Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) occurs when there is an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine. It’s often the real culprit behind a vague IBS diagnosis, and it’s estimated that 80% of those with IBS actually have SIBO.
SIBO Symptoms
SIBO patients often feel like they’ve just eaten a big meal – all the time. SIBO can cause extensive bloating, nausea, burping and gas, constipation, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. It can also not manifest in typical digestive symptoms, but instead show up as sneaky brain fog, exhaustion, or joint pain. SIBO bacteria steal the good nutrients from your food, leaving you with less vitamins and minerals and causing deficiencies or malnourishment.
SIBO Testing
SIBO is normally developed after sickness during travel, food poisoning, antibiotics, surgery, stress, or a poor diet for too many years. It can be diagnosed with a breath test either at the doctors or at home, which involves drinking a sugar solution and breathing into tubes to test for different gasses produced by the bacteria. Methane, hydrogen, and hydrogen sulfide are the three gasses that SIBO bacteria cause. The type of gas produced in each patient determines their treatment and course of action.
Hey- have you asked yourself these questions: do I have SIBO? Why, when, and how should I get tested? What’s the dealing with retesting? Our Ultimate Guide to Testing for SIBO will help you gain clarity around this important topic to navigate the maze of SIBO/IMO testing and create an action plan to resolve your symptoms.
Testing is the first step to seeing recovery and results. You’ll learn the importance of testing and how it can guide your treatment, the 3 ways to be tested for SIBO, what a breath test is, how to choose the right test, do and donts for testing mornings, and how to interpret your results. Get the guide now!
SIBO Treatment
Treatment includes a wide variety of options and is best completed working closely with a practitioner experienced in treating SIBO and helping manage SIBO symptoms. Treatments include SIBO-specific antibiotics or herbal microbials, the Element Diet, probiotics, supplements, dietary or lifestyle changes, and more.
If you’re looking for a course to walk you and your practitioner through every step of SIBO treatment, consider checking out our course: the SIBO Recovery Roadmap®. It’s been used to help thousands of patients heal from SIBO and was developed by SIBO specialist Dr. Allison Siebecker based on her practice.
If you’ve recently be diagnosed with SIBO, remember: SIBO can feel overwhelming and confusing at first, but it’s a condition that is treatable and manageable. With the right treatment and support, you can get back to living your life and spending time on what’s most important to you.
If you’re not sure if you have SIBO, but you’ve been diagnosed with IBS without being given a reason why, keep reading! IBS is a diagnosis of exclusion, meaning it’s given as a diagnosis when doctors aren’t sure what’s really wrong. Dr. Mark Pimentel believes as much as 60% to 70% of IBS cases are originally caused by food poisoning— and 80% of IBS cases are actually cases of SIBO. Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth (SIBO) could be the true cause of the symptoms you’re calling IBS.
Learn more about SIBO and IBS in our free guide The Real Cause of IBS and the breakthroughs discovered by brilliant doctors who have dedicated their lives to researching IBS and SIBO.