I just posted earlier today about my SIBO experience. Perhaps you will see that post, but I am currently on a 14 day course of Xifaxan, 550 mg, 3 times a day. This antibiotic specifically targets the small intestine, but as I said in my post, it is quite expensive. You'll need to have good prescription drug insurance. Once the infection clears, then you and your doctor have to address the cause of the SIBO or it will probably return. It is a difficult, uncomfortable, and frustrating infection to deal with. I have also found that keeping as much sugar as possible out of my diet has helped tremendously. Bad gut bacteria just feeds off of sugar, so I avoid it, and that helps. I hope you get better.

Traditional antibiotics didn't work for my daughter either. We switched to Allimed and Neem natural antimicrobials with the help of a Functional Medicine Doctor experienced with SIBO and that seems to be helping. We also do the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. It's a long road to healing and you must be patient but I believe healing is possible if all aspects of what this bacteria does is addressed. That means pancreatic and gallbladder enzymes need to be evaluated. A screening for a Hiatal Hernia and b12 levels checked. SIBO is notorious for disturbing all of these things. Everything needs addressed before you can completely heal.

Can you tell me how I know which brand(s) to purchase Allimed and Neem?

Welcome to Connect, @ctkoontz,

Could you share a bit more about yourself? We look forward to getting to know you.

For over two years I've been having digestive problems. I had a colonoscopy a few years ago. The dr said I probably have Irritable Bowl Syndrome and I have a hiatal hernia. Diarrhea comes and goes and have found it's better if I stay away from Gluetin. have also been experiencing heart pain yet dr. said it wasn't a heart attack - told me to see a heart specialist and have a stress test which will happen this Friday. Once this issue is taken care of I want to see the best Gastro dr. in my area. In researching digestive issues I learned L Glutemime helps the enzymes that help digest food. I started taking this a few weeks ago. However, I still have bloating, gas and disregard but not every day. I find I can eat something and I'm fine. Yet, a day or two later I eat the same food and I'm in the bathroom. I'm growing weary.

You describe many of my symptoms.
I have taken lots of carbs out of my diet.
Including lentils.
My bloating is less.
At night a little prune juce.
The heart. Yes another issue.
I have afib. And, fat foods will
Exacerbate this.
I do have a wonderful cardiologist.
She does feel most my issues are
The foods. Im eating more proteins
And fruits and veggies.
With an emphasis on a good carb.
I do feel bettter.
I wish you well. And your cardiologist
will give you a good clear outcome.
Success101

Welcome back, @success101. So good to hear from you again. 🙂

Obviously everyone is different, and I'm not a doctor, but you sound like my daughter two years ago. She was diagnosed with IBS but, aside from some meds to help with cramping (dicyclomine), the thing that gave her true symptom relief was following a FODMAP diet. According to her GI doctor the thing that is being published and discussed by GI doctors lately is that a low FODMAP diet is really helping people with IBS (that is irritable not inflammatory) and is also giving some relief to those with Chrons and Inflammatory Bowel.

There is a fair bit on the internet about a low FODMAP diet but none of it helped a lot until we started following the advice of Patsy Catsos who wrote a book (IBS Free at Last that you have to order at Barnes & Noble). She has a website,www.ibsfree.net, but you really need the book to do the elimination phase properly and know how to start adding new foods back in. My daughter got relief quite quickly with the elimination diet and we got that information from the GI doctor (which is very strict and hard to follow) but she was not successful adding new foods until we learned from Patsy Catsos (she is a dietician) about how to add new foods in (which order etc.) The other key we learned was not to add new foods too quickly. If a food bothered her (apples and pears sent her to the bathroom immediately) we had to wait at least a week for her stomach to settle before we tested a new food. If we started testing another food too soon we would think it bothered her when really her stomach was still distressed from the apples and pears.

The low FODMAP diet is all based on science but you will be surprised with what healthy foods might be causing your issues. I encourage you to check out her website and invest in the book (under $20 I think). It changed my daughter's life. It will take a long time to do the elimination phase (she suggests 2 weeks but we did it longer because my daughter's stomach was so messed up) and at least a year to properly test foods so you can learn what you can eat. It is painstaking but worth it. Now the main thing that brings back symptoms for my daughter is if she has too many "treats" (foods she should eat in moderation or not at all) or stress.

Best of luck!

Lynn

Thankyou, i will study the
Website on FODMAP.
Sounds like a good invedtment.
Success101

I am a scleroderma patient and gastro physician just put me on cipro for sibo. He said it will come back from my disease so I was looking for a natural solution as this may be ongoing.