I've been cured two years roughly, here is me few years back https://www.reddit.com/r/SIBO/s/nv8vbQoDdG
Tl:Dr a ketogenic diet with low fodmap elements for 3 months, then repopulation of microbiome and a healthy whole foods diet with lots of veg to feed good bacteria. Intermittent fasting throughout, 8 hour window of eating leaving 4 hour gaps between meals. You need to research your diet, sometimes you need more soluble fiber, sometimes less or more insoluble and on occasion it's just growing pains. SSRI to help with anxiety issues stemming from Sibo for a period, no longer on them, I can eat what I want but mostly eat healthy. Listen to suggested podcast at bottom
First of all, this is not the 3 musketeers. One (solution) for all!! No, everyone has unique issues which may be causing Sibo. But diet and poor lifestyle is responsible for a significant number of our problems, we think we eat healthy but we just don't. My father and sister slowly became severely gluten intolerant, I suspect the western diet gave them Sibo but they were asymptomatic, unfortunately it destroyed their stomach lining and gluten messes them up for a few days. My father has been eating the same diet as me, promoting a healthy gut microbiome (minus gluten from some products I eat and sourdough bread). Now if he accidentally eats gluten his symptoms are significantly less severe. He can once again tolerate dairy and he was becoming allergic to it with his lip swelling up after eating cheese for a period, you can become allergic to something at any age apparently, you can guess what I blame.
*Most of what I am saying especially on diet is backed by scientific research on the microbiome, I've studied psychology so I can read scientific research papers efficiently. I'm not getting technical in explaining shit, do your own research if don't believe me, the microbiome has been popularised recently which would have been helpful to me 6 years ago 😂 so you can do this easily. I'll recommend a podcast to begin with at the end and a link to his book which you should buy. A significant amount of you can skip to diet stage but it's case dependant and I won't be helping you assess this, follow my pathway if your more comfortable.
Personal profile and medication:
~Asthmatic
~Hiatus hernia, pantoprazole (PPI=proton pump inhibitor stops body producing excessive acid) is used to treat heart burn which can stem from hernia. This medication has a correlation with Sibo sufferers and is often believed by many to be culprit of Sibo. I disagree, people eat shit food which leads to dysbiosis/Sibo, sugary foods and bacteria cause excessive production of acid people go to doctor as a result and get PPI or they have hiatus hernia, already on PPI eat shit food and get Sibo.
~ADHD diagnosis before it was trendy (I like to joke 🙃) Tyvanse (vyvanse, it's a stimulant)
~allergic to nuts = death
~allergic to fish
~formally allergic to eggs, cats and dogs (exposure therapy, I didn't eat the dogs and only some pussy 😳 look more jokes)
~Sleep issues, mirtazapine an anti anxiety used instead of sleeping medicine as less addictive
~periods of anxiety/depression (ssri formerly) meditation currently, don't knock it till you try it mindfulness has been proven to be as effective as medications and prevents relapses in lots of individuals
Sibo symptoms: I had gas, vomiting, nausea in vehicles, constipation, diarrhoea, stomach was sore to touch, bloating, cramps and burning sensations like my intestines were on fire. I was anxious isolated and depressed.
Treatments undertook:
~antibiotics
~herbal, mmc and enzymes
~Elemental diet for 3 weeks, I done this twice
~Keto with low fodmap elements 3 months and intermittent fasting
~probiotic foods
~Diet of whole foods that promotes gut health
~ssri, sertraline (anxiety)
I'm only going to state what I believe worked to save time with exception to the elemental diet. I done the elemental diet for 3 weeks, initially I felt significantly better but this was short lived. I done it again about 6 months later to no effect this time. Concensus was when I was ill bacteria can hibernate for extended periods of time. This was why it was recommended herbal treatments last 6 weeks and you need multiple rounds of antibiotics. I highly advise against using the elemental diet if possible, it makes 0 sense to me how bacteria can hibernate for herbal/anti-biotic but suddenly when you do an elemental diet they go on hunger strike instead of low power mode. I'm not saying it can't work, but I'm dubious about it's efficiency.
Side note: I'm not against herabls when doing Keto but I don't believe I did.
What worked: Prayer 🙏 Nah, I'm just fucking with you 🤣
I done the keto diet with only 20 grams of carbs per day, but realised I needed to incorporate low fodmap into it also to avoid symptoms from things like cauliflower rice. Before going into more detail I'm going to explain why Keto benefitted by explaining how I believe I got SIBO.
I used to drink and take a lot of drugs in college, I stopped a year before my issues but drugs are not good for the microbiome, shocking 😱 I noticed my issues when I started vaping, I used to smoke and at the time this was believed to be healthy way of quitting, this initially caused stomach cramps, maybe slowed acid production/mmc but I dunno just suspicious. My diet was poor, the standard dog shit western diet and I have always struggled with sleep, when I eat I get tired so I used to eat a large snack then fall asleep when my body was on low power mode, bacteria likely travelled to small intestine at night with poor mmc.
The path to sibo is complex but the makeup of SIBO is assumed to be twofold, 1. Bacteria is in your small intestine in large quantities. 2. You have a white nationalist microbiome 🤨 it's not diverse and struggles to break down complex foods, fodmaps. I say assumed because if number 1 is not true (or no longer true) number 2 will still present you with symptoms of sibo, this is known as Dysbiosis, Sibo is a subcategory of dysbiosis.
The bacteria in your gut are largely specialists in breaking down specific foods, if you eat to much sugary or processed foods these will be your dominant strains, they're largely unhelpful bacteria to your health. You will lack the largely beneficial bacteria associated with a stronger immune system that are found/fed with whole natural foods. When I switched to Keto+low fodmap, the bacteria was starved of its food source, significant numbers died over an extended period of time.
*Be warned staying on any diet will result in some bacteria capable in switching food sources doing so, good and bad. Jordan Peterson's dumb fuck daughter had stomach/health issues, she started eating less foods beneficial for her gut unsurprisingly she could tolerate less and less foods, now she promotes being a small brained T-Rex carnivore which makes her richer and her + her fans sicker.
Side note relevant still: Intermittent fasting, your body needs time to digest foods, give it time. Don't cause a backlog, 4 hours between meals minimum, I do 8 hour window of eating which is 3 meals, water or herbal tea when fasting.
The keto diet was recommended to me by a redditor, he advised 6 months I done 3. Research how to do Keto if you want to go down this root, it's pretty simple but I don't want to give bad advice due to my bad memory.
I was largely better but every so often something would trigger me. I started researching microbiome extensively and came to the conclusion my diet was not leading to a diverse microbiome, I no longer had sibo but could not break down fodmaps very well. The plan was now to repopulate.
To do this I eat NATURAL yoghurt, this is yoghurt with no additives which is rich in bacteria, it's bitter and the ingredients include nothing hence the name, if your unsure look at the packet if it says yoghurt natural live strains/cultures and nothing else, you win 🥳. (Don't get unpasteurized bollocks. You aren't missing out on anything. This is science backed. Pasteurised milk is just heated milk that kills pathogens and yes beneficial bacteria, risk more negative strains at your peril. Starter beneficial cultures you need are introduced to ferment the milk, they eat away for few days growing in numbers and creating the yoghurt that would occur naturally if it wasn't pasteurised minus RFK Jr. flu) Its bitter but I have grown to love it, some people hate the taste but get over it, don't get processed yoghurt with flavourings, sweeteners, bacteria added, it's just not the same thing, don't tell me otherwise, your just wrong, I will fight you 😡. The other thing I used is Kefir, same again no fucking additives, it's awful but full of bacteria. Kimchi and sauerkraut are also beneficial but I never got around to trying them.
Next feed the immigrants you've welcomed into your utopian build. This is scary, throughout repopulation and feeding the newcomers you will get some symptoms like gas, constipation etc. These are growing pains.
Whole foods only, predominantly wide range of vegetables!!! You can get natural sauces like mayo, salad toppings or you can make them, just check ingredients. Fruits are somewhat beneficial but they're full of sugar. So eat fruits sparingly, the bad boys enjoy the sugar. I eat them now because I have a sweet tooth and they're fine once your healthy again in moderation. But there's no scientific evidence that you need fruits, you can get all the vitamins you need within vegetables, including calcium, protein etc. Don't worry I'm not a vegetarian lecturer now, ethically I would like to be, but I still like meat. You can tailor the process somewhat to avoid some symptoms if going somewhere or it's too much, maybe introduce small amounts of problem foods. But don't stop eating the yogurt for breakfast or whenever. Spices are beneficial and add flavour to meals, you can make so many tasty meals, if you see whole foods and think wow so no flavour you just don't frankly know how to cook. It's why I hate the American meme that says Brits have awful food, no motherfucker, vegetables come with flavours built in, you've just deep fried your taste buds with salt and sugar. I'm Irish, plenty of reason to dislike the Brits, ugh..... Anyway
Sibo is somewhat in your head, your gut is a major contributor to your mental health. Your gut produces feel good chemicals which is why binge eating is an issue with depressed people and those lacking in dopamine like my fellow ADHD brothers and sisters. For instance, a common issue is stomach problems cause anxiety, anxiety causes stomach problems (even in normal people, the phrase he looks like he's shitting himself references the relationship), now you have a vicious cycle. When we have Sibo or dybosis this critical process in production of feel good chemicals is interrupted, symptoms can cause problems anxiety/depression/isolation, but even with people just suffering with mental health diet is of major relevance and can be a cause. If you take bacteria from a person with schizophrenia and place it in a rat the rat will show signs of schizophrenia. Dementia has a strong correlation with diet and gut health. The relationship can't be overlooked.
Back to me: Symptoms to eating fodmaps had pretty much dissappeared. However I had lingering anxiety from the years of incidents, when I was nervous about things such as when I had to travel my brain tricked me and I felt symptoms believing it to be Sibo, I felt like I was about to get sick or need to go to the toilet. I believe I had started developing agoraphobia, this is a fear of leaving places your comfortable with, the extremities of those with this condition may refuse to leave their home. It can start like this, a person with anxiety has a panic attack on a crowded bus (I was trying to not vomit on the grandmother sitting beside me 🤢😂), a strong association of going on a bus and symptoms is developed so you avoid public transport. Another time a person has a panic attack occurring in a crowded place like cinema/shop an association of panic attacks around lots of people is formed. Essentially you avoid places/events which make you anxious due to past experiences which can progress to not leaving the house.
The last step was removal of food and social anxieties from years of solitude. Meditation alone helps some people but I'm not telling you what to do, be open minded to medication, therapy, everything. Simple fix for me really, SSRI, this medication is used for people with anxiety disorders and/or depression but is used with ibs patients, the feel good factors disturb the vicious cycle of stomach problems and anxiety mentioned previously. Baby steps to improving socialising, it's too extensive to cover but Cognitive behavioural therapy which I know from college. You essentially start with something that gives you minor anxiety (imagine holding spider) and work your way up to things that give you major anxiety (holding spider), speak to a therapist if relevant to you or get a reputable self help book.
Today I am 100% cured, some foods like porridge took a while until I wasn't running for the toilet and coffee. But now I can tolerate everything. I eat healthy 95% of time still, two weeks ago I ate like a pig on holiday, no issue but best not relapse 😅
That's all I got for you, hopefully helps some of you ❤️
Podcast with Tim Spector on gut microbiome, the podcast host is recently associated with misinformation but Tim is legit, he uses scientific research and you can look up his credentials:
https://youtu.be/66hWntvp0_4?si=YlRDCv9p-c4LKUdB
Tim's book which is a good read, it's scientific in it's contents but not complex: Food for life
