Probiotics for SIBO?

My doctor told me to go on the Low FODMAP diet. Symptoms lessened. Your mom may want to consider that route if she doesn't want to take meds. My understanding is that it's not a cure but with me at least I felt so much better. My doctor didn't tell me to take probiotics, so I don't know if those would help. Good luck! https://patient.gastro.org/small-intestinal-bacterial-overgrowth-sibo-managing-with-diet/

Thanks. She is trying a somewhat lower FODMAP diet. Her nutritionist was concerned about malnutrition, weight loss, and constipation on a strict low FODMAP diet. And my mom was concerned about the lack of variety. Have you had any of these issues?

Hi,
SIBO is food fermenting, rotting in the lower intestine where it shouldn't be happening, causing the problem and no amount of probiotics will cure it, in fact it is more likely to feed the SIBO, if it can get down to the small intestine. A course of drugs, Antibiotics, is required to neutralize and kill it off with strict adherence to the prescribed diet as well. After the course then back to your normal diet being wary of what you are ingesting incase it happens again. If lucky 10 days of medication will kill it off, a second course may be required to be sure. If this doesn't work it then gets expensive with a more severe course of drugs and a special diet powder. I can't comment on the latter as I haven't required it, yet.
There is little point in taking meds without the diet as you are defeating the purpose of the medication regime. Delaying the inevitable just allows the situation to get worse in my experience. Once you have it it doesn't go away by itself, it just grows, literally.
In the early days I thought I could wait it out and the body would fix it, not true, just wasted my time waiting as the symptoms got worse and became far more uncomfortable to live with.
Cheers

Do you eat a special diet while on the antibiotics or afterwards? I'm seeing conflicting advice about that. I would think a low FODMAP diet would help kill off the bacteria in conjunction with the antibiotics but I'm also hearing the opposite.

Hi,
Yes but not special foods first time around, definitely not certain foods that cause a reaction with SIBO. Like cabbage,. lettuce, peas and a range of other ordinary foods. I'm living on bread and water due to other health problems but even bread is a no no as is milk, I seem to recall sugar is also on the no list, I use Stevia. I think from my experience SIBO can be twice as bad as severe IBS problems. It really cuts up the stomach with severe abdominal pain. The excess gas is not a problem for me, may be for others around me!
My diet is very restrictive anyway so there is little I can cut out if I wish to continue to survive. I was enjoying my greens but they are now once a week and little amounts at that. I find I can get by with a slice of shaved ham each day on wholemeal bread but am limited to no more than 4 slices of bread per day with 6 cups of tea.
I use skinny milk with most of the goodness removed, so it looks like shoe whitener! My wife got me onto it and I hated it, now I find "real" milk is unpalatable to me! During the week I might have a meal of grilled chicken or fish, very small portions, with carrot and peas if I'm feeling good and throw in a small sweet potato for good measure. Everything I eat is of very small portions, too much and it sends me back into SIBO. For me it is essentially the overflow from the stomach which is not digesting food quick enough before it gets into the lower intestine.
Life is not fun with food for me but I do what I have to and my Gastrologist agrees with me, if I can tolerate it eat it. I love raw onion and still manage it in small amounts, one onion over 2 days, once a week. Onion has some beneficial effects besides being a prebiotic and a digestive. If you have a severe case of IBS don't just rock up and take probiotics, you will cause more damage than good. There is a specific regime in taking probiotics when your IBS is really severe, if not followed you can make the gut flora worse and compound the problem.
Cheers