Can SIBO be causing all my problems

Posted , 7 users are following.

Ive had poor health most my life with countless trips to GP telling me there nothing wrong with me, I've just ignored my issues for the best part of twenty years. I then started having panic attacks and was put on citalopram for anxiety, after 40mg it helped with anxiety but not my main problems. I suffer with constant sore, bloated stomach, palpitations for hours on end, headaches, dizziness, brain fog, random sharp muscle pains twitching and itching. ear pain feels like they're blocked and tinnitus. food feels like its stuck in my mid riff for hours after eating and feel it going back up my throat, reflux, feel chesty a lot, sore throat all the time. The only thing I've tested positive recently is SIBO after seeing a private specialist. ive been tested everything you can think off so can SIBO been the answer I've been looking for. I've just finished a two week course of rifaximin with no real difference and am just starting a low fodmap diet. Can anyone relate to these symptoms?

1 like, 10 replies

10 Replies

  • Edited

    Hi there Gerard,

    When I read your post I had to check the name to see if I had written it and then forgotten about it haha!

    That's how similar it is to my story, word for word

    • Posted

      I've been through periods of being better and periods worse. My best friend who is a therapist always says to me that it's all emotional but I don't quite believe it. Doctors have checked for loads of stuff and all they found recently was sibo. Doc says it can make you feel really s****y. Didn't want to take antibiotics so did a very strict Fodmap diet and took oil of oregano capsule, felt better at the beginning, but now after I finished the oregano and introduced some more foods and have been put on probiotics I'm feeling bad again.

      I'm seeing yet another doctor this afternoon. Will let you know if anything comes of it.

    • Edited

      how did you get on yesterday, are you from the uk, if so what doctors are you seeing?

    • Posted

      Hi,

      No, I'm from Barcelona, the doc I saw yesterday was a GP, he suggested it might be related to the pelvic area, some glands there activating the sympathetic nervous system, God knows!

      I have seen at least 5 GP's, gastro docs x3, cardioligists x 3, neuroligists x 2, gynea.

      I have had blood tests, poop tests, virtual colonoscopy, abdo-pelvic scan, 24hr urine test, ekg, echocardiogram, sibo test.

      Only positive for sibo, all else ok.

      The only thing suggested has been a neuro-endocrine tumour but 24hr catecholamine urine test negative and I don't want to have the mri with dye (I have my reasons).

      So I'm stuck.

      Have you had anything suggested?

    • Edited

      Gp's are useless here they have no knowledge of it at all. Ive seen a private doctor who has only suggested anti-biotics followed by low fodmap diet. Ive had mri, chest xray, ultrasound, camera up and down, all possible blood tests all ok. ive had no real benefit so far from diet as everything i eat seems to set my symptoms off.

      Just searching forums for any sort of help at the moment

    • Edited

      Look at these forums:

      Google "health unlocked panic attacks and other symptoms before bowel movements" and you will find loads of people with similar issues, and also "health unlocked strange feeling before bowel movements".

      Good luck!

  • Edited

    Hi Gerard,

    I can relate to a lot of your symptoms!

    When you say poor health what do you mean exactly? As long as I can remember I have had some sort of brain fog on and off all my life, feeling tired (mentally) quicker than others (when I was a teen I regularly took a power nap). On top of that I have dealt with migraines with aura for most of my adult life. Luckily those only seem to occur a couple of times per year.

    Other than than I felt pretty good and have been a physically strong person, so I never bothered to visit my GP.

    My current GI symptoms are similar to yours and started back in 2013 with just a burning feeling in my stomach (kind of like a mild acid reflux) but PPI meds didn't help at all. Over the years this has developed into many of the symptoms you mentioned above, bloated quickly, brain fog, dizziness/unsteadiness.

    In 2018 was referred to a gastroenterologist an they did a gastroscop, blood work and stool samples, checked for Celiac/Crohn's etc. did an ultrasound of my upper stomach area. All came out fine! They just diagnosed me as having IBS, however I don't really have diarrhea or constipation. My bowel movements are definitely not normal but aren't classic IBS

    I also noticed you mentioned muscle twitches, I have been getting those all over my body for the last 3 years now. They are constant! Every couple of second there's a visible tiny twitch somewhere on my body. Is yours like that?

    Regarding SIBO: I have mixed feelings, some medical professionals recognize this as real and others dismiss it completely as pseudo science. We are all in the same boat and the stories of people desperately wanting a fix is obvious. Unfortunately I have never read a success story where a person fixed all their GI issues by just taking antibiotics for SIBO. I myself have tried lots of different probiotics, FODMAP diet and going gluten free and cutting out multiple groups of food. All to no avail.

    Best of luck in your journey and keep us updated!

  • Posted

    Hi Gerardo, its crazy to read all your symtoms because you couldnt have said it any better!! i feel the exact same way as you. I have gone to multiple doctors visits and done countless tests but weird enough i have never had a sibo test.....im kind of done with doctors as they seem to kind of not care. anyways im wondering how you are doing with this horrible sibo... are you cured? hope all is well!

    cheers from Cali - Valentin

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