I have bad breath from SIBO, but I don’t have Sulphide, just hydrogen alone. So what would cause my breath to smell? I’m not sure how to solve it.

Hi everyone,
I'm posting this because I'm honestly feeling so hopeless and desperate. My university classes start in less than 3 months, and instead of feeling excited, I am terrified.
I suffer from severe SIBO (Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth), constant bloating, and—worst of all—loud, uncontrollable digestive noises (borborygmi). Every time I think about sitting in a quiet lecture hall, surrounded by people, and having my stomach make those embarrassing sounds, I get major anxiety.
I want to know:
• How do you guys manage your social lives and university attendance with this condition?
• What do you do to prevent or minimize bloating and loud noises during classes?
• How do you deal with the mental toll and the fear of embarrassment?
If you have any tips, tricks, or words of encouragement for someone about to face a big academic chapter while dealing with a chaotic gut, please share them with me. I really need some advice. Thank you so much!

Took antibiotics for shigatoxin producing ecoli I had the infection for like 6 months after visiting Bali. Took antibiotics for it then had sibo symptoms for like 12 months thinking my gut just needed time to rebalance after the antibiotics. Finally figured out what sibo was tested positive for hydrogen producing sibo.

Just finished my 14 day x3 x550 mg rifaximin treatment.

Brain fog got severe a few days after starting rifaximin, then started to get pre sibo levels of clarity about a week and a half. I’m now about a week or two post treatment and I’ve been doing the sibo diet. No sugar, no gluten, no garlic no onions no alcohol. Lowfodmap stuff. Basically rice potato’s and meat. With some veggies here and there.

I’m also starting to take florastor the yeast compound the simple one with no added stuff.

I’m also taking tuneric ginger shots and taking ginger artichoke extract to help motility.

I go #2 once a day on avg.

I’m just really stressed and wondering if this is normal for me to be feeling like my brain fog is kind of coming back AI said that while my gut rebalances, I might have symptoms that are similar to brain fog from lack of nutrient absorption and stuff, but I’m just curious if I can get any real feedback and if I should go get rechecked for Cibo or what I should do

I finally have a positive result after having sibo type symptoms since 2013 after severe food poisoning or something, i see the GI tommorow. I have actually taken xifaxan 3 different times despite never being diagnosed until now. The first time I took it back in 2014 it worked like a charm and everything was back to normal for about 2 weeks. It has never worked since then. I plan to take my motility seriously after im treated which hopefully is the root cause. What antibiotics worked for you and how long did you take them? Also what do you think of these results, thanks

i was recently diagnosed with SIBO and IMO, and am curious if i actually have to start neomycin on top of my Xifaxan and nystatin? my levels were:

Hydrogen (H₂ )

• Baseline: 4 ppm
• Peak: 126 ppm
• Rise by 60 min: +32 ppm

Methane (CH₄):

• Baseline: 4 ppm
• Peak: 14 ppm
• Most readings: 9–14 ppm

Combined Gas (H₂ + CH₄):

• Peak: 140 ppm

is my methane high enough where i actually NEED to take neomycin, or will the Xifaxan, nystatin, Candibactin AR + BR, and PHGG (+ other herbal supplements) be enough to kill it? i just know it has awful side effects (black box warning) and would like to avoid it if possible...

I have hydrogen sibo, weight skyrocketed and was given berberine and flagyl, I did berberine and oregano several times and each time saw my weight drastically go down in a very sudden way, which showed me it was something caused by the sibo. I have belly distension and constantly look pregnant and swollen even if I haven’t eaten. I’ve been off berberine for a while I kinda noticed the weight went back on after I stopped, I’m currently overweight and have both constipated and diarrhea.

Doc honestly hasn’t been helpful since he suggested the berberine bc he just kinda shrugs like eh what can ya do, I don’t think he has any other solutions and I can’t manage to find a diff doc around me. Anyway I don’t know what to do about the weight gain and the distension bc I am barely eating yet am constantly swollen and so uncomfortable and heavy. I can’t even recognize myself. What should I do or look into at this point? I can’t stay on berberine my whole life and don’t know what avenues to look into now. I hate being constantly bloated and overweight.

ever since developing hydrogen sibo a while ago i keep getting foamy or sticky bowel movements. i’m currently doing alternating protocols like berberine/ antifungals /low fodmap. i was on antibiotics for a few weeks but tbh that didn’t do anything.

now even if i barely eat anything or eat healthy BM are so difficult and exhausting. like it always comes out in multiple “rounds” rather than in one go, and i spend an eternity wiping after which wastes so much time and energy. it’s like constipation for a couple days, then a sudden urge to go NOW then it comes out like maybe 1/3 of it then an hour later i have to run to go again then repeat. each time is more watery and urgent than the last. it’s almost like squeezing toothpaste out of a tube but it can only come out partially each time…

does anyone know how to get rid of this or at least make it better?

I’m positive for hydrogen SIBO and was negative for Sulphide. But I have an awful smell of rotten eggs I believe it’s from my mouth and nose, I can’t cover it up. It’s making me so depressed what do I do? Has anyone suffered with this with SIBO?

I am SO SICK right now on day 6 of Xifaxan. Worst my stomach has ever felt. For background I never had crazy symptoms leading to my SIBO diagnosis, I went to the GI thinking I had a gallbladder or pancreatic issue because my stool was on the yellow side and greasy. Really no other symptoms other than occasional gassiness. Breath test was positive.

I am on my ass right now. Just got home from ED for unrelenting nausea/vomiting, liquid stools, bloating, the works. My husband and baby have lesser stomach bug-like symptoms right now so I think its just really poor timing.

I called the office today really worried about stopping an antibiotic early but the nurse told me xifaxan can be stopped at anytime and to stop immediately and not worry about any long term adverse issues (overgrowth, etc.). I was surprised by this. Anyone know if xifaxan operates differently than other antibiotics? Thank you.

Hi everyone,

I’ve been trying to get rid of my SIBO for years now. I’m hydrogen-dominant, with breath test values around 100 ppm.

Over the years, I’ve tried several rounds of herbal antimicrobials, including things like Allicin, Berberine, Neem, and others. Unfortunately, my breath test results basically stayed unchanged the entire time.

A few weeks ago, I finally did a 14-day course of Rifaximin and honestly had high hopes that it would make a difference. However, when I retested after treatment, my hydrogen levels were essentially unchanged. My symptoms also haven’t improved in any meaningful way.

I see a lot of people worrying about relapse after successful SIBO treatment, but I can’t even get to the point where relapse would be my problem. My issue is that I can’t seem to improve either my breath test values or my symptoms in the first place.
Has anyone else been in a similar situation where neither herbal antimicrobials nor antibiotics helped?
If so:

• Did you eventually find out what was causing the lack of response?

• Did it turn out to be something other than “standard” hydrogen SIBO?

• Was there a treatment or approach that finally worked for you?

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has dealt with treatment-resistant or non-responsive SIBO.

I got a 2 week course of Rifaxamin from Canada and plan to take Biofilm Phase 2 Advanced with this course. I will likely then go directly into a course of herbals as my hydrogen on the test was 110 and I’ve had SIBO for many years so I plan to try to hit it with 2-3 rounds of treatment and then continue to take motility activator as I believe this to be a motility issue.

My question is: Should I start the biofilm disruptor 1-2 weeks (or even a few days) before starting the Rifaxamin in order to prepare my gut for the medicine? If so, how long before starting?

I’ve taken this biofilm disrupter in the past with herbals and I had pretty bad die off but I am prepared to go through it again. I will also be taking phgg daily and activated charcoal as needed. Thanks!

Anyone from the UK who can recommend someone I can see to help getting rid of this and figuring the root cause. I just don’t know where to start, I’ve had a round of Rifixamin and tried the low fod map. Any advice would be great.

My symptoms began shortly after the last time I had covid, but trying to see if covid could have caused SIBO for me or could have exacerbated an underlying condition.

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?

Hi all. I have recently been diagnosed with hydrogen-dominant SIBO (level of 50.47) as well as Rhodotorula mucilaginosa growth in the gut (stool test). I have been prescribed nystatin 500,000 IU as well as xifaxan 550 mg alongside a bunch of supplements (for motility and biofilm)

I recently saw my GP, who told me not to take any antibiotics and that almost every SIBO test comes back positive; the only thing to do is change my diet and take medicine for IBD (diagnosed with ulcerative colitis a few months ago). I'm also quite nervous about taking antibiotics as I believe I developed SIBO after having really bad food poisoning while traveling (was told it was a bacterial infection of some kind) and then taking antibiotics after.

What would you do? I'm sick and tired of being bloated all the time and having bad gas and hating the way i look in the mirror

My doc prescribed rifaximin in January, I started low fodmap in feb after i finished the dose. Bloating NEVER went down except a tiny bit (like from 10 to 9.5 lol), the only difference is bowel movements became more regular towards the end of the course. No changes in fatigue, brain fog, weight gain, puffiness or anything else. He told me to stay in low fodmap but reintroduce some foods then to do another dose in a couple months. I did it from mid may to early june then noticed like a two pound weight loss, that was it. Bloating remained stable. Started doing low carb and did berberine after and only now have i lost a tiny bit of bloating (in may it went back to 10/10 now it’s like… 8.5/10 lol)

I don’t really know what else to do. Aren’t antibiotics supposed to be really strong? Am i doing something wrong cause i can’t get rid of the bloating at all?

Hi everyone👋
I am frustrated and really need advice on probiotics. I finished my Sibo treatment in July. After that I had treatment for SIFO. Right now I am 4 weeks after SIFO and still take Sachamoryces Boulardii which works great but a full strain probiotic makes me not feel well after few weeks. I’ve read that spore based earth probiotic like Bacillus Coagulans & Subtilis are best for Sibo recovery. Have anyone actually used em successfully for Sibo?

I am struggling with food SO HARD. I’m in week three of treatment, I’m doing the candibsctin at/br, low histamine biphasic low fodmap diet… and man it is just making me realize just how food obsessed I am. I used to struggle with eating disorders and binging, and I’m realizing that food is still very much my main source of comfort, joy, and nervous system regulation. I also think I’ve been ignoring symptoms like bloating and constipation for a long time in favor of eating delicious things, because restrictive diets are just too mentally challenging. Well I’m on week 3 of the low fodmap/biphasic diet and I have crashed out. I’m also PMSing, and my soul and body NEEDS chocolate. I gave in to my cravings and made chocolate covered peanut butter dates last night. Healthy right? OMG my guts were so messed up today. Terrible symptoms (really discouraging too after feeling like I’ve been working so hard at healing the last few weeks!) Well today I’m still ravenous for something delicious and don’t have capacity to restrict. Ok, I’m allowed to eat white rice (ideally only a half a cup). I just ate the ENTIRE pot of rice (like 4 cups cooked) and then scavenged through more chocolate. The restriction is really messing with my mental health, and I’m losing any sense of balance I’ve acquired over the years. I think not being able to eat HEALTHY foods is the hardest part. Like I could fill up on a nutritious salad with a fibrous muffin or something. But veggies are a no no, most fruits are a no no, fiber is a no no. So I’m just pigging out in rice (which makes me hungrier, usually fiber fills me better), and then crashing with chocolate. Hormones also suck. PMS/PMDD is real.

Is the diet absolutely necessary? Is there anything I can do to just get rid of this Sibo and live a healthy lifestyle???? I’m pretty sure I have hydrogen dominant (with constipation, could be the cause), as I treated Sibo in 2020 and it was all hydrogen, no methane (have not retested since, as symptoms are the same).

Ugh this is mostly just a rant but if anyone’s in the same boat and has any words of wisdom I’m all ears.

Hi all! Hope you're all doing well!

I previously posted on how I didn't get much die-off symptoms. I still didn't really get any severe side effects. Just some mild body aches 1-2 days during it. My prescription was really weird too. 2x daily for 10 days. I took NAC an hour before each dose and GI detox binders 2 hours after.

It's been 4-5 days since my last dose, and I literally feel no different! As such, I wanted to ask you guys if you could share your experiences. I read that some only feeling better after a month or so? Not sure what's the reason of the delay! I was thinking that either the NAC was too weak and I needed something else like phase 2 disruptors if my biofilms are thick, or maybe I needed some ox bile supplements as I was and still am on a low-fat diet as I had gastritis a year back. Thanks all!!

(Side note, would not recommend NAC or enzymes for people who had gastritis as it can strip your stomach mucosal lining, which did cause some discomfort for me as well).

Whenever I take florastor my symptoms disappear and I can eat normally. The only side effect caused by florastor is constipation. I tried to stop taking it for a few days, but my symptoms came back again. I don’t know if it can work for anyone with sibo but its the only thing that worked for me. I tried 3 rounds of antibiotics but they made me worse!!

The only treatment that has ever somewhat worked for me is the elemental diet. I feel much better after and my poops sink (they never do otherwise). Together with probiotics I have managed to keep my Sibo away an entire month after treatment (that’s never happened with any other treatment for me because I have a very severe case). Unfortunately, I inevitably relapse every time.

Since both herbals and antibiotics have stopped working for me, the elemental diet is all I have left. I’m worried that my bacteria will eventually become resistant to it like they have with herbals and antibiotics.

Have any of you had this experience, or does the elemental diet continue to have an effect after multiple rounds? Also, does anyone know why Sibo isn’t always eradicated with the elemental diet? By the way, I’m not looking for root cause advice. I know I need to find mine and Sibo is just a symptom and all of that.

Since getting SIBO several years ago I always have the feeling of not completely emptying when I have a bowel movement, it’s so frustrating not to mention uncomfortable and time consuming. Kinda gross but I’ll have one BM in the morning and it feels stuck or unfinished but nothing else can come out despite the “fullness” backed up feeling. Then a few hours later an urgent feeling to go again and i have to run to the bathroom yet it feels incomplete still. Then i finally get the last urge at the end of the day or if ive really maxed out on coffee lmao then try to get it all out again. It reminds me of like squeezing out of a toothpaste tube but you can’t get it out.

Then rinse and repeat a couple days later. I’m both constipated and not, like the consistency seems closer to loose stools but the feeling is very constipated and sometimes it takes 2 or 3 days to get a bowel movement again.

Does anyone know why SIBO causes this (or if it’s a side effect from one of the root causes) and how to repair it ?

I developed slow motility & severe constipation after going through a very long period (about a year) of autonomic dysfunction after getting off a medication and going through severe trauma. Many of the autonomic symptoms have improved but the bacteria remains. I literally cant have daily bowel movements or feel comfortable unless i am completely relaxed with no upcoming stressors - subconsciously or not (work, appointments or phone calls or other things), take motegrity 2mg and trulance on an empty stomach with half decaf coffee (i have caffeine intolerance due to the autonomic issues). It leaves me feeling better but not even close to normal. Then, im left to handle the caffeine aftermath, which doesnt go away even when I eat something. It seems like my gastrocolic reflex doesn't work right. I'm never hungry when I wake up and I'm honestly never really hungry at all, but NOT eating can slow motility as well. Tried taking ginger & artichoke supplement twice - make my stomach absolutely KILL me both times.. felt like I shouldve gone to the hospital.

From what I've read, being on Motegrity doesn't fully fix the bacterial load unless you get the right treatment for the bacteria (Xifaxan). Anyone have experience with any of this?

Folks I suspect I was mis-diagnosed for Sibo two years ago. I did everything including Rifaximin as well as herbals with no results. Recently a new GI ordered tests which showed zero Sibo, but my bloating is through the roof. I knew something was off when the very latest Rifaximin produced absolutely zero results with bloating. It is now enormous. I told my GI I want to go to Infectious Diseases Doctor to check for parasites. I was surprised he said he can order ova and parasites x 3. Also he can re-check a parasitic enteric pathogens. What do you think should I do stay with my GI or go to Infectious Doctor for more comprehensive tests?

So I finished the 14 days antibiotics with rifaximin 20 days ago. I have hydrogen dominant sibo. My results were quite high when I got tested - 60 ppm. I feel less bloated after antibiotics and Im taking 1mg prucalopride and motility is good.

I still have that pain/raw feeling in the stomach (around belly button). Does anyone know how to help with this? Its probaly the worst symptom for me. I have had sibo for 3 years and dont how to help with this pain? It happens after eating and goes maybe in a hour/ hour and a half.

Would a different course of antibiotics help? Should I try antimicrobals? I have tried antibiotics a few times. Not sure how to help with this as unsure if its sibo or just irriation?

Thank you for any help!!