Sibo Treatment - What Worked For You?

[Looking for answers]

Hi,

After being gluten, dairy and corn free for years, I had a decent digestive system. But then last year, I STUPIDELY took some antibiotics and haven't been the same. It was June of 2010. No matter what I do I have horrible gas and C (yes, I'm on good probiotics and have tried them all in large quantities). I've tried so many things over this past year and nothing has worked (practically eliminated everything). Finally broke down and went to a GI (I normally do naturopaths) and he said it sounds just like SIBO. He didn't offer any testing but wanted to put me on some potent antibiotics.

Since that time I've done my research and want to treat it myself with grapefruit seed extract, oil of oregano, probiotics, HCL, glutamine and dietary changes. The good news is that my bloating and gas seems so much better when I take the GSE. However, I'm super confused with the last part. It seems like most people with SIBO follow FODMAP diet, but the lists out on the internet are inconsistent and I can't find a book to purchase on it (they're all unavailable). I took one list I found to Wholefoods last night and stocked up, just to return home and find another list with conflicting information. Then there's Specific Carb. Diet....I wonder if that's better....I don't know and I need your help.

Anyone who had successfully treated SIBO, please share your story with me. I'm currently following the Eat Right for Your Blood Type Diet, and while my energy is much better, I think SIBO is loving all the fiber I'm eating. I'm getting worse and worse. There are many nights when the gas is so bad that my husband has to sleep on the couch. It makes me want to cry.

[georgie]

Sorry for your pain. I have had that and sympathise...

You are not going to like what you hear about my treatment for SIBO but it was antibiotics. Mine was neomycin as C was my symptom...Only a normal course I think.. Open Original Shared Link

I then did strict FODMAP. Open Original Shared Link

Onions are my worst trigger food and then apples. I never touch artificial sweeteners anyway and rarely ate fruit but you have to watch for hidden fructose everywhere... I also went yeast free. And had to change things like white rice instead of brown rice...

After 12 months - symptoms are much better...I can have a dash of onion occasionally now

[domesticactivist]

I don't have SIBO but wanted to put it out there that GAPS might be looking into for you. The whole point of the diet is to starve out the bad critters in your gut and to introduce the good guys, restoring your gut flora balance. If you've got the good guys in the wrong part of your digestive tract I'm not sure if that makes a difference.

I have a couple posts on GAPS on my blog. The original posts (on the blog linked from my profile, not the mirrored site hosted here on celiac.com) have links to the books and products mentioned.

GAPS Resources

Starting GAPS

[Looking for answers]

I don't have SIBO but wanted to put it out there that GAPS might be looking into for you. The whole point of the diet is to starve out the bad critters in your gut and to introduce the good guys, restoring your gut flora balance. If you've got the good guys in the wrong part of your digestive tract I'm not sure if that makes a difference.

I have a couple posts on GAPS on my blog. The original posts (on the blog linked from my profile, not the mirrored site hosted here on celiac.com) have links to the books and products mentioned.

GAPS Resources

Starting GAPS

Thank you. I just checked out the diet and it seems very good, a lot of work, but I'll do anything at this point. I cannot tolerate milk, nuts or eggs, but maybe after some time I will be able to eat these things. Are you currently on this diet?

[Looking for answers]

Sorry for your pain. I have had that and sympathise...

You are not going to like what you hear about my treatment for SIBO but it was antibiotics. Mine was neomycin as C was my symptom...Only a normal course I think.. Open Original Shared Link

I then did strict FODMAP. Open Original Shared Link

Onions are my worst trigger food and then apples. I never touch artificial sweeteners anyway and rarely ate fruit but you have to watch for hidden fructose everywhere... I also went yeast free. And had to change things like white rice instead of brown rice...

After 12 months - symptoms are much better...I can have a dash of onion occasionally now

Georgie, thank you for your response. I REALLY appreciate feedback right now. I'm lost. I started my version of the FODMAP (found a list online) and it seems to be going well so far. My only concern is the sustainability on this long term. I mean, do you know if it actually helps to reverse SIBO or does it just alleviate symptoms because so many things are excluded from the diet? I think if I continue on I may do a session with Shepheard Works. I can say I'm please with seeing a little progress already. I hope you continue to feel better too. It's crazy that onions can be so problematic for some...I eat onions all the time, so it definitely makes sense!

[domesticactivist]

Thank you. I just checked out the diet and it seems very good, a lot of work, but I'll do anything at this point. I cannot tolerate milk, nuts or eggs, but maybe after some time I will be able to eat these things. Are you currently on this diet?

Yes, I am currently on this diet (so are my partner, two kids, and their dad). We have been doing it since the beginning of February. We took a couple months to get through the intro diet.

Dairy, nuts and eggs do not get introduced right away on this diet. The reasons they are problems for you will make a difference in whether you'll b able to introduce them later.

GAPS is similar to FODMAP in that you are attempting to starve out the overgrowths of bacteria and yeast in your gut. Additionally, with GAPS you are introducing bacteria. GAPS also focuses on getting whole, raw, organic sources for all your foods where FODMAP allows things like processed store bought lactose-free yogurt. On GAPS, you get whole raw milk and make your own. Some of the foods allowed on FODMAP are not allowed on GAPS, and vice versa. For instance, cooked apples are introduced as the first fruit allowed on GAPS but are not allowed on FODMAP. If you have overgrowths of normally good bacteria in the wrong places, I've you might want to try starve them out entirely before reintroducing them. This is where my knowledge isn't solid. I'd definitely talk to my doctor about the nature of your SIBO.

The GAPS diet starts with healing bone broths and cooked non-fibrous, non-starchy vegetables, and eliminate sugars that are not monosaccharide. Then you introduce muscle meats and home-fermented foods (not from the store!) Every food you eat should be organic and whole. The idea is to allow your gut to heal by introducing foods with the most readily absorbed nutrients. Once your digestion normalizes (in a good way!), you can introduce the next stage of the diet - SLOWLY. Dr. Natasha Campbell-McBride recommends doing a sensitivity test for suspected foods by putting a bit on the inside of your wrist before bed. In the morning, if it has produced a reaction, you know not to try that food yet.

Egg yolks get introduced fairly early on, first raw in your broth, then on their own. More people have problems with egg whites than egg yolks.

I have a post about dairy on my blog. Dairy gets introduced on GAPS as homemade yogurt from raw, organic milk. Many people who don't do well with pasturized milk are ok with raw, organic milk. Also, homemade yogurt is a different thing entirely than what you get in the store. It has the added benefit of being able to be made to the consistency you like You also get (homemade!) dairy kefir and ghee for cooking with on GAPS. (I hate dairy kefir, so I don't drink it. I do well with the yogurt. Water kefir, on the other hand, is amazing.)

Personally, I hate milk and have never liked it. My mom realized it wasn't good for me after I stopped breastfeeding and didn't make me have it. Whenever they made me have it in school I would puke! I liked cheese and whipped cream and ice cream, but since being on GAPS, when we reintroduced aged cheese as part of the full diet, I realized that it's a problem for me in all but the smallest quantities. You don't get plain milk on GAPS.

Nuts are nice to have on GAPS, but if you have an IgE (anaphylactic) reaction please don't introduce them! However, if it is a digestive issue, you might find you can tolerate them once you've done some healing, and when you have prepared them according to GAPS protocol. My partner used to get bad stomach aches from walnuts and I used to get herpes outbreaks when I had more than a couple almonds. Now we can both eat them without issues (though I've noticed that pecans make my mouth itch, so I'm avoiding those).

On GAPS, you do not use store-bought nut flours or prepared nuts. Instead, you buy plain nuts. Then you rinse them, soak them overnight ala Nourishing Traditions instructions, and rinse them again. Then you dehydrate them. Once this process is complete, you can make them into flour in the food processor or eat them whole. This process not only helps remove any potential gluten cross-contamination, but it also reduces the phytic acid and other anti-nutrients in the nuts, which makes them easier to digest.

You can certainly do GAPS without those three foods.

[Looking for answers]

Follow-up: I read the blog on GAPS and ordered the book. I have to say that I really liked what I've read about the diet and have the highest hopes it will help me. I made two huge batches of the soup last night and just ate my first bowl...very tasty. I fasted Friday, Saturday and Sunday (using the Master Cleanse) and am so glad I did. I sort of reset my mental attitude about food and how much I need to consume. Plus, all of the bloating and gas is gone, and I think I'm in good shape to begin.

My plan is to follow GAPS (trying to do my best during a backpacking trip to Europe at the end of July) and then go back to following the Eat for Your Blood Type Diet. I loved how the latter was making me feel, but my stomach just can't handle all the fiber necessary for Type A just yet. I'll get there though...

Thank you so much for the information. That's why I LOVE this forum. I would have never known about GAPs without it!

[1desperateladysaved]

I have SIBO, but am still working on it.  I think I am making progress.  I have been following grain free low fruit/no sugar diet for a very long time.  I recently read that one can help symptoms of SIBO with lowfodmap/ grain free, or paleo, but that the bacteria still has food, so it remains.  For me, I believe this is the case.  i have been grain free many years.  For a while I kept it at bay eating meat and greens.  However, as soon as I added foods to that; I bloated.

I should have been checked long ago for SIBO, but since I refused to drink the sugary solution for diagnosis; I didn't.  Finally recently I took a class by Izabella Wentz about thyroid.  IN that class she having us analyze possible reasons for our thyroid issues and we looked at infections.  When I got to SIBO I felt strongly I might have it.   My vitamin B level has been low and supplements were not raising it significantly!  Other things, I noted are low ferritin, bloating with fod-maps, dental trouble which wouldn't even resolve with a long term 20 minute 8 step program for brushing/flossing/waterpiking.

 

There fore, I am now (with the okay of my functional medicine physician and naturopathic doctor.)  Doing an herbal protocol for SIBO.  I believe the combo of my diet and the herbs are improving my health.  Since beginning I see that my bloating is going down and my energy picking up.

 

The protocol for this is"  Candibactin BR (Metagenics) 2 capsules three times daily.  Oil of Oregano 2 gel caps 3 times a day, Allicillin (though with my celiac; I can't have this) 2 three times daily.  Since I am not able to take the allicillin, I am using herbs that previously helped me.  l capsule of fennel 3 times daily.  l capsule of cranberry 3 times daily, and l capsule of ginger three times daily.  I will also being using a special pro-biotic for this situation:  saccharomyces boulardii.  The wrong probiotic (like I have been doing) will make SIBO worse rather than better; I have read.  I decided not to take the probiotic yet as I am so frequently having cranberry juice, homemade ginger drink, or my capsules.  In perhaps 2 months; I will stop the other herbs and take the Saccharomyces Boulardii.  I have been trying to follow this now for about a month.

 

I hope others will check for SIBO shortly after diagnosis.  Although, I had some adrenal issues which I guess I needed to address first.  It took 4 years to resolve those!  Best wishes as you navigate to better health.  Dee