OT: Improved Digestion & Dealing with SIBO

First off, I'm trying to deal with SIBO based on a total self-diagnosis. I have not gotten stool tests or a hydrogen breath test to confirm this. I've been
trying to pinpoint the source of my digestive problems for a long while now and believe SIBO to be the case from doing about as much research on the issue as I'm capable of. A list of symptoms: massive fecal bulk, brick-in-the-stomach feeling after meals along with intense gas and bloating, rosacea, terrible gas and bloating from eating anything starchy, distended abdomen, intermittent bouts of diarrhea that seem to be instigated by wheat or starch consumption.

At the recommendation of Littlefighter (thanks btw), I purchased some Garlinase. I also got some Monolaurin (seems to be effective against H Pylori also) and some Betaine HCL (low stomach acid is a big contributor to SIBO).

For the past three days I've been taking roughly 600 mg of monolaurin in two doses on an empty stomach, a Garlinase tablet with each meal (3-4 per day), and HCL with each meal (1.2 g).

I've got to say that it has helped immensely. Again, without a true diagnosis of SIBO, its difficult to tell. But after meals, I don't get bloated and I don't get the feeling its all sitting in my stomach. I did feel a bit woozy, light-headed for the first two days, however. At any rate, elimination of the bloating, gas, and heartburn are enough of a benefit for me. I intend to continue with this regimen for at least a few months, and probably with the HCL for longer than that.

For anybody with those issues though, maybe try it out.

Anything new to report?

Hey,

Over the months I've narrowed it down to the Betaine HCL, and also from eliminating high-fructose corn syrup. I have a terrible time digesting HFCS, unless its immediately post-workout. If I've just had a go with exercise and I'm glycogen depleted, I can have HFCS without any bloat or indigestion. Any other time of day its pretty bad. So I eliminated that from my diet, and have also been using the HCL with meals (huge improvement in post-feeding energy levels and satiety). Both have really helped. I cut out the monolaurin and the garlinase both and have not noticed any changes. Like I said, I believe the real punch came from the acid with meals and eliminating what I was having trouble digesting.

A good portion of the bloat was from the HFCS. As a side note, I've pretty much removed any dairy and believe this has helped also. The distended abdomen was really from visceral fat and my weight loss has helped there. Rosacea still there but it always improves dramatically in the summer, which leads me to believe this isn't actually rosacea, but keratosis pilaris rubra facei. The dermatologist seemed to agree with me on that latter point also. It wasn't a bad case at all to start with, just slightly reddened cheeks, very common in the English/British.

Below (isn't me) is a good example of what I was dealing with. Just some slight redness on the cheeks. Again, I mistakenly called it rosacea, but its more than likely KP. Sun exposure improves it a lot.

AS - The Betaine has helped me tremendously over the years. When I forget to use it, I notice a difference. CS was on that early in here for a lot of us. That and avoiding refined sugar, wheat, grains has kicked my heartburn to the curb.

But I also suffer the facial redness you showed. I'm going to try to intentionally get more sun and see if I can add anything here. Mine is always exacerbated by heat/cold. If the AC in the car blows on my face, I get red. When I'm hot, I get red. It's very annoying. I started to chalk it up to long term retin-A use (which I've stopped) but I think it's more than that.

Definitely a vascular component to it. Exercise, emotions, heat, cold, pressure...these can all increase the redness. So KP isn't the only happening with me, but unfortunately I don't understand rosacea. Its complex and it seems there is some type of hyper-excitability in the vascular endothelium, and there is some research to show overexpression of certain proteins and a hypersensitivity to excitatory signals. Staying away from things like excess glutamic acid is probably beneficial. Support the circulatory system should also help, and there are threads about it here. The B vitamins are also important. But like I said, I notice that sunlight helps, and psychological stress definitely makes it worse. Wheat and dairy also worsen it for me. A meal high in fat, and the wrong kinds, will increase redness not only on my face but my ears and scalp. So I still don't rule out a neural connection to the gut here, either vagal stimulation or endotoxin release.

Fortunately slight facial redness is common enough I don't worry about it too much. The "slap" face thing isn't really that big of a deal and I can think of maybe once or twice where anyone has even mentioned it to me ever. People with more severe forms of KP and rosacea, though, it really does suck and I feel for them. Some people seem to improve from antibiotic treatment, while others don't respond. People who do respond see the benefits disappear with discontinued use of the medicine. Antihistamines help some. They didn't change mine. I'd be interested to see if use of endorphins would help, I believe things like both dopamine and B-endorphin could treat the problem if stimulated in the keratinocytes.

But some things I've noticed are a hypersensitivity. Any allergen or irritant seems to trigger the reaction. One of the most fundamental things I could think of to help us would be to absolutely control the fat in the diet and optimize the n-3 to n-6 fatty acid ratio, and keep PUFA in a fine limit. Stop eating MSG (hydrolyzed proteins in food). Stay away from chemical stimulants and even things like spicy foods. Eliminate food allergens and also any chemicals applied to the skin. Keep blood sugar in check.

We should be getting more quality B vitamins, including B6, B2, and niacinamide and vitamin K (which are light sensitive) along with a lot of vitamin E, C, and Co-Q10.

Estrogen can be an issue, and alter the retention of metals. It also effects prostaglandin synthesis. Estrogen, endotoxin, and excitatory neurotoxins, and allergenic proteins are probably the biggest issues. So getting the supplements I mentioned, controlling estrogen, blood sugar, chemical exposure, food chemical exposure, and keeping the gut barrier/flora healthy are the biggest things.

If you ask me, a diet with strategic use of carbohydrate along with an activity level promoting balanced blood sugar, keeping estrogen in a narrow range, healing the gut barrier, eliminating wheat/dairy/corn, eliminating MSG, balancing n6:n3 fatty acids, lowering PUFA, getting more of the light-sensitive B-vitamins, more vitamin D, more vitamin K, along with the antioxidants to protect them and the mitochondrial complex (E, C, CoQ10, lipoic acid) is what we've gotta do. Certain things may always be triggers for us. Its a neural reaction. Jumping from a 65 deg room to a temp of 95 deg is probably always going to be a trigger. But I think we can better control it and protect the effected vessels over time so the problem doesn't worsen with age. We want to prevent advancing fibrosis so the skin doesn't thicken unecessarily over the years and we end up with the bulb nose when we're 60.

mistyisland said her rosacea went away from using Ivermectin. Just FYI.

whodathunkit wrote:mistyisland said her rosacea went away from using Ivermectin.  Just FYI.

I saw that post. I had to give that to my golden retriever when he was diagnosed with mange before he passed away. Coincidentally, that is when my hair loss/skin issues began.

There's got to be something natural that can do what ivermectin does though, no?