Some people struggle with SIBO, small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, especially after prolonged use of antibiotics and bad eating. Symptoms can be indigestion, gurgling gut, loose bowel movements and/or constipation. I had eaten healthy foods most of my life, but I surely had overused antibiotics, starting with tetracycline and Cleocin for serious acne in my teens and twenties. It was discovered after my internal use that Cleocin should only be used topically.
A few years ago, functional Dr. K ordered testing for my gut through Genova Labs which showed I had an overgrowth of a couple strains of unhealthy bacteria.
Ironically, many doctors prescribe antibiotics to treat SIBO. I did one round of doxycycline the year after using the same treatment for tick-borne illnesses. Thereafter, I decided against future antibiotic use unless I was on my deathbed. I’d surely taken too many for one person’s lifetime.
Over a four-year period, I tried the best supplements and diets to treat my gut issues. I religiously took Atrantil for three months and ended up getting my money back. I diligently took the herbal antibiotics CandiBactin-AR and Canti Bactin-BR as recommended by functional Dr. K. Then I tried FC-Didal and Dysbiocide for a couple weeks. I did a trial with uva ursi. Then oregano and neem oil.
For several months off I used various soothing supplements such as glutamine, marshmallow and slippery elm to heal my gut lining and leaky gut. I experimented with the fodmap diet, and tried to figure which particular foods I was sensitive to.
I tried several different kinds of digestive enzymes, some to digest fats as my tests had shown fat in my stools and I had difficulty gaining weight. Others to digest all food types. Then some to neutralize histamine.
Recently I used a couple herbal tinctures from an herbalist referenced in Herbal Antibiotics by Stephen Harrod Buhner. The herbalist also highly recommended cabbage juice which I ingested daily for at least a month, and also took the food grade limonene she sells which helps people with acid reflux by getting rid of candida in the upper GI tract.
In addition to eating plain yogurts, goat’s milk kefir and fermented foods like sauerkraut, balsamic vinegar for several years, I ingested the best brands of probiotics such as Ancient Nutrition, Dr. Ohhira’s, the stronger Dr. Ohhira’s, and the one from humans called Progurt, Metagenics acidophilus prescribed by Dr. K and soil-based probiotics. I learned about pre-biotics and post-biotics from Dr. Gundry’s books The Plant Paradox and Gut Check.
The good news is that my loose bowel movements became a thing of the past. I no longer needed calcium carbonate, or omeprazole which I had used only occasionally for acid reflux. I no longer needed to sleep on a slant. I could now eat radishes again and spicier foods.
Currently I am making my own yogurt based on recipes in the book Super Gut. Also it will be interesting to see how iHeRQles works for me personally. After only 6 weeks I’m noticing even more improvement.