If you’re struggling with bloating, particularly after eating certain foods, followed by abdominal cramping and pain, constipation or diarrhoea, extreme fatigue or are craving for sweet, sugary foods, then this blog is for you. These symptoms can be debilitating, but with proven techniques and methods, we have devised a treatment plan that have got them back to feeling great and enjoying their lives.
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO)
With all the symptoms described above, the condition that comes to mind is SIBO, which stands for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. This is literally what the title says. There is an overgrowth of bacteria in the small intestine, which is abnormal, as normally the bacteria live in the large intestine. Now, there’s many reasons this can happen, including low stomach acid, a dysbiosis, a poor diet and lots of stress. So during consultations, this is addressed.
Unfortunately many GPS and doctors don’t see SIBO as a real condition, but lots of people that have IBS (around 60 to 70%) also have SIBO. Now this is quite a large number and so it needs to be addressed properly.
How is this treated?
The most obvious treatment would be to remove trigger foods, such as sugars and carbohydrates, that are going to feed the bacteria that are growing in the small intestine. By removing them, you’re starving them and then they’re going to be eliminated. Nutritionists use herbal antimicrobials, at a particular dosage, for a particular length of time, to make sure that it’s definitely eliminated. Then we work on repairing and healing the gut, so that this doesn’t happen again.
Make sure to do these two things…
You are more likely to relapse if you avoid these two common things.
1 – Get a SIBO test. This is so important. It’s very inexpensive and easily obtainable. You don’t have to go into clinic to do it, you can do it at home and it’s very simple. It’s drinking a solution of either glucose or lactulose and then inhaling your breath into a tube and sending it back to the lab.
The results will show either one or two, dominant gases that are produced by the breath. These are hydrogen-dominant, methane-dominant or a hydrogen-methane-dominant SIBO. This is shown in the spike where your body produces a gas after ingesting and how quickly in the timeframe it does it. So by finding this out, we can find the appropriate treatment for you, depending on the gas type.
2 – Follow and take a prokinetic. A prokinetic is so important to prevent a relapse, but lots of people forget this, because they’re not going to an expert to go and seek the treatment.
In clinic, we take a diagnosis, do the test and then put together a comprehensive treatment plan, which will promote everything in the right way and prevent relapses.
If this article resonated with you then…
This article was written by our team of specialist therapists at Perfect Balance Clinic. If you would like more specific advice about how our team can help you with this condition or symptoms you may be having, please complete the contact form below and one of the team will get back to you shortly.
