6 weeks later (mid-January 2014)

6 weeks later I did another lactulose breath test to find out how things were progressing.  Not very well it turns out!

At the recommendation of my ND at NCNM I added Allimed, an (expensive) garlic supplement slowly working up to 2 capsules, 3 times a day.

Both NDs felt the herbal protocol was working and that I should stay the course.  I had heard about biofilm busters and asked about adding them but was told to wait.  My docs don't like to add more than one thing at a time.

It was also felt by my providers that I may want to try additional rounds of conventional antibiotics given possible scarring and adhesions from my c-section 8 years prior.  I had heard that you could get Rifaximin much more affordably from Canadian Pharmacies so I decided to work on ordering some.  Turns out it's much harder than I anticipated, it took months to get the prescription filled (although it was waaaaay cheaper).

Sticking with the diet turned out to be easier than I thought.  I stuck to mostly smoothies, stir frys and soups.  And I discovered spiralizing vegetables with a Paderno spiralizer which was fun and made zucchini tolerable.  Zoodles anyone??  Also, be careful making your own bone broth, my ND told me that I could only use marrow bones and meat to make it, no joints or cartlidge because they contain FODMAPs.