SIBO
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Two years ago I was diagnosed with SIBO – Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth. I’ve been treated for it twice with the antibiotic, Rifaxim, but it wasn’t until I recently decided to get rid of it once and for all that it really decided to kick my ass.
SIBO has become a pretty common topic in the holistic world – and for good reason. It is believed that 60% of IBS cases can be attributed to SIBO. If you’re not familiar with SIBO, it is an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine. When this happens, bad things occur like gas, bloating, stomach pain, nausea, vomiting, weight loss, poor nutrient absorption and even damage to the stomach lining. Other symptoms of SIBO that people don’t typically associate with something going on in their gut are fatigue, depression, rosacea, asthma, acne, joint pain and rashes.
For me it was gas and bloating. It became really embarrassing. I didn’t like to eat out in public and if I did, I always tried to make a quick escape as soon as dinner was over so that I could just stink out my immediate family instead of an entire restaurant. I often felt bloated and became obsessed with my “mom belly”. But in hindsight, being a little stinky and bloated sounds ok to me now.
Three months ago, I decided to do what most people with SIBO never accomplish – get rid of my SIBO, once and for all. Sadly, SIBO has a horribly high reoccurrence rate, even after being treated with Rifaxim. After a ton of research, I knew that I needed more than just a pill to get better. So, I began working with an amazing functional medicine practioner. After some initial testing, I began a paleo, low-fodmap diet, along with intermittent fasting.
I’ve been eating a paleo/primal diet for over 4 years, so how hard could adding on one more layer be? Silly me. It’s been terrible. While I’ve found a few recipes that I’ve loved, preparing and eating a paleo, low-fodmap diet is not for the faint of heart. It feels like I’ve been eating the same thing every day for the past 12 weeks – peppers, carrots, cucumbers, olives, eggs, beef, lettuce, chicken, tuna fish and oysters. Yes, I can eat more than this, but honestly not much more.
One thing that I’ve learned (the hard way), is that the quantity of what you eat is just as important as what you eat. I used to love “fat bombs”. They were my go-to snack that satiated me. But (sniff, sniff), too much coconut did not agree with me. I can handle 2 Eating Evolved Coconut Butter Cups (thank goodness), but if I throw in one of my homemade Sunbutter Cup Fat Bombs, I’m writhing in pain.
If my life of living on a super-restricted diet were a play (and god help me if it were – who would want to see that?!), this is where things would get interesting. Enter stage right, the villain…“Antimicrobials”. I was put on Berberine and Oil of Oregano which help lower my blood sugar and act as an antibiotic. The taste of both are gross, but it was manageable – at first. And then the nausea and fatigue set in. I went from being able to work out regularly to actually having to sit down on the floor in the Target toy section as my kids looked at Nerf guns because I was exhausted from standing so long. Napping has become a regular desire and sometimes a necessity to simply making it through the day.
But you know what stinks? Thankfully, it’s not me anymore, but it is the empathy part of having SIBO. People are so unfamiliar with SIBO and what the treatment looks like. I feel like it’s still a “hippie diagnosis” (even though some of the most conventional GI doctors work with it nowadays) and that people think that I’m choosing to “do this to myself”. I’ll admit that I didn’t even realize how intense the treatment would make me feel. I had no side effects on Rifaximin. This time I suspect that what I feel like is close to what people going through chemo feel like. It’s that bad. Not all the time, but most of it.
I’m not giving up yet though. I’m hopeful that after some adjustments that I make with my doctor, I’ll feel better. I’m not quite ready to go back to “Tootsville”.
