# SIBO, Dysbiosis, Candida, Parasites? What should I do?



## Guest (Aug 17, 2016)

Hi Everyone,

This is my first post so please bear with me! I am a 24 yr old male graduate student. I started having gas/bloating issues around age 20 and right when I moved to California for grad school they got REALLY bad. The gas/bloating was accompanied with fatigue, dazed feeling, some constipation, incomplete evacuation, uneasy feeling with eating, burping constantly after eating, etc. This led to anxiety about the condition and a sharp decline in my social life. I used to be so fun and ready to try new things...now every day is a struggle and I can barely do anything social.

I saw a GI here about 2 years ago and got every test done under the sun. Endoscopy/Colonoscopy was clean except for minor inflammation of esophagus showing very minor acid reflux. Got tested for ova/parasites with two different stool samples which was clean. Got blood testing for Lyme, Giardia, H. Pylori, C. Diff, and everything we could think of...all clean. I had positive ASCA IgG and IgA antibodies which are indicative of Crohn's but Colonoscopy and Abdominal CT ruled that out.

Then I moved on to the more subtle problems. Thought it was Candida so I went on Candida Diet for 1 month and had Nyastatin along with a heavy regimen of gut rebuilding supplements (RepairVite, probiotics). Didn't feel much better after this and was losing too much weight so I stopped.

Got tested for SIBO with lactulose hydrogen breath test and glucose hydrogen breath test. Lactulose was equivocal because no double peak but glucose seemed to be positive even though peak came at 160 mins. Started on Xifaxan...didn't see ANY change. NOTHING. I tried a Low Fodmap diet which seems to help a bit but even still there is lots of discomfort almost every day.

Started seeing an ND who put me on SCD diet and a course of Berberine, Phytostan, Neem, and Digestive Enzymes. This really wrecked me. I started having loose stools, tons of gas and bloating, feeling low and uncomfortable. I was thrilled because I thought it was die off!! However, never seemed to go away. I then took a comprehensive stool test and found that I had high levels of bad bacteria and bad yeast (Citrobacter, Kleibsella, Candida Parapsilosis). Based on these results, we changed my regimen to CandaClear Four, Grapefruit Seed Extract, and Phytostan. Same thing ensued: loose stools that turn to liquid/crumbs in water, burping/nausea after eating or drinking anything, dry mouth in morning, feeling terrible overall. Again, we thought it was die off but it didn't go away for 3 full weeks so we stopped.

Right now my symptoms are worse than ever - I need to get better ASAP!! Because of my weird response to the herbal supplements, we now think I could have a parasite that may have slipped through conventional testing. Maybe the supplements I was taking cleared the way for the parasite to flare up. I am going to start a parasite cleanse this weekend. I have some hope but very little since nothing else logical has seemed to work. At least the ND I'm working with now is very knowledgeable and motivated to fix this.

Some history: I was pretty active, always ate pretty healthy, always a bit stressed. I had acute gastroenteritis on a cruise ship about 5 years ago. Right before all the symptoms got really bad 2 years ago, I had a indian food buffet in Las Vegas where I immediately felt AWFUL and never really recovered. Not sure what the exact cause of my issues is, but the build up over many years is evident.

Thanks for reading this and please let me know if you think I am on the right path with the parasites or if there is something else I should try. I am 100% committed to beating this. I think I can but I'm losing hope by the day...


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## SIBO_FML (Nov 2, 2016)

Hi!

First off, I'm sorry but I don't have any solutions but was compelled to write as I am in a similar situation as yourself.

My historic symptoms align loosely with yours.

I did intolerance tests which flagged Dairy/Yeast so out any traces of those for 3 months : Nothing, if not worse symptoms.

Followed by FODMAP for one month : Nothing, if not worse symptoms.

Followed by seeing a nutrionist who diagnosed SIBO (by symptoms & then breath test) so I started Carb-Free version of FODMAP (basically meat + leaves + a few veg) which I followed for 6 weeks : Worse symptoms.

Followed by a trifecta of natural antibiotics (candibactin/berberine/nac antioxidant) & started a more relaxed version of the above (small amt of fruit + small amt of rice) which I've been following for 4 weeks : definitely worse symptoms.

Like you at every stage I thought the worse-feeling could be due to die-off and a bright next step was round the corner. I do daily tracking, log all meals, pain scores etc etc.

I am going to see a new gastro-enterologist this evening & 2 more different nutritonists this week.

Let me know what you find & I will do likewise!


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