Gas, SIBO Treatments

[Matthew_2]

Hi, I have had unrelenting gas for the past 2 years. At first, it was associated with terrible nausea. That has abated, and I can now eat, but my GI system is still producing horrible gas almost constantly. I had a lactulose test recently that showed high levels of hydrogen and methane. Antibiotic treatment is not helping. Anyone have any ideas about diet or supplements that may help?

Thanks.

 

[Judee]

Activated charcoal or maybe a digestive enzyme similar to this ONE if you can still find them. (It looks like they are discontinuing them. )

Also be aware that that digestive enzyme has residual milk and egg in case you are sensitive. Also both of those are prone to constipate a person.

You could also try Chlorophyll. (I think this might be high in vitamin K so be careful if you are on blood thinners.)

 

[kangaSue]

The Neurogastroenterologist in this presentation suggests the use of a statin to treat methane SIBO

 

[Wolfcub]

@ljimbo423 may possibly have some herbal recommendations for you @Matthew_2 I think he has worked with herbal treatment for a similar problem. (?) I do hope I haven't got that wrong, Jim ! Memories ain't what they used to be!

 

[ljimbo423]

I had a lactulose test recently that showed high levels of hydrogen and methane. Antibiotic treatment is not helping. Anyone have any ideas about diet or supplements that may help?

Allison Seibecker has treated thousands of SIBO patients and is very successful at what she does. This is a link to her website that has tons of info on how to treat SIBO.

That link brings you directly to her "treatment" page. But she has much more info provided in the links at the top of the page. As a side note, I've improved my ME/CFS from severe and mostly bedridden for 6-8 years, to fairly mild by treating sibo/dysbiosis and the leaky gut that resulted from it.

 

[Matthew_2]

@Wolfcub thanks for the assist.

@ljimbo423 thanks for the reference and inspiration.

 

[Matthew_2]

@ljimbo423 How long did it take you to significantly improve your GI system, and what treatments/diets made the biggest difference for you?

 

[ljimbo423]

@ljimbo423 may possibly have some herbal recommendations for you @Matthew_2 I think he has worked with herbal treatment for a similar problem. (?) I do hope I haven't got that wrong, Jim ! Memories ain't what they used to be!

You got it right. Thanks for the tag. Your memory looks good from here!

 

[ljimbo423]

@ljimbo423 How long did it take you to significantly improve your GI system,

I think it took about a year or so to feel a real difference in my IBS but I still have mild IBS. I explain more about this below. It took probably a year and a half to move myself to fairly mild ME/CFS from moderate.

what treatments/diets made the biggest difference for you?

A low carb diet, 2 courses of Rifaximin and herbal antibacterial herbs were all crucial to my ME/CFS improvements. I'm still doing the low carb diet and herbs. Because I still have mild IBS and haven't fully recovered from ME/CFS yet.

A huge wake-up call for me was when I went off my low carb diet of about 40-50 grams of carbs a day and started eating about 150-200 grams a day of carbs. In 2 weeks I went from rarely ever spending time in bed, to feeling so weak and exhausted, I was spending most of my days in bed!!

Carbs feed inflammatory bacteria in the gut and I believe that's just what happened. Which increased my inflammation, my immune system response and caused me to feel sick, weak and exhausted.

In my case, I'm becoming more and more convinced that chronic stress is what's keeping my gut messed up and maintaining my ME/CFS. It's well established that chronic stress causes dysbiosis and increased intestinal permeability (aka, leaky gut).

 

[PatJ]

Here are some other resources:

Dr. Grace Liu's seven steps to cure SIBO: https://thegutinstitute.com/blogs/news/7-steps-to-cure-sibo

*Low bile production, methylation problems*
From: http://www.beyondmthfr.com/mthfr-digestion-methylation-connection-gallbladder-function/

Bile is basically soap. It performs nearly the exact same functions as your dish soap. [Some other functions, such as detoxification are also listed in the article.] Just like dish soap helps cut the grease and fats off your dishes, your bile helps break up the fats in your diet into small pieces. This process is often referred to as the emulsification function of bile – it literally acts like detergent on the fats we eat. Soap also rinses bacteria off your hands and bile rinses bacteria off the lining of your small intestine. This is one big reason why people with bile problems, which come from MTHFR and methylation problems, often develop SIBO. Lack of bile means too many bugs stuck to the walls of your upper small intestine, and this is a big issue for people who are struggling to overcome SIBO and get their gut back on track.