This all started 5 months ago. I had food poisoning and my bowels didn't return to normal functioning, and the nausea didn't go away. Fast forward to now, I have headaches, a sore throat, night sweats, constant nausea, urgent toilet trips every morning where my body just tries to evacuate everything and acid reflux.
I feel very unwell. I'm 35, very active and have been reduced to curling up in my room most nights after work and at the weekend. Friends have dropped me because they don't seem to believe I'm ill or it's not convenient. I'm not having a good time. I'm struggling at work and my manager is getting impatient. My stool test came back negative for h. Pylori therefore I have IBS. Probiotics and diet changes haven't helped. Probiotics see to be making it worse. I'm on a low FODMAP and feel weak and nutrient deficient. Plus it's made no difference. I'm really quite certain I've got some nasty bacteria lurking & a course of antibiotics might actually sort me out but I have no idea of how to get my Dr to consider this. The headaches, night sweats and general flu like feeling is not in my head.
I'm in the UK - has anyone experienced this? Sorry for the rather hectic, jumbled post.
x
I think I've got IBS.
IBS is this really what I have to live with?
Help needed!!! :-((I have been struggling with my IBS for the past 3 weeks now!!!
I am new here and l have IBS with constipation. Has anyone else gone through with these type of symptons a lot? 
I was told that IBS could really be Sibo. Your Thoughts?
Hi, sorry to hear that you are suffering. One thought - have you been checked for SIBO (this involves a breathe test)? I could not get this on the NHS so organised the test privately but some NHS Trusts will cover the test. If you google this condition you will see that you fit a lot of the symptoms and that antibiotics form a treatment option (although there are non-antibiotic routes too). It is essentially bacteria that has migrated to your small intestine and can be brought about by food poisoning I think.
PS probiotics can often make SIBO worse (and made my SIBO worse) as SIBO is not 'bad' bacteria but rather too much bacteria in the wrong place so adding more bacteria through probiotics can be a bad thing until the SIBO has been successfully eradicated.
Thank you for your reply. I've read about SIBO and have considered that. I'll have a look. I really want to just try some antibiotics as I feel exactly like I did when I had the food poisoning. If there is no joy with my Dr, I'll look for someone who specialises in SIBO. What was your SIBO treatment?
It's all been made extra complicated by having a random nodule on my thyroid which meant my GP kept assigning everything to that, when I think it's a red herring. I have a biopsy end of the month. My hospital consultant said he's very sure it's benign and my thyroid levels are perfect, so he urged me to go back to my GP about my stomach/bowel issues.
I have my first appointment on Tues with my SIBO practitioner so can't recommend anything from experience. According to the internet Rifaximin is the main antibiotic used but not all NHS trusts prescribe it and a private prescription is really expensive. The main benefit from this is that it is poorly absorbed in the body so that the medicine hangs about where needed i.e. in stomach, small intestine etc. As others have mentioned below, there is a risk to taking antibiotics but if diet and probiotics have not worked or made it worse then you may consider this a risk worth taking.
I hope your appointment goes well. Just to almost confirm your theory, I started getting oral thrush in the week. I am taking over the counter stuff, which has got rid of it. Defo some sort of bacterial overgrowth. I'll be asking for antibiotics and if they don't prescribe them, I'll purchase Doxycycline myself.
Thanks - fingers crossed we both feel better soon. There are a few old posts about yeast candida bacterial overgrowth on the forum so you may find something useful.