SIBO - How to clear small intestine/fix motility?

[Tiffyshea]

I don't know my numbers now as the last time I did the breath test they did a glucose test (not sure if the numbers are different) and all it says on the test is negative. The lactulose breath test is the one where anything over 20ppm is a problem, and anything over 30ppm is a severe SIBO infection... the last one I took failed (they're sometimes wrong), and I was certain the SIBO was gone, as I felt better.

The energy problems didn't come on until the SIBO infection was cured... as I was on the elemental diet, that's when I started getting fatigue really bad, but I thought it was just the diet. It took months before I started really thinking something was wrong with my energy as it just wasn't getting better.

So while everyone else seems to have a viral onset to their ME, I had SIBO as my onset. It's weird.

And yeah, it was really hard to treat it. It took me 2 years.

 

[overtheedge]

I've heard that glucose tests can only find overgrowth in the first part of the small intestines since glucose is absorbed so quickly, so if you have overgrowth further down it will be missed

 

[Bergkamp]

Hey @Tiffyshea , I know your post is quite a while ago but I hope you still read this.

I read your posts on the ED while having ME/CFS with a lot of interest. I have been having SIBO for about a year and a half (and of course ME/CFS for about 4 years) and like you I tried almost everything (antibiotics, herbals, prokinetics etc). I am know thinking about doing the ED and my therapist wants me to do it. However I’m afraid it will significantly worsen my ME since it’s a pretty intense regimen and can cause a bad die-off reaction etc. I have also lost a lot of weight already so another 2 weeks of eating very little might be tough on me.

What was not entirely clear to me from your post is if you finally concluded that the crash you experienced was from the ED or not? Do you think it played a role at all? That information would be really helpful for me!

 

[Wayne]

So my question is, what suggestions would people make based on this?

@canyouhearmeaya -- I read a testimonial once by a woman who started doing regular HBOT sessions, and she said her rather severe gastroparesis cleared up almost immediately. She said she had needed several digestive enzymes throughout her normal day, and after 3 days of HBOT, she no longer needed them.

I attribute my own issues with motility to my vagus nerve becoming seriously impinged following a severe whiplash as a teenager. I was able to get some relief following some upper cervical work, particularly a procedure called AtlasPROfilax. I noticed immediately afterward that I had much more nerve energy going through my GI tract, which is supplied by the vagus nerve.

 

[cogent_thought]

Just to contribute here, I tested positive for SIBO with elevated Methane & hydrogen at baseline.

A course of rifaxamin & metronidazole did not make a lasting impact, however my brain fog cleared whilst on the treatment (metronidazole espescially). Felt some mental side effects which I bounced back from.

I've recently come across the d lactate hypothesis which matches my symptoms. Since cutting out carbs, my daily brain fog and sleepiness has stopped for the first time in over a decade! The diet is almost unsustainable though and I don't want to be in ketosis forever so. modifying the microbiome to reduce d lactate producers seems like the best path.

I'm going to create a new thread to chart my progress (if there is any) with diet, probiotics, antibiotics to try and secure a longer lasting remission as I've seen at least one other user say they have with a similar diagnosis. Attempting to have d lactate measured this week by doctors who probably won't want to.