![]() If you have a good gastroenterologist, prescription antibiotics (especially Rifaximin) can help a lot. Treatment approaches for SIBO depend on whether or not you’re working with a doctor. The causes are incredibly varied and hard to pin down, but hopefully as more people keep studying the issue, we’ll get some better ideas of what causes SIBO and how to avoid it entirely. Anything else that can cause constipation.Physical problems with the intestine (for example, dysfunction of the valve that joins the small and large intestines).Other pre-existing gastrointestinal disease (e.g.Certain gastrointestinal infections, especially gastroenteritis.Essentially, SIBO can be caused by any physical abnormality in the small intestine that allows bacteria to hang out there for a while and reproduce. What Causes SIBO?Īs always with the gut flora, it’s complicated. If you have symptoms of SIBO, it’s worth a stab at some treatment options (see below) no matter what the breath test says, especially since most treatments are very low-risk and you haven’t lost anything if it fails. Ultimately, many people just end up taking a breath test, and then taking the results with a grain of salt. For most people, the expense and inconvenience just isn’t worth it. For example, you can get a biopsy, but this is a pretty major surgical procedure where a doctor actually physically collects tissue from the inside of your intestine. More precise tests are available, but they’re also more of a pain. For one thing, there’s no clear consensus about the line between “normal” results and an “overgrowth.” False negatives and false positives are both possibilities. Lactulose: a lactulose test will diagnose SIBO at the far end of the small intestine.īreath tests are great because they’re noninvasive and easy to take, but they also aren’t very precise.Glucose: a glucose test will diagnose SIBO at the close end of the small intestine.You can take a breath test with one of two types of carbohydrate: The concentration of gasses will be different for people with SIBO. To take this test, you simply consume a certain amount of carbohydrate, and then breathe into a machine that can sense the concentrations of different gasses in your breath. One of the most common tools is a hydrogen/methane breath test. SIBO is diagnosed in various ways, none of which are completely accurate. But if you’re looking for an official diagnosis, unfortunately, the options are pretty limited. How do I Know if I Have SIBO?Ĭonsidering that it’s so common, just having the symptoms makes it a pretty safe bet that you might be struggling with some degree of SIBO. SIBO is also closely associated with all kinds of other conditions that don’t seem to have any obvious connection to the gut – for example, it’s been linked to both fibromyalgia and rosacea. Malnutrition and nutrient deficiencies even if you’re eating plenty of nutrient-dense foods.Dangerous weight loss inability to gain weight no matter how much you eat.Constipation, diarrhea, or both in an alternating pattern (yes, this happens! If you’ve never experienced it, count yourself lucky!).Gas and bloating (when bacteria “eat” carbohydrates by fermenting them, they produce gas. ![]() ![]() Overgrowth of bacteria can cause all kinds of problems including: Recent studies have shown rates that up to 40% of people (and up to 78% of Irritable Bowel Syndrome patients) have some form of SIBO. It’s not entirely the same thing as Irritable Bowel Syndrome, but it’s close, and the two are closely related (there’s an especially close connection between SIBO and IBS-D). SIBO, or Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth, is just the technical term for gut flora growing too abundantly and in the wrong place. And just switching to Paleo isn’t always enough to solve the problem. Unfortunately, a surprisingly large number of people have one or both of those problems: too many microbes, in the wrong place. And you also want them primarily in the large intestine if they decide to get adventurous and start exploring other places, you’re in for trouble. When it comes to gut flora, the ideal is a golden mean: you want those friendly bacteria to be thriving and happy, but not so happy that they cross the line into overpopulation.
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