Ann of All Trades

I work in the biopharma industry so naturally I've been on the other side of the drug business. I can tell you the entire process of how to discover, and after a fortunate 5-10 years, market a drug. But, I'm only now exploring the consumer side. All drugs, and drug delivery methods, are tested in controlled environments prior to being marketed in our regulated trade economy. IBS therapies don't widely exist yet, but there are some being tested now! T he leading potential solution for IBS is fecal matter transplant (FMT). It sounds like what it is - t ransplantation of fecal bacteria from a healthy individual into a recipient.  There have been studies that show FMT as the solution for individuals with Clostridium difficile ("C. diff") bacterial infection. IBS is understood as a bacterial imbalance of the gut... not quite an infection. Five years ago my GI doctor explained to me that IBS is usually a result of an event or disturbance of the microbiome. My ...

IBS has no widely accepted cure right now. Gastroenterologists mostly prescribe the following: - Probiotics - Omeprazole (brand named Prilosec; indication is best for heartburn though) - Modified diet of low FODMAPs FODMAP  stands for: F ermentable – meaning they are broken down (fermented) by bacteria in the large bowel O ligosaccharides – “oligo” means “few” and “saccharide” means sugar. These molecules made up of individual sugars joined together in a chain D isaccharides – “di” means two. This is a double sugar molecule. M onosaccharides – “mono” means single. This is a single-sugar molecule. A nd P olyols – these are sugar alcohols (however don’t lead to intoxication!) Which covers nearly everything edible under the fucking sun. All that good stuff that you eat like avocado toast, doughnuts, a charcuterie of cheese, nuts, and crackers, cookies, ice cream, cherry pie, cappuccinos, butter croissant, grilled cheese sandwich... I can't have any of that. That is a...

Today's tummy outlook = 😣 Scale from best to worst: 😃 = regular bowel movements and healthy firm poop 😐 = bloating, soft poop, some poop floaties 😣 = bloating, very soft airy poop, can be diarrhea to some, on the verge of liquid diarrhea 😫 = uncontrollable bowel, liquid diarrhea It's been about a month at 😣. The main factors affecting this don't seem to be diet as it normally is. I think it's stress of a new roommate. ✌💛😁  Christine Ann

My parents are Vietnamese refugees and came to the states around 1975? The history of their immigration is so important, yet I have forgotten the details. I'm a first generation Vietnamese American, and I mostly associate myself as American. More like a citizen of the world as of late since I have no pride in being American anymore. I'm actually ashamed of it. Anyway, Vietnam has been on my list of countries to visit for over a decade. Since I first started traveling without my family. I never made it a priority to visit for many reasons. The reason I do want to visit (now) is so I can finally get a glimpse of where my parents and my ancestors lived, and how they lived. Also, because my brother is there now so it would be nice to see him! I'll be traveling alone. I traveled solo for the first time to Costa Rica and Cuba in the past 10 months, however this Southeast Asia trip is daunting. It's not just 1 country/language/culture. I'm most concerned about theft, b...

Those that know me know I'm not one for many words. I'm an introvert so most of my time with a group of people is spent observing, listening, and analyzing. Through the years I've also "hid" a lot of my true self as the things I want to say outwardly would seem rude and crass. I'm learning to change that, but writing is a nice outlet. I'm quite a resourceful person. One of the most resourceful that you may know of! I have always felt that I can do anything that I wanted to do. This spirit has driven a lot of my life and as I started to reflect the past few days, I feel I should be sharing some information with others! Some of the things I'm going through are uncommon, yet common. Meaning they are so uncommon that there are few in the world that are looking to accomplish the things I want to accomplish, but maybe just enough that someone would find this information useful. I'll try to keep the scope of this blog to: - Therapies and coping mecha...