Gut Bacteria As Possible Cause/contributor To Pots?

[firewatcher]

IBS and SIBO link to food poisoning.

Sugar and antibiotics

[sue1234]

After reading that first story, I am very excited that Dr. Pimentel talked about the gut bacteria/IBS link to a national group of gi doctors! Maybe they will all go home and apply what they learned. I may be able to approach my old gi about this.

[firewatcher]

Anxiety, Depression and Gut Bacteria

[sue1234]

Thanks, Firewatcher, for another great article.

BTW, the researcher that I emailed a few weeks ago came through for me and threw a doctor's name to me. The researcher is the one I mentioned earlier in this long thread about his research into gut bacteria and the different strains and their effect on the body systems. Anyway, I had asked if he could give me a name of a clinical doctor that might address gut bacteria issues with me. This guy is in one of the largest medical systems anywhere, so figured there is bound to be someone he knows who gets his theories! So, I have a name and will be making an appointment. Of course, that is definitely NO guarantee that anything will come of this. But, I surely hope so.

[sue1234]

Just bumping this up in relation to another thread. I just read my last post, and just want to say that researchers don't necessarily know clinical doctors that will address the situation correctly!! The one I ended up asked, "So, when did your last child leave home?". I said, "Last year, she left for college". He said, "Oh, you just need an antidepressant". I kind of looked at my husband, doing the "eye messaging", like, am I hearing this correctly? At that point, I knew he was going to be no help. In the long run, he did get the ultrasound of my pancreas to check for the blood sugar issue. I'll give him that much.

[sue1234]

I am adding this new article out of Science Daily:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110829164601.htm

The really interesting part I thought that could be related to POTS was this quote:

The authors also established that the vagus nerve is the main relay between the microbiome (bacteria in the gut) and

the brain.

I know the vagus nerve affects blood pressure, but don't understand this "microbiome-gut-brain axis" described in the article well enough to see if/how it might relate to POTS. All definitely interesting.

[futurehope]

I don't have time to read this thread right now, but wanted to say....

My gastroenterologist diagnosed me with this (after I had asked him about the possibility), using a hydrogen breath test. I was asked to breath into a bag on an empty stomach, then given lactulose to drink, then tested with my exhale breathed out at regular intervals. I tested positive.

If I get around to it, I take 1 Xifaxin antibiotic 3 times a day for 10 days, every three months. This antibiotic costs me over $100 with insurance. Probiotics do nothing for me. They bloat me more than usual. It doesn't matter what brand I take.

If I delay taking the antibiotics, because of costs, for example, I will start getting stomach cramps and diarrhea probably due to the SIBO.

ETA: As far as I'm concerned, figuring out which came first, the SIBO or the gut dysmotility which can cause SIBO, is hopeless. Suffice it to say, different areas of my body are not working efficiently.

[Katybug]

Don't know if this will help anyone but the Lyme doc I saw 4 yrs ago had tests (gut bacteria/parasites/absorption) run on me because of all of my severe GI symptoms. I don't know if you can get the testing without a doc but here is the lab info:

Genova Diagnostics

63 Zillicoa St

Asheville, NC 28801

(sorry I don't have a phone #)

I am looking at my lab report and it was called the "Comprehensive Digestive Stool Analysis". It showed how I digested meat and veg fibers, fat absorption, several metabolic markers, microbiology growth of helpful and harmful bacteria (itemizd by specific bacteria) and yeast microbiology. We also ordered a parasitology test from them as well. The report gives the results and then a "commentary" on how to interpret the results. It also has a section that shows what antibiotics are effective for any harmful bacteria that showed up in "possibly pathogenic" or "pathogenic" quantities.

It was a very helpful test. It ultimately showed that I did not have any parasites (I worked around a lot of animals so this was a consideration). It also showed that I had almost no growth of the beneficial bacteria and yeast that are good for both digestion and immune system function but I did have possible pathogenic levels of 3 harmful bacteria and definitely pathogenic levels of another 3 harmful bacteria. It allowed us to treat for this. We added high dose probiotcs and made changes to my antibiotic regiment that I was already about to start for the Lyme to also accomodate the gut bacteria issues. It definitely made a difference. (A side note is that the test samples were collected before I started any antibiotic treatment so the reults were not tainted by the antibiotics.) I am considering whether or not to have the testing done again to see where everything is.

I know at the time that the doc said this is one of the few labs that do this extensive testing. Hope it helps someone!

[Katybug]

P.S. The section of the report that tells which antibiotics will work against the harmful bacteria also gives "natural agent" information regarding which natural treatments may or may not be effective in fighting each type of harmful bacteria growth. Nice feature for those that like to use alternative therapies.

[Guest maia]

I am adding this new article out of Science Daily:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/08/110829164601.htm

The really interesting part I thought that could be related to POTS was this quote:

The authors also established that the vagus nerve is the main relay between the microbiome (bacteria in the gut) and

the brain.

I know the vagus nerve affects blood pressure, but don't understand this "microbiome-gut-brain axis" described in the article well enough to see if/how it might relate to POTS. All definitely interesting.

Sue, this i because your gut has/is its own brain. in simple terms, you have a brain in your head, and in your gut you have the same nerve fibers etc creating a nervous system/brain in your gut. they both work the same way and are directly connected to each other through the vegus nerve. this is why so many gut issues affect you mentally and vice versa... stomache ache/migraine... true anxiety/nausea...

[ramakentesh]

Heres one for you:

The CFS Discovery group in Australia are adament that CFS and OI is caused by hydrogen sulfide which they believe is being released into the vasculature by abnormal stomach bacteria. The hydrogen peroxide causes excessive release of nitric oxide and you have OI.

interesting given that j Stewart just released a study suggesting that some forms of POTS have elevated NO.

[sue1234]

Thanks, Rama. I have been reading a good while about H2S. I definitely think there is a link. It's odd. If you breathe in H2S in a closed sewer system, it is fatal within one or two breaths! And to think there could be some people that are chronic H2S-producers in their intestines, possibly making too much due to a bacterial imbalance. It makes you wonder how it could not affect your bodily systems.

I'll add this link to what all H2S can do in the body. Sure sounds like it affects everything that we have issues with, right down to the autonomic system!

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21275894

[Babis]

I had remarkable improvement in my irritable bowel using the probiotic strain E. Coli Nissle 1917. Has anyone else tried this strain? I got no bloating from these, unlike other Walgreen-type strains...

It seems they were discovered during WW1 in the gut of a German soldier who did not succumb to gastroenteritis like all his other mates. They have been studied for a century and there seems to be a lot of literature in medical journals claiming that they are non-pathogenic, that they protect the colon from invasion by other pathogenic bacteria, that they modulate the membrane permeability and immune system, etc...