I read stuff on this site from time to time and I'm not sure why because I usually come away with information overload - some good advice and some not-so-good advice. So, I guess I might as well put my 2 cents worth in - EVERYBODY IS DIFFERENT! I try to find people with similar symptoms and who don't have too much advice! I have an alive and working bullshit detector. Here's my story:
I just started having terrible awful nausea that would last for several days maybe 4 years ago (I'm 60)where I literally stayed in the bed all day - nothing seemed to cut the nausea including the standard nausea drugs. I couldn't eat or drink and then in a day or two it would pass. This happened about every 3 weeks. I lost about 10-15 lbs. I was constipated a lot in between episodes and bloated no matter what I ate. No diarrhea. Went to Gastroenterologist who gave me an Indicans urine test. I know. This is not the 'gold standard' test for SIBO but frankly, the gold standard of the breath test isn't very 'gold' either or at least not 'shiny gold'. There are a lot of false positives and negatives. My gastro's thought is that since I've had colonoscopy and endoscopy and we've ruled out a lot of 'bad things' that the indicans is a fast test that documents I have too much bacteria. So that is the test he uses and it has worked so far. If my levels are high and usually I know just by my symptoms, he puts me on 550mg of Rifaximin three times a day and twice daily neomycin for 14 days. I usually get 6-8 months of no symptoms and then I get it again and then go back on antibiotics. I've never really tried too hard to watch my diet but this time I am trying to follow the Mark Pimental diet recommendations in his book (google him). I've taken probiotics and frankly, I couldn't tell a difference either way. So, that's what I'm doing and it is working for me fairly well but of course, like you, I wish I didn't have this stuff! But this is life and like my Mississippi Daddy said, "It ain't fair, darling,'" so I consider myself lucky just to be here! Good luck with your symptoms whatever they may be and don't forget to trust yourself!
I just started having terrible awful nausea that would last for several days maybe 4 years ago (I'm 60)where I literally stayed in the bed all day - nothing seemed to cut the nausea including the standard nausea drugs. I couldn't eat or drink and then in a day or two it would pass. This happened about every 3 weeks. I lost about 10-15 lbs. I was constipated a lot in between episodes and bloated no matter what I ate. No diarrhea. Went to Gastroenterologist who gave me an Indicans urine test. I know. This is not the 'gold standard' test for SIBO but frankly, the gold standard of the breath test isn't very 'gold' either or at least not 'shiny gold'. There are a lot of false positives and negatives. My gastro's thought is that since I've had colonoscopy and endoscopy and we've ruled out a lot of 'bad things' that the indicans is a fast test that documents I have too much bacteria. So that is the test he uses and it has worked so far. If my levels are high and usually I know just by my symptoms, he puts me on 550mg of Rifaximin three times a day and twice daily neomycin for 14 days. I usually get 6-8 months of no symptoms and then I get it again and then go back on antibiotics. I've never really tried too hard to watch my diet but this time I am trying to follow the Mark Pimental diet recommendations in his book (google him). I've taken probiotics and frankly, I couldn't tell a difference either way. So, that's what I'm doing and it is working for me fairly well but of course, like you, I wish I didn't have this stuff! But this is life and like my Mississippi Daddy said, "It ain't fair, darling,'" so I consider myself lucky just to be here! Good luck with your symptoms whatever they may be and don't forget to trust yourself!