So, yes, it's been forever. I felt pretty good for about a year, working on motility, gut healing and rebuilding my gut microbiome. Then the election happened and I won't get political but I just tanked from all the stress. First, my thyroid took a nose dive and I started pushing into Reverse T3. Worked to get that sorted out, eventually just throwing in the towel and switching from NDT (natural dessicated thyroid) back to Cytomel. The muscle cramping didn't go away and the itching came back, which are my body's major SIBO signs. I'm on so many prokinetics that I have the digestion stuff down so it's the only way my body can cry wolf. On New Year's Day I broke down and did a breath test. Hello Methane!
Baseline was so much higher than it's ever been. Super discouraging and I knew I had to know for sure. Was my IBS due to the two bouts of food poisoning I had in 2010?? I printed out the lab requisition for the IBSChek and presented it to my ND. Results came back positive on both measures meaning yes, I have had food poisoning and yes, this SIBO is autoimmune in nature. Even though the events were nearly 7 years ago I still have antibodies well over the cutoff. Drat!
We know that when SIBO is autoimmune there's not a heck of a lot you can do until the antibodies clear but I added Lion's Mane and Acetyl L-Carnitine back in to support nerve regeneration.
I opted to do Chris Kresser's SIBO protocol because I've tried many of the others. 90 days of GI-Synergy, biofilm disruptors (lauricidin and Interfase plus), probiotics (Megaspore, PrescriptAssist and Ideal Bowel Support) and hydrolyzed guar gum.
Retest last week...
A big ole... let down. Are things better? Yes! Have my symptoms reduced? Yes! Did I expect more from 90 days of protocol? Hell YES!
So for now I'm trying Atrantil as I hear for some it can really help with methane. I'm also playing around with fasting. Not elemental diet, plain old broth only fasting a couple of days here and there. I feel pretty darn good. I have a bag of the ITI ED (Integrative Therapeutics Elemental Diet) sitting in my cupboard but I've heard so many stories of "now I have SIFO" or "now I have a horrible yeast problem and it's worse than SIBO", that I'm seriously scared of the stuff. I do not tolerate carbs or sugars very well at all so there's that too. Not sure I could stomach going the homemade elemental diet again and that seems to be the only way you can control the amount of carbs.
Oh and can I just say Biohealth rocks for breath testing - Quintron machine, 3 hr lactulose, I did my test on Monday and had the results by Thursday morning. I NEVER have to go through NCNM/NUNM again. Woot! Woot!
Hi Shari. Just wanted to let you know that I've been following your journey. I'm in a similar place - SIBO not fully resolved despite trying numerous interventions and protocols.
ReplyDeleteFor a few months now I've been doing a zero carb diet, and this is the first thing that has helped - although improvement is partial - less bloat, better motility, I'd say I'm 50% better.
This is a Facebook group where I get most of the info on zero carb: https://www.facebook.com/groups/zioh2/
I don't agree with them that one should not restrict eating though. Some women there have gained 20 pounds doing that. So I combine their basic principles (eat meat, fish and eggs; drink water; avoid all plants, effectively eliminating sugar and fiber). But I watch how much I eat and make sure I don't gain too much weight (gained 4 pounds in the 6 months I've been doing this).
Thank you for this blog. It helps to know that I'm not alone in this crazy thing.
Thanks for reading and replying although sorry we are in this boat together. If I digested protein well I would so be on that train but I feel awful when I eat too much protein and it bogs down my system.
DeleteHere's hoping for figuring all this out and regaining health and vitality!
I completely understand your concerns. I think SIBO lowers stomach acid production, making it harder to digest protein. The good news: zero carb, when done properly, is high fat, not high protein. 70-80% of calories should come from fat.
DeleteYou basically eat fatty meat - beef (ribeye, chuck roast), skin on chicken thighs, pork ribs, lamb chops. Fatty fish (salmon, mackerel, sardines, anchovy). Shellfish with lots of melted ghee. Eggs scrambled in bacon fat. Aged cheese if you can tolerate it. A little heavy cream in your coffee if you're a coffee drinker.
No fiber on this diet, yet after the first few weeks it normalizes bowel movements for most. In my case it's still not perfect (I suspect nerve damage just like you), and still things are WAY better than they used to be (I used to need 1000mg magnesium citrate per day, now I only use 350mg).
To make sure you don't overdo the protein, it's useful to use an app, or log your food into fitday.com. A typical day for me would be 4 eggs scrambled in 1 TBS bacon fat for breakfast, a 8oz ribeye plus 2 TBS butter for lunch, and a 8oz (raw weight) ground chuck patty topped with 1oz melted cheddar for dinner. This is around 1900 calories, 160 grams fat, 110 grams protein. On this menu, 76% of my calories come from fat.
Because of the low stomach acid issue, I make sure not to drink 30 minutes before meals and 1 hour after meals, to avoid diluting stomach acid.
Obviously this is your decision, as you know your body best. But I would give it 30 days and see how I feel.
Hugs
V.
Hi Shari,
ReplyDeleteGlad you are still posting. I like your writing and I am sorry that you have not found a solution yet. I have methane sibo as well and have tried just about everything to try to fix this condition.
Thanks! Glad you are here, but also not glad that you have reason to be :/
DeleteHello Shari,
ReplyDeleteI believe Dr. Ruscio was clearly remarking your April post on his "Functional medicin review Podcast" , when you talk about "thyroid took a nose dive" and your "Hello Methane!"
High fat low carb sounds like ketogenic diet - does this work rid off SIBO? Pls advise thanks
ReplyDelete