There are three different types of Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowths, based on the type of gas that the unwanted bacteria in your small intestine produce. Each one of them requires a slightly different approach and treatment. It’s important to get tested before treating any type of SIBO to make sure it’s truly the cause of your digestive issues!
Keep in mind that it’s possible to have more than one. You may categorize your SIBO as “methane dominant” because there’s the most methane gas, but still have some hydrogen which you’ll need to treat eventually as well.
Make sure to work closely with a practitioner familiar with SIBO as you go through treatment to make sure you’re treating everything you need to.
Hydrogen SIBO
This is the most common type of SIBO caused by hydrogen gas.
The most common symptoms of hydrogen SIBO are chronic bloating, feelings of fullness, and abdominal pain, especially as you eat and more gas is being created. Hydrogen SIBO can often cause diarrhea, which in turn can eventually cause malnutrition and dehydration.
Hydrogen SIBO is best treated with antibiotics like Ryfaxin or herbal microbials. It also responds well to the Elemental Diet, the most effective SIBO treatment. Learn more here.
Methane SIBO or IMO
Because the bacteria causing methane SIBO are technically archaea and not bacteria, sometimes methane SIBO can be referred to as Intestinal Methanogen Overgrowth (IMO). Two names for the same uncomfortable condition!
The most common symptoms of methane SIBO are constipation and weight gain because gut transit time increases. This allows for more calories to be absorbed from food along with limiting bowel movements.
Because archaea don’t respond to antibiotics, methane SIBO is best treated with herbal microbials and the Elemental Diet.
However, sometimes you may have BOTH hydrogen and methane SIBO. The bacteria from hydrogen SIBO may be releasing hydrogen, which the archaea from methane SIBO eat and use to produce methane. If this is the case, you’ll want to use antibiotics first, to kill the hydrogen-producing bacteria and help starve the methane-producing archaea.
Hydrogen Sulfide SIBO
Hydrogen Sulfide is produced by the human body and is harmless in healthy amounts. However, in large amounts it’s considered a neurotoxin, and can cause all sorts of problems like nerve damage, DNA damage, cancer, leaky gut, and cellular respiration issues. If you have hydrogen sulfide SIBO, you may often feel exhausted– because hydrogen sulfide can affect our mitochondria– the powerhouse in our cells that makes us our energy!
The most common symptoms of hydrogen sulfide SIBO are pain, sulfur-smelling gas, constipation or diarrhea, food sensitivity, and exhaustion.
Testing for hydrogen sulfide SIBO can be a challenge, but there are more and more testing options becoming available. We like Food Marble– check out the at-home comprehensive SIBO test– and TrioSmart– learn more here.
Treating hydrogen sulfide SIBO is complicated and requires working closely with your practitioner to create a diet plan, schedule antibiotics and herbal microbials, select supplements, and more. The Elemental Diet should not be used for hydrogen sulfide SIBO.
If you’re looking for an effective action-plan to treat each type of SIBO, consider joining us for our SIBO Recovery Roadmap® course. It’s the only course that will walk you through the 9-step proven method to treating SIBO used by SIBO specialist Dr. Allison Siebecker and pioneered by Dr. Mark Pimental (the doctor who discovered SIBO in the first place)!
