IBS and Sibo Clinics in the UK

[Capri2020]

Has anyone visited this Clinic in the UK and if so could you please DM me and briefly share your experience? They have two clinics down south- London and Brighton.

Or have you been a patient at a different clinic you can recommend?

Many thanks!

[xjrs]

I haven't had any experience of clinics, but I have had experience of nutritional therapists and it's not a good one. This is in terms of the expense and the fact that they are not doctors. The treatments they prescribed put me in a worse situation than when I started.

You may also want to read the following thread of mine about SIBO (see xjrs post) - this also pinpoints to another thread about the causes of SIBO:

healthunlocked.com/theibsne...

[Capri2020 in reply to xjrs]

Thank you for your reply and I'm really sorry you've had such bad experience. I know these places can be a money sucking machine but looking back on my functional medicine doc now, so was he. We went around the bend when he should have started looking into the gut. Actually, he hasn't a clue about GI issues hence he never ventured there. He's in the sack now. The clinic seems reputable and I have to at least try it see what impressions they leave after the consultation.

I appreciate your advice and I hope you're doing much better.

[xjrs in reply to Capri2020]

Yes, the nutritional therapists that I used were functional medicine practitioners too. Unfortunately their treatments are based on random studies and haven't gone through proper clinical trials. It would be interesting to hear how you get on. Thankfully you will be listening with a healthy dose of skepticism.

[Capri2020 in reply to xjrs]

I'll definitely use my past experience with this one and I thought having an initial consultation doesn't hurt to feel the waters. I want to get the GI MAP testing, that's not available on the NHS. The NHS consultant has ordered an endoscopy and still waiting. He said the gi map is only accessible privately and I feel if I don't get properly tested I'll be just left in the dark and wondering & festering. I'll keep you in the loop. In the meantime I share this link that prompted me to get the test done. There's more videos by Dr Dan Kalish that are just fascinating..

youtu.be/0nJ-QSxRUXM(Not working as expected?)

youtu.be/vyzHNpcnFns(Not working as expected?)

[xjrs in reply to Capri2020]

I paid for every test under the sun and spent thousands of pounds. You can end up down a rabbit hole. I could have saved myself the money. All it found out was that I had a gut bacterial imbalance with a dominant bad bug, which many people with IBS have. This was sorted by taking Alforex probiotic which has been scientifically studied for IBS. I wish I had known this before since my system became compromised by the ridiculous supplements I was given. They also encouraged me to take a multitude of antibiotics since I tested positive for SIBO but I didn't have it and the tests are not accurate. Be careful.

[Capri2020 in reply to xjrs]

Sounds like you were not looked after by these clowns and it doesn't help when they give themselves a bad name.I was diagnosed with H pylori just before Christmas. I was so sick and it all could have been avoided if ghe GP listened to me the first time I went to see her. She insisted my symptoms were linked to high anxiety. I also have hypothyroidism and she was just putting everything down to that. Anyways, they are all slow & stone deaf, keeping their eyes on the balance sheet rather then doing their job properly which they signed up for on the first place.

Did you get the prebiotics on recommendations from the consultant or was recommended here?

[xjrs in reply to Capri2020]

I found out about Alflorex through being a member of IBS Network. IBS Network had an offer on for Alflorex at the time. It is was funny since I'd just read a clinical study about Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 (the strain in Alflorex) which showed great results for some people with IBS which is why I was willing to give it a go. The fact that IBS Network were happy to endorse it also helped. My main presenting symptom at the time was intestinal pain in the early hours of the morning. I was taking Linaclotide for IBS-C which reduced the pain by 50%-60%. When I added in Alflorex my pain reduced to zero. This meant that the intestinal pain was probably linked to my gut bacterial imbalance. This stacked up since my IBS started after a bout of food poisoning.

[Capri2020 in reply to xjrs]

Many people have very positive experiences with Alflorex and read a bit on this site about it. I'm glad it helped you and the products is reasonably priced. Ouch, food poisoning is a nasty thing and can take a long time to completely get over it. Hopefuly you're far ahead by now and made a full recovery. Before I joined this group I bought a Dr formulated prebiotics to help my gut after the treatment with antibiotics. I had to stop it as I wasn't sure it was beneficial to be honest and was still experiencing quite a bit of pain. At the moment I feel unless I uncover the whole picture in the gut I'd be just shooting in the dark and trying all sort of things along the way, getting nowhere in the long run. Nothing is easy when it comes to healing your body..

[xjrs in reply to Capri2020]

Prebiotics and probiotics are different. Prebiotics act as feed for your gut bacteria. If you have a gut bacterial imbalance after antibiotics or stomach upset/food poisoning, this might mean that you have some bad bugs that are getting a bit out of hand. If you intestines are in this position and you feed them prebiotics at this point, you will help the bad bugs to become more established by feeding them and this can make the pain worse. Taking a good probiotic like Alflorex in the first instance, helps to fight off the bad bugs and get their numbers under control again. Once symptoms have died down from the bad bugs, it is safer to start eating prebiotic foods or taking prebiotics. From here the prebiotics help the good bugs to proliferate and continue to keep the bad bugs under control. Sorry if you already know this.

The best thing to take whilst on antibiotics is saccharomyces boulardii. It is a beneficial fungus so isn't killed off by the antibiotics as probiotics might be. You stay on the saccharomyces boulardii for a couple of weeks afterwards too and then introduce probiotics after that if felt necessary.

[Capri2020 in reply to xjrs]

I knew about the difference between the two and thanks for breaking it down as it now makes more sense why i perhaps didn't do well with it at the time.As all of this happened just before Christmas it didn't help and I had no clarity in my mind being so sick. I've eliminated so many types of food so far but I can tell there's inflammation going on.

Have you ever done a food intolerance test?

Are probiotics supposed to be used for so long then have a break from them or switch to a different brand?

[xjrs in reply to Capri2020]

There is no reliable test for food intolerances apart from doing an elimination and reintroduction diet. Any food intolerance test on the market is snake oil. This is the official advice from the BDA (British Dietetics Association) which are affiliated to the NHS.

I don't have an opinion about whether it is best to have a break from probiotics or whether to switch brands. In theory, once the gut is more in balance and existing good bacteria are being fed well, then probiotic supplements shouldn't be needed. However, people who consume probiotic type foods such as fermented foods (sauerkraut, probiotic yoghurt etc.) do seem to have better health outcomes. I'm hoping to reduce the frequency that I take Alflorex from once per day to maybe every other day or every three days to see how I get on and whether my system is now managing things on its own.

[Capri2020 in reply to xjrs]

Sorry for my late reply I've been feeling rather rough & unwell since I last written here..🤢 I think I could have been purging toxins.The elimination diet is probably the most reliable way of trying to identify the foods that causing problems. At times I joke to myself- cat food, dog food, bird food as restricting my choices and trying to find alternatives.

I have finally received my appointment for endoscopy so I'll be glad to get that out the way.

I will wait for a while before introducing any probiotics as don't want to cause any unnecessary side effects.

It's a much longer road and a lot of patience is required.

I hope you continue to improve and any update in the future is appreciated 👍

[xjrs in reply to Capri2020]

Sorry to hear you've been feeling rough. Good luck with your endoscopy. I understand about not wanting to try too many things whilst you are trying to keep things stable. I've started a website containing my research into IBS, though this has stalled over the past few months whilst I have been busy with sorting jobs around the house - I'll put a post out if I ever manage to complete it. Hope all goes well. Let us know how you get on.

[Capri2020 in reply to xjrs]

Thanks for your encouraging words. Perseverance and patience is the way forward.That's exciting news about your website 👍I look forward to it once it's up and running.

I'll check back here with an update. Until then take best care.