As a longtime SIBO sufferer and frequent rifaximin (and one time neomycin user), the strategy of "eating food to make the bacteria flourish so you can kill them more readily" makes sense. Both of these antibiotics have the potential to mess up your digestion to begin with but stick with it. I would recommend 2-4 days of "eating normally" (what you consider normal right now) to let the antibiotics do some damage, and then switch to eating more "conventionally" "normally", or even going out of your way to eat specific foods that feed the bacteria, for the rest of the treatment. Maybe you already know which foods set you off the most so you can go and get those, but in my case and in many others, the "gum" additives found in most "processed" foods are the best/worst (guar gum and xanthum gum being the most noteworthy, and then carob bean gum). The product "Tomorrow's Nutrition, Sunfiber, Prebiotic Fiber Supplement for Digestive Health" which you can find on Amazon is pure guar gum, if you don't want to raid the cookie/icecream aisle at your grocery store (or do both since it's the middle of summer).

Good luck, hope you get your Rx filled.

Rifaximin is expensive. My doctor at the time ordered it for me. While I was on it, I started to feel much better. Once off it in about 2 weeks, my symptoms returned. Again, these meds treat the SYMPTOMS, not the CAUSE. Antibiotics are not good for our digestive tract as they kill both the good and bad bacteria. (Don't misunderstand me - antibiotics have their place when it is in the right application.) You need the good bacteria and need it in the right place in the digestive tract. As it was explained to me, the bacteria feed on sugars. We have different bacteria in the upper digestive tract and lower digestive tract. When the upper digestive tract is weakened as in leaky gut, the lower digestive tract bacteria migrate to the upper digestive tract causing symptoms of gas, bloating, not digesting our food well, loosing weight, etc. The goal is to build the upper digestive tract mucous lining and get the bacteria that don't belong there back down to the lower digestive tract where they belong.
I cannot emphasize enough the need to find the CAUSE of your symptoms and NOT treat the SYMPTOMS or the symptoms return.

Great info! Followed the same track as you, but did the fodmap diet along with meds. Had to work the system a little to get the meds.
Did tons of research during this period and learned about leaky gut at that time. Healing leaky gut is sooooo important! After
3-4 months of SIBO diet, started following a leaky gut diet. Ordered several small cookbooks online to know where to begin. Many foods are different from SIBO diet. I really worked on trying to stay away from Sibo triggers and follow the leaky gut diet. What a process!!! My life was focused on healing myself; no one can heal you but you with this type of illness.
Good luck…

There’s an excellent book SUPER GUT by Dr. William Davis that’s very helpful and informative in understanding what SIBO, foods definitely needed, plus recipes. You can purchase on Amazon.

Just thinking about this miserable issue…I think it’s one of the hardest things to cure, can only get advice, not really meds for it, and its all up to you to fix! We are so used to docs, meds, hospitals, chiropractors, etc fixing our issues, but this-no instant cure/fix and we are the only ones responsible for the healing…oh well, chin up and forks down! 😘

Please help. Any advice hugely apreciated. This is the 4th Christmas in a row of being so ill 🙁
- I generally eat low fod, no sugar, no dairy, no gluten, no histamine. Recently i was feeling good - ate some normal stuff and SIBO came back with a bang.
- I am having bloods, stool test, Colonoscopy and ultrasound done. Hopefully I will find the cause. (I also have MCAS)
- But right now I just need to get the SIBO under control because the headaches, fatigue, stomach pain, nausia etc are out of control. (Plus rectal bleeding (not sure this is from sibo though?..)
- The gastro has given me Refaxamin perscription (under my request). Although he's not a supporter of SIBO. So i'm going it alone; my questions are; QUESTION 1 what to eat during perscription, QUESTION 2 what to eat straight after.
- QUESTION 3 My colonoscopy is on the 19th Dec and I was going to start the tablets today as i've tried to wait but i'm so ill. I don't think the colonoscp will see sibo? QUESTION 4 And hopefully the refax improving things won't effect the colonosc findings?
- QUESTION 5 The refax & the colonoscp will strip the gut. What actions do I take after this?

Also have NO IGA and MS. Both of which can be causative. On the Antibiotic but not feeling any better. What FODMAP diet are you adhering to?

I've been on the antibiotics for 5 weeks now. Would like to discontinue, as I am also taking herbs supplements. I am trying to decide on the best course of probiotics-prebiotics. Thanks

Many SIBO-related diet approaches and theories have been floated, and Dr. Mark Pimental of Cedars-Sinai hospital apparently has cleared up much of it. For anyone who has SIBO or IBS, Dr. Pimental appears to be the authoritative source: apparently the most prominent clinical researcher on the topic during the past few years. Here’s a link to the website: https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/time-the-mysteries-and-underdiagnosis-of-sibo/
He has been interviewed a numer of times (search YouTube), and has created a paper, Low Fermentation Diet/SIOBO DIET, that is helpful and differs from the FODMAP diet.
I have had SIBO twice during the past four years, the TrioSmart breath test (at home) and two rounds of Xifaxan in late 2023 and early 2024. Dr. Pimental suggests that beans are among the worst dietary culprits.

His does SIBO affect you physically?