I feel like I should have written this post before Thanksgiving, but better late than never. The holidays can be such a stressful and isolating time when you are in the midst of treating your SIBO. I remember when my symptoms were at their worst, holidays were a real battle. Not only did I have to give up all my favorite holiday treats, I had to answer the never ending stream of comments and questions fired at me by family…
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Any one with SIBO (or any other chronic health problem) knows that the healing journey can be a rollercoaster ride both physically and emotionally. There can be peaks like the joy and energy you feel after you receive that negative SIBO test. That sweet relief you feel when you can finally get back to the life you once had that wasn’t burdened by the painful belly bloat and dietary restrictions. But, then comes the relapse! You are completely devastated. The hopelessness and loss…
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I remember feeling so overwhelmed when my functional medicine practitioner emailed me this infamous infographic of the SIBO specific diet. The dreaded columns of “yes” and “no” foods still haunt my dreams. But, I was desperate to feel better….to feel like myself again. My functional medicine practitioner was adamant that starving the bacteria of fermentable fibers was not an option, but a necessity. I felt as though if I didn’t stick to this list 100% I was going to fail.…
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As I discussed in my last post, so many SIBO sufferers and practitioners mistakenly view SIBO as solely a bacterial problem. By blindly focusing on the overgrowth, many SIBO sufferers relapse continuously, because they haven’t addressed the motility problem that is causing their SIBO. These motility problems can stem from a plethora of potential root causes such as hormonal dysfunction (especially thyroid diseases like Hashimotos and cortisol dysregulation), large intestinal bacterial imbalances, autoimmune diseases, liver inflammation, heavy metal toxicity and brain inflammation…
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From December 5th through the 16th, I was in the Bahamas receiving fecal microbiota transplantations to help rebalance my imbalanced gut. It was a unique experience and I think it could be a promising treatment strategy for many diseases in the future. So, why did I decide to undergo FMT treatment? The primary reason was that after years of trying to rebalance my gut, it remained full of overgrowths with little diversity. Both recent stool and organic acid testing revealed overgrowths of…
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Like so many people with SIBO, I have tried A LOT of different supplements and therapies to help restore my gut function. Sorting through which treatments might be best for you and worth the money can be a frustrating task. I want to share some of my experiences with different products/therapies to hopefully assist you to find the right tools to put in your SIBO tool box. I would also like to state that I am in no way affiliated…
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Most of us with SIBO have had a long and tumultuous relationship with antibiotics. I had a recalcitrant ear infection as a one year old, which required round after round of microbiome busting antibiotics. Not to mention the spoonfuls of fun bubblegum flavored antibiotics that I continuously guzzled down throughout my childhood. I am convinced that the over consumption of antibiotics prescribed by my well meaning, but oblivious, doctors played a pivotal role in the development of my gut problems.…
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When I first got diagnosed with SIBO, my practitioner put me on the extremely restrictive Low FODMAP/SCD combination that seems to be the go to protocol by many in the SIBO community. I was on the diet for about 4 months in conjunction with herbal and antibiotic treatment. Although I was following the diet to a tee, my health continued to deteriorate. I struggled to maintain my weight, my gut symptoms were even worse than before and my hormones were…
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After spending a lot of time interacting with the SIBO community and through my own experience and research, I think many practitioners and SIBO sufferers fail to recognize the importance of a healthy thyroid during SIBO treatment. The thyroid is a butterfly shaped organ that produces hormones that are used by virtually every cell in the body. These thyroid hormones are in charge of our bodies metabolism; which means they determine how we utilize the calories that we eat. Here is…
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Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth is a hot topic in the functional medicine world. SIBO can be defined as an increase in the number or the type of bacteria in the small intestine leading to many unpleasant GI symptoms like bloating, abdominal pain, constipation and diarrhea [i] Opinions on how to effectively treat SIBO seem to differ widely among practitioners. When I was diagnosed with a mild case of SIBO, I dove head first into the online SIBO communities and the…
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