IBS-C or D, bloating, GERD?

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It could be SIBO small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. There are many studies out now that show that people diagnosed with IBS often test positive for SIBO. They say it is most often associated with bloating and IBS-D, but I had it with occasional constipation ( no BM in a day on 2-3 occasions in a month ) and maybe bloating on 0-8 days in a month. I didn’t think my gut was that bad and I went to see my naturopath about other issues. I’ve had low ferritin levels for over 5 years and wasn’t able to raise my levels through supplementation or diet and this was a red flag to my doctor that something was using my iron before my body could. SIBO is very treatable and treating mine has improved my life immensely. I’ve eaten a healthy diet for the last 6 years. Whenever I have a job my coworkers always tease me about how my healthy food is, but a good diet wasn’t enough for me to have a healthy gut. With my sick gut my energy levels were terrible, I was weak, wasn’t able to care for myself, my house or my relationships. My brain was functioning at about 20% and my AS traits got more severe than they’ve ever been in my life. I wasn’t trying to treat my AS, I was trying to get rid of daily, chronic pelvic pain. It was just a side effect of treating my gut that many of my AS traits became much more manageable.


I’ve spent my whole life being avoidant, trying to keep myself safe by being quiet but I’m trying to make positive changes. To have my say and know that I count. I’m trying to be more outspoken here instead of keeping my thoughts to myself to avoid the hate that often comes at people improving their symptoms, especially through healing their gut. I don’t want to censor people, but if you want to attack me please try to stay respectful. I want to hear what you have to say but could you also tell me why it makes you so upset? I do want to understand. I’m not thick skinned and I’m not looking to start any fights. I just know that gut issues are very common with AS and that doctors are often very slow to adapt to new research. I studied biology at university for 3 years and researching to improve my health was my special interest before studying AS became my new obsession. I have a couple of chronic conditions that doctors weren’t able to help me with and I wasn’t happy with the state of my health. I have often put up with less than optimal functioning of my body and didn’t realize that my gut was so dysfunctional. I don’t know if that’s AS related but I do know that I have a hard time getting my point across to doctors and didn’t really want them involved in my gut.

If anyone is curious I’d be happy to share my doctor’s treatment protocol. We didn’t use pharmaceutical antibiotics just herbs/vitamins, diet and low dose naltrexone as a prokinetic to get my guts moving.

I'm curious what your symptoms were. My son has a very bad gut and we are on the FODMAP diet which has helped immensely, but I feel we could tweak it more. He still has many days in bed and lack of energy. He tests normal to everything!

I'd suggest seeing a naturopath or functional medicine doctor who specializing in gut issues. The low FODMAP diet isn't meant to be a long term solution. I was only on it very briefly after we killed off the bugs. I did 8 weeks of antimicrobials ( 2 weeks of Genestra berberis and Douglas Labs anti-mfp, then 2 weeks of garlic pills) on a hypoallergenic diet + NAC, milk thistle, vit C. Then the low FODMAP, with no snacking and digestive enzymes, magnesium, acetyl l-carnitine, tiny doses of 5-HTP plus the low dose naltrexone to get my slow guts moving. I've added back a bunch of high FODMAP foods now. You need them to keep the good bacteria healhy. I was one of those kids with multiple ear infections and always on antibiotics. Then again as a teenager with repeated tonsillitis infections. I would love to do it all over again and take my gut health more seriously when I was younger but I didn't and ended up with some chronic, painful conditions. Thankfully healing my gut now is having a huge positive impact on all of my conditions. I had so many symptoms. I made a list when I was feeling my sickest. Here's most of them (the ones that improved):

constipation
loss of appetite, get full too easily
bloating
gaining or losing 5 pounds in a day
painful urination
pelvic/abdominal pain
painful intercourse
no motivation
emotionless, feeling flat
withdrawn
anxiety through the roof
fearful
decreased libido and ability to orgasm
couldn't handle stress
couldn't make decisions, couldn't plan
lightheaded/dizzy
losing my balance, overcompensating, bumping into things, dropping things
hands, feet, forehead tingle or fall asleep
muscle weakness
foggy brain
my brain would get stuck
twitchy legs
couldn't concentrate or learn anything
my awesome memory vanished and I wasn't making new memories
no dreams
ringing in ears
extreme fatigue
sensory processing got really bad
headaches
short of breath
tightness around ribs
bad sugar cravings
get jittery, anxiety, shaky, angry, emotional when hungry
couldn't make eye contact even with my boyfriend and dad who both love me unconditionally
liver would get overwhelmed, sometimes I'd have 2 drinks and blackout


I was just going through my list to see how far I've come. I never thought I would ever get rid of my sugar cravings. It's creepy thinking about how a bunch of tiny bacteria can influence so much of our lives.

Thank you for actually saying something about this, most people wouldn't dare. So here I am to share what works for me. Everyone I've ever know with IBS eats and drinks way too much sugar. I cut out sugar because of diabetes and no more problems for me with IBS, unless of course I take in more sugar.

The only time I get really bloated is on my period and since I'm there right now my pants fit a little tighter then I prefer ... If you wanna help the gut bacteria you can try probiotics such as supplements, kombucha, or other fermented foods(kimchi, saurkraut, etc). I drink kombucha pretty regularly myself but take a break from it during my period since the cramps tend to take my bowels for a ride quiet a bit. I don't have a history of stomach problems(ISB, GERD, etc) though but my dad does and he now takes probiotics.

Goldfish should join this discussion. It’s right up his alley.