Hydrogen Sulphide gas and gastro doctors - IBS Network

IBS Network

48,836 members16,114 posts

Hydrogen Sulphide gas and gastro doctors

LFHell profile image
9 Replies

Anyone got any experience with SIBO and hydrogen sulphide gas (probably more people in US) as there is a test for it there.

I had a bad experience with gastro doc last week that left me feeling very upset, I am not sure if communication issues (and they thought i wasn't following their advise, which wasn't true) or if i sent them too many online messages few days before my appointment, hoping to ask questions about stuff. Think he assumed that i was after antibiotics for SIBO instead even though he was the one that brought them up, then it took it back in lettter :( Which makes me feel like i want them now, just because i was denied them. I do have a SIBO bacteria from microbiome results but not one they test for in the UK. There is a test for it in the US. Its for hydrogen sulphide gas. Anyway i wasn't asking for antibiotics, i just wanted to share information with him, and maybe hospital doctors dont have time for that sort of patient interaction. :(

But i think it could help, i'll post here the information I found and my thoughts on it below.

Written by
LFHell profile image
LFHell
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
Read more about...
9 Replies
LFHell profile image
LFHell

theconversation.com/gut-mic...

This is a good summary of it and there is a wealth of medical papers on this bacteria, that it expands/blooms in the Western diet because it likes saturated fat especially milk fat (could be why i developed dairy, beef and pork allergy this year but not lamb - i was eating more beef regularly) - it causes diorrhea when it blooms. And the more bacteria, the more severe the diorrhea. Hydrogen sulphide gas is toxic to gastric tract which is why its linked to more severe IBD and colon cancer. But its also been linked to IBS, and a ch4 gut program said cruciferous veg cause this gas (due to containing sulphur i think). It also feeds on taurine which is found in meat and cheese.

I've also read its a SIBO gas/bacteria. And that the body expands this bacteria (which is bile-loving) and bile production to stop pathogens colonising the gut. So it may be a marker of other pathogens being present in the gut:

"Overgrowth of sulfate reducing bacteria may play an important role in patients with IBS.102 An association was found between bacterial derived hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and visceral hypersensitivity.103 H2S is known to act as gaseous neurotransmitters inducing the contraction of detrusor muscle in the urinary bladder.103 Recently, a study has shown that H2S produced by sulphate reducing bacteria may play role in pathogenesis of SIBO. The author suggested that breath H2S could be considered as potential noninvasive biomarker for diagnosis of SIBO among patients with IBS-D.104 “"

"Thus, evidence from above studies suggests that antibiotics can be given in IBS patients with suspected SIBO. "

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

Study mentions the SIBO antibiotic may cure some cases of interstitial cystitis (a bladder lining infection, when bacteria become embedded in the bladder lining) which can also be caused by hyrogen sulphide gas:

researchgate.net/profile/Le...

LFHell profile image
LFHell

Anyway my thoughts were - perhaps this is why IBS patients don't tolerate fat which i sent along with the 2 papers and brief description to the gastro consultant.

And also that meat and dairy could be bigger problems for IBS patients than fodmaps. Because i hate being on such a restrictive diet and feel depressed all the time about cooking now, i do wonder if low fodmap diet only treats symptoms but not the cause because if you have "bad" bacteria, then of course you shouldn't feed them fermentable carbs as fermentable carbs are the main food source for gut bacteria and so you are just helping them expand... but i'd rather the treat the cause.

I dont know if i have SIBO but i do know this is one of my most enriched bacteria on a scientific study, and that its a SIBO bacteria. I haven't tested since cutting down on dairy to 20g per week though but i know i can't smell sulphur coming out of me anymore (except a little gas just after eating cheese!! So i assume my cheese-lover diet may have affected it but maybe not if it expands in response to presence of pathogens and not purely diet.

Also the other interesting thing is dariy-free diets are constipating, they said because dairy contains probiotics. But hydrogen sulphide is also a signalling gas for peristalsis and i wonder if i need to eat slightly more cheese, like 10g daily to go more easily. I have been trying to increase it slowly. And my allergy does seem a tiny bit better in that im not getting diorrhea or so much gas after cheese now. So maybe i'll manage it but not sure if its good for me if it makes this baceria bloom again but ive no way of knowing as can't find any reuptable micrbiome tests. Im now scouring for research studies just so i can get tested again after doing my allergy diet. Really wish NHS offered this, though i understand why they dont, there would be so much patient data and patients asking too many questions like me! :(

Have any of you had bad experiences with gastro docs? He was a professor and i know NHS is struggling right now so feel it was partly my fault.

Fergie53 profile image
Fergie53 in reply toLFHell

Interesting about SIBO, I think I have this and strangely when I have penicillin for throat infection my gut is better!

I don’t know how you get tested, I have a flare up atm and can feel my gut rumbling!

LFHell profile image
LFHell in reply toFergie53

I'm the same when i take antibiotics! You can get breath testing on NHS. Ask your gp about it. But not for this particular one i have unfortunately.

LFHell profile image
LFHell

Also if you are in US you get test on insurance: Excess hydrogen sulfide is associated with diarrhea, and the level of hydrogen sulfide is correlated with the degree of diarrhea. 

triosmartbreath.com/orderon...

"It has been proved that milk-derived or lard-based high saturated fat diet [5, 29] and even an animal-based diet [30] can markedly promote the flourish of B. wadsworthia in gut. Saturated fat diet leads to increased hepatic taurine conjugation of bile acids, thus provides more sulfur-rich taurocholic acid in gut, which accelerates the growth of the sulfite-reducing bacterium B. wadsworthia. In this study, all the mice were fed with normal chow diet, that didn’t favor the growth of B. wadsworthia in gut. This may also contribute to the difficulty to adapt this strain to gut of mice.

Notably, we observed that B. wadsworthia infection provoked a systemic inflammatory response in SPF mice. The key circulating inflammatory cytokines like SAA and IL-6 significantly increased after B. wadsworthia inoculation. SAA proteins are acute phase proteins mainly secreted by the liver in response to pro-inflammatory stimuli [35], and their increased levels in serum have been associated with several chronic inflammation-based diseases, such as obesity [36, 37], hyperglycemia [38], insulin resistance [39] and cardiovascular disease [40, 41]. SAA has also been reported to be involved in LPS signaling pathway that links inflammation to metabolic disorders in mice, for instance, de Oliveira et al. found that high fat diet induced metabolic endotoxaemia, and, body weight gain and insulin resistance could be prevented by an SAA-targeted antisense oligonucleotide treatment

Our results add new evidence to the virulence of B. wadsworthia. The decreased body weight and fat mass, apparent hepatosplenomegaly and elevated serum levels of SAA and IL-6 demonstrated that this bacterium triggers the systemic low-grade inflammation of the host."

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

LFHell profile image
LFHell

Oh and in case this all seems too academic to read - I only experienced proper relief for my symptoms when i cut down cheese, and beef again ( i was eating meat for iron only - it may depend on your tolerance to start with). Lamb seems fine and was allowed at start of allergy diet. Dieitician said cheese i the most common food allergy also. But i dont know if it is a "true allergy". I just wanted the gastro doctors to read the research, now i'm wondering if the dairy industry have blocked all research into dairy and meat being bad for us? As why wouldn't they have told us about this bacteria before and why was he so triggered by my messages? I know my vegan friends said the Dairy Lobby is huge :( (Though we all know red meat is linked to cancer and all meat is inflammatory - this could be why too!)

Except i've now gone from IBS-D to IBS-C. grrrr But symptoms still a lot better - as long as i can keep gut moving. No pain, no gas, no reflux. And stool looks more normal sometimes. Whereas never went above Bristol scale 6 before.

LFHell profile image
LFHell

So in summary i think cheese/dairy could be the cause of IBS maybe (esp if eat a lot of red meat with them). Though it could be because i was vegetarian and ate a lot of cheese that i developed it. Anyone disagree, many vegans on here? Thanks

Boxroad profile image
Boxroad

when you say sulphid gas what do you mean is happening to you, in your own words what are you experiencing what are your symptoms?

LFHell profile image
LFHell

hydrogen sulphide gas. You can smell it coming out, it has sulphur smell (rotten eggs). Also quite long loud emissions :$ :$ D and gas mainly before i gave up cheese. I also had really painful colic when i developed the cheese "allergy" which i think is bacterial. Now only tolerate 10g of cheese twice a week but have eaten it 3 times a week on occasion this month. Think symptoms have improved when i eat it now, from cutting down. I used to eat a lot.

Also had volumous stool, consultant thought fat malabsoprtion but he has left now and he referred me to gastro department. I described symptoms in detail but they have only tested me for celiac disease and dont seem to think i have sibo. I would get colic, then go to loo 3x and basically clear my whole intestines, cheese is now a laxative for me :(

Wierd how food controls peristalsis though. And when i cut it out completely i got consiptation. So i was in catch22 situation where i needed some but it still gave me mild symptoms even at 10g. :( but luckily have got used to it now. I was going mad, wondering if dietitian did me more harm but think those symptoms came on for years now as when iate gluten free cake which had milk in it by mistake i got same colic. Then tried lactose free yogurt on diet which i ate in past ok but this time i reacted really badly :( And also to beef, pork and coconut cream/fat after that. I think i may have also had e coli from my microbiome test and that can cause food allergies. Im not sure the exact cause but i've had bilophila bloom since 1 year into the low fodmap diet as i did microbiome testing through the British gut project. I suspect this bacteria may cause ibs and the ecoli gave me food allergy to cheese. As symptoms are a lot better without much cheese/meat in my diet..

I dont think i would have pin pointed this without being on an allergy elimination diet at the time though as it still took me a while to work out which foods causing colic, as was a delayed reaction.. sometimes same evening as meal but mostly next day later on..

Not what you're looking for?

You may also like...

Have a hydrogen breath test

Hello all, I just wanted to give you some information as it may be helpful. I have been lucky...
Stupid_poos profile image

Methane Overgrowth

I have IBS M and have done for a while (used to be D but now changed to M). I came back from Brazil...
JT1992 profile image

metan sibo

Hello. I recently discovered this site and for the first time, I see that I am not alone. I was...
neylanozgule profile image

What to Expect - Hydrogen Breath Test

Hi all, I'll be having a hydrogen breath test (to see if I have SIBO?) on Tuesday. I have halitosis...
Sky34 profile image

IBS and Methane Gas

I have had stomach problems for the last 20 years but they seem to have gotten much worse. I'm 75...
Carsok profile image

Moderation team

IBSNetwork profile image
IBSNetworkPartner

Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.

Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.