I’ve got IBS-C and have recently been diagnosed with Sibo , I’ve had a 2 week course of antibiotics, Rifaximin, but they’ve done nothing , in fact I feel worse now , my stomach is in turmoil, so I’m assuming I still have it , but I haven’t been re tested yet , so I can’t be sure .
I gather from my consultant that the next step ,is 2 antibiotics together , Rifaximin & Neomycin , as I have Methane Sibo , but I’m not due to see him until the end of January , so I haven’t been given them yet .
I’m following the Low FODMAP diet which is recommended for Sibo with a few tweaks.
I thought the IBS -C was bad but Sibo on top of it is even worse ☹️
Has anyone else had this problem after taking antibiotics, that they haven’t worked and got rid of the Sibo ?
Thanks in advance for any help 🙏
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Gardenlover2020
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I took rifaxamin for SIBO and it did work. The usual procedure is to immediately follow the Rifaxamin with the neomycin. I don't understand why your doctor didn't give you a prescription for both at the same time. I would call him and get the second prescription. Is he a gastroenterologist?
Hi ,How did you know it had worked if you don’t mind me asking ?
It’s so difficult to tell as the symptoms are so similar to IBS .
The person I’ve been seeing is a consultant at the hospital , he deals with bowel problems & is a surgeon, he was recommended for constipation.
I’ve emailed the him but he’s on holiday until next week so I doubt I’ll hear from him until then and at the time he prescribed the antibiotics, , he wasn’t aware I had methane Sibo , which is the one that needs the two antibiotics.
Well, hopefully you will reach him next week and get the second prescri[tion. In my case the symptoms of IBS and SIBO were sufficiently different to tell which was which. The main difference was that SIBO caused amazingly stick bowel movements. I don't know how to give a better description that that. They stuck to me (a lot), the toilet paper, the toilet etc. There may have been other symptoms but that is the one I remember most.
Thanks , that’s an interesting difference , but at least you could tell there was one .The thing I have noticed the most is that as soon as I eat, I can feel the gas starting to build up , & become uncomfortable, it is also very hard to get rid of the wind too , it really gets trapped & is very uncomfortable . Since I’ve finished the antibiotics, I’m having more trouble going to the toilet than I was before , despite taking Bisacodyl nightly & Prucalopride in the morning don’t know why that is , but it’s worrying .
The rifaxamin took care of it. I was unable to take the neomycin as I had a very bad reaction to it. That was over a year ago and it has not come back. My gastro also told me that sticky BM s were a symptom. I don't want to be too graphic, but the stickiness was almost unbelievable. I'm not sure exactly why the SIBO caused this in my case.
It is a strange one isn’t it , but if the gastroenterologist said that’s what is normal , so to speak then that’s reassuring & at least you got rid of it .I just feel no different apart from the fact that its harder to get things shifted in the morning 🙄 and I still have the odd taste in my mouth in the morning , not bad breath but just strange ?
Rifaximin didn't work in my situation, no relieve. Lactulose breath test was negative for hydrogen so there's still the possibility that I'm a methane producer. Couldn't be tested in the hospitals in my neighbourhood. My experiences from the past with antibiotics is that it can 'cure' the symptoms for a while but after the course of antibiotics ended, symptoms gradually reappeared because of my dysfunctional bowel / colon. This would mean that I have to take antibiotics (periodically) for the rest of my life to keep symptoms away. I'm not sure I do want to do that despite the troubles my colon gives me (I receive an invalidity pension since 2016 because of the symptoms due to IBS. (Addition: after some further digging, thinking and analysing my medical situation I now think that the underlying cause could be a hereditary form of neuropathy. I'm waiting for the appointment with a neurologist.) I'm 52 years old now, too young for a pension 😕 ).
Yesterday I had my appointment with the neurologist. Based on my symptoms and the physical examination she came up with the working diagnosis dysautonomia. I will be further examined by using the Tilt-table-test on the 17th of May.
As per our previous chat I had a terrible time with all of this and never had SIBO in the first place. The breath tests aren't accurate unfortunately and currently there is no test that is:
My symptoms weren't improved at all and taking the antibiotics made me feel ill. If you are not feeling better in any shape or form after Rifaximin or even taking Neomycin, perhaps this suggests that you don't have SIBO. People are often told their IBS like symptoms are caused by SIBO when actually they are suffering from IBS and not SIBO. In my case I took Rifaximin and Neomycin, had no improvement at all, so rather than the therapist saying that I probably didn't have SIBO, she suggested that I might have stubborn SIBO and put me on a long course of antimicrobials. All this did was destroy my microbiome and it started also destroying my health. I became a shadow of myself, lost weight and found it very difficult to put it back on. I now also suffer from chronic constipation since the bulk of stools is made up of your gut microbiomes - I am not sure I will ever fully recover from this treatment since I now need consume a huge amount of fibre to have daily BMs, far far more than I had to before this treatment.
If you don't have one of the causes of SIBO (thread here), it is unlikely you have it:
Oh you’ve had a terrible time with it haven’t you , I am sorry . I’ve never heard of antimicrobials, but they clearly aren’t beneficial as they’ve made you so poorly & done long term damage . I’ve looked up the symptoms on Sibo & they are exactly what I’ve got that’s what made me think I had it more recently as the IBS had got noticeably worse when I ate , symptoms of bloating & wind building up as soon as I started eating were different to how they had been before .I’ve read that you can get chronic Sibo which is difficult to get rid of if not impossible . When I asked the doctor who did my breath test if antibiotics would get rid of it completely, he said it’s a bit like having a clogged up drain , you have to keep putting bleach down it once in a while .
My SIBO was treated and cured, and that is some months ago. I still have some IBS symptoms and am careful about what I eat and still work with a dietician for the IBS.
This may sound strange, I was diagnosed with Endometriosis at 51 a couple of years ago. IBS is commonly diagnosed for this condition and SIBO is linked quite a bit.
I don’t know if this is a possibility. I’d ignored associated issues all until things got worse and daily.
There are 3 hr tests you can buy, the NHS is only an hour test.
Thanks , I’ve looked up the symptoms, but they aren’t like mine , apart from tummy pain , but that’s cramping & trapped wind , but thanks it’s always good to hear suggestions
The gut has good and bad bacteria, taking antibiotics not only destroys the bad but also the good and subsequently you have to follow up ( or even take at the same time ) probiotics to replace the good ones that have been destroyed. I always found it beneficial to have a bowl of fresh fruit every day which not only increases your vitamin intake but provides roughage to make you more “regular”.
I have taken lots of different medications throughout my life and now realised that each one has a side effect, some of which are worse than the reason for taking the medication in the first place.
I’ve got a nutritionist to help and she has got me on supplements to help heal the gut as well as some to try and get rid of the Sibo , also she’s giving me advice on what I should be eating , like fresh fruit , fibre , protein , veg and salads so I get a good variety of different foods to help repair the gut .I’m also trying to reduce the laxatives I take as I don’t think they’re helping with gut pain , wind and bloating.
I had hydrogen Sibo at different times, both times positive with breath test, and have had a few rounds of Rifaximin and have also done rounds of herbals, and nothing works. This has been going on for three years now. The stomach aches are the worst😫
Hi Gardenlover2020.I have IBS-C. I haven’t yet been tested for Sibo, although my doctor is in the process of referring me. I made the assumption from all my bloating and wind that I could have it. I read about Oil of Oregano, an alternative to antibiotics. It is an antibacterial and anti inflammatory. I started by taking 1 a day. I have also read that a lot of people can have low magnesium levels as not too many foods contain it and your system needs this to help with muscle which is how your colon works, so I started taking supplements of magnesium 360mg combined with zinc per day as well as probiotics and drinking plenty of water. My symptoms have improved enormously, hope it remains 🤞I now have daily BM’s, again 🤞. A lot of studies have been done in Japan about magnesium and constipation although they were recommending higher doses, which I would not try without expert advice. Women need about 310mg per day, men about 370mg. Hope the information is helpful. A nutritionist should be able to advise.
Hi i just read this i believe i have SIBO ive not been tested but i have all the symptoms and i dont believe its IBS i also read about oil of oregano and i may give it a try . I have tried everything with my diet over many years and it makes no difference which is why i think its SIBO ive been bloated since 2017
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