Acne and gut bacteria

For the last month and a half I stopped any sort of probiotic regime because I was preparing for a comprehensive stool analysis. During that time I had almost no acne breakouts on my face. I got the test results back a week ago which said I had almost no bifido, lacto or entrococcus (sp?) in my gut. So I immediately started a probiotic with all the above subspecies.

A day or so after starting the probiotics, I started having breakouts around my face. Cause and effect? Or is it just a coincidence?

Awful big coincidence. What is the name of the probiotic you are taking?

Q: I didn't change anything else. But to be fair I can't remember why my break outs stopped a month and a half ago. Normally I'll have some mild but consistent acne on my face. I can't remember if the reduction in break outs correlated with me stopping all probiotics or not.

Gary: I am taking 3 probiotics: Nexabiotics, store bought Kefir and a Chinese probiotic.

NSG: Tbh, I would much rather be pimply forever and have perfect poos/gut functionality than perfect skin but an unpredictable colon. I guess the reason I matched the acne with gut bacteria was also because my UC began after acne treatment (2 years of heavy duty antibiotics)... though after developing UC (and stopping the antibiotics), I still had breakouts that peaked and troughed... so perhaps acne and gut bacteria aren't related...

Now you have got me thinking. I switched probiotics last Friday or Saturday. Sunday I started breaking out, skin has been clear for years. Originally I just thought it was the prednisone, but I had been on it for over a month and was wondering why the acne just popped up out of nowhere.

Might go back to my old probiotic and see if it clears up.

Mike: Keep us up to date. I'd be interesting if your acne clears.

Pathogen: All readings for the stool itself were normal (eg. cholesterol, short chained fatty acids, triglycerides, fat globules and vegetable fibres). pH is slightly on the low side (5.8), which is slightly below the normal minmum of 6. This indicates my gut is slightly more acidic than it should be.

I had an abnormally high range of meat fibers and starch cells too, indicating I am not digesting meats or carbohydrates very well. This seems weird because I have been gaining weight (about 1.5 months ago I started exercising and eating massive amounts of food. I went from 50kg to 60kg - my current weight. 60kg is a weight I struggled to gain even years before I had IBD. I had to literally drink 2 weight gaining protein shakes a day in order to even hold that weight... so now that I have gained that weight and held it by simply eating normal food and exercising is quite an achievement).

There was no pus, mucus, red or white blood cells on all three samples indicating my symptoms are IBS not IBD. No cysts, parasites, ovas or yeasts (even after culturing).

The main problem appears to be a severe gut dysbiosis (my rating was 8 out of 10. A normal symbiotic gut microbiome should be at most a 3 out of 10). I have a sufficient amount of Escherichia coli (probably due to me previously supplementing with Mutaflor) but almost no Strep/Enterococci, Lactobacilli or Bifidobacterium subspecies.

I also have a higher than normal mount of Klesiella and Citrobacter. They have recommended treating this with citrus extract (grapeseed extract).

At this point, after the results, I have been introducing probiotic supplementation as well as sporadic use of digestive enzymes (Q-Zyme Ultra - 21 different digestive enzymes). So far, my stools seem slightly more brown than before but almost all symptoms are still present (eg. loose stools, urgency when eating, gurgling tummy especially when eating).

I have an appointment with my G.I tomorrow and also have an MRI Enterography scheduled (MRI of the small bowels). This was requested by me.

This is the third comprehensive stool test (amongst many many other individual stool tests) that I have done. I've also had blood samples taken to test my liver (under the possibility that my gut problems were due to issues with my bile output) which were all normal. I had a colonoscopy in late March this year that was all normal too. This is why I am really frustrated because I can't seem to find and isolate my gut problem. All the GPs I've seen have told me its my head and my anxieties are interacting with my gut but I don't believe that for a second because all my issues started immediately after FMT treatment.

Those who are aware of my situation will know I've tried a plethora of treatments this year with hardly any change in symptoms. Mood wise I am depressed but in a semi-state of limbo because I am grateful that structurally theres nothing wrong with my gut but functionally, I feel worse than before completing the FMTs...

Other symptoms from the probiotic supplementation? Only acne (if it really is the probiotics causing my acne). My gut symptoms haven't really changed (well I was farting more immediately after initiating the supplementation and my tummy is gurgling slightly more) but that's about it.

Loose stools, interchanging colour between yellow and brown, diarrhea 2 - 3 times a week (sometimes more), solid firm stools 2 - 3 times a week (sometimes more), urgency and farting whilst eating/shortly after eating, mild stomach cramps when eating. 3 - 4 BMs per day (rarely 2 or 5 per day), urgency immediately when waking up, passing gas that feels like I am passing stool (so need to use the bathroom just to have a fart).

most BMs are formed to begin with but end up with D at the end.

Thanks. I did test for SIBO, twice (both negative) if I recall correctly but now I can't remember if that was pre or post FMT... I've done so many tests now I can't remember...

I am sure I did one a week after my FMTs.

Isn't SIBO when you have an abnormally high amount of bacteria in your small bowels (small bowels should have little to no bacteria, large intestines should have most of the bacteria).

quite possible. I definitely have abnormal symptoms but none terribly severe, just really annoying. I might consider a retest for SIBO in the future. I started the citrus extract today.