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253 Posts
Hello, everyone! As many of you know I was very, very ill having lost 35% of my body weight and unable to leave the house. (10-15 attacks of uncontrolled diarrhea daily.) I tried EVERYTHING!!! This long list included thousands of dollars on herbals, different probotics, the calcium supplements, various Rx medications. I just kept getting worse. All of my hair fell out and my head was constantly foggy along with a complete lack of muscle tone/strength. Night sweats were intense. Yet, test after test came back with nothing. (I never did go through the breath test as my GI doctor said it was not that accurate.) I was finally placed on Tetracycline 2000 mg a day and found relief for more than 7 months. My weight is back up. When I back off the Tetracycline, I get rumblings and gas back along with loose stools. Hence, I kind of know when to start taking them again. My doctor has given me a running Rx. I realize this may not be great for my body but it has given me some resemblance of life back. I now have hope to be able to work again. Will it work forever? I do not know. I do know when I added probotics to the antibiotic, the diarrhea returned. I should mention they used antidepressants to slow down my gut. The SSRI class made me worse while the anti-psychotic class worked wonders for the weight gain and diarrhea. Sadly, I mentally could not tolerate the drugs and have since gained more weight than I am comfortable with (10 lbs a week and up from 125 to 160). It is not fun going off these products- withdrawal is a b*tch. So, right now, I have my fingers crossed that I can rely on the Tetracycline alone to control my diarrhea. I am happy to answer questions to the best of my ability as I too have done a great deal of research and reading. Most SIBO sufferers get it from an initial infection, an obstruction, a blind loop, or loss of normal motility (way too fast or too slow). I lost my "housekeeper" wave due to nerve damage. So, I will most likely battle this condition for the rest of my life. Tetracycline worked so far for me. I chose it over Cipro, Avelox and Doxy simply because it is easier for me to tolerate. I chose it over Xifaxin because (according to a JAMA article) the overgrowth spreads to other organs of the body. This is why we so often feel foggy, sweaty, heart pounding, muscles wasting, smell bad. . . I will check in now and then. If the tetracycline fails, I have no idea where I'll go from there.