Diganosis: SIBO (breath test at docs). Implement GAPS again? page

[EvansMom]

So, after two bouts with severe abdominal cramping that lasted a month each, despite over a year on primal, I was diagnosed with SIBO today (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth; diagnoses via lactulose breath test). After the courses of antibiotics I will have to take, the SCD or GAPS diet is recommended along with supplements like probiotics.

My problem is this: GAPS sucks. I tried it once for several weeks and it involved so much food "work" (even more than primal) that I just don't have the energy & time. Another thing is that I don't feel good/happy without potatoes/sweet potatoes and tea (which are not allowed on GAPS/SCD). I genuinely like these two foods and don;t do well without higher carb intake (75-150 range).

I have to be able to function in my life and at work, and tea helps right now when I am fatigued, but have to keep going. Sorry for the rant.

Anyone suffer from this and/or have any suggestions about the tea/potatoes?

[al09]

Hey EvansMom!
I have SIBO too. It's not fun, I feel your pain. I found Primal/Paleo via SCD, so you're a step ahead of where I was! I've never done GAPS, I started out on SCD, but I had tremendous success on SCD. As for carbs, I found that I could tolerate a good amount of carrots (cooked and pureed) and squash (acorn, butternut, buttercup) in the beginning. I would pretty much eat those with every meal, mixed with some butter and salt and pepper, or some butter and cinnamon for a "treat". Like I said, I did SCD before discovering Primal, so I was eating quite a bit of the carby stuff and I was doing just fine. Although, I should also note that at that point anything was an improvement over the ridiculous amount of bloating I was accustomed to. But anyway, you should try carrots and squash in place of potatoes to see if that works for you. Just try them cooked and pureed first...raw carrots can be brutal. I'd be happy to share my SIBO/SCD experiences with you, so feel free to contact me if you want!

[patski]

I really cannot stress this enough, but I pretty well healed my leaky gut with l-glutamine supps. I wonder if this would help with your SIBO. I'm sorry to hear about this diagnosis

I've been taking between 5,000 and 10,000 mg per day. I'm eating sweet potatoes again, and well, just about EVERYTHING I couldn't eat while I was fighting candida. I don't know if I still have it, but taking l-glutamine cleared up the dermatitis on my skin in a matter of weeks.

[jkr]

Dr. Allison Siebecker is a leading expert on SIBO and she always recommends GAPS or SCD. She told me when patients only do the antibiotics she sees a high SIBO reoccurrence rate, when I shadowed her last fall. SIBO- Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth - Welcome

Now that you know what GAPS is and how it works, you can fine tune it to work for you. Soup in a crock - pot is easy! Hunks of meat and even whole vegetables don't require hardly any work.

Squashes have a high carb count so GAPS doesn't have to be low-carb.

It IS hard at first but it is SO worth it.

[gumboots]

I pretty well healed my leaky gut with l-glutamine supps.

patski, that's great about your leaky gut! I would love to hear more details about how you came to that solution and anything else you added or eliminated in your diet. I'm having good success going primal, adding fermented foods, and sticking to a low FODMAP diet, but I'm still getting a couple of glitches and hoping to take some more steps to heal the gut.

[EvansMom]

Hey EvansMom!
I have SIBO too. It's not fun, I feel your pain. I found Primal/Paleo via SCD, so you're a step ahead of where I was! I've never done GAPS, I started out on SCD, but I had tremendous success on SCD. As for carbs, I found that I could tolerate a good amount of carrots (cooked and pureed) and squash (acorn, butternut, buttercup) in the beginning. I would pretty much eat those with every meal, mixed with some butter and salt and pepper, or some butter and cinnamon for a "treat". Like I said, I did SCD before discovering Primal, so I was eating quite a bit of the carby stuff and I was doing just fine. Although, I should also note that at that point anything was an improvement over the ridiculous amount of bloating I was accustomed to. But anyway, you should try carrots and squash in place of potatoes to see if that works for you. Just try them cooked and pureed first...raw carrots can be brutal. I'd be happy to share my SIBO/SCD experiences with you, so feel free to contact me if you want!

I just wish I liked squash. I have had some sitting on my counter since fall and had no temptation at all to eat them. I find them too mushy & sweet.

I really cannot stress this enough, but I pretty well healed my leaky gut with l-glutamine supps. I wonder if this would help with your SIBO. I'm sorry to hear about this diagnosis

I've been taking between 5,000 and 10,000 mg per day. I'm eating sweet potatoes again, and well, just about EVERYTHING I couldn't eat while I was fighting candida. I don't know if I still have it, but taking l-glutamine cleared up the dermatitis on my skin in a matter of weeks.

Interested in l-glutamine. Where did you learn about it and how/when do you take it? What were your symptoms pre-supplement and how have they decreased, if you don't mind telling Thanks!

[EvansMom]

Dr. Allison Siebecker is a leading expert on SIBO and she always recommends GAPS or SCD. She told me when patients only do the antibiotics she sees a high SIBO reoccurrence rate, when I shadowed her last fall. SIBO- Small Intestine Bacterial Overgrowth - Welcome

Now that you know what GAPS is and how it works, you can fine tune it to work for you. Soup in a crock - pot is easy! Hunks of meat and even whole vegetables don't require hardly any work.

Squashes have a high carb count so GAPS doesn't have to be low-carb.

It IS hard at first but it is SO worth it.

Well, its just that I hate squash, yes I know they raise carb count but they are yucky to me!

I guess my other concern is that no matter what, it seems like the SIBO comes back for everyone I have talked to or read about. No matter what diet they do. They might be symptom free for awhile, but it always comes back. Maybe I haven't talked to the right people?

It seems like you possibly have more insight into this than I do, can you give me some kind of hope for a cure if I follow SCD/GAPS after antibiotics? I mean, its not like I haven't taken antibiotics before when primal and this has never cleared up for me afterwards by eating the primal way and incorporating lots of broths.

Thanks!

[EvansMom]

To everyone who responded, thank you! It is such a blessing to talk with people who have experience with these issues~

The only other insight I have is that I talked with Paul Jaminet via website q&a and he says potatoes don't feed small intestine issues. So I should still be okay to add them into my diet post-antibiotics occasionally. Jeez it sounds like I eat them all day long, but really its only a couple times a week. But I sure do look forward to those times

I think I will still drink tea irregardless of what GAPS says. I need a pick me up sometimes and I don't "overuse" or go to starbucks or anything.

I have been double supplementing with B12 (sublingual methylcyclo-whatever) for a dose of 2000 mg, due to information that SIBO depletes the body in B12. This REALLY helps my moods/depression/anxiety/fatigue. So I think that this was a good thing to do. Don't know if I am overdoing it with 2000 mg instead of 1000 mg....Other info also says that SIBO depletes the body of iron, so I picked up an extra chelated iron to take with my multivitamin. Do they make sublingual iron too? Probably not.

[citygirl]

I am also interested in hearing about the l-glutamine. I am just about to start the GAPS intro. I did the SCD intro many months ago but it didn't seem to help at all. I am open to any and all ideas...

[EvansMom]

Another thought of mine is that why am I getting better with some things after being primal but not others if still have bacterial overgrowth?

For example, I can now eat fermented dairy without too much trouble, after eliminating it for a year. I still cannot do milk, it causes lactose-intolerance like pains. Am wondering if that is because of the milk sugars in it or the actual sugar I ate when eating milk (I made pudding on a whim when feeling "cheaty" the other week).

I also have very reduced seasonal allergies compared to before primal. Doesn't that suggest some sort of degree of gut healing?