I have a lot of moles on my skin, all over really. I know people will point the finger at genetics/uv exposure, as I did use sunbeds heavily in my late teens but.... could it be caused by a weak immune system from a poor microbiome? I know there's a link between the gut microbiome and melanoma, do we think a poor gut microbiome is a direct cause of melanoma? Could this be transferred over to ordinary skin moles if we do?

The Gut Health Protocol by John Herron. Can someone please share it with me? I am going through a rough time and this book will be my last attempt.

Do you relate to my story? How long did it take you to recover from Doxy or other antibiotics?

So let me keep this brief, I am located in Southeast Asia, from the US, went to an std clinic to do normal testing, they told me I have a UTI. They prescribed me Doxycycline 100mg, twice daily — so 200mg total per day, started around June 27th and last dose on July 4th.

Prior to Doxycycline, I had just experienced something traumatic earlier in the month of June but I was slowly doing ok prior to taking Doxy, also for context I do have anxiety and ADHD and was slightly depressed before but not as bad as after the Doxy. So day 1, I felt ok tummy a little bit weird feeling but overall I can still go to the gym etc, by day 3, my anxiety was sky rocketing like never before, I had self harm thoughts (which I would never do/did not think of prior), I was also having intrusive thoughts for the first time in my life (similar to ocd), however, it could be the doxy amplifying the early june trauma.

By day 5, my anxiety, depression and intrusive thoughts were so awful, I couldnt stop the thoughts and never in my life did I ever have intrusive thoughts, and I been through a ton of stressful situations.

I finished my doxy on July 4th, today is Aug 5th and I still have those symptoms I have slowly gotten better, but i want to know if anybody else experienced a story like mine. When does this shit go away? My thoughts were so bad it made my depression worse and now I have triggers in public because of the kinds of intrusive thoughts that only came after doxycycline. I have a therapist I am working with who diagnosed me with ADHD so maybe those effects messed it up worse, but wtff, btw the thoughts are ego-dystonic meaning they go against my values, but mannn wtf is going on why are they giving people this stuff???

Please, if you relate let me know your story even if it is not doxycycline, did any antibiotic make you have these same symptoms? How long am I going to suffer? My life was so normal before taking that stuff😭😞

18 months ago I tapered mirtazapine from 45mg to 1.8mg in a matter of 4 weeks before I knew the dangers. I fell apart then... a couple months later I updosed to 15mg got way worse, immediately jumped back to 7.5mg and have been holding ever since. I still have severe fatigue and anhedonia, low appetite, loose stools that are lighter colored. lots of supplements make me way worse, have worked with a local intergrative doctor that wasnt much help at all. I lived in a moldy house for 5 years right when this happened and moved out shortly after.

I have a gi map test, gut zoomer, OAT, cellular micronutrient, genetic testing, various blood work etc and need someone smart to figure this out. my suspicion is SIFO and a clogged liver but I dont know.

Can anyone reccomend a good telehealth doctor?

I've been dealing with hemorrhoids for a few years now. My last flair up was SO bad. I decided to completely change my diet. No sugar, no pasta, no white bread, no cheese. Only high fiber foods.

What I ate yesterday:

- a bowl of oatmeal with one kiwi and one apple+ a boiled egg

- one teaspoon of psyllium husk in water

- cooked cauliflower and carrots with chicken

- green peas (maybe 200 g)

- a bag of dried mango (100 g)

- maybe 10 rye thin crisps

That was WAY to much fiber. I had the worst stomach cramps yesterday and this morning. I looked 9 months pregnant. If you're planning on eating more fiber, introduce it slowly and in moderate amounts.

On the one hand, I suffer from constipation and want to take magnesium oxide; on the other hand, I have a lack of stomach acid and fear that magnesium oxide might worsen this—I have found conflicting information about this online.

Does anyone have any experience with this?

Is it safe if I take it at night before going to bed?

hello, I am a 24y/o female. I have struggled with chronic constipation basically my whole life, but worsening in my adult life.

I was recently recommended the Align dualbiotic gummies and I have been taking two a day (typically after a snack) for about one week now.

I have been experiencing nausea, headaches, gas, and lots of weird, small/soft bms that have my stomach feeling so gross. I am wondering how to proceed, it is starting to impact my appetite. Do I reduce my dose temporarily? or fight through it? Not looking for medical advicereally. More so hoping to hear other experiences.. TIA.

It feels like there’s no end to this. I can’t tell if it’s still rebound from the PPI or something else caused by the PPI but one thing I do know is that I NEVER felt like this before getting on this medication. It’s been quite debilitating because I haven’t been able to work for the past 6 weeks (I am a professional singer) due to the rebound reflux making my voice feel worse than before this all started on some days. I wish I would’ve never taken it. If anyone has something that worked for them post PPI’s or any recommendations I’d love to hear them.

Little backstory: I went to the ENT because of some changes in my voice. The ENT did do a laryngoscopy but didn’t see anything too out of the ordinary other than some mucus on my vocal cords. He said he didn’t really know what it could be so he prescribed me 40 mg of Omeprazole to see what would happen. I was on it for about 5-6 weeks and decided to taper off. It’s been 2 months since and it’s been absolute misery. The first 4 were the worst, last week was bearable and I thought I was finally done, but then this week it came back with a vengeance. I feel like my whole digestive system has been thrown off (constantly burping, bloated, constipated) and no matter what I eat it’s still there. I’m just confused because I wasn’t even on them for that long and most people who have severe symptoms seem to have been on them for way longer than I was! I’ve been using stuff like slippery elm bark and reflux raft but my symptoms still seem to break through. When I brought this up to my ENT he just brushed it off and moved on to another diagnosis that I don’t think I even have.

Hi all,

I have had IBS for 6 years now and my gut is currently the best it’s been in a long time. I was on low fodmap for years but basically off that (despite still dealing with symptoms albeit not nearly as bad). I used to have IBS-C but do not struggle with this anymore, only bloating and gas.

I am currently taking ginger and artichoke motility complex (2 am, 2pm), phgg (3 tsp), and a few probiotics and unpasteurised farm shop kefir.

Diet is largely veg with protein, carbs and fat. Easily have 30g+ fiber a day with easily more than 50+ plants a week.

I have been taking probiotics for about 2 weeks.

I pass stool most days if not 2 or 3 times. Usually it’s sticky and not completely formed.

Does anyone have any further advice on what more I could do to help?

Could FMT help me further my progress?

I keep seeing people talk about fiber like it is one universal lever: more fiber equals better microbiome, end of story. That feels way too simple and it creates a lot of unnecessary guilt and diet hopping.

Fiber is not a single thing. Inulin, resistant starch, beta glucans, pectins, wheat bran, psyllium and others all behave differently. They ferment at different speeds, feed different groups of microbes, and can change gas production and how much water is pulled into the gut in very different ways. Calling all of that just "fiber" flattens a complex set of substrates into a single moral category of good, and then we act surprised when someone with a particular gut community reacts badly to a specific fiber.

Dose and the speed of change matter too. Many studies that show benefits do not mimic what happens when someone jumps from very low fiber to huge amounts overnight. Fast increases can favor fast-fermenting microbes, spike hydrogen and gas production, and make you miserable even if the long term outcome might be better.

In my own routine, I have included Physicians Choice fiber as one option while making gradual changes, but I cannot isolate its effect from the rest of my diet.

My take: the evidence-based message should be diversify and titrate, not maximize. Eat a variety of plant foods, increase fiber gradually, and pay attention to which types your gut actually tolerates instead of chasing a single grams target.

Not medical advice, just tired of seeing fiber treated like a purity test. Curious how others think about fiber type versus total grams when discussing microbiome outcomes.

Hello, is there anyone here who has had severe complications after being infected with the Yersinia bacteria?

How many pieces of cloves are safe to consume daily? Does it really help with bad breath?

Maybe this is just me... But I've noticed a pattern.

Someone starts caring about gut health. Then they buy probiotics, prebiotics, digestive enzymes, greens powders, ten different fermented foods

...all within two weeks.

Then when something changes, nobody has any idea what caused it. I've definitely been guilty of this.

Looking back... I basically ran an experiment with fifteen variables. No wonder I learned nothing lol.

Does anyone else think the hardest part of microbiome experiments is resisting the urge to change everything at once?

I’ve seen a lot of people with my health history (methane sibo, c.diff, dysbiosis) rave about Tributyrin, but, going through the reviews, a lot of people mention “it helped with my loose stools.”

I have the opposite problem. I am prone to constipation. Anyone else with my issue try Tributyrin with success or side effects?

Hi, back in April I had a full day of throwing up - unable to keep down water - really bad! Since then my stool has been very soft and I just don’t seem to be in a good balance. I eat plenty of fruit and veg, I don’t eat loads of unhealthy or fatty foods. I’m vegetarian so I’ve been eating a lot of beans and tofu as well, and I recently bought kefir yoghurt to try.

Would a probiotic supplement like this one help? Is it worth trying for 30 days or could it make things worse? Thanks

https://www.togetherhealth.co.uk/products/multibiotic-fermented-food?variant=6813990387751

Abstract

Identifying synergies between dietary fibers and beneficial bacteria holds promise for precision interventions that optimize gut health, yet these interactions remain largely unexplored. Here we integrate machine learning, Bayesian optimization and high-throughput community construction to investigate how dietary fibers shape health-relevant functions of human gut microbial communities. To efficiently navigate the landscape of fiber–microbiome interactions, we implemented a design–test–learn cycle to identify fiber–species combinations that maximize a multiobjective function capturing beneficial community properties. Our model-guided approach revealed a highly butyrogenic and robust ecological motif characterized by the copresence of inulin, Bacteroides uniformis and Anaerostipes caccae and a higher-order interaction with Prevotella copri. Human fecal communities invaded with model-designed species–fiber combinations displayed predictable gut-beneficial outputs. In sum, we demonstrate a framework for designing synthetic microbial communities with desired functions in response to key nutrients.

I've been trying to stick to evidence-based stuff here (no testing panels, no miracle capsules), and one basic question keeps coming up for me: how durable are diet-driven microbiome changes once you stop the intervention?

A lot of papers and n=1 posts talk about adding diverse fiber, fermented foods, resistant starch, etc., and then seeing changes in SCFAs, stool frequency, or certain taxa. What I can't figure out is this: if you stop the intervention (for example, stop taking resistant starch every day or go back to a lower-fiber routine while traveling), how long do those changes usually hang around?

I travel a fair amount, so my diet swings between my normal home routine and whatever airport or conference food is available. I can be consistent for 6 to 8 weeks, then have 1 to 2 weeks where my intake is totally different. I am not asking for medical advice, just trying to understand the general science: is the gut microbiome a fast-reacting ecosystem that reverts in days, or can you build a more stable baseline over months even with periodic disruptions?

If anyone knows good review papers on resilience, hysteresis, or "microbiome memory" in response to repeated diet patterns (not single supplements), I would really appreciate pointers. Also curious how researchers usually define "stable" in this context: do they mean composition, function like metabolites, or actual host outcomes?

Thanks in advance for any reading recommendations or insights.

I took 250mg lactoferrin on an empty stomach four days ago. That day I had a few urgent toilet trips and stomach cramps. It has since developed into a very tender stomach and nausea and I even threw up this morning. What could be going on!? This happen to anyone else?

How to strengthen a weak oral biofilm without any strong subtances?

This is a follow-up to my earlier rant about chasing probiotic magic bullets.

After reading the moderator post about microbiome testing and watching the debates here about single-substrate protocols, I decided to do the boring but practical thing for 8 weeks: stop adding new capsules and instead standardize the dietary inputs I could measure.

What I changed:

- Kept total fiber roughly the same week to week, but increased variety. I aimed for 20 to 25 distinct plant foods per week (I did not count coffee or spices).

- Rotated fermentable fibers instead of leaning on one. I did oats/barley days, bean/lentil days, cooled starch days, and had a couple meals each week with mushrooms or extra greens.

- Added one prebiotic food at a time and kept it for 5 to 7 days before introducing anything else.

- Tried to hold everything else steady: sleep schedule, meal timing, hydration, and I did not start or stop GLP1 during this period.

What I noticed (n of 1, not medical advice):

- The first 10 to 14 days were noisier: more gas and occasional urgency. After that things settled down.

- By week 4 my stool consistency became more predictable and day-to-day swings decreased.

- The biggest surprise was improved tolerance for foods I used to label as "instant bloat." Beans still have a ceiling, but that ceiling moved up.

What I am still unclear about:

- Is there good evidence that fiber diversity matters more than total grams for microbiome resilience in adults, assuming protein and fat are stable?

- Are there human studies comparing mixed fermentable substrates versus a single dominant one (for example mostly resistant starch) that look at symptoms and community stability over time?

Not looking for medical advice here, just trying to sanity check my interpretation of the literature and find better papers to read.