Yesterday was rough. Four hours in the afternoon I did not feel good. Took a three hour nap and missed my short run (not at all normal). It passed by early evening but I am beginning to suspect that two capsules a day is too much for me. Between this and the loose bowel movements I am going to listen to my gut and modify downward. My plan is to go back to a capsule once every two to three days. That seems to be the best for my running and overall feeling of well-being.
Woke up to the now familiar gurgling and vague unease of my guts when taking the capsules. No vivid dreams or night sweats but did have loose BM this morning. Running this afternoon which is the best way to test my gut integrity. Should be a hot day so I will update tonight or tomorrow.
Still waiting for the uBiome results. I am looking to see a change in the Prevotella levels. Previously I had very little <1%. My donor has >60%. This is the genus that changes in some Westerners when they simply travel out of the developed countries, however that might be a geography related phenomenon. At least one paper has the Bacteroidetes to Firmicutes ratio doubling when a Westerner temporarily relocated to the capital of a developing nation. (1)This might be an indicator that I am moving the village into my developed world ecosystem, or I could confirm my null hypothesis. I wish the turnaround time for assay results was much faster.
If there is a change will be interesting to see if doubling the dose of FMP has a proportional effect on microbiome ratios.
From the uBiome website:
Prevotella are most frequent in the guts of vegetarians, non-Westerns, and others who eat a diet rich in carbohydrates and low in protein and animal fat. Based on their gut bacteria, most people in the world fall into one of three categories, one of which is a gut dominated by Prevotella.
1 http://www.genomebiology.com/2014/15/7/R89
Update:
No problem with my gut on a hot, long run.
Started phase two of the experiment. Two capsules a day for a week.
Summary of Phase One:
Felt really good. Had a little stomach upset the first week and some night sweats. Ran really well and my inflammation is as good as it has been since the magical first year of worms. Looking forward to seeing how the doubling of dose feels.
Got away to Northern Nevada to visit family. Had lots of good runs and am feeling as well as I can remember. Looking forward to my uBiome results and will submit for blood tests and parasitology this week.
Toe healing slowly and it is very frustrating. Sunday turned out to be a horrible day as both my toe and my immune system faced challenges. The ocean water, in addition to being filled with slippery kelp, was dirty and I picked up one of our local viral infections in my throat. Almost done with that but throat was sore so I did not drink as much as I normally would so my weight has been all over the place as I go from bloated to dehydrated. Inflammation looks bad but it always does when I am fighting a viral infection.
Tried to run on my toe yesterday but that was a disaster. Stride was all messed up and wound up cramping three miles in. Stupid. Will take some time to heal and get fully recovered. In meantime will wait for my immune system to get settled ( I do not like the idea of modulating the immune system in the context of an active infection) and start round 2 of the fecal capsules. Aiming for early next week. Turn around uBiome has been getting longer and longer not sure when I will have the results.
Set back yesterday. Walking into the ocean the wave action pulled a piece of kelp under my foot mid-stride. This caused a stumble that ended with me catching my body weight on big toe. Hurts to walk let alone run and this stupid injury occurred in calf deep water. Hopefully I will not be out too long. Bike riding and Versa climber until I can run again.
Woke up today with a very sore big toe and weight at 178 lbs. Have noticed change in appetite the last couple days. Hard not to interpret this as the probiotics changing my weight. Inflammation still looks goods.
Ran 10 on Saturday so rested Sunday. Back to work and sitting in the office. Not much to report. Skin and inflammation look good. Weight was 175.5 lbs. Monday morning. Not sure what to make of that. Will be interesting to see what weight does when I start the two capsule a day protocol.
Friends visiting from Nevada so diet is not a clean as it should be but feeling really good. Running long and feeling surprisingly strong. uBiome sample will take a few weeks to get results so I am just going to cruise with no fecal microbial probiotics for this week and then start up next week with two capsules a day for two weeks. Unless I have some sort of regression or if I continue to feel really good in which case I might modify the plan.
Sponging in IB
Normal BM and good energy today. Felt good enough for a second run today. 6.65 miles in the AM and 8.0 miles in the PM. Good day.
Sample collected and out for analysis.
Yesterday was the last capsule for my two week experiment. Woke up today to loose BM. Rosacea looks a little worse in some spots and a little better in others. Past two days have had really nice hour long jogs. Going to take a break for any more capsules and see how things go. Weight has climbed up to 173 lbs.
