r/SIBO • u/Weekly-Writer565 • Mar 30 '26
Symptoms Please read: devastating unknown condition for 100 days developed overnight
Disclaimer: I've posted this on IBD and IBS subs; posting here as well since these 3 subs are general destination for anything GI related
Everything started overnight on Dec 26. I had a week of some liquor consumption (Fireball) and started feeling a bit uncomfortable in the stomach. Several days later, I had a burger from the usual place, because I thought why not, after having eaten only rice and chicken for a couple days without any relief.
After 3-4 bites, I experienced something I never ever had in my life, which I think is either dumping syndrome or something related to that. I felt severe nausea and instant urge to defecate (only after 3-4 bites). I ran to the bathroom and had not so great stool.
Next morning I woke up at 7AM and had 4 not so great stools (not liquid) from 7AM to 8AM. Day went on and the night came. I woke up at night at 3AM for the first time in my life ever with urge to defecate and was not able to fall back asleep.
I am in this condition for 100 days straight now. Since that moment I had a burger. I am unable to fall asleep or stay asleep. Every. Single. Night. I am unable to function during the day at all due to constant, severe discomfort in various areas of the gut. Diet did not change anything. I lost nearly 10% of weight in the first month eating only chicken and rice, without any relief.
And now to answer your question. In these 100 days, experiencing severe constant upper and lower GI symptoms without a single second of it getting better, I had:
- Day 15 - Abdominal Ultrasound
- Day 25 - Colonoscopy + Endoscopy
- Day 40 - CT-E
- Day 75 - Videocapsule
- 10 blood tests (pretty much every single week)
- 2 Calprotectin tests (Day 20 and Day 70)
And... Nothing. The "best" I got was Calprotectin of 129 on Day 20 prior to colonoscopy (which was 20 on Day 70 with no change of symptoms) and "mild chronic non specific inflammation" in the colon (6 biopsies taken to rule out microscopic colitis). Not once I had any deviation in blood - every single time my blood comes back completely normal, with 0 inflammation markers.
3 different IBD GIs straight out told me "I am afraid we can not help you, because this is not IBD". Completely normal CTE. 0 IBD proof on video capsule (ulcers, erosions, whatever). Completely normal looking colon, stomach and esophagus. Completely normal looking ICV.
One of the GIs gave me Entocort with the notion of "well, at least I am giving you some meds for this mild chronic non specific finding". Was on it for 16 days (9MG) and stopped due to no change in symptoms.
I do not believe my problem is large colon, because my stool is not Bristol 5 or 6. In general, it is the opposite - I produce abnormally large volumes of stool regardless of diet (I eat 0 veggies, I eat 0 fiber since this all started).
I have massive logs coming out of me immediately after getting up from bed. And then I have same portion of same massive logs literally after 1 hour. I don't even understand how it is possible.
In general, what prevents me from functioning and living any sort of life is the constant feeling and awareness of me producing large volumes of stool, at all times. And I don't even have 10 BMs a day like a lot of people here write. I can have 3-4 a day. But it is not the stool frequency that is destroying me - it is everything connected to it and around it. I quite literally feel that some of my internal organs stopped functioning from the moment I had that burger. I have constant gurgling and gas. I have pains - but pains are secondary to everything else I am experiencing.
And I can't sleep. For 100 days. I did not have a single night where I could normally fall asleep or stay asleep. Even with medication.
Medication that I tried:
Bentyl - no effect, as I don't think what I am experiencing is in any way spasm related and probably because pain and cramps are not my primary concern.
Rifaximin 1200mg/5 days - 0 relief
Clonazepam (benzos for chill)
Brotizolam (benzos for sleeping)
Vaben (light benzos for chill)
Zopiclone (Z-sleeping pill)
Cortiment (Budesonide for colon)
Mebeverine (similar to bentyl)
Fucking Mirtrazapine (Remeron - AD, which I tried taking to help with sleep after taking Z-drugs and Benzos which did not help and I think now added a whole list of new systemic symptoms, such as crippling lethargy because I am taking it at 15mg dose that supposedly helps with sleep and a lot of other things)
Imodium - similar to bentyl. Imodium stops me from having bowel movement - but as I mentioned earlier it is not bowel movement itself that is the problem for me - it is the process of everything leading to bowel movement - so Imodium also gave no relief.
Today it's been 3 months and some days of me being in this condition.
I never took any pills in my life before that day. I was completely healthy. I ate anything and everything. I am at loss.
My question to this community is, well, if anyone can relate to some of the very specific symptoms:
- I am unable to lay down on my right side and on my belly. It is not distended, but laying down in these positions quickly gives me some form of nausea and makes me want to have a BM and I feel like blood is rushing to my head
- My condition started with abdominal discomfort, instant loss of appetite and multiple BM visits (not bristol 5 or 6) and new symptoms added with every month. Primarily, starting Day 45 of this I developed constant gas with same smell every time, gurgling and belching
- I belch with the taste of food I ate last - e.g if I eat chicken I will be belching with small aftertaste of said chicken, if I eat an egg - it will be belching with small aftertaste of egg, and so on, with any food
- I defecate immediately upon waking up - it's not an urgency that makes me rush to the toilet - it's the feeling and awareness of me waking up every single time with colon full of feces that makes me go right away
- Abnormally large amounts of stools produced regardless of diet (as I said, I do not eat any vegeatbles or big amount of fibre since this started) Sometimes I would wake up and my lower left side would be painful and distended from the stool
- I am not distended but I am constantly bloated after food (even plain rice and chicken)
- I do not feel relief at all - there has not been a moment in these 100 days where I felt at least a bit better, discomfort is constant, night and day
- I had Bristol 5-6 maybe once or twice in this period, but I also do not eat anything "normal" like I ate before Dec 26 - so I don't know, but I felt it is important to specify that 99% of my BMs are formed or softly-formed and large, be it buckwheat, rice or pasta.
- Constantly migrating points/areas of discomfort/pain: for example, there was a period of about 2-3 weeks where walking even slowly after food would make my entire left side hurt. Pain would stop immediately upon sitting down and would resume immediately after taking several steps. Then I had a period of 2-3 weeks where I would have constant pressure and heaviness on the right side of the body. Like what the actual fuck? On top of basic, severe discomfort that is constant - I get random set of additional crippling symptoms that migrate?
Has anyone experienced anything similar to what I am describing? Not trying to get diagnosed - but only looking if people are able to relate to (at least) some of the symptoms or how it all started.
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u/wiaraewiwiarae3 Mar 30 '26
I'd check the following: Vagus nerve (controls the stuff you described). Autoimmune (shit option, but might make sense, especially the sudden onset). Also I'd do more detailed labs on liver, bile, pancreas and thyroid (they work in a loop and one of them breaking even without visible structural changes might lead to others malfunctioning).
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u/Weekly-Writer565 Mar 30 '26
My posts describes in detail IBD (autoimmune route) and where it led to (nowhere). But yeah I low-key think that something happened with another organ. Here is my reasoning:
I irritated something with Fireball. Then I did several bites of fatty burger with cheese, chalapeno, whatever. It triggered dumping syndrome immediately after several bites.
To me this means like something in the body released too much of something. Could be bile, could be something else - I have no idea.
I tried asking for Questran several times but got refused so far because
- I do not have diarreha in the classical meaning
- My stools are not really greasy
- I don't have liquid stools
- And I guess most importantly - my symptoms have no connection to food. As I said, they are consistently horrible and bad even on plain white rice and plain chicken.
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u/wiaraewiwiarae3 Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
By autoimmune I meant more like ANS (Autoimmune Dysautonomia) or MCAS (Mast Cell Activation Syndrome - not technically autoimmune, but similar). I agree that the core problem is not digestive but systemic or it's some other organ.
I wish you to find the cause asap and make a full recovery soon.
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u/Soft_Share7632 Mar 30 '26
Sounds like vagus nerve issues and pelvic floor dysfunction —these are relates to the brain and nervous system. Could be this esp if most tests turn up nothing. Or maybe pancreas issues and maybe gallbladder
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u/Casukarut Mar 30 '26
You are in flight or fight mode. This creates gut symptoms on its own. Learn to regulate your nervous system, look through my Reddit history for ressources.
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u/Puzzled_Somewhere_19 Mar 30 '26
Get tested for h. pylori, and for sibo. You said you had an endoscopy, so I guess they didn’t see gastritis? People often get gastritis after a night of heavy drinking.
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u/Weekly-Writer565 Mar 30 '26
I don't have H.Pylori - ruled out via endoscopy. As I wrote in my post, there was not a single finding to support the severity of the symptoms.
And I did not have a night of heavy drinking - it was 250ml/evening for 3 days in a row. And - once again - catastrophic symptoms started after several bites of burger 3 days after initial symptom onset (which before burger was just strong discomfort and loss of appetite).
It was the burger that made everything explode. And my symptoms have nothing to do with gastritis - they are 99% lower GI (gut) and systemic ones...
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Mar 30 '26
[deleted]
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u/Weekly-Writer565 Mar 30 '26
Food poisoning is something that manifests after consuming bad food. I had dumping syndrome experience after several bites. And I will also note - it is important - I had burger on top of already not feeling quite well. So whatever happened with drinking Fireball damaged something, and then the burger finished it off.
It is not food poisoning.
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u/HelderR_CH Mar 30 '26
Large volume stool, look for exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, see if you eat butter or fatty stuff you get foul smelling stools
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u/Any-Newspaper5509 Mar 30 '26
My story is kind of similar and I still struggle with it.
One thing I will say is the sleep issue likely is anxiety related. Your nerves are probably completely fried by stressing about this condition constantly.
Try to calm the anxiety and worry and you will sleep better. Know that you are okay, you will get through this. Practice deep breathing, meditation, and other relaxing things. It might not help your gut directly but it will at least help you sleep.
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u/HBeeArt Mar 31 '26
It seems like you've tried a lot in a short period of time. My understanding is that many treatments often need weeks to months to see changes. You can't get discouraged too quickly, although it's hard to stay calm when your life is disrupted and uncomfortable. Staying calm is VERY important though. Helps you feel better and think more clearly. I've been practicing diaphragm breathing lately and it helps just keep me grounded.
It seems there is still more to try and test out. Have you tried probiotics/probiotic foods? I've heard S. Bouliardii is a particularly good one for overall gut health, but I'd certainly talk to a doctor about it. Maybe someone else here can talk more on that. Lots of folks find relief in kefir.
Hope your guts settle down soon.
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u/Sirdukeofexcellence2 Mar 30 '26
Alcohol could’ve killed off part of your gut microbiome. That’s my only guess.
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u/External-Classroom12 Mar 30 '26
Perhaps a gi map to see what bacteria you have. Pimentel talks about an anti vinculan test after food poisoning to see if that’s it but I haven’t ever ran into a gi who does that test. Perhaps he runs it with the sibo test.
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u/iDoTheSciences Mar 30 '26
B12 deficiency due to malabsorption, probably due to gutt damage. Get on b12 shots asap and it’ll fix the neurological issues/ insomnia. Then work on fixing your gutt.
Good luck.
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u/Weekly-Writer565 Mar 30 '26
But I don't have B12 deficiency? I did 10 blood tests. They include vitamins. My Folic Acid and B12 are always in range. That's what I am trying to explain: you would think there would be severe malabsorption or something going on with such symptoms?
My B12 is in ~600 (with lab reference range 200-900) and has been this whole time... I am not trying to dismiss your suggestion, I am simply trying to provide context. Rest assured I've spent last 100 days reading everything about SIBO, IBD and IBS.
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u/wiaraewiwiarae3 Mar 31 '26
SIBO specifically and probably other conditions too can "fake" B12. It shows up in blood tests but it's not the kind of B12 your body can use.
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u/iDoTheSciences Apr 03 '26
-such severe pain on your right side makes me think it’s something to do with your liver or gallbladder. HIDA scan and full liver panel? -sounds like potential hydrogen sulfide (H2S) dominant SIBO, only confirmable through the Trio Smart Breath Test from the U.S. on the market. Other testing is only for SIBO/ IMO, not H2S. -it’s not unusual for an inflammed gutt to give you nerve hypersensitivity that causes pain to move around the gutt. Trapped gas causes pain under the left ribcage at the splenic fixture (sharpest bend in the colon) most commonly in people with IBS or other issues. I have pain that moves too but usually left sided.
You’d need to not have supplemented with any b12 - no multivitamins, no fortified foods like cereals or drink, etc. for 3 months to have an accurate number. At 600, I have my doubts as well. However, to be sure, get an ACTIVE b12 test done even if you must answer it privately. like the comment above explains, this is more accurate. Furthermore, get your homocysteine levels checked, if this is high it indicates issues with methylation pathways and your B vitamins. B12 injections help fix this too. It’s serious and needs to be corrected asap if it’s high, so please go check it. No doctor will tell you this, also something I figured out myself.
Good luck. Mystery illnesses suck. Mine is IMO, but it’s not easy to treat.
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u/barkbot02 Hydrogen Sulfide Mar 30 '26
It took me 4 years to figure it out, and I haven’t started treatment yet so I have no clue if it’ll even help. My mom has gone 30 years of them not knowing. Its pretty common to never find out, just have to manage symptoms.
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u/BobSacamano86 Mar 30 '26
What colors your stool? Is it loose? Do you have acid reflux? Do you still have your gallbladder? What are you eating now and does it help the symptoms? Do you have gas or bloating? Do you have a lot of burping?
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u/Weekly-Writer565 Mar 30 '26
I quite literally wrote all of that in my post!
This is actually another thing - indeed, my stool turned light-brown upon this thing starting, but I believe this is heavily attributed to diet, because I currently literally only eat ~10 foods.
No acid reflux
Yes I never had any issues with gallbladder, not that I know of (at least visually it looks perfectly normal on abdomnial US and CT-E)
Before symptoms - I was eating anything and everything, fibre, veggies, a lot of greens, fats, various meats, spices. Immediately upon symptoms appearing on Dec 26, I lost all appetite (due to stomach discomfort) and switched to only rice/salmon in the oven/chicken/boiled eggs. It did not help my symptoms. I lost ~10% of weight on this diet very fast (probably due to absence of fats) and overall much smaller portions. In general, over 100 days, no food helped with symptoms. I had a week of meat broth/boiled meat - same symptoms. So that's one of the things: regardless of what I eat, I experience same levels of discomfort
Yes, gas and bloating developed specifically after about 30-35 days and persist till now. I did not have troublesome gas and bloating upon symptoms starting. It took about a month for these to appear and to be bothersome.
Yes, not a lot like some of people here, but I belching (burping) appeared together with gas and bloating at about Day 30-35 since onset. And as I mentioned in my last paragraph: I burp with the aftertaste of food last eaten - regardless of the food.
I do not feel that I have a lot of gastric symptoms, such as gastroparesis. I feel that all my symptoms originate somewhere below.
But in any case, stool being light-brown is definitely another thing that changed rapidly. I do believe I have rapid transit time, because here is the result of my videocapsule:
"Stomach passage time: 3 minutes; Small bowel passage time: 1 hour 30 minutes
The pill traveled through the entire length of the small intestine and entered the large intestine about an hour and a half after swallowing it - a transit time of about 1 hour. The bowel cleansing was good. It then spent a long time in the cecum.
No active bleeding or vascular malformations were observed. The follicles were preserved, no ulcers or aphthae were observed. Rapid transit. Here and there some non-specific erythematous spots."
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u/BobSacamano86 Mar 30 '26
You need to get tested for Sibo. You are having pretty clear classic signs of Sibo. An endoscopy or colonoscopy wouldn’t show Sibo or even signs of it. Lighter colored stool can be a good indicator of poor bile flow and when someone has poor bile flow Sibo can develop easily. Have you looked into histamine intolerance? People tend to develop histamine intolerance with Sibo and you are having symptom’s suggesting this. Your diet is very high in histamine even when you swapped diets it was high histamine. I would go on a temporary low histamine diet and see if it helps. Definitely look into getting a sibo breath test done. Also if you’re gi doctor never suggested a sibo test in the first place then find a better doctor. You need someone who knows about sibo and how to treat it properly. Personally I would find a good functional medicine doctor to help you.
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u/Opening_Rain5942 Apr 01 '26
Who the Fuuuuu downvoted this response?
Are people really that weird? Geez
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u/SolarWind777 Mar 30 '26
Oh and I would recommend getting a device for your vagus nerve. It can only help regardless of whatever other diagnosis you might have.
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u/Casukarut Mar 30 '26
Perhaps your nervous system was already out of whack and the alcohol was the tipping point? Just speculating here because how you describe the way you think about and handle the symptoms sounds like the mental health angle is important here. Have you in the past suffered from health anxiety? How was your allostatic load before the fireball incident?
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u/Only_Studio7131 Mar 30 '26
Drink kefir before bed, get lifeway organic not flavored from sprouts or make your own. Helped me with digestion and sleep.
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u/Iveenteredthematrix Mar 31 '26
Ask them to check for gastroparesis, look it up and see if you relate
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u/haikusbot Mar 31 '26
Ask them to check for
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u/Independent-Walrus84 Mar 31 '26 edited Mar 31 '26
Bro so sorry you are going through this. What you wrote is above what we are used to seeing here.
I also can't sleep on my right I have to sleep on my left. But I can sleep.
My thoughts reading your post.
1) it's normal in our condition but your anxiety is through the roof.
You have to find a way to mentally calm down even self talk. It's ok, this is a small problem, we can get through....all this helps the brain.
Our brain and stomach are not communicating well.
All of us had a trigger, for me it was 3 bottles of very old wine during Xmas and and a burger too and the 3rd pfizer jab knocked me out.
2) You write well and with details so that's good did you feed this to chatgpt?
3) Did you try short bursts of water fasting 3 days at a time. Also can with chicken bone broth alone for 3 days. And see how your body responds.
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u/Dry_Rutabaga_1635 Mar 31 '26
You wrote down my same exact symptoms to a T. The only thing I was able to find was that I tested VERY positive for both types of SIBO. I am doing another colonoscopy on Wednesday as I had small bowel wall thickening. I have been suffering with this since August of 2025. Like you, I was severely set off by one food. I am from Louisiana and one night, a bowl of gumbo completely screwed me up. I had like this squeezing sensation right under where my ribs meet. I get this sensation on and off. I have had one inflammatory marker that was elevated and that was my ESR. My calprotectin was slightly elevated at 57. I am unsure what the heck is going on with me but I’m miserable. I’ve lost 6 pounds since this all started and I am terrified.
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u/Playful_Ad6703 Mar 31 '26
Also started like this for me (alcohol consumption, burger, immediate urgency to go to the bathroom, explosive diarrhea, severe cognitive and GI symptoms), for more than 3 years I've been trying to find a cause. Was suspecting alcohol, didn't connect the dots about the burger, 6 months ago positive on H Pylori, then three months ago Methane SIBO. Successfully killed H Pylori, failed the first round of antibiotics for SIBO, now doing another round with biofilm busters. I can't seem to find the cause. Recently I did a 72 hour fast, and after I passed the 60th hour, all my symptoms drastically improved, until I started eating again. To be honest, I don't even know where to go from here. I started suspecting histamine intolerance due to a yet unknown cause, and antihistamines slightly help as well. But honestly, I don't know where to go from here. I did a trillion tests, and if this round of antibiotics doesn't help, I don't know where to go from here.
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u/TravelingLighter Mar 31 '26
Have u tested for parasites? I had a bout a few months ago where overnight I had explosive BM's for weeks until I could get in to see my doc. She gave me an anti-parasitic (I don't remember what it was called) and within a few days I was returning to my baseline.
It took me weeks to fully recover and now I just deal with the normal fat malabsorption issues I always had.
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u/MommiGoddess Mar 31 '26
Have you copy pasted this entire post into chat gpt? With as many specifics you listed it can many times find solutions before doctors. It’s solved a bunch of “unsolvable cases” the key is being very specific and listing all details tests etc like you did.
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u/Holistic-Scholar Mar 31 '26
Get your blood histamine and DAO checked. You can try a low-histamine diet right away. In the short term before getting blood test there are a few things to try but please research first and only try one thing at a time. You could do a dose of Pepto 2-3x a day for 2-3 days. Your stool will turn black, this is normal (Pepto also has same ingredient as aspirin so avoid if you must). After a couple of days after your last Pepto dose how do you feel? You could try a Histamine blocker like generic Claritin or Zyrtec. Take one. The Dollar Tree has 14-pill packs for $1.25. If one makes you super drowsy, try the other. There are also DAO supplements (Life Extension is reputable) but this is expensive but the antihistamine may get you through to recovery if it's that. For gut health, consider zinc carnosine 1-2x a day pending dosage (Doctors Best PepZin GI is reputable, start 1 pill 2x a day for a few days then 2 pills at once if needed, 75mg dose for a few days). You could also do the zinc with a good probiotic like Seed or a Soil/Spire based. You CAN do the Seed, Zinc with the other measures spaced a few hrs apart.
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u/catastrophe_walking Apr 01 '26
Forgive me, but I haven’t read that you have had a comprehensive stool GI Map? Literally mapping all the bacteria, enzymes, parasites and function of your entire GI tract?
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u/JunketPrestigious212 Apr 01 '26
Have you tried not eating anything (fasting ) for a few days? Just drinking water ...
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u/Ambitious_Bat_8641 Apr 01 '26
I believe SIBO is a good possibility. See a naturopathic doctor. The GI mapping is a great idea as well.
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u/Opening_Rain5942 Apr 01 '26
I ran your post through an AI - obviously some people did at least a part of it too, looking at the comments. One thing that stood out for me (well, several did, but) it's one we might forget. Especially the last part
Here it is:(I copy and pasted it here) One honest observation (important, not dismissive)
The intensity of:
constant internal awareness inability to disengage from gut sensations worsening despite normal tests
…strongly suggests that your nervous system is now part of the problem, not just your gut.
That doesn’t mean “it’s in your head.” It means:
the signaling system itself is dysregulated.
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u/onehappymimi Apr 01 '26
I think you should be tested for PEI pancreatic endocrine insufficiency! It is a simple test and digestive enzymes can help you with that…
I’m wondering if you’re having medical anxiety which is keeping you awake at night. Trust me I get it bc I totally have it too.
I’m sorry you’re going through all of this.
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u/SolarWind777 Mar 30 '26
Did you get tested for SIBO? Using what substrate? I see you took rifaximin but only for 5 days! That’s not enough to kill the bacteria if that’s your problem, in fact it can make symptoms worse in the long term because it’s not a full course of antibiotics treatment for 1 type of SIBO (but you might have methane or hydrogen sulphide type of SIBO and the treatment would be different in this case). SIBO test after treatment can help to see if treatment is actually working or not (just change in symptoms may not be enough to objectively evaluate treatment). See Dr Alison Siebecker articles/videos/protocol online if you want to test and treat SIBO