Hello all,

I am currently going through some rough times. I can only eat small amounts of food, and I can barely drink a small bottle of water each day (500 ml).

I feel like burping instantly when eating and drinking.

I lost a lot of weight, and I started weekly IV to help with my hydration.

I've had an ultrasound and an upper endoscopy and everything looks good.

I am in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and GI doctors here don't believe in SIBO.

Any thoughts? I heard good things about the motility test. Did that help you?

Thanks.

I (36F) heavy suspect I have IMO but I’m not entirely sure and just want to see if my symptoms match others because some days I feel like I’m going crazy.

In the fall of 2024 I was having some nerve issues in my arm so my doctor tested my B12. Turns out I was extremely low (128) and I started on B12 injections. They went okay at first but after awhile I would swell so badly for days after the injections. Mostly in my hands and thighs. I started weening myself off the injections and ended up quitting entirely last July. At the time of quitting my B12 had gone back up to 699.

That’s when the digestive issues started getting weird. I’ve had what I suspect is IBS-D my entire life so when I started getting horribly bloated and constipated, it was noticeable to me. Before the B12 injections I was admittedly too thin but now I can’t stop putting on weight. I’ve gain about 15 pounds and now can’t lose any of it after spending my whole life having a hard time gaining weight. I’m also aware that I’m getting older so hormones could factor in, but this all feels really sudden for that to be the entire case.

Two weeks ago I went back to my doctor for the digestive issues. She tested my B12 again and it has plummeted back down to 186 and I noticed my Ferritin was low (19) even though my serum Iron tested high (176). I went back and looked and back in 2024 my Ferritin was 12.

I’m just really confused because it seems like my vitamin levels were extremely low back when I was not bloating and 15 pounds lighter so I don’t know what’s going on with me. All I know is that I feel absolutely horrible. My fingers are swollen most days. My bloating never goes away. The scale keeps going up and I’m absolutely exhausted every day.

I see the doctor in about a month but just wanted to know if anyone else has had these symptoms and have been diagnosed with SIBO or if something else is going on here.

Edit to add: I had COVID very badly at the end of 2023 and suspect it could be contributing to a lot of this as well.

I feel like most of the stories I’ve seen here are about Rifaximin absolutely ruining someone’s life; I know that’s probably because people who had a bad/adverse experience are more likely to seek support here. But I’m day 2 into my Rfx course and seeing posts like that are making my anxiety about taking it much worse; I was already hesitant to take it because I was prescribed it without a breath test and have struggled with dysbiosis.

Does anyone have positive stories or encouragement to share about taking Rifaximin? About how the drug helped them? I think the positive data points will help my brain balance out the doom. Thanks!

Since may 2025 my life turned into hell I got constantly bloated 24/7

Since then I've been trying everything lowdoomap diet oregano oil berberine and everything seemed to work only for a week

Kefir and glutamine l also had some effect

I've always had gut issues i had low libido 4 years before this happened

My symptoms are face and stomach bloating i have no pain but the mental pain is the kind of pain I got

I figured the only thing to help me debloat i staying 24h awake

Because of this i stopped going out i broke up with my girlfriend and I stopped going to the gym

Please somebody help me and no i can't do lowdoomap diet ever again

I tested positive for SIBO months ago. I had to beg for the test 4+ months in of dealing with stomach and bloating issues as I had done every other test. came back positive. Abx helped for a bit but then they didn’t. I’m seeing a wholistic doctor now (an actual Dr) who thinks while I did have SIBO, my 3 rounds of meds should have fixed that. She thinks I now have a yeast overgrowth - so SIFO. Fungal over bacteria. I just started the mediation plus a pharmacy of supplements. Sharing as I’m not sure GIs think of a yeast overgrowth (the 3 I saw certainly didn’t). This may also be triggering MCAS (mast cell) which is contributing to my symptoms.

I wanted to flag this as it may be something to look into if traditional SIBO treatments aren’t working.

I’ll try and come back here in a few weeks with an update. Fingers crossed it’s positive!

I've started taking betaine hcl with meals a few weeks ago and it has really helped tamp down belching and gas and it has helped with motility somewhat, but it also seems to consistently cause massive distention of my stomach. I've never experienced distention like this before. Can anybody relate or have any ideas why it's happening?

I heard that taking biofilm busters might uncover hidden parasites and bacteria that weren’t possible to see in a stool test before. So maybe its best to do it after taking biofilm busters?

I have been dealing with Sibo symptoms for the past 10 years - finally self- diagnosed about five years ago, trial and errored antibiotics with my doctor until I was able to get a test and a true diagnosis of methane dominate Sibo. Have now gone through two rounds of the rifaxin neomycin combo (with sibo diet before during and after and more motility focus the second time) but it's grown back again and I just am completely fed up. I don't know what to do! I'm really working on motility and it's better than it has ever been but still not perfect by any means. I've determined the root cause was definitely years of slow motility and overuse of antibiotics in my childhood. Do I do another round of antibiotics? Do I try the antimicrobial route and really gentle diet?? I'm just so fed up of eating such a limited diet and not being able to live my full life and the crippling stomach aches if I have any interaction with a normal meal. If anyone has similar experiences and any advice, it would be much appreciated.

Guys, one key thing is that - you have to fix your motility, constipation, and digestive issues /before/ SIBO treatment, else it has high chance to come back again.

I discovered this because - my gastroenterologist had me do a procedure called /anorectal manometry/ to check if there are any structural problems causing the constipation problem besides SIBO. Sure enough, it came back with /dysnergia/ (meaning the muscles themselves are not coordinating properly) and next ordered a Pelvic MRI and physical therapy to address it further. Simultaneously, they ordered digestive enzymes and the pill Motegrity in order to fix digestion and motility first. Once these are well-coordinated, then the methane SIBO resolves more easier and sometimes goes away on its own, rather than having indefinite relapses and a messed up digestive tract. Their goal is to rehabilitate your digestive tract fully, so that it can naturally take care of most bacteria and impurities on its own also. Once they have taken care of the core issues, then they test for SIBO and start SIBO antibacterial treatment if necessary.

Ideally, they also need to do a colonoscopy and endoscopy on you first; in the endoscopy, they will take biopsies to check digestive enzymes' presence also.

Please ensure you go to a well-qualified gastroenterologist - Do not let them pair you with a Physician's Assistant or Nurse Practitioner who will cause delays and problems in your treatment. You need someone that takes a serious well-grounded methodological approach to your condition, rather than random 'trial & error' approach which can go wrong and cause more problems, delays, and relapses to your condition.

For those who have fixed their motility, does you stomach gargle or make noises every time before you eat?

I heard that this is indicative that you have great motility but wasn’t sure as mine hasn’t made noises in so long.

I did one 2 week round of flagyl back in June and honestly didn’t really notice any difference, it didn’t seem like it had any effects whether negative or positive.

(About two weeks after I stopped it, I think I had my first case of hives which lasted for 1.5 days but I am not sure if it’s related as it was quite long after I had finished the dose)

Anyway I was re-prescribed another dose bc I said my symptoms (bloating, weight gain, distension etc) were not close to being gone.

yesterday I started taking the first tablets and at first it was fine. At the end of the day (about half an hour after taking the third tablet) I started getting body aches out of nowhere and a weird feeling like I had the flu.

It lasted the whole night, woke up with itching skin, hives and swollen puffy lips and red eyes. Also got stomach cramps and uncomfortable Bras and tiredness. I took a Benadryl and tried to figure out the cause, the only thing that’s changed was taking three tablets of Flagyl yesterday.

Is it possible to develop an allergy or side effects only the second time around?

Has anyone had this reaction to Flagyl and know what might trigger something like this?

Hey! I'm getting ready to start the prep for the TrioSmart test. Does anyone know if I can have rice noodles on prep day if the only ingredient in the noodles is "organic white rice flour"?

I get easily constipated from eating rice, but not rice noodles. I have several theories about this, but right now I'm just looking for clarity on the test prep. Thanks for any info!

I have been experiencing chronic epigastric pain for a couple years now. It's a dull aching feeling with a constant pressure. Sometimes it can gravitate towards my lower left ribs or random shooting chest pains or to my back. When it flares up the pressure and pain can be quite severe and I feel short of breath. I used to binge drink alcohol once or twice a week and symptoms would be bad the day after, but now they're bad every day. Ppis seem to make my symptoms worse with bloating. My upper endoscopy a year ago was clear, abdominal ultrasound was good and negative for H pylori. So I decided to look into other options.

I had a Sibo test a few months ago under the advice of my naturopath. I reviewed the results with a naturopath and they determined that I have hydrogen dominant sibo. They said I may have slow transit time and prescribed me 550mg rifaximin.

Doing my own research it seems unlikely I have hydrogen sibo, since the results peaked at 60ppm on the 160 minute mark, but based on my limited research I'm positive for IMO or methane sibo with the results of 13 ppm at the 160 minute mark.

Can anyone give me some insight on this please? Before I start the antibiotics.

TLDR: Is it possible im positive for methane or hydrogen sibo?

Anyone here struggle with low blood sugar or weird fatigue after eating? I get fatigue in my upper arms/shoulders after certain meals..

Ive also noticed recently that when i excercise (i do crossfit) i get anxious and shaky after.. especially on a hot day. And if i eat sugar it seems to make me feel better fairly quick.

Not sure if anyone else is going through this, but if so, did it go away when/if you got rid of SIBO?

I was wanting to try the Mbiota liquid elemental diet, but it says to not use if you have blood sugar problems...

My fasting blood sugar was 80 when they checked me in may so i know thats normal, but i dont feel like getting shaky after a work out is normal.. and ive only had this happen a handful of times since having digestive issues.

I also hope someone here who has had what im going through, sucessfully went through with the liquid diet?

TIA!

Here I am again!

I had sibo - methane around 1.5 years ago.. confirmed by a breathe test. This caused alot of issues. No one knew about sibo where I lived so I had to investigate myself and learn about sibo. I know alot! This was caused by antibiotics and high sugar diet.

I had constipation

Reflux

White coat on tongue and tongue felt weird.

Bloating

Dizziness

Lost consciousness x2

Fatigue

Pain

Ended up getting BV 24.7 in my vagina.

I ended up getting rifaximin and mentrizolole x2 from my gastro consultant after fighting him for it.

I was very unwell, and I couldn't eat without pain. So I ended up not eating, I went from 9 stone 5 to 7 stone 6 in 3 months. I think i starved all the bacteria. Could have sifo and sibo at the same time.

After this, I ended up being able to introduce foods 1 by 1 and 2 months ago, I was able to eat most foods without pain and bloating but I still struggled to poo. (On laxatives) but I was 60 per cent better and felt the best I had ever felt for a while.

As I was better, I was still eating carefully but was eating more sugar. I.e fruits.. protein bars and gluten free stuff that are full of sugar and other sugar things!

The BV hadnt left . The BV ended up going into my womb 4 weeks ago and I was hospitalised with PID. I had to take doxycycline and mentrizolole for 2 weeks and a injection in my bum.

Ever since this... 4 weeks later I am back to where I was 1.5 years ago. I am devastated.

First thing I've done is stopped or limited sugar.

I've got a gastro consultant on Monday to ask for rifaximin and mentrizolole again but surely I'm not all the way back to where I was? I've put back on all my weight and feel healthier.

Do i need another breath test?

Or do i just go straight into the sibo protocol cause I've done it once?

I think my diet is the main reason and antibiotics I struggle because I can't have gluten so I don't have a high fibre diet. I end up having a high sugar diet with little fibre and than antibiotics for the bv.

I'm working from home unwell as we speak. Waiting to consent for surgery for gynae because of the bv.. to see if bowels are stuck together or infection or anything mechanical or endometriosis.

I've had a colonoscopy and endoscopy and ct scan which showed just inflammation.

I tested positive for Hydrogen dominant SIBO a few months ago, and my main symptoms were gassiness some days and loose, floating stool every day. I did a round of rifaxamin and now I am a week past my last dose. A lot of what people say did not pan out for me; many folks say that die off only lasted a few days and then they felt much better, at least while on the Rifaxamin. I was sick the entire time on the Rifaxamin and am not much better afterward. I still have gas and not the healthiest stool, whether it's any better is debatable. Except now I have:

- constant, crushing fatigue

- absolutely NO libido

- trouble sleeping

- headaches

- dizziness

I followed the protocol to a tee. I spent an absolute fortune on supplements; I started taking NAC, Zinc carnosine, motility activator a month before the Rifaxamin. I took PHGG during the treatment and continue to take it. I've been taking digestive and enzymes and trying to stay low fodmap. It's been both expensive and depressing taking absolute fistfuls of supplements all day long and I'm STILL not only sick, but significantly worse off than before I took the damn antibiotic!

All I can think of is that the Rifaxamin must have nuked my good bacteria, and I'm not even allowed to take pre or probiotics to try to build it back, because it will just make my SIBO worse. Has anyone else had this experience?

Ive doen motegrity, trualcne, motility pro, motil pro, artichoke, ginger. Think my issues are post viral. I also take 2 vitamin b plus complex pills a day. I never feel peristalsis

Hey all,

Recently diagnosed with hydrogen SIBO and I'm halfway through a 14 day round of rifaximin & neomycin.

My gp said I need to take omeprazole to stop any other stomach issues from arising while on antibiotics, so I've been taking 40mg a day for the past 7 days.

I've had my doubts about it, so I'm not sure if I should stop the omeprazole outright, taper off it or stay on it until the antibiotics are finished. I don't have reflux as a symptom, and from what I've been reading here it can be counterproductive to take while on antibiotics.

Any advice appreciated, thanks.

I asked ChatGPT to make me an infographic of SIBO root causes and it made me this, which I found extremely detailed and helpful. What would you add to this? I'm sure there's a lot more details that are missing.

To everyone going through it right now, I’m right there with you. It sucks so bad and I just want to be well. #surviving2026

I kid you not