Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth.
SIBO.
That's what the smart lady on the other end of the phone told me, without a doubt, that I have.
Not a huge surprise. After testing for it and reading what the likely symptoms were, I would have been more surprised had I NOT tested positive for it. Bloating, cramping, doubling over in pain when I eat certain foods? Yes. Diarrhea? Yup. Distension in my abdomen so bad it looked like I was five months pregnant again and I had to change into my sweatpants by 2 PM some days? Precisely.
So here we are. With a diagnosis, but not with a clear way to treat it. You see, standard protocol is to administer targeted antibiotics to wipe out the bad bacteria. And it usually works.
But then the bad bacteria just comes back, either weeks or months later. It's a tough cycle to break.
I'm not an expert on this matter. But I'm going to spend the next weeks devising a plan, with the help of my husband (a PhD student in pharmaceutical outcomes research and policy, perfectly suited for the task of helping me understand this medical mumbo-jumbo) and my gastroenterologist, a chiropractor, several pharmacist friends and a naturopath. I will take rifaximin, the antibiotic of choice for SIBO. I may take a biofilm disruptor. I am also going to devise a zero-sugar, low-carbohydrate diet to keep those bad guys from coming back. I will be taking probiotics after the antibiotics are through my system. I will be consulting with several pharmacists and a naturopath and I will be throwing everything else at this: cinnamon, garlic, oil of oregano, etc. I will drink epic amounts of bone broth and I will forgo every. single. holiday. treat. this. year. Period.
And it may or may not work. I may find myself six months down the road, needing another round of antibiotics. I'But ll be darned if I'm not going to try this.
So this is my journey, my ramblings, my discoveries.
I wonder where God will take me with it.
