So, you’ve been diagnosed with SIBO…
Now you are probably looking for encouragement, answers, direction, and hoping to not change your life so much that it becomes unrecognizable. You have come to the right place.
First off, I’m sorry that you have experienced the pain and hardship of digestive distress and disease. You are not alone. Others have felt pain similar to yours. We hurt with you. And we are hopeful that you, too, will heal and regain the life that you love. If your illness brings tears to your eyes, know that it brings tears to mine. And if we were sitting in a coffee shop talking together, I would be crying with you.
You will get better. There is a light at the end of the dark tunnel, and you will get better.
As you get started on a new diet, antibiotic treatment, and/or supplements know that people have walked this journey before you and have obtained great healing. Adjusting to a new diet, and transitioning your body to healing instead of tearing down may take some time. You may even have so much damage to your digestive system that it takes a few weeks before you experience great changes. But, by a month, you should begin to notice differences. All of the changes that you make to your lifestyle through this journey will impact your life in a positive way forever.
Yes, it is true that you will have to change your diet, likely to a low carbohydrate diet, the SIBO Specific Diet, or something similar. This will be hard, especially if you eat a diet rich in sugar and carbohydrates. But if you already find that most of the foods you eat now make you sick, you will find great freedom in the low carbohydrate diets tailored for SIBO. I did, and you can check out the recipes and links here that will help you transition and make food that not only is healing to your digestive system but looks good and taste good as well. This website was designed for you.
It is true that it is not a good idea to eat out for awhile. But really, this will only be for a time. Not too long from now you will be able to look back onto this article and think, “Yeah, the journey may have been longer or short than I expected, but really it wasn’t too bad.” If you think you are going to save money by not eating out, go ahead and strike that from your mind. It likely is not going to happen. Preparing everything from scratch can be expensive, especially if you find you tolerate organic, grass-fed meat and produce better than the GMO rich groceries that line most of our store shelves. Most people do feel better eating organic, but sometimes what is more important is that it actually tastes better. This is something to consider when you switch to buying more produce.
Know, that you will likely lose weight. This may be a goal that you have, especially if you experienced bloating and weight gain as a symptom of SIBO. If you are already pretty light, you may actually gain weight, but again, you may not. I was already small when I started my SIBO journey and still lost an entire inch off my waist, and swelling and puffiness off of my whole body, especially my face and hands. But even losing weight you will regain strength and your body will grow healthier- especially if you drink and eat a lot of bone broth. Even if you start off small and lose a little weight you are not going to starve. I promise!
When you are transitioning to a new diet you may not be yourself. Maybe you will be angry, weak, loopy, or something else. But when you are tired and hungry and you cannot have what you are used to, you will have a moment of weakness. Just think of those Snicker’s bar commercials with the slogan, “You are not you when you’re hungry.” This happens frequently when you are starting a new diet. If you are new to the SIBO Specific Diet or a low carbohydrate diet, keep some snacks on hand so you are not temped to eat foods that are not helpful for your healing when you are out and about. This will help save your relationships and all of your hard work.
And yes, making one small compromise to your diet might be the difference between healing within a month or two and your infection returning. Don’t compromise. You deserve so much more than to be sick!
You may have to do an antibiotic treatment, or the elemental diet in order to get rid of your SIBO infection. There are two main types of antibiotics. Traditional antibiotics and herbal antibiotics. All three treatment options are very effective. All have side effects. What you choose to do is YOUR choice. Your doctor should have a recommendation for you based off of your personal health history as to what you want to try. And yes, you may have to do antibiotics more than once. Most people who have had digestive distress or undiagnosed SIBO for a long time require multiple rounds of antibiotic treatment (herbal or traditional) in order to get rid of SIBO for good.
No, you will not have to be on a low carbohydrate diet or the SIBO Specific Diet for the rest of your life. Although it may allow you to feel so much better it becomes the foundation of your diet, this happens for many SIBO patients. You will want to stick to one of the diets until your symptoms go away and you and your doctor have decided it is time to start adding foods back into your diet.
The journey through SIBO is hard. You will have ups and downs and even times when you feel like you have gone completely backwards, but you will get better! Keep working hard towards your goals. Make those small, healthy, daily decisions to help get you to where you want to be in your health!
2
Amanda says
Thank you for this post. I was recently diagnosed and this morning after coming off a 2 day broth and cooked meat fast decided to eat a couple scrambled eggs for breakfast and quickly learned that they are not good for me after all. I cried. It felt like a set back right out of the gate! I’m hoping in a month I can try them again and have better luck. Thank you so much for this website, its helping me not feel so lost and alone.