Small Intestine Bacteria Overgrowth (SIBO)

I was diagnosed at the Mayo Clinic this past November with SIBO, small bowel damage, and Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency. After 25 years of suffering I am finally feeling well. The Mayo put me through a round of 3 different antibiotics to kill the bacteria. I was told to begin taking Align Probiotic daily. Probiotics are very important in keeping the bad bacteria from taking over. I include probiotic rich foods in my diet daily in addition to the Align, such as Kefir, yogurt, Kombucha, supplemented juice blends. I no longer really need anti-nausea medicine, but I used to take Promethazine, which I found to work better than Zofran. I also found that a simple Gas-X chewable would often help with belching and bloating. SIBO creates an excessive amount of gas. I hope this helps, and that your wife feels better soon!

Hello @lizbee78,

Welcome to Connect, and thank you for joining this conversation with such great information.
Although diagnosed with different conditions, @ptfitzy, @michellecrcrn, @tessie, @decosmo, @windwalker, @jillnc, @irene5, @mcpucho, @doron, have all discussed the many benefits of probiotics as well.

@lizbee78, did you have any questions about EPI?

The Meds are brutal that you have to take to kill the bacteria. I remember eating a lot of softer foods soups, oatmeal, and a lot of probiotics yougart first thing in the mornings. Ginger ale helped as well as lemon ginger tea. It's important to take all the meds. It took me about 6 months to feel better. The natural health food store told me to only take the probiotics that are refrigerated. I took align but it didn't help as much as the natural live cultures. Things will get better eventually .

After two regiments of Xifaxan my wife's latest breath test came back negative for SIBO. The problem is that she is still suffering from chronic nausea. She will eat a piece of toast and a cup of tea for breakfast and will be nauseated within fifteen minutes accompanied at times by violent belching and regurgitation. Her latest visit to the ER, and subsequent admission, once again found no abnormalities in her tests. The hospital could not duplicate her sever nausea on a hospital diet, but as soon as she got home the nausea reappeared. It is disappointing that the SIBO test was negative, because a positive reading would have at least given a diagnosis that could be treated. There have also been some suggestions that her symptoms might be psychosomatic. I would appreciate any feedback from anyone who may have had such symptoms. Tuesday she has an appointment with the gastroenterology consulting physician who seen her in the hospital. This will be the fourth GI physician she has had in the last four years.

Have they tried any other antibiotics? I found that some antibiotics worked for me, while others did not. Xifaxan did not work for me.

Xifaxan must have worked because a positive SIBO diagnosis upon retesting showed a negative SIBO diagnosis.

I too got negative results from a breath test, but had SIBO diagnosed through intestinal aspirates. Apparently breath tests are not always accurate. Is your wife's GI physician at the Mayo Clinic? Before visiting the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, I was undiagnosed and misdiagnosed by 4 different GI doctors. They were all great physicians at reputable hospitals, but they all just missed something.

What did they miss? Her GI doctors are not at Mayo.

Yup, my breath test was negative also. In fact I think every test I ever had done was normal. I have an underlying autoimmune disorder which contributes to G.I. dysmotility though

I was diagnosed with SIBO, EPI, and small bowel damage (partly caused by the bacteria, and partly caused by a birth defect). I suffered with chronic diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, and weakness for over 20 years. I had multiple endoscopies, colonoscopies, blood tests, MRI's, CT scans, fecal analysis, allergy testing, and so on. My last GI doctor referred me to the Mayo Clinic because he would not accept that even though every test was "normal", there was something very wrong. The GI doctor at the Mayo did an endoscopy at my first appointment, and found everything that he needed to from that. Why no one else could find the source of my problems from the past endoscopies I'd had is baffling.