My Journey (so far) with SIBO

As I mentioned in this post, my one and only intention for October is to heal.

Heal the gut.

I was diagnosed with small intestine bacteria overgrowth a month ago – methane and hydrogen positive – and let me tell ya, this is a beast. It’s so HARD to kill the bad bacteria in your small intestine for good. Even with multiple rounds of antibiotics, diet and natural herbs, SIBO has a big chance of relapsing.

So my journey with SIBO begins.

I just finished up my antibiotics. I was prescribed two medications for two weeks to kill both gasses, methane and hydrogren.

Here is what I’m doing NOW to help starve the bad bacteria and save my gut:

1. Intermittent Fasting for 14 hours

Now, I never thought I could do intermittent fasting. I look forward to eating breakfast as soon as I wake up. Hell, that’s what I wake up for – having my morning coffee + a banana pancake, while trying to open my eyes. This was my morning time. Killing this habit was rough at first. Especially since I have anxiety about under-eating from my eating disorder days. I’ve worked so hard to not fall back, so it just feels weird to not eating first thing when I wake up. What I’ve learned about intermittent fasting (and had to train myself, mentally) is that it does NOT mean you are skipping breakfast, it’s important to note you are still including all of your meals. However, you are eating all of your meals in a smaller window of time. This has already helped my digestion upset and bloat immensely. Intermittent fasting gives your digestion a break. During this break, your Migrating Motor Complex (MMC) known as the housekeeper of the small intestine, goes and “sweeps” the upper intestine of any excess gastric content and organisms. Impaired gut motility has been shown to be one of the leading causes linked to SIBO.

2. SIBO Specific Diet and Sibo Bi Phasic Diet

I’m currently following the SIBO specific diet, but will soon transition to the SIBO Bi-Phasic Diet as it is less restrictive. Plus there are way more recipes you can make/ live a little. LOL. Both strive to reduce food sources for the bacteria. The recommended diets decrease carbohydrates to try to reduce the bacteria and especially the gas they produce, by limiting their food supply.  The only carbohydrate that bacteria do not eat much of, is insoluble fiber.

3. Saying no to the below.

Garlic, onion, raw veggies, and sugar 🙁

4. Supplements: (Click on the supplement to shop)
5. Wake up early

There are so many triggers for stress that happen through out the day. Your body can’t relax. When stress occurs, your digestion pauses. Hello – constipation!! So, waking up early on the daily and giving my body it’s time and space to decompress before the day is so important for my digestion. Sometimes it works, other times it doesn’t. However, routine helps! Your digestion likes routine.

I have a Doctor appointment with a naturopathic November 20th so I will keep you all updated on my progress 🙂

If you have tummy problems and want to find the root to your gut health, please seek a medical proffesional. I’m talking about my gut issues and my health & what I’m doing to help my diagnoses. However, if you find similarities, please get a breath test done to determine if you have SIBO!

 

 

 

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  1. […] next step to my SIBO journey: This post shows what I’ve learned since doing the first treatment. I learned that doing the SIBO bi-phasic diet is more effective than the SIBO specific diet. (I […]