Leaky Gut (The Poo Test)

Poo test (editing -this is what I have so far)

Poo bear is the favorite-affectionate-name of the sister of a friend. As the subject of poo became more important to me, I have begun to wonder WHY on earth someone would name a bear after poo. Poo is, after all, rather discussing. At least my poo is! And oh, how I wish I didn’t have this knowledge!

The first of the three tests that Dr Qutab ordered for me was a three-day poo test. (it is verified, I am full of sh!%)

I will have much more to say about the good Doc in future posts. But suffice to say, He took a complete history of all the random dysfunctional symptoms in my health, and instead of guessing and prescribing, He didn’t give any advice until he knew three things: The health of my colon, the state of my adrenal gland, and the composition of my brain chemistry. But now back to the poo test…

Skip this paragraph if you think the details of the poo test are too much information… I learned more about my poo than I ever wanted to know (no, even I won’t go there). The object was to poo in a bucket that fit in the toilet, pick through it to get a good cross section of the poo, and then use it to fill a remarkable number of special vials. Each vile is pre-filled with a formula that prepares the mushed pile for testing. Yes, let your imagination run wild – it all happened…

Well, the results came three weeks later, and surprise surprise, my poo is not perfect. Most everything fell into the normal categories, except three measurements. The microbiology, the absorption rate, and the PH.  The combination of the three points to a condition called Leaky Gut Syndrome. (another good description of the causes and effects)

The causes that were found involved my Microbiology. There are two sides to it, what is there, and what is not there. Both are extreme. Let’s start with what was not there:
Bifidobacterium, the bodies predominate beneficial bacteria.  Bifidobacterium, in all it’s 11 human-present species, has many symbiotic health benefits. The primary benefit is that it converts sugars into energy-rich / stress-managing / heart-helping / cabohydrate-consuming lactic acid. This flora simply does not exist in my body. And no, that is not normal. It is so rare, in-fact, that the testing facility only included “no-growth” as a possibility in its manual within the last few months. Because of it’s presence throughout nature, it is extremely rare that none of the species would have colonized an intestinal track. In such extreme cases, re-seeding the GI track is unlikely, at best a significant challenge.

What is there is gamma haemolytic Streptococcus (Yeah – a strep ()  Most of what I have read so far on this does not make much sense. The best I can grasp is that it may not be the strain that causes strep throat or Rheumatic Fever – or it may be... I am guessing, but “gamma Haemoltic” means that it has no direct infectious impact on blood. Beyond that, it is Strep… and its waste is a nasty toxin and strains the immune system.


Interesting Note: I always feel better when I go on Antibiotics. The doc said that it is because it knocked down the infection in my gut that was pouring toxins into my body and blocking the activities of the Good Flora (bacteria). I remember saying multipule times to friends that I always feel normal on Antibiotics… like I was hungrey for them. As I started on the Antibiotics to address this situation, I noticed that same quick response of positive energy. Also interestingly,  I have had Strep throat probably 7 or 8 times over the last 4 years – probably just a little more than the four years before that. Well, I guess some things are not just coincidences…

Regarding the Leaky Gut Syndrome… The net effect of those two issues is that I have a Leaky Gut…Yet another severe strain on my immune system.  It is where the food particles are not digested enough by the bacteria (hard to do when the bacteria is even there) and larger-that-manageable food particles pass from the gut to the blood stream. This creates a huge drain/burden on the immune system as it must attack and remove those food particles. Eventually it will cause food allergies and all kinds of other issues.

It also explains why I am experience so much gas, bloating, abdominal pain, confusion, fuzzy and foggy thinking, anxiety, fatigue, feeling toxic… among other things.

Note: during the initial appointment with Doc, I filled out a questionnaire with a list of symptoms that I had experience – a healthy person scores an 11-15 – a sick person scores a 40 -50….. I scored 128!

Also, this appears to be a common issue for Autistic Children… I always dismissed it because he didn’t have the diariah that they often talk about… but neither do I. It could mean that our bodies just don’t show that symptom!!

Fortunately it does not appear that it has progressed so far to have created antibodies to foods – though I don’t know this – again, I may be just not be symptomatic in the diarriah sense. I pray we caught this in time, as that is an important precursor to issues such as Rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, MS, thyroiditis and a ton of other autoimmune diseases. All this caused by an intestinal infection….
(note: I have noticed an increasing sensitivity to gut irritants like coffee and alcohol – I wonder…

These two issues are also throwing my PH balance way off. This somehow also affects several Neurotransmitters in the brain that affects one’s sense of well being… How, I have no idea…. It also seems to deplete the body of calcium. Blood tests do not show PH balance issues, as the body draws calcium from the body to maintain the all important ph balance of the blood. (just a little of and we die). It looks like my daily drink that includes broccoli and greens are doing more than I imagined to help me maintain my health in the face of this additional significant problem.

More Research notes:
With the Cortisol issue I have, I found it interesting that prescription cortisol could be a singular cause of leaky gut…