My physician prescribed Xifaxan last February because I felt that the gas and diarrhea I was having might be bacterial in origin. I was happy with the way it worked. After the six pills a day for 10 days I resumed my daily probiotics and all went well. But I seem to have recurrent periods of poor bowel health and am having one now. After gall bladder surgery in mid-July, eveything was good until another flare-up, which developed into a bowel obstruction episode and a couple of days in the hospital. Since then, I can't seem to shake the diarrhea. I asked to try the Xifaxan again and am using it, but it seems not to be improving my symptoms. What I experienced between the original course of antibiotics and now was a period of time when I felt a lot more strong and resilient and less gassy. I had enough days of normalcy that I thought perhaps I had gotten beyond my years of difficulties. Here I am again. Oy vey.

I was diagnosed with SIBO in 2007. I had previously been diagnosed with IBS. Ten years ago, I had surgery to remove the gallbladder and bile duct because of cysts in the bile duct. Following that, I suffered with IBS. In 2007, I became very ill with diarrhea, upset stomach, and acid reflux. I could not eat or sleep and lost a lot of weight. It took four months for the doctors to find out what was wrong. I began taking probiotics, coated peppermint supplements, and trying to cut out sugary and high-carbohydrate foods. That has helped a lot to control the awful symptoms, but occasionally it still flares up. I found out that taking antacid medications reduces the acid needed to kill bacteria, so I stopped taking those and found that if the bacteria is under control, I do not have the acid reflux problem. Aloe vera juice has also been helpful.

My dad had the same small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) symptoms that I am having. He was not from the antibiotic generation and died of colon cancer at 78. No matter what I eat or don't eat, about 15 to 20 minutes afterward, I feel like a Parana feeding frenzy is happening in my small intestines. Then the avalanche occurs ... bloating, foul gas, involuntary stool seepage, mushy or explosive diarrhea, nocturnal diarrhea, then weight loss, starving-to-death hunger: The list is long, as it causes anxiety, short temper, depression, etc. I am house-bound. No amount of high-quality probiotics or one-year treatment with a holistic doctor has helped except for Xifaxan. I just keep thinking about my father and how he suffered with these same symptoms.

I have had gastrointestinal problems for many years. It has been really bad in the last two years. I underwent many tests that concluded I had small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). My physician advised a no-lactose, no-grain, and no-sugar diet. It is called “The Simple Carbohydrate Diet.” I have been following it for two months, and I have seen much improvement. It is recommended to follow it for at least a year to get your body healed.

I had a hard time believing that small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) could cause the most unbelievable symptoms: shortness of breath, wheezing, exhaustion, brain fog, blurred vision, dizziness, neck and back pain, nausea, rash, dry heaves, and pressure in my ears. I was already thin, so my weight fell by 10 pounds to 100. It was scary �“ I could no longer walk half a block because of shortness of breath. Before this, my husband and I ran in the park and did yoga together. I saw every type of specialist and had all kinds of tests, including an MRI, hepatobiliary (HIDA) scan, and a full-body thermography. I saw two infectious disease specialists, a GP, and an OB/GYN, who did exploratory surgery and removed small cysts but assured me that they were not causing the symptoms. My doctor put me on bioidentical hormones to see if that helped. I had two root canals, including one that was infected. I had to stop working and driving because I was deathly sick and dizzy. I thought I was dying a long and agonizing death. I went to a naturopathic doctor, who did a breath test and told me I have the SIBO and am high in hydrogen. I started a special diet, but my regular doctor suggested I discontinue it because I was losing more weight. So, I did the double whammy: I'm on rifaximin, the Specific Carbohydrate Diet (SCD), and am also taking Chinese herbs along with amazing black cumin seed oil. This combination seems to be working miracles for me in eliminating symptoms. I will continue the SCD diet for up to year if I have to �“ I just want this over with.