Podcast by Dr. Ruscio

You really should like to Dr. Ruscio's 2 part podcast on SIBO. Here is the link to iTunes. I wonder now if I've just extended my treatment by trying to starve the bacteria with a low FODMAP diet during treatment. And the information on methane dominant SIBO and related weight issues was fascinating. And here is a link to his website and blog. Your welcome :) enjoy!

With Good Sometimes Comes Bad

I met with my ND and got the results from the last stool test.  The blastocystis hominis of which there was many is now gone, HURRAY!  Thank goodness for Heron Botanical's formula Purge the Whorl.  But with good comes bad and it looks like my dysbiosis is even worse.  The only thing I did differently over the summer was add the Purge the Whorl and do a couple of rounds of the elemental diet.  Could the elemental diet have made it worse???

We decided to switch everything up to see if we could get some better results.  I am now on a combination of Heron Botanical's Herbal Biotic, Heron Botanical's Bitters (to aid digestion), Berberine Complex, Neem Plus, Interface Plus, Metagest (digestion), Spectrazyme (digestion) and PrescriptAssist, the probiotic Chris Kresser recommends.  Oh, and my low dose Erythromycin at night to keep things moving and the couple of drops of iodine that I continually forget to take.  I take other supplements but they are related to general health and not SIBO.  He doesn't want me to do any tests again for 6 months.  He knows how much I love numbers but says with the lack of positive movement I need to let that go and focus on how I feel instead.  Poo!  I have the results from my breath test coming next week to see if the Rifaximin/Neomycin with biofilm buster Lipophos EDTA did any better than the abx with Interface Plus.

Back on Rifaximin

I didn't really plan this.  I am both a planner and spur of the moment decision person.  Imagine how fun it is to be my spouse!

I ran out of all my herbals at once (Allimed, Neem and Berberine) and I have a TON of Rifaximin and Neomycin (from Canada) so I decided to just use it instead of spending the money to buy more herbals.  I'm not sure how effective they are given they are from India and I didn't have great results last time.  But I'm doing it again.  I did get some Lipophos EDTA because I do like to switch up my biofilm buster.  I usually do Interface Plus.  I really haven't thought about how long I'll stay on the abx but I think I have 5 weeks worth.  Maybe I'll test at 3 or 4 weeks and then decide whether or not I'd like to continue.

I'm also still taking iodine, between 10-12.5 mg per day (4 drops at 2%).  Haven't noticed anything remarkably different.  Will up the dose again in a few days.

Iodine update and recipe

Have you tried this strawberry jam recipe?  If you haven't, you should.  Not that there's much we can put it on :)  The occasional muffin I guess or some gf bread if you are inclined to eat a bit of low FODMAP grains (I am not at this point).

So, I started the Lugol's Iodine 2%.  I am doing 2 drops with breakfast which is around 5-6 mg.  I have been doing it for a few days.  I'm going to increase tomorrow by adding 2 drops with dinner so I'll be around 10-12 mg per day.  The plan is to keep increasing until I get up to 15-16 drops (50mg) per day.  Of course I won't have pre and post breath test to see the actual results. And my doctors never give credit to one supplement I've added.  They always say it's more likely all the supplements working together. It would be really nice to see the before and after results, but who has the $$ to test every time you add something new??  

Iodine

I asked my ND about using Iodine to treat SIBO and he said he's never seen or heard anything to indicate it's been used. He did say that most people are low in Iodine and it wouldn't hurt to try it because it's water soluable and I don't have any thyroid issues.  Iodine is antibacterial so who knows, it's worth a try.  I ordered some Lugol's Iodine off of Amazon.   I think I ordered the 2% solution,  probably should have got the 5%.

So far this is the best information I can find on dosing. "The best dose is 10 mg – 12 mg daily. You can go up to 50 mg daily for loading purposes but not for long."  from this site.