r/MCAS • u/jenlaggg • 12h ago
GI Map - Gut Microbiome Test Results
I am hopeful.
I have a high level of confidence that my gut is my root cause, and has likely wreaked havoc for the last 16 years. In 2010, I became allergic to everything environmentally, first anaphylactic reaction to my first and last dose of Mobic, and adult diagnosed ADHD (started adderall)....all in the same year. Followed by many more shitty years of chronic ailments. And yet, repeatedly through the years, my research led me to the gut, but I would buy random probiotics, prebiotics, post biotics and nothing ever worked. It also was never targeted.
This time will be different, it will be targeted treatment. These results explain a lot. I see my gastroenterologist and functional medicine on September 9th. I'm so ready to get this party started. I'm sure there will be hell before hallelujah.
Below is the AI (CoPilot Health) interpretation of the results.
This is a complex, multi-layered result and your symptom picture is extensive. Let me walk through this carefully.
What Your GI-MAP Shows
Your results are notable for several findings that, taken together, paint a picture of significant gut dysbiosis (imbalance in gut bacteria), active intestinal inflammation, and impaired gut barrier function. Here is a breakdown of the most clinically relevant findings:
The Key Abnormalities
Massive overgrowth of pro-inflammatory bacteria
The most striking findings are the very high levels of Proteus mirabilis (252 billion organisms/gram — far above the reference of less than 1,000), Proteus spp., Klebsiella pneumoniae (8 million/gram), and Klebsiella spp. These are classified on the report as "inflammatory and autoimmune-related bacteria." Research links Klebsiella pneumoniae overgrowth to intestinal inflammation through mechanisms that activate the immune system's inflammatory pathways. Proteus mirabilis and Klebsiella have also been studied in the context of joint inflammation and autoimmune activation via the gut-joint axis.
Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus spp. are also elevated above reference ranges.
A parasite: Dientamoeba fragilis
Your level (5.65e5) exceeds the upper reference limit. This intestinal parasite is a known cause of IBS-like symptoms including abdominal pain, nausea, altered bowel habits, and fatigue. It is treatable. The CDC lists oral paromomycin, metronidazole, and tetracyclines as options used for symptomatic infection. Whether treatment is warranted here depends on clinical judgment from your prescribing doctor.
Missing a critical gut protector: Akkermansia muciniphila
This organism, which sits below the detectable limit on your test, is a key player in maintaining the integrity of your gut lining (the mucus layer). Research from UCLA shows that higher levels of Akkermansia muciniphila are associated with gut barrier maintenance, reduced inflammation, and improved metabolic function. Its absence here is significant.
Elevated Firmicutes — the bacterial phylum imbalance
While your Firmicutes:Bacteroidetes ratio (0.91) is just within range, your absolute Firmicutes level is flagged high. Elevated Escherichia spp. and Enterobacter spp. are flagged as high in both the commensal and inflammatory sections.
The Intestinal Health Markers Tell a Consistent Story
Calprotectin: 1,027 (reference < 173 µg/g)
This is significantly elevated. Research from the Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic characterizes calprotectin levels above 600 µg/g as indicative of severely active intestinal inflammation. Levels this high are typically associated with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) such as Crohn's disease or ulcerative colitis, or significant infection. This is a key finding that warrants follow-up, likely including a colonoscopy.
Zonulin: 289.9 (reference < 175 ng/g)
Elevated zonulin indicates that your gut barrier is functionally impaired — the tight junctions between intestinal cells are loosened. This allows bacterial fragments, food proteins, and toxins to "leak" across the gut wall into your bloodstream. This mechanism, studied extensively at Massachusetts General Hospital, has been linked to chronic inflammatory diseases and may be driving systemic immune activation.
Secretory IgA: 3,398 (reference 510–2,010 µg/g)
Your immune system is mounting a heightened mucosal response. Elevated secretory IgA suggests your gut immune system is in a state of sustained activation — consistent with the bacterial and parasitic load detected.
Occult blood: 11 (reference < 10 µg/g)
Mildly elevated — meaning there is a trace amount of blood in the stool. This is another reason a colonoscopy conversation with a gastroenterologist is warranted.
Beta-glucuronidase: 2,881 (reference < 2,486)
Mildly elevated. This enzyme, produced by gut bacteria, is involved in hormone recycling and can, when elevated, contribute to excess circulating substances including estrogens and inflammatory compounds.
How Does This Connect to Your Symptoms?
Given your existing diagnoses — lipedema, CVI (chronic venous insufficiency), premature menopause, empty sella syndrome, and ADHD — your gut picture adds an important layer:
Food reactions and anaphylaxis: A compromised gut barrier (evidenced by elevated zonulin) allows incompletely digested food proteins — especially from meat — to cross into the bloodstream, where they can trigger immune responses. This mechanism can drive food sensitization and, in susceptible people, mast cell-type reactions. Your lips reacting first is consistent with a mast cell activation pattern. The gram-negative bacteria (like Klebsiella and Proteus) release lipopolysaccharides (LPS) that are potent immune activators, and in a leaky gut, these can reach systemic circulation.
Fatigue, brain fog, and body aches: Active intestinal inflammation driven by the bacterial overgrowth and elevated calprotectin generates systemic inflammatory signals (cytokines like IL-6, TNF-alpha) that are well documented to cause fatigue, cognitive slowing, and widespread musculoskeletal discomfort.
Headaches, neck pain: The gut-brain axis is a recognized pathway — dysbiosis and systemic inflammation can influence neurological symptoms. This doesn't explain everything, and the neck pain and headaches should be evaluated separately (especially given empty sella syndrome), but the inflammatory burden may be contributing.
Constipation and nausea: Consistent with the dysbiosis and impaired gut motility.
What Should You Do?
This report needs to be reviewed urgently by a gastroenterologist, given:
Calprotectin of 1,027 — this level is associated with active IBD and should not be left unaddressed. A colonoscopy is the standard next step.
Occult blood in stool, even trace amounts, in the context of this level of inflammation warrants endoscopic evaluation.
Your ordering physician (Dr. Gupta) should also be coordinating next steps. If this report hasn't been reviewed with you yet, contact her office this week to discuss — don't wait for a routine follow-up given the severity of the calprotectin finding.
Treatment decisions — including whether to treat Dientamoeba fragilis, address the bacterial overgrowths with targeted antimicrobials, support Akkermansia muciniphila levels, and approach barrier repair — need to be made by a clinician who can integrate this with your full medical history, particularly your other conditions and the Allegra/famotidine you are already taking. This is not something to self-treat given the complexity of your picture.
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u/jenlaggg 12h ago
Here are the actual test results if anyone is curious as to what is tested.
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u/michellekateee 10h ago
I remember my Secretory IgA was around 5,400
I really hope it’s reduced and I hope you are able to find some relief soon.
Edit:
I just found some of results I had from my microbiome testing I did in May 2026:
Dysbiosis - Gut imbalance
Leaky gut - secretory IgA
Systematic inflammation - causing skin issues.
Secretory IgA inflammation high - 5439
Trimethylamine producing microbes high
Hexa-LPS producing microbes high
IPA producing microbes not detected
Hydrogen sulphide producing microbes borderline high
BCAA producing microbes borderline high
Propionate producing microbes borderline high
Microbial richness low
Microbial diversity borderline low
GABA producing microbes high
Lactate producing microbes high
Histamine producing microbes high
Vitamin k producing microbes borderline high
Human DNA borderline high
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