Help Jakob pay $5,000 out-of-pocket medical bill

Hi! I'm Jakob, a 19 year old undergraduate student studying in Melbourne, Australia.

I've been living with bad gut problems for over a year now, since they first started at the end of 2022. My symptoms include abdominal pain, bloating, gas, discomfort and constipation, and having to poo many times a day, sometimes up to 5 - 7 times. These symptom occur every day and are often constant. I often feel fatigued and tired even after waking up from a good sleep; every night I feel like I need to poo but I can't, and have to try to fall asleep while in pain and discomfort because of my constipation, and I'm often constipated and in constant discomfort during the day as well. My gut illness can also affect how I'm feeling in my mind as well, and make me feel sad, anxious and stressed. I really don't live with this for the rest of my life or worry about my health and other problems that could arise if I don't get better.

To manage my symptoms I have to eat the low FODMAP diet, which means that I can't eat out with friends, or eat at social gatherings.

I've spent hundreds of dollars on medical procedures, tests, antibiotics, supplements, fibre and probiotics, and I've tried different diets and fasting, but nothing has restored me to my previous health, even though some things help manage my symptoms. It's not a physical problem with my bowels, none of the tests/gastroscopy or colonoscopy have showed a problem with my body that's causing it. It's caused by dysbiosis; an imbalance in the gut microbiome; the breath-tests I took suggest that I have intestinal methanogen overgrowth.

I have spoken with numerous medical professionals and been recommended Faecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) to restore my gut microbiome back to a healthy balance and cure the cause of my symptoms.

The success rate for FMT is very good, the clinic told me 70% of people report improvements and 50% report a full recovery, and being young and (otherwise) healthy I'm hopeful that it'll be a success! Unfortunately though, it costs over $5,000AUD, which I simply can't afford; I'm looking for work but not currently employed.

It would be amazing to have my full health back, to feel great again, to be able to sleep, study and work better and without pain or discomfort, and be able to go to the toilet when I need to and for my body to be at peace.

I would really appreciate anything you can give to help me pay for the FMT treatment and get my health back! Thank you!