# My SIBO story and a comprehensive view of treating it



## The_SIBO_Annihilator (Aug 17, 2017)

Hi, This is my story:

I'm a young man who has suffered from chronic illnesses for 6-7 years and developed SIBO in the way.

*My Symptoms:*

-Bloating
-Fatigue
-Brain fog
-a Rash
-a Bold spot in the head
-Chest tightness and pressure in the chest that makes it difficult to take deep breaths and to talk with a deep voice
-Used to have bad skin but now much better
-occasional increased gas and belching
-Slow digestion

My SIBO developed due to viral infections, a lot of physical and mental stress, severe chronic sleep deprivation, constant eating with no significant breaks and lack of exercise. All of these were chronic with me which is why my gut could not function properly. A vicious cycle of a sympathetic dominant state. Stress that caused sleep deprivation which caused stress even more which caused more sleep deprivation which caused extreme fatigue which made me almost entirely sedantery. A gut cannot handle this. It needs to relax and it needs exercise to function. Think about it: Why do we need energy? Mostly to move. If there is no movement (or exercise) why would the digestive system work? The system that's purpose is to provide energy - Why would it work when there is no need for energy? Once you get this... Think about one of the major causes of SIBO... Impaired or lacking gut motility. Of course our body needs energy for other things too like, for example, brain function and other organ function but other organs mostly work in harmony towards this goal which is to give the body the ability to move and be functional.
The treatment method I use is extremely comprehensive since I am dedicated to eradicating this debilitating disease. I try to think of everything I could do to cure myself and not only focus on the typical things you can find the doctors talking about. Our bodies are complex entities comprised of many systems within systems and need to be treated as such.

*How I'm treating SIBO:*

1. Herbal antibiotics, Reason: -kills the bacteria.
The ones I've used and have worked well are:
-Allicin from Allimed 3-4 capsules a day
-Berberine 1000-1500mg a day,
-oregano oil dosage: as much as I feel my body needs it. I sometimes take it directly by putting it under my tongue and sometimes I will mix it with water and take it on an empty stomach. The dosage is as much as I can tolerate.
-Ceylon cinnamon with hot water and honey 1-2 cups a day 1 tsp of cinnamon with 1 tbsp of honey
-Cayanne pepper, dosage: as much as I feel my body needs
-Black and white tea with honey (especially on an empty stomach)
Not sure if these have antibacterial properties but they made me feel excellent:
-Pomegranate juice
-blueberry juice
-huckleberry juice
-Pure Maple syrup
-Cistus incanus

I will mention here a hugely important rule of thumb that will be used in many of the dosage and "how often" tips I'll later on mention. The rule is to almost always listen to your body. This is not always easy either. It requires a lot of trial and error to truly understand what the body needs and which cravings to act upon. To achieve this understanding of the body you first must live naturally and eliminate all unnatural foods and habits. Once you've done this you can start following your cravings because they are direct messages from your body to act. And by cravings I also include things like having a need to take a warm bath or sun bathing. So it's not all about food. I said almost always listen to your body because at rare times it's not always telling you to do the best thing eventhough at that moment it might have a beneficial effect on the body. For example, I would sometimes feel like really exercising hard but I learned later on that I was overdoing it and a little exercise would have been sufficient to stop the body's signal to move and sweat.

2. Diet, Reasons:

-Kills bacteria (herbal antibiotics)
-Stimulates the immune system to also kill bacteria (immunostimulant foods like the ones mentioned above and others like cistus incanus)
-binds the dead bacteria and through that helps in excreting it from the body (High fiber foods)
-Replaces bad bacteria with good bacteria (probiotic foods like fermented vegetables and cheese made from unpasteurized milk like Grana Padano cheese)
-And others

This is a tough one since we are all individuals and have different types of sibo but the general rule is to only eat natural whole foods and eliminate all processed and synthetic foods. My personal view is to try what suits you and what doesn't. For example, eliminate dairy, gluten and other common allergens and see what happens. I don't follow a specific diet because I have found that I need certain foods eventhough they might be a high FODMAP or typically not good for SIBO like for example beans and onions. I believe that there are certain nutrients that the body needs and that not getting them will make the healing process more stressful since eating some foods really calm me down, stimulate my immunne system to further kill more bacteria and satisfy my cravings which in turn puts me in a parasympathetic state and gives me a good night's sleep. So basically follow your cravings in a healthy way but also use a lot of trial and error and see which types of cravings are harmful to follow and increases the symptoms. Of course if the food is extremely intolerable then in that case being partly nutrient deficient might be a better option. The reason why I won't list the foods I eat is because I eat a lot of different foods depending on my cravings but they must always be natural and whole foods. And also because I believe starving the bacteria isn't that important compared to killing them. I can say that you will probably develop your own diet by following your cravings since our bodies are extremely intelligent in their natural state and they will guide you to the foods you truly need. I, for example, found myself avoiding many and high FODMAP foods without even realising it. And I repeat: this requires a body that is used to natural foods. Otherwise you might crave bad things if you are used to eating synthetic and processed foods. a long water fast might help reset your body by reseting your taste buds. When you eat natural food your body will connect the nutrients it receives from them to them and that way you can start experiencing beneficial cravings.
A good example would be this: after I would have a bloody or dark bowel movement and would feel temporarily extremely bad I would after that crave for fermented foods to replenish the gut with good bacteria.
Concerning probiotics I have found that it is much cheaper and efficient to eat different types of fermented vegetables and probiotic whole foods compared to consuming an expensive probiotic supplement. I ferment my own cabbage, carrots, chili, garlic, onions etc.
So to sum this up: follow your natural cravings intelligently.
I could mention here that intermittent fasting is crucial because emptying the digestive system will help clear out bacteria via the migrating motor complex. What I recommend is to fast for 16-20 hours a day and the best would be to time it as such that you don't eat anything 3-4 hours before going to sleep. That way your body can focus on the immune system more and not give much energy for digestion. Really the key thing in beating SIBO is to stimulate the immune system.

3. Sleep, Reasons:

-Crucial for immunofunction
-Cell repairment and rejuvination (which means enhanced function for all of the body organs)
-Achieving a relaxed parasympathetic state where the digestive system will work better
I believe that sleep deprivation can be a huge cause for SIBO along with not giving rest for the digestive tract. Sleep deprivation causes a lot of stress on the body and makes it prone to a sympathetic state. This is why you should focus a lot on sleeping better since it will make every organ in your body function better and that is what we need to beat the bacteria: an efficient energetic body

4. Light/moderate exercise, Reason:

-Stimulates the whole body
This is one of the strongest cures for SIBO. Exercise stimulates and activates the whole body. Nuff said.
But be careful not to overdo it. Sometimes I would have a craving to actually lift weights and sweat a lot but destroying muscle tissue occupies the immune system a lot so I would become sick after it. The point is to exercise as much as you need to stimulate the body and feel more alive. Things like walking, jogging, cycling, jumping jacks etc. have worked well for me. Also abdominal exercises seem to especially stimulate the digestive system and help move food in the small intestine.

5. Sun bathing, Reason:

-A strong immunostimulant, probably mostly because of Vitamin D and testosterone
-Feels super good and makes you positive. Mental health has a huge effect on physical health.
-How often? Listen to your body
6. Sauna, Reasons:

-Immunostimulant
-Stimulates blood circulation
-Relaxes the body and puts it into a parasympathetic state
-How often? Listen to your body

7. Cold showers after sauna or hot showers, Reason:
-Immunostimulant -Has a refreshing and strengthening effect on the brain -how often? Listen to your body

8. Deep breathing, Reason:
-Helps in achieving a parasympathetic state
Relaxation is extremely important. Cannot be emphasized enough. Check this out: 




*9. B*elly massage and yoga, Reason: helps to move food in the digestive tract and relieve gas

10. Increasing testosterone levels, Reason:
-An extremely strong and underrated immunostimulant
Eating foods that increase testosterone and have positive effects on libido seems to help me a lot. The strongest food I ran into is raw crushed garlic. I would crush 4-5 cloves, let them sit and then mix them with water and drink them on an empty stomach and feel their effect immediately. I mean they are truly one of natures strongest Viagras.
There is another thing and this is probably THE strongest SIBO cleansing stimulant I have EVER experienced and this is why I saved it for last: sexual abstinence. I swear this is so powerful that it makes me sad that no doctor has spoken of this and probably doesn't even come close to crossing their mind. I'm an unmarried muslim so I can't have sex or masturbate. Which means that I can't orgasm unless I have a wet dream. It is known that after abstaining for seven days a male will have a peak in testosterone and this is what it's all about. When I used to reach the seventh day after a wet dream I would suddenly experience extreme brain fog and discomfort. After that I would have the strongest cleansing effect in the bathroom. My stool would be black and bloody and smell like a dead body. At first I thought this was bad and that the abstinence was having a bad effect on me but then I realised that it was actually stimulating my immune system so powerfully that It made me temporarily feel extremely bad and that is usually a sign of the immune system working. Most of the pathogens don't even cause all of the unpleasent symptoms we experience during a cold or other infections, rather it is actually the immune system causing these symptoms.
Unfortunately I can only say that this helps with men, as for women it would be interesting to see how sexual abstinence affects them.

This doesn't mean that sex is totally prohibited, not at all, rather it means that after reaching the testosterone peak and going through the cleansing effect you can have sex as much as you want but only to start another journey towards that peak and do it all over again







.
I haven't recovered completely yet but my symptoms have improved drastically. I used to not get out of bed due to the extreme fatigue and couldn't study anything, couldn't even read without having a headache and feel like my head was about to explode. Couldn't speak because of the chest tightness, I would use Google's text to speech... I was depressed and miserable. The only thing that kept me positive was my belief in God's mercy and Him testing me and making me a stronger person. I have truly become another person because of this experience. It has required a lot of patience but whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.


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## willistrong (Aug 9, 2021)

> Increasing testosterone levels, Reason:
> -An extremely strong and underrated immunostimulant
> Eating foods that increase testosterone and have positive effects on libido seems to help me a lot. The strongest food I ran into is raw crushed garlic. I would crush 4-5 cloves, let them sit and then mix them with water and drink them on an empty stomach and feel their effect immediately. I mean they are truly one of natures strongest Viagras.


I fully agree with this point. Working on testosterone level made me feel better in all aspects of life. I felt that the testosterone level directly affected my mood, my desire to work, develop and even live. And of course, testosterone has affected my sex life, I've been dating a wonderful girl for 2 years now and I feel like a real male. Hormone therapy and some Viagra-type medications that I took for a while helped me a lot.


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## NinaS (2 mo ago)

The_SIBO_Annihilator said:


> Hi, This is my story:
> 
> I'm a young man who has suffered from chronic illnesses for 6-7 years and developed SIBO in the way.
> 
> ...


Wow!

This is an amazing resource. Thanks for sharing.
I guess next time I see a new person here asking for help with SIBO, I may just link this post. I have a lot of similarity in how I treated my SIBO too.
I guess there are common elements: exercise, sleep, antibiotics, finding your individual diet, sun exposure (usually with my exercise), deep breathing (usually during my exercise cool down, but also as I start getting stressed).

As for the garlic, it could have helped to attack any yeast and some microbes. Garlic is a powerful yeast fighter. I would have used it as soon as I had an infection but I was intolerant to fructans which is what makes most of garlic. I can now have garlic, having rid/reduced most of my IBS symptoms and becoming more tolerant. So, if one can have garlic without issue that is beneficial.

As for the abstinence /testosterone effects. IDK. I am female.
But, I do know that there are articles and science that say our sexual organs/events/systems do and can affect our digestive system. Another person here just posted about how she has digestive problems during her period... Basically it looks like the proximity of the organs affect one another, as well as some hormonal effects.


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