Bacterial Overgrowth - Anyone Familiar With This?

[Sunny1008]

Hi everyone,

I have been on a gluten-free diet for a month now, and my symptoms are not that much better. I have been reading about SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth) and am wondering if I have it. (Asked the doctor for a test and waiting to hear back from him.)

Symptoms are:

Nausea

Gagging

Extreme bloating (looks like I'm pregnant)

Stomach pain and cramps

Constipation

Multiple food intolerances

Does anyone have any experience with SIBO?

Thanks!

Sunny

[nvsmom]

My doctor tested me for this at the same time as celiac. Happily it was negative so I'm unable to help.

I hope you are feeling better soon.

[Sunny1008]

My doctor tested me for this at the same time as celiac. Happily it was negative so I'm unable to help.

I hope you are feeling better soon.

Darn! But thanks anyway, nvsmom.

[lovegrov]

I once heard a celiac doctor in the Atlanta area (Cynthia Rudert) who generally put her new patients on probiotics because bacterial overgrowth is frequently found with untreated celiac. It can also be difficult to detect and diagnose (sound familiar?). According to her, the probiotics can't hurt and might help. This was 10 years ago. Can't say if she's changed her treatment since then.

richard

[Sunny1008]

I once heard a celiac doctor in the Atlanta area (Cynthia Rudert) who generally put her new patients on probiotics because bacterial overgrowth is frequently found with untreated celiac. It can also be difficult to detect and diagnose (sound familiar?). According to her, the probiotics can't hurt and might help. This was 10 years ago. Can't say if she's changed her treatment since then.

richard

Richard,

I tried some probiotics a couple weeks ago (the pearls), and they made me very, very nauseous, so I had to stop taking them. I don't know why...maybe they were too strong, or I wasn't taking the right kind??? Very frustrating though.

Sunny

[beachbirdie]

Richard,

I tried some probiotics a couple weeks ago (the pearls), and they made me very, very nauseous, so I had to stop taking them. I don't know why...maybe they were too strong, or I wasn't taking the right kind??? Very frustrating though.

Sunny

If you have a poor balance of flora in your intestine, you might not be able to tolerate a full dose of probiotics at first. You also might need to avoid dairy based ones, as well as avoiding ones with "pre-biotics" also called "FOS" which stands for fructo-oligosaccharides. Inulin is sometimes added as a pre-biotic, and could present problems as well.

If you suspect a bacteria problem, I would definitely recommend the Open Original Shared Link or the Open Original Shared Link diet. Many people have found relief with those. They are not easy at first, there are a lot of restrictions, but once you learn which foods are "safe" it isn't so bad! And, you don't necessarily have to follow the time-table they lay out, where you add foods back into your diet little by little. You could probably jump into the full "legal" diet and be fine, and figure out whether it is helping you or not. You would want to give it a little time, a couple of weeks to a month.

Look for a probiotic without FOS or inulin, and take only tiny amounts. If it is a powder in a capsule, break it open and use only part of it. Work your way up slowly to bigger doses.

If you have bacteria overgrowth, you need to deprive the bad bacteria of the compounds which feed them. The two diets I mentioned do that.

[Sunny1008]

If you have a poor balance of flora in your intestine, you might not be able to tolerate a full dose of probiotics at first. You also might need to avoid dairy based ones, as well as avoiding ones with "pre-biotics" also called "FOS" which stands for fructo-oligosaccharides. Inulin is sometimes added as a pre-biotic, and could present problems as well.

If you suspect a bacteria problem, I would definitely recommend the Open Original Shared Link or the Open Original Shared Link diet. Many people have found relief with those. They are not easy at first, there are a lot of restrictions, but once you learn which foods are "safe" it isn't so bad! And, you don't necessarily have to follow the time-table they lay out, where you add foods back into your diet little by little. You could probably jump into the full "legal" diet and be fine, and figure out whether it is helping you or not. You would want to give it a little time, a couple of weeks to a month.

Look for a probiotic without FOS or inulin, and take only tiny amounts. If it is a powder in a capsule, break it open and use only part of it. Work your way up slowly to bigger doses.

If you have bacteria overgrowth, you need to deprive the bad bacteria of the compounds which feed them. The two diets I mentioned do that.

Hi beachbirdie,

Thanks for the info! I am trying the "Leaky Gut Diet" which is very similar to the SCD and GAPS diets. It is basically a lot of whole, unprocessed, low-inflammatory foods, which deprive the bad bacteria and allow the gut a chance to heal. So far, it has been really challenging for me b/c I am used to eating kind of a lot of processed crap. So I am really having to work hard at changing my habits.

Sunny

[beachbirdie]

Hi beachbirdie,

Thanks for the info! I am trying the "Leaky Gut Diet" which is very similar to the SCD and GAPS diets. It is basically a lot of whole, unprocessed, low-inflammatory foods, which deprive the bad bacteria and allow the gut a chance to heal. So far, it has been really challenging for me b/c I am used to eating kind of a lot of processed crap. So I am really having to work hard at changing my habits.

Sunny

It is definitely a major life-change! I hope that soon you will be able to feel well enough to say "it's worth it!"

We have several variations of this saying at my house, but my family and I like to remind each other that "nothing tastes as good as being pain-free feels!"

[Bubba's Mom]

I was DXed with Celiac just over a year ago. When I went gluten-free I immediately felt better, but then started reacting to additional foods.

I went to Mayo Clinic 3 times for additional testing. My hydrogen breath test for SIBO came back with high hydrogen and methane. I was told I most likely have a severe bacterial overgrowth.

The bad bacteria feed on what you're eating and emit toxins, which cause you to get a reaction. They will also prevent you from healing. Your reactions can also change in intensity as the various types of bacteria shift in numbers.

Initially I went on antibiotics, but didn't notice a change. I went off them and now take probiotics..3 different brands for a mix of good bacteria, and went on digestive enzymes too.

Culturelle dairy free is a good one, and I also take Power dophilus, and Nature's Bounty advanced 10.

It takes time to kill off the bad bacteria and replace it with good. I'm also incorporating coconut oil into my diet to help fight against yeast.

It's best to start slow with the probiotics. They can cause a die-off of bacteria, which will make you feel sick. Maybe start with the dairy free Culturelle? maybe even 1/2 of tablet/capsule of whichever brand you try?

If your Dr. recommends antibiotics, it's good to take the probiotics too..if not during, then certainly after taking the RX. You want to build a healthy flora in there, which takes time. Following one of the sugar/simple carb, grain restricting diets help too.

[Sunny1008]

It is definitely a major life-change! I hope that soon you will be able to feel well enough to say "it's worth it!"

We have several variations of this saying at my house, but my family and I like to remind each other that "nothing tastes as good as being pain-free feels!"

beachbirdie,

I have been saying that A LOT lately to myself - "Nothing tastes as good as feeling WELL feels!!"

[Sunny1008]

I was DXed with Celiac just over a year ago. When I went gluten-free I immediately felt better, but then started reacting to additional foods.

I went to Mayo Clinic 3 times for additional testing. My hydrogen breath test for SIBO came back with high hydrogen and methane. I was told I most likely have a severe bacterial overgrowth.

The bad bacteria feed on what you're eating and emit toxins, which cause you to get a reaction. They will also prevent you from healing. Your reactions can also change in intensity as the various types of bacteria shift in numbers.

Initially I went on antibiotics, but didn't notice a change. I went off them and now take probiotics..3 different brands for a mix of good bacteria, and went on digestive enzymes too.

Culturelle dairy free is a good one, and I also take Power dophilus, and Nature's Bounty advanced 10.

It takes time to kill off the bad bacteria and replace it with good. I'm also incorporating coconut oil into my diet to help fight against yeast.

It's best to start slow with the probiotics. They can cause a die-off of bacteria, which will make you feel sick. Maybe start with the dairy free Culturelle? maybe even 1/2 of tablet/capsule of whichever brand you try?

If your Dr. recommends antibiotics, it's good to take the probiotics too..if not during, then certainly after taking the RX. You want to build a healthy flora in there, which takes time. Following one of the sugar/simple carb, grain restricting diets help too.

Hi Bubba's Mom,

Thanks for all the info. I don't know for sure if I have bacterial overgrowth, but I suspect it. I am having the hydrogen breath test tomorrow to find out. I have been reading about it, and it sounds like it is really hard for your gut to heal when you have overgrowth, which could explain a lot of the problems I've been having.

Also, thanks for the info on the probiotics. I will try the Culturelle and start out very slowly. I'm pretty sure when I tried the other probiotic pearls, it was too much for me and I got die-off nausea. Now I know to watch out for that.

Thanks!

Sunny