# IBS for years, SIBO recently and have questions



## Azsunshine2012 (Oct 9, 2012)

Hi!

I have an auto-immune disorder called Ankylosing spondylitis. I also have IBS, idiopathic chronic constipation, GERD, nocturnal aspiration, hypothyroid, well, you name it, I have it. I had the IBS pretty much under control for years. However, I slept sitting up for most nights for years due to nocturnal aspiration. Metamucil along with slow release magnesium kept the constipation at bay.

I started taking probiotics last fall and evidently that was not a good idea. About the first of 2014, I was have horrific flares of IBS (or so I thought), belching (think 25 teenage boys in a belching contest), bloating, nausea, gas, constant hungry feelings.

I fired my gastro in early 2013. My new one did the Hydrogen Breath test on me this May 2014. I tested positive. I love sweets and especially sweet/sour candy like Sour Patch Kids. The day I was diagnosed, I quit sugar cold turkey. The first ingredient in SPK is glucose.

I wonder if this is a connection: I craved anything fermented/vinegar like: pickles, sauerkraut, etc when in full flare this spring.

He told me to stop probiotics as they were like a match to gasoline.

I did a week of Flagyl.

Since then, I have lost 14 pounds. I've slept every single night laying down. I don't have the ravenous hunger feelings. Until the last 2 days, I only had 1-2 bouts of gas or bloating and they were not really bad. Honestly, I have NOT felt this good in years.

Yesterday, I drank an EAS Protein shake. I also took metamucil. I got so bloated and miserable that I still feel that way today. Plus I am ravenous. I've taken the Metamucil this summer many days and have not felt like this.

So the shakes are going into the trash.

Questions....

Since I got so bloated and gassy yesterday, does that mean the bacteria is in overgrowth mode again? Or are isolated episodes a warning sign of a trigger food?

Is metamucil generally ok to use with SIBO? Or can it cause symptoms too?

Is it likely the combination of the two that did a number on me? (lol pun not intended)

Thanks for any help!


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