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So I have posted a few times on this forum and I get the feeling I am being dismissed. I take exception to that and I am so much better it's not funny. I would go as far as to say I am 90-95% better. I still get the occasional upset but it has been minor. I went to see an acupuncturist named LiHua Wang. Dr Wang took me from a problem case that my GI Dr though was going to be helpless and almost a waste of time to a living functioning person again. I won a small business and I am the go to person for almost everything. This puts a large amount of pressure on me to be well. I went to Dr Wang for about 6 months and during that time she started me out on a fruit smoothie that was cooked. The key is to use the Chinese criteria to eat. This means no cold or uncooked foods. ALL FOOD NEEDS TO BE COOKED, EVEN FRUIT. She also started me on herbs that build the immune system. The reason is that in Chinese medicine I was out of balance. So by increasing my immune system she gave me the strength to battle the SIBO. One day I must have eaten something bad because after 75-80 days I had an attack. So she then gave me a bitter herb that pretty much cleaned out the bacteria in my small intestines. Yes there are herbs that will do this. The herb is "Coptidus Rysoma". This Herb is highly prized by many ancient cultures for its curative properties. So once this was done I felt really very good for some time, maybe 4 weeks before I had a minor setback. Part of this was because of my testing. I am constantly testing myself to see if I can actually eat things that caused me trouble before. Sometime I would lose. So about 2 months ago we put me on those bitter herbs for 12 days. At this point I was doing well but have some weird things going on with my gut. Well first of all I believe that the roots eliminated the bacteria in my small intestines. This I also think that the more often you hit them the harder it is for them to re-root. So about 2 weeks ago I started with Align to re-colonize my small intestines again. Since then I have felt great better than I have in 4 years or when ever the SIBO went off on me. I suffered from IBS for years with every doctor I went to telling me its not a big deal, live with it.I want to leave Dr Wang's phone number because she is usually available and will speak with you directly. She doesn't make you wait for long. 503-255-5511, website, http://www.chinesehomeremedy.com/ I will also include the letter I wrote for Dr Wang I am writing this letter to inform anyone who is suffering from the same condition I do. I have been unfortunately blessed with a small intestinal bacterial over growth to which I will refer to as SIBO from here out. SIBO is a condition and not considered a disease. I subscribe to an Internet group online and read about how these folks suffer from IBS to Crone's, to ulcerative colitis. Apparently SIBO can be spawned by IBS and according to the forum I visit it is closely related. The pain and suffering is not pretty. Usually when one has a SIBO it can be very hard to have any kind of life. Most of the time food is your enemy. For me it was having to give up many things I enjoyed such as a cup of coffee, (I used to drink 3-4 cups a day) raisin bran for breakfast, a fresh green salad, milk shakes, any veggie raw, and my favorite foods, Chinese and Thai. Yes, I used to eat lots of spicy food and some of my friends told me that is why this happened to me, but I know that hot peppers, garlic, and onions are quite healthy for you. Over the past 30 or so years I have seen it progress little by little. I also had stomach flu according to the doctors but it happened about 5 times in my life. Each time I remember being completely drained of fluids and spent the entire 24 hours on or near the toilet being sick about every 10-15 minutes. I don't know if this contributed to my situation but I think it did. So soon about every 3-4 months I would be a bit sick to my stomach to which I passed off as the food was not the best or a tad of salmonella. I went on for years thinking that was the case. About 10 years ago I noticed it happened about once every 2 months even once a month. What was happening is I would get a feeling I had to use the restroom and needed immediate relief. When I was on the road or in a place where I might be working it would strike. So about 4 years ago I went to Dr Wang. I had met Dr Wang briefly during a visit for hip pain I developed playing Taiji Quan. I had all along asked doctors when I went for other issues what was happening and every one said, "oh it's IBS and there is nothing we can do." It is always disheartening when a doctor tells you there are not much they can do for you. Anyway Dr Wang treated me for IBS and for a bit I was doing all right, but still now and then I would get the pain and the horrible feeling like your stomach wants to jump out of your body. It took about 3 years to manifest into this SIBO. When I get sick I call it an attack because it seems like your entire digestive system has crashed. It will last from 1hr to 2 - 3 days when I get an attack.It was 3 years ago I got a colonoscopy and I was confirmed I had IBS. The doctors had to do it twice because the first time I could not handle the pain from the procedure. The second time I was completely sedated and they removed several polyps and a few were precancerous. I went back to OHSU and saw a FNP and she had me tested for hydrogen and to see how much hydrogen I produced. It turned out I produced a lot of hydrogen and I was diagnosed positive for SIBO. She prescribed me Cipro for 10 days and this worked for a week and she had me on flaygl for a week and that did nothing. She put me back on Cipro for 10 more days and it only lasted 4-5 days and I experienced another attack. I called back for another appointment and I was never responded to ever again by that clinic. I was out of hope and I was scared that I would never be well for more than a week or two at a time. So went back to Dr Wang again and told her that I had a SIBO. This time she had a different treatment for me. I asked if she knew about this and she nodded as she often does without saying a word. Her calm reassuring voice reassured me she could do something to help me. I asked her if I was ever going to get better after the second or third visit and she said, "Chris, you will get better." I wasn't so sure yet, but I had now gone 3 weeks without an attack. This was amazing. So the weeks stretched out into months and I had gone about 75 days with no problems and I induced an attack inadvertently by eating something out of my fridge that I let get bad and didn't notice.Dr. Wang had me come in right away and she gave me a cleaning herb that just made me feel great in no time. I wasn't too sure about all the acupuncture either. After 4 months of treatment I can now feel the accumulated effect of the needles working for me and I have turned a major corner in my life.Dr. Wang has done for me what a trained gastroenteroligist could not do. In January this year 2 weeks after starting with Dr Wang I had an appointment with my doctor, a board certified gastroenteroligist even told me that there is no cure and all he could do was to give another different type of antibiotic and I said no. I have been with Dr. Wang since then and other than 3 episodes or attacks I have been well. I know I have a ways to go but I can now see this will soon pass and I can go about living normal again.As for Dr. Wang I am not saying she is going to fix everything but she knows many things that western doctor have no clue about. She is caring and does not treat you in same manner as a modern doctor does. She treats you, not the symptom and, this is the difference between an eastern and western doctor. She doesn't make you wait, you can call and speak with her the same day. She goes out of her way to help. I was very lucky to find her and I hope that if you suffer from any problem a doctor tells you he can't cure you should see Dr. Wang. Yes she has limitations, everyone does. I am not going to say she is going to cure stage 4 cancer or fix broken spinal cords but, if you suffer from a condition and many diseases, Dr. Wang can help you!--C. J.I will also add thisLihua Wang acquired formal medical education in both traditional Chinese medicine and western medicine, at Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the People's Republic of China.Later on she began her career as a cardiologist in Xi Yuanhospital affiliated with the China Academy of Traditional Medicine, where she practiced integrative medicine, combining both Western and Traditional Chinese medicine. In 1982 she was invited by Kaiser Permanente Research Center as a visiting scholar. After returning to China and practicing for awhile, shewas invited by the Oregon College of Oriental Medicine to teach acupuncture and Chinese herbology to American students for four years before starting her private practice in Traditional Chinese Medicine in 1992 in Portland, OR. Throughout the years, as she was treating patients, many asked for her advice on how they should take care themselves in daily life. In 2006, Lihua Wang have written a book: Chinese Home Remedies. It sprang from this experience and it is the author's hope that the suggestions it contains will help the readers as her past patients. The book has already been translated into twelve foreign languages.