Victory...Negative for SIBO!!!

[dogmom]

Eight months ago, I had a really bad case of SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth). I believe it was caused by being on Nexium as the PPI severely cuts stomach acid and the ability to fight opportunistic infections like SIBO. I am  happy to report that I was re-tested yesterday. and the results were negative!  I finished the Whole30 on April 15. I can't help but think that the month of no grains or sugar benefited me as the bacteria likes to feed on carbohydrates. My original reason for going on the Whole30 was to try to rid myself of a sore throat from acid reflux. I still have that, but now have a doctor who is going to test me to determine if my problem is truly acid reflux; and if I am overproducing stomach acid. I have tried many diets to alleviate symptoms to no avail. I am glad that at least I don't have to worry about bad gut bacteria. I am currently not on any PPI's. They did nothing to improve my symptoms, anyway. I will take all the victories over digestive ailments that I can get!

[Bet]

Hi dogmom, that is great news! I also had SIBO and believe I am over it. Eliminating sugar has been the key. I also had a course of antibiotics that I'm sure helped too.

 

About the sore throat, I am struggling with similar issues. I have a very weak voice, I am clearing my throat constantly and I frequently have problems swallowing or choking on food or drink. I've done some research and found that this is probably caused by LPR Laryngopharyngeal Reflux. This is when the reflux damages the throat. I had major problems with GERD, even when I was a child, and like you, I was on PPIs, but no longer. However I either have some damage to my throat from it or I still have what they call silent GERD, which is when you do have reflux without any burning sensation or heartburn.

 

From what I've read, the treatments are the same for GERD, adjust diet, elevate your head when sleeping, don't eat 3-4 hours before sleeping and the dreaded PPIs. Plus, the key to throat damage is pepsin, not just acid. Of course I've been taking HCL with pepsin for awhile now to increase my stomach acid (which was too low, hence the SIBO and other issues). This has cured my GERD, as far as I can tell, but apparently there is still more going on.

 

So far I've eliminated drinking seltzer (any carbonated beverage is bad because it can cause the stomach content to effervesce up into the throat). I've also stopped eating pineapple, which I love, but I felt it was irritating my throat. The other foods you are supposed to eliminate are anything acidic, citrus, alcohol, salad dressings with vinegar and chocolate. I'm still working on the last one .

 

I am going to see an ENT, and if I have to take some kind of PPI at night, when it hopefully can't effect my digestion I might. But I'm very wary about taking it. I just want to make sure I don't have some kind of damage to my throat or esophagus from my years of having GERD. You might want to do that too.

[missmary]

I'm not a doctor, but I worry that doctors aren't seeing the whole picture when it comes to stomach acid and digestion. Here is an interesting article on the topic, that just appeared in my Facebook stream this morning: http://balancedbites.com/2012/01/why-you-want-more-stomach-acid-not-less.html

 

And congrats on beating SIBO, dogmom, that's a fantastic result!

[Bet]

That is very true missmary, I wish I had known that 30 years ago! I did go to the ENT and yes, I have LPR. I gave in and I'm taking the PPIs for a few weeks to see if that makes a difference. I hope that it doesn't cause me digestion issues. The doctor was very impressed with my changing my diet to resolve many of my digestive problems, so he said he knows I will follow the directions for LPR (I have to give up coffee, seltzer, any acidic foods and chocloate, SOB). So I'm giving it 6 weeks to see what happens. At least now I know to take sublingual B12 and D3, since the PPIs interfere with the digestion of a lot of nutrients.