[comguay]

I am reading a lot about IBS and SIBO and this could explain why i feel better when i take antibiotics?? i get gas attacks ans sometimes diaharrea with it other times small pellets like stools and mucus......could all this be from SIBO?? ....i dont gave celiac, had virtual colonoscopy normal, no bloody diahrrea, maybe my ibs gives me SIBO??

 

[Moises]

Feeling better when taking antibiotics is a very good indicator that microbes are causing your problem. And this suggests SIBO.

 

[Constinker]

I was reading that not getting enough fiber can allow for small intestinal bacteria overgrowth. I get the idea that most gas is produced in the colon from bacteria breaking down soluble fiber. Perhaps getting more insoluble fiber and less of the soluble fiber might help.

 

[Moises]

Read Pimentel's book. Fiber is undigestible and unabsorbable. Pimentel argues that you want to eat food that you can absorb.

 

[SarahHeptinstall]

I'm 26 suffering with what my doctor believes to be ibs. Have been suffering since my early 20's and wondered if anyone else around my age has experienced this. Just wondering if there are any common factors as I'm suprised this has affected me so young.

I hope I'm doing this right - just subscribed to this site so hope this message works. My name is Sarah and I am 20, and been suffering with IBS for 2 and a half years now. I am very interested about this SIBO theory and I know the breath test is available in the USA, but I am in the U.K. Does anybody know whether the breath test is available in the UK and if it is, how would I go about getting one? Would my doctor know where to order one from or would I have to find out etc?

 

[18124]

Sarah,Im in the UK and have just managed to persuade my GP to get me a test for SIBO. Took a lot of persuading though. The NHS wont pay for many things these days. If you meet a lot of resistence you could ask your GP to refer you to a private hospital to have the test. That way you either get the test done (and have to pay for it) or they panic a bit that they might suffer some repercussions for not helping you on the NHS if the tests prove to be positive, and end up arranging the test on the NHS (which is what happened to me!) Have you been seen by a gastro and been officially diagnosed as IBS or have you self-diagnosed? If you are on the thin side despite eating a lot, its worth pursuing this SIBO idea. From what I can gather, the bacteria (which have invaded the small intestine) steal a lot of the nutrients out of the food before it gets to the colon where you get the chance to get at it! If you havent been refered to a gastro yet, I would ask your GP to do this, and then pursue the SIBO testing idea with them. Gastro probably wont mention SIBO himself - they are a chronically busy/underfunded discipline and will just want you in and out as quickly as poss with a diagnosis of IBS. The symptoms for IBS and SIBO are very simillar. Call me cynical, but the NHS automatically labels people as having IBS because there is no known cause/cure, so they dont have to do anything, just diagnose IBS and you are off their patient list. Whereas with SIBO there is a definate problem - bugs that should be in colon have got into small intestine and there are things they have to do to treat it (antibiotics, retesting etc) and there can be fairly serious medical repercussions if they dont treat it/ treat it properly (which involves come-back on them.) From their point of view its a waste of a lot of their departments resourses to treat something that isnt on their / their managers / politicians priority condition list (the big 5, or whatever they are calling it these days.....)Sorry - you just wanted to know where to get the test! .......Do a google search for "SIBO hydrogen breath test NAME OF YOUR NEAREST BIG CITY HOSPITAL" and hopefully a list will come up with all the tests you hospital lab does. Thats how I found out, so when my GP tried to dismiss my silly SIBO idea with, "I am not aware of any such breath tests" I was able to hand her a piece of paper with the extention number and contact name of the biochemist in the local lab who does the test.

 

[18124]

And to all you guys here who are still pretty young and experiencing these symptoms for the first time - PLEASE push your medical practitioners to give you some HELP with this while you are still at an early stage and hopefully havent received too much damage to your insides and your spirit hasnt been too crushed!I was fobbed off by medics at the same age you are, and was told "its JUST IBS" "theres nothing can be done about it". I took that 'advice' and suffered silently with horrendous symptoms of some sort or other for another couple of decades. Its tainted every aspect of my life. Its only just now Im starting to seek medical intervention again, but this time when Im told there isnt anything can be done, I have already done the research and I tell THEM what can be done. If I meet real resistance I am going to pay to have tests done from my own pocket.Oh, and these chat forums are on another level since I last looked in - they used to be a place to have a bit of a moan (which is very important!) but now there are a lot exceptionally well-read and informed people contributing and I for one have really been re-motivated by them / you all!!!Bless ya all!!!!

 

[powertool4]

Are there any other tests for diagnosis of bacterial overgrowth in the intestines? I know there's blood test for d-lactate etc. How do you know if its in the small intestine or the colon? And I understand the treatment for SIBO is antibiotics but.. i've heard that it just comes back. Is there a way to get rid of the buggers once and for all? I mean why would they come back? Not enough florastor and probiotics??

 

[Kathleen M.]

The most commonly done test for SIBO is the hydrogen (and sometimes methane) breath test. You drink a bunch of a carb that they will turn into gas.If you have a peak too early followed by the normal peak when it hits the colon they diagnose you with SIBO. they can also put a tube down and in and take a sample from the small intestine and plate it to see how many bacteria grow.The problem is whatever allows them to grow in the first place (often you aren't clearing them out effectively for any number of reasons) means that they can re-accumulate as often what is screwed up isn't easy to fix. IBS is not the only condition that is associated with SIBO, just one that has been associated for the last 10 years. It was known for a long time before that, just usually in people much sicker than you see in IBSers.

 

[powertool4]

The most commonly done test for SIBO is the hydrogen (and sometimes methane) breath test. You drink a bunch of a carb that they will turn into gas.If you have a peak too early followed by the normal peak when it hits the colon they diagnose you with SIBO. they can also put a tube down and in and take a sample from the small intestine and plate it to see how many bacteria grow.The problem is whatever allows them to grow in the first place (often you aren't clearing them out effectively for any number of reasons) means that they can re-accumulate as often what is screwed up isn't easy to fix. IBS is not the only condition that is associated with SIBO, just one that has been associated for the last 10 years. It was known for a long time before that, just usually in people much sicker than you see in IBSers.

Oh thanks! that explains it very well. I have been told that the reason the bacteria keeps coming back is because like you said, the source isn't addressed, I.E. slow motility, etc. hopefully that's not the case but ill be happy to take the test and at least get a diagnosis.

 

[kar272]

Does anyone know if there is a relation to the positive findings in h.pylori breath test to the findings in a SIBO breath test? I tested positive for h.pylori twice, each time followed by antibiotics yet I have had little improvement and I'm sure that my Intestinal pains and regular bowel movements are unrelated to h.pylori. Could this mean that the test is just picking up lots of bad bacteria?