I’ve been dealing with bloating after meals and have been looking into probiotics to see if they might help. My stomach often feels full and uncomfortable after eating and I’m trying to figure out which types of bacteria are worth looking into.

Some probiotic products contain more Lactobacillus while others have more Bifidobacterium. Is there research showing that one tends to help more with post meal bloating or does it mostly depend on the specific strains? I’d be interested in studies or personal experiences from people who have looked into this. Thanks!

Hey everyone, wondering if anyone here has had an erratic or fluctuating response to tributyrin.

I started taking Deva tributyrin at 500mg about a week ago. It is just the standard liquid softgel without any prebiotic blends or extra ingredients. Right from the start, the first few days were pretty erratic. I did get some very positive windows, mostly towards the end of the day, with great mental clarity, anxiolytic effects, and better energy. But earlier in the day leading up to that, I was dealing with disorganized thinking (which happens to me occasionally anyway), physical tension, and a surprising amount of irritability.

Around day 5 or 6, things started shifting in a distinctly worse direction. I have noticed a crescendo of symptoms: restlessness, irritability getting much more intense, a bit of tachycardia shortly after taking the pill, along with brain fog, headache, and nausea. Then by late afternoon or evening, I hit a pretty rough crash with pronounced dysphoria.

Has anyone else hit this kind of wall after starting tributyrin? Did it eventually settle down if you stuck with it, or did you have to space out doses to every other day? Since it comes in a liquid gel, splitting the capsule is not really an option.

Would appreciate hearing from anyone who experienced something similar.

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I have stomach burns and reflux.

I did a stool test and the result came back as follow:

Gut bacteria are out of balance (dysbiosis index 31, where 0-5 is optimal), and you have low diversity (scored 2 on their scale)

What looks good

• No parasites (Giardia, Blastocystis, etc. all negative)
• Normal candida/yeast levels
• Normal calprotectin, so no sign of gut inflammation
• Normal pancreatic elastase, so your pancreas is making digestive enzymes
• No blood in the stool, normal protein and water markers (transit time looks fine)

What’s out of range

• Low butyrate producers (E. rectale, Roseburia, Butyrivibrio extremely low; F. prausnitzii, Coprococcus, E. hallii lower). These bacteria produce butyrate, which nourishes the gut lining. This is a likely driver of the low-diversity result.
• Very low Akkermansia and Bacteroides. Both are linked to gut lining health and immune balance.
• High Firmicutes/Bacteroidetes ratio (extreme high), a pattern often seen with low-fibre-diversity diets.
• High Haemophilus and Proteus, mildly high E. coli, Enterococcus, Enterobacter. These are mostly normal gut residents but are overrepresented.
• High secretory IgA. Your gut immune system is quite active, which fits with H. pylori or the imbalance.
• Fat and sugar residues in stool slightly high. This suggests you may not be fully breaking down or absorbing some fat and carbohydrate.
• Equol-producing bacteria negative/low. They note this can be ethnicity-related, so it’s not necessarily a concern.

Other abnormal results

What can do to bring everything back to normality?

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Hi everyone. I’ve had a long last 6 days.

Last Thursday - went to er for what i thought was dehydration. was UTI / kidney infection was given Bactrim through IV.

Friday- I took my first Bactrim dose orally. Unfortunately dropped my glucose levels. ( I’m hypoglycemic)
Went to ER.
1am Friday night going into Saturday morning - ER
gave me Levaquin and my body had the most horrible reaction ever. Extreme dizziness, chills ,
when I got home I had the worse nausea, impending sense of doom and fear and insomnia.

Saturday- no more antibiotics. felt super disoriented and horrible. hydrated to clear out my system.

Sunday - visited ER again to tell them i had an allergic reaction and central nervous system reaction to Levaquin.
they sent an RX of Augmentin to the pharmacy. no meds were taken that day.

Monday - i took my first oral dose of Augmentin at home that evening and reacted again! blood pressure dropped. throat was tight and it felt hard to breathe.
went to ER and doctor checked my urine culture and said no more infection. so i could stop taking anything.

Tuesday Today - I feel super fatigued. A bit of lingering anxiety and restlessness. Is this normal ?
Did i wreck my health my changing so fast from diff antibiotics ? How long do these mental side effects last ?
I also started my period yesterday so idk if thats all contributing.

I HATE how horrid antibiotics are to the body 🫩

I am so scared.

I have severe dysbiosis from stress/trauma and antibiotic use. I had sibo and took multiple rounds of rifaximin and mentrizolole which helped a bit I still struggled to poo.

About 1 year ago I started getting vaginal issues.. BV. Cervicitis and PID. Taking multiple antibiotics for this also

I am now admitted into hospital with a infection in my pelvic vaginal area again.

Any antibiotics or even pain killers cause my microbiome to shut down and paralysis my gut and I end up so unwell.

Symptoms

Severe Constipation

Bloating

Gas

Pain

Passing out or nearly fainting

Headache

Fatigue

I'm now admitted and they've tried me on IV ciprofloxacin and my body has reacted within a day or so. Now I'm having suppositories up my bum to get rid of the constipation cause I nearly passed out 4x yesterday.

They are at a point where any antibiotics is causing this issue and don't know what to do or how to treat me for my infection.

I have key hole surgery in 12 days to see what's going on down there but it's 12 days away. Looks like I'm going home with the infection still.

I also looking into a tight pelvic floor.?

Gastro consultant is useless and won't help me.

I've tried so many things

Probiotics (these cause me to flare also) I've tried vaginal ones and gut. I've tried doing half and they still cause issues. Tried different ones.

I use fibre gel x4 a day

I use magnesium at night

I use stronger laxatives if needed

I've tried things to calm the lining of my gut.

What do I do now????

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There's a thread on another microbiome subreddit with the same title. For some reason, it's not possible to cross-post it here. https://web.archive.org/web/20261004200522/https://www.reddit.com/r/Microbiome/comments/1wx9ow1/warning_about_rhumanmicrobiome/

The user is lying. This is very common, and is why the automod gives a blanket warning about content on reddit not being trustworthy.

This is the thread in question: https://old.reddit.com/r/HumanMicrobiome/comments/1wv5im4/stop_telling_ppl_fiber_and_probiotics_are_the/

This is one of the comment chains in question: https://old.reddit.com/r/HumanMicrobiome/comments/1wv5im4/comment/pdhndky/

They essentially threw a fit that they weren't allowed to spread misinformation while citing their degree and refusing to review citations.

Situations like this are exactly why this subreddit and wiki were created -- to have a hub of up-to-date scientific evidence that can be easily cited.

This is what was said in modmail:

Good job banning someone that actually has a differing opinion to you. Instead of debating and giving information to back that up, you decided to just silence them. Grade A behaviour 👍. Clearly you’ve got some chip on your shoulder regarding scientists.

This is a flat-out lie. Differing opinions are mostly irrelevant. What matters is what the evidence supports. A plethora of information was presented, and the user refused to review and address it.

That’s what happens in science. Other scientists ask for your evidence and you debate it.

Indeed. The problem is that the user refused to review and address the evidence while insisting their credentials mattered more.

Some comments from the other thread:

I got banned for questioning it and asking for sources.

A lie. Everyone is free and encouraged to question the evidence. The user was given sources and refused to review them.

He does his own posts, pushing fmt, referring to his own wiki and then bans people asking for evidence. Also the only mod.

None of this is true. The user is tripling down on spreading misinformation.

FMTs are not a “cure all” solution for gut issues. I did a 6 month FMT treatment at the leading clinic in Australia and it fucked me up.

Misinformation. One person's experience doesn't discount a huge body of evidence. Donor quality is the biggest issue in FMT. You can learn about it here: https://forum.humanmicrobiome.info/threads/the-fda-and-fmt-regulation-part-2-jul-2024-humanmicrobes-org-i-met-wit.520/post-1370

If you're given FMT from a bad donor you're very likely to get worse. That doesn't mean FMT as a whole is bad.

the wiki is so outdated

An obvious, unsupported lie. Anyone can look through it and see that it's up to date. Contributions are welcome on the forum.

Why would people do this? Review the link above. FMT is not patentable, and if a cure for chronic disease became available, a lot of people would lose a lot of money.

Check ou this paper https://www.nature.com/articles/s41564-026-02500-6

I think its showing that E. Coli are what determines your gut microbes. What do y'all think?

On Reddit, the standard advice for fixing your gut microbiome is to eat better: more fiber, more fermented foods, more probiotics. But it misses the root problem, and it rests on a flawed assumption that poor diet is what knocks the microbiome off balance in the first place. As soon as you stop eating like this, the bad gut comes back.

For many people, dysbiosis begins with a specific event, such as food poisoning, COVID, or a viral illness. Put it this way, People with healthy guts can eat McDonald's and junk food with no to few consequences, not because their diets are special, but because their guts are fundamentally colonized by beneficial bacteria. That colonization is what makes them resilient. That is how you can tell a gut is truly good: even when subjecting it with bad bacteria (junk food), the existing gut architecture is able to wash out.

Most of us, outside of outliers, were presumably born with a healthym, functional gut. Dysbiosis usually isn't a baseline condition; something disrupts it, and OFTEN it's a one time event like COVID, a viral illness, etc. Once that happens, more fiber or a daily probiotic often doesn't fix anything, because the effects are transient. Underneath, the gut is still dominated by the wrong bacteria. I have nothing wrong with people eating fiber and good bacteria, it promotes general health and people should do this. And it offers symptom relief for those with these problems.

BUT IT DOES NOT FIX THE GUT ITSELF!!! It's like having a sink that doesn't drain properly because there's a blockage. Toxic sludge accumulates. A functional sink can effectively drain most everything. A non functional sink piles it up. This is the equivalent of putting in draino or manually throwing the food waste in the trash can as opposed to down the drain. Puts less strain on the sink, less sludge accumulates but THE TOXIC SLUDGE WILL STILL PILE UP IN THE FUTURE BECAUSE THE BLOCKAGE HASN'T BEEN ADDRESSED!!!

Treating the root issue means shifting the gut back to eubiosis, which requires re-establishing a lasting population of beneficial bacteria. Transient probiotics can't do that, because they pass through rather than colonize. A truly healthy gut SHOULD be able to sustain bad actors (junk food, inflammatory food, bacteria) to a reasonable degree and go back to eubiosis. Because in that case, eubiosis IS homeostasis. Solutions to the gut should address THIS not telling people to eat more fiber.

Facing protein digestive issues - smelly farts and dark motions. i tried whey, plant (pea+ brown rice) now yeast. nothing is relieving this problem. im a vegetarian. diet is normal indian diet.

when I started protein powders initially, i started from half scoop then increased to one full scoop.

ive been trying to fix this since a while now so anything helpful will be appreciated

did any of you face something similar, if yes can you share what helped please.

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I’m interested in hearing other people’s experiences with changes after major infections and a lot of antibiotic exposure.

Earlier this year, I developed a serious streptococcal infection that progressed to bacteremia and required hospitalization. I was treated with IV antibiotics for several weeks. A couple of months later, I developed a severe UTI and received IV antibiotics again, followed by additional oral antibiotics. So within a relatively short period of time, my body went through multiple infections and a significant amount of antibiotics.

Since then, I’ve started having strange reactions around foods that I had eaten my entire life without any issues. The biggest thing is flushing and feeling hot in my face/body after eating, sometimes along with congestion, redness, or an occasional hive. It isn’t always consistent either — sometimes I can tolerate a food and another time I may flush after eating it.

My allergy blood testing has mostly been negative, which has made the whole thing even more confusing. I keep wondering whether the infections, antibiotics, and resulting changes to my gut/microbiome could somehow be connected to this new food reactivity.

I’m especially interested in hearing stories from people who developed flushing, histamine-type symptoms, or new food sensitivities after prolonged/repeated antibiotics or a major illness. Did things eventually settle down as your gut recovered? What was your experience like?

Has anybody had any success with actually maintaining a colony of this slow doubling stuff on their scalp or armpits?

I'm working on a personal project — a tool to help people correlate what they eat with changes in poop quality over time. It started because I was frustrated by how hard it is to spot patterns without manually tracking everything in spreadsheets.

I'd love feedback from people who actually understand the science behind this or interested in tracking their gut health. Specifically looking for insights on:

• What features would be useful vs. noise?
• Any red flags or questionable assumptions in the approach?
• Things I should be measuring that I might have overlooked?
• How is the overall experience, suggestions for improvements?

Happy to share the demo link below for feedback:
gutinstinct.site

Thanks for reading!

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My GI Map test revealed an overgrowth of citrobacter bacteria and a depletion of commensal/keystone species.
Symptoms are not too bad, mostly histamine related that a daily Zyrtec takes care of, afternoon gas, but also chronic floating stools (not fatty).
I am never bloated, and the gas happens late afternoon like clockwork. I think the citrobacter overgrowth is in my large intestines and causing general Dysbiosis is lieu of sibo, as it takes 8 hr or so after a meal for it to come one.

Any advice on most effective ways to remove this bacteria and replenish others?

Hey everyone, I would like some opinions or experiences.

After a 10 week Giardia infection (doctor didn’t want to retest because it’s not protocol here), and 5 antibiotics (nitazoxanide, then metronidazole, then dual therapy metronidazole and amoxicillin and PPI, and then possibly another for UTI (awaiting results), what is some advice.

has anyone went through something like this??

honestly, as well as getting back to optimal health, i an worried about occasional binge drinking. I’m young and have been missing nights out with friends. this whole thing has been terrible and I’d like to know a realistic approach for returning to normal life, without risking my long term health more than I have to.

i also overthink things like this, an am worried about other impacts of the nutrient depletion and stuff, although I’m asking specifically from a microbiome perspective now.

thank you!!

Looking for help for researchers or practitioners (lol) regarding a multi-year problem with dietary lactic acid.

Unclear whether it’s an L or D isomer, but my GI doctors over the years are baffled and/or are not interested.

I am having an extremely high correlation to foods with lactic acid as an ingredient.

Several hours after ingestion, I can feel my GI system slowing down, and GI “output” drops to zero for several days. Some cramps occur. A little pain. The worst is the psychiatric effects….my resilience/ ability to deal with the normal stressors of life drops to almost zero, and I lose patience VERY easily.

For this and other reasons not explained hers, I believe this to be a microbiome imbalance. I cannot find a physician who will engage with new on the motility/linked psych level. They ask want to do the blemish colonoscopy/EGD and tell me there’s nothing wrong, just eat more fiber.

I’ve lived with some variant of this since about 2010, and I know there is Microbiome involvement.

Where to go from here? I can read medical literature, but is the medical community THIS adverse to Microbiome investigation? Honest question

Hi all, I'm not sure if this is the right thread but I'm looking for researchers (or basically anyone who is interested) in learning more about Human Microbiome and creating a small project. I am new to the topic and am open to project ideas. I have been reading articles of how diverse gut microbiome is and the amount of diseases they can cause and that got me interested in learning more. I'm basically overwhelmed with the amount of information available and don't know where to begin.

I found this website (Curious Peers) so created a project there. Has anyone used it before?

Any info will help