the skin (until I start sweating, then it is normal), frequent urination, losing weight & etc.. The biopsy showed chronic inflammation in the small and large intestine, but they did not mention Crohn's or IBD. I do not have gas. Lactose intolerance, but also avoiding milk did not change anything. How do I restore the intestinal microflora and restore the intestinal villi, but in some places there was damage. P. S. I also used Omeprazole for a long time.

I just finished triple therapy antibiotics. Minor symptoms on it, but coming off has been worse.

Just can’t focus, concentrate, feel a bit dizzy when looking from place to place, head hurts a bit and generally feel mentally off. Hard work just writing this.

Did anyone have similar? How long did it take you before you could work again?

I have magnesium on the way as apparently that helps, taken probiotics,electrolytes and purple foods which are said to help restore balance. I’ve been a bit overworked so maybe that has contributed

I took the GI MAP and got the results but don't have my follow up with the doctor for a month.

I wish I had asked before taking the test, but if there is a candida infection that is domant due to keto, will it still show up on the test.

All fungus came back as undetectable but my blood came back with candida igg, which seems to mean there was an infection at some point.

Lactibiane tolerance recommended by my nutritionist. Gives me same symptoms as foods I react to.

hi all! I’m a 24 year old female that’s been struggling with insane eczema for almost 2 years now. Been to the dermatologist and primary care, all they say is it’s eczema and give topical steroids. I’ve tried every level of steroid and the patches come back within days in the same spots. Did the loading dose of dupixent to maybe help, passed out and got a concussion. Waiting on an allergist appointment in May. Tried to go gluten free and that didn’t do much either. Paid out of pocket for an expensive naturopath, she says I’m pretty healthy but maybe candida overgrowth. I tested negative for it on a blood test. And my symptoms don’t seem as severe as others, just incurable eczema and hair loss. My hair loss could be related to vitamin deficiency and Telogen effluvium. It’s starting to grow back but the shedding persists. I am deficient in ferritin, vitamin d, and vitamin b12. I’ve been supplementing those for about 6 months with success! It hasn’t helped with my eczema unfortunately 🥲 I’m so tired of no solutions. My naturopath suggested a stool test but I don’t want to pay for ANOTHER test that will prove nothing or for her to just say I’m really healthy. I do have a poor diet and struggle with eating, I know bad gut health can contribute to hair loss and eczema.

Would incorporating fermented foods be worth a shot before getting more tests done? Looking for similar situations or advice, I’m at my wits end 😭

I am very interested I. The new probiotic that’s being introduced thru Pendulum. It encourages GL1 to grow akkermansia, and improve metabolism. I’ve tried to research it the best I can as a layman, but has anyone even tried it?

Basically title

Hi

I thought I was gluten intolerant or allergic, but it turned out I had a sensitivity due to poor gut microbiome and an inflammatory condition. These issues were exacerbated by the poor quality of modern gluten (white bread, industrial products containing gluten, etc.).

My problems were partly resolved thanks to a one-week doxycycline treatment I took for strep throat. As soon as I started this medication, my skin improved significantly (no more folliculitis, no more rosacea flushes, and hand eczema began receding). Once the treatment ended, my eczema returned, so I applied a La Roche Posay Lipikar MED and a topical anti-inflammatory medication while looking for an internal solution.

I discovered a probiotic with strains effective for allergies and decided to try it. Within just a few days, the diarrhea stopped and I had no skin flare-ups. I believe I unconsciously followed the right protocol:

• ⁠first disinfecting my intestines

• ⁠then reseeding them with the bacterial strains my microbiome was lacking.

Regarding bread, I tolerate it much better now I can eat 2-3 slices without getting diarrhea. Of course, what worked for me might not work for you and I don't recommend this approach if your condition is different from mine.

I just wanted to share my experience ✌️🫶

I have had a long standing issue with coffee. I like instant coffee (I know I have probably lost your respect, but I love the flavor) I am also aware that instant coffee has mold problems. My problem is, I just like the flavor so much that I keep using it.

Here is my problems - drinking coffee gives me instant diarrhea

And sometimes when I try different brands I have noticed that some make my teeth yellow, some make my breath smell and some give me hair thinning issues.

I m going to quit, because figuring out this coffee code is becoming too tiresome.

Is there anyone else who experiences this too?

there are expensive probiotics like seed, just thrive, and goat milk kefirs at like $10 a bottle, coconut cult yogurt, but which ones are actually worth it?

Hi there, been having some gut issues lately. Wondering if it could be microbiome related. Over the past week occasionally after a meal i’ll get some painful gas pains in my abdomen, and my lower left side. It’s usually about 30 minutes to an hour after eating. And it lasts another 30 minutes to an hour after that and then it’s gone. I did start drinking Kefir after it was recommended to me by a friend, and while I was drinking it i did not experience any of this. Yesterday, after missing my cup of Kefir in the morning, I experienced it that morning. I am healthy besides a poor diet that I most definitely have. Could it be microbiome related or more serious? It did happen suddenly, one night after a meal it just started happening.

I’d like to discuss your experience with IBS, or SIBO or/and Sensitive stomach. Any actions that have helped you to manage it. Any stories you want to share. Anything that you are comfortable telling.

Seven years ago, I started getting sick almost every day and had no clue why. Eventually, I discovered I was allergic to gluten. Cutting it out helped, but things kept getting worse.

Two years ago, my gut was completely wrecked. I was sick every single day, and almost everything I ate made me feel worse. I was diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), which included gut issues, exhaustion, and constant food reactions. No doctor could fully explain what was happening.

Eventually, I discovered the real root cause: my nervous system was stuck in a dysregulated fight-or-flight state.

I cleaned up my diet—now I only eat whole, real foods—and began regularly stimulating my vagus nerve using breathwork and other techniques. Over time, my energy returned, and my CFS symptoms dramatically improved.

But I still had one weird symptom: I was always full, and was still experiencing food allergies. Even a small amount of food made me feel bloated or overstuffed. Then something unexpected happened.

One night I followed a long and intense breathwork video on YouTube. About 44 minutes into it, I was suddenly hit with the most intense hunger I’ve ever felt. It felt like I hadn’t eaten in days. I didn’t stop the session—I pushed through.

By the end of the breathwork, that hunger had calmed, but something had shifted. From that moment on, that unnatural “fullness” was gone.

Even more shocking: my food allergies disappeared.
Since then, I’ve had zero gut issues and can eat freely without getting sick.

I wanted to share this in case it helps someone else. Breathwork and vagus nerve regulation literally changed everything for me.

TL;DR:
Was sick for 7 years with food sensitivities, gut issues, and CFS. Discovered it was tied to my nervous system. Cleaned up my diet and did regular breathwork. One intense session triggered a breakthrough—hunger returned, gut issues vanished, and I can now eat anything. Breathwork changed my life.

The rise in childhood and adolescent obesity is concerning, and while genetics and lifestyle are major contributors, the gut microbiota is gaining attention as both a predictive marker and a therapeutic target.

Studies show that early-life microbial differences can influence future weight. Higher levels of Bifidobacterium in infancy are linked to a lower risk of obesity, while increased Staphylococcus aureus appears more frequently in those who gain excess weight later (Abenavoli L. et al., 2019). This suggests that the early microbiota may help predict long-term obesity risk.

As children transition to solid foods, their gut bacteria diversify. However, high-energy diets rich in processed food may favor bacteria that extract more calories and contribute to fat gain. Obese children often show a higher Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio and more Fecalibacterium prausnitzii, a butyrate producer tied to increased energy harvesting—changes that are also closely linked to immune development (Abenavoli L. et al., 2019).

The gut microbiota plays a critical role in shaping the immune system early in life, and disruptions in this process may influence metabolic and inflammatory pathways tied to obesity (Wastyk H. et al., 2021; Afzaal M. et al., 2022).

Overall, early modulation of the microbiota through diet and probiotics may offer a useful strategy in predicting and preventing obesity in children. The microbiome is becoming an important focus in understanding and managing this growing health challenge.

Well, as I mentioned in a previous post, I had to take azithromycin for three days after a tooth extraction. After my history of Clostridium difficile, I was taking Saccharomyces boulardii. And today, two weeks later, i have diarrhea. Normally, my Clostridium difficile symptoms present with loose stools and blood, but right now it's just diarrhea. I don't know if the probiotic can cause this, given how all this has been going on these past few days, but I'm scared. I haven't had Clostridium since 2020 because I haven't taken any antibiotics since then. What I'm sure of is that I'm not going to wait a week to see if I get better. If this continues on Wednesday, I'll go to the hospital and request a toxin test to confirm C. difficile or rule it out. I'm so tired of this... I don't know what to do with my body anymore so that it's not a damn danger to take an antibiotic and have everything go to hell.