My Journey Towards Health
Welcome & thank you for reading my blog today. I have something very near & dear to my heart that I would like to share with you today. Earlier today I went to a doctor down in Mission Viejo to have a Hydrogen Breath test done. Why, might you ask? I have had digestive issues every since I can remember & I had tried a myriad of different diets, medications, & natural remedies (including doTERRA essential oils) to help relieve the pain & discomfort to little or no avail. In my research I kept hearing about this condition called SIBO or Small Intestine Bacteria Overgrowth & it being very common in people who have had chronic Lyme disease (which I had as well, now cured thankfully!). I thought it couldn't hurt to ask my doctors about it, so I did & they agreed that it was a possiblity & ordered further testing.
The first test I had done was an endoscopy. My endoscopy came back clean, except I still had massive amounts of inflammation in my esophagus & lower sphincter in my stomach that they said in 15-30 years (or sooner) could develop into cancer! NO THANK YOU! So I begged for more testing & they ordered the SIBO breath test after sending me to a dietitian who put me on a low-FODMAP diet. It was a super hard transition, but well worth the effort since I received almost immediate relief, albeit not complete! I finally got my first Hydrogen Breath Test a few months ago & my baseline reading was positive! I was shocked by how high my Methane & Hydrogen levels were, but also relieved because now I knew what I was up against & that it was treatable! I switched my diet again (Paleo/low-FODMAP) according to information I found on www.siboinfo.com & from recommendations I recieved from fellow SIBO patients from around the world I found on Facebook support groups. I also did 1 round of prescription antibiotics: 14 days Xifaxin, 550 mg. 3 times per day along with 10 days Neomycin, 500 mg. twice a day. It was really hard going, but once I finished I felt better. I followed the presciption antibiotics up with antibiotic essential oil blends, digestive enzymes (I take these ones), & a motility suppliment called Iberogast. While I continued to see marked improvement from before beginning treatment, I was still experiencing some severe symptoms several times a month. So I went back to my doctor & requested a re-test, which she easily agreed to. Below is my documented experience with the Hydrogen Breath test from earlier today. I hope my story inspires you to not take "I have no idea, but you're really sick" for an answer from your doctors.
For the test you have a "prep-diet" a couple days before your test & on the day of you only eat eggs, some fresh berries, cooked veggies, fish, & chicken, only catch is you have to stop eating at 7pm & drink only water until 12am. My test was at 10am, becuase that was the only time left on the lab's schedule for another 2 months so I snatched it up! The test itself is fairly straight forward: you take a baseline breath sample that is collected in a bag with a one-way valve. If the sample is acceptable then you can start the test. You drink a small amount of lactulose followed by enough water to swish the taste of it out of your mouth (so the bacteria there doesn't start to digest the sugars & screw up your test numbers). As the lactulose travels through your stomach & small intestine the bacteria in your gut break it down & release Hydrogen & Methane as by products. Then every 15 minutes you collect another breath sample in a bag. Here's my first few "glamor shots" of my stomach before the test began & me with a breath collection bag:
What my stomach/gut looked like when I arrived at the lab (Before)
Me with my 1st collection bag. Only 2.75 hours to go!
At 2 hours you can see the noticable swelling from the gas & inflammation caused by SIBO, so I know by this point that I'm definitely still positive. The question is, how high are my numbers?
I'm so close to being done I can taste it! Only 5 more bags to go! The worst part about this test is the boredom & watching your gut expand before your eyes (& the symptoms that come along with that).
I'm finally done! Here's the all too familiar "SIBO belly" or "SIBO/IBS baby" as I affectionately like to refer to it. At least the worst part is over & my pants will fit properly again in a day or two.
My first food in almost 24 hours! The raspberries & blueberries were heavenly! The roasted nuts were good too, but I packed too many so I only ate about half.
I will get my test results Friday at the latest, but hopefully by Wednesday so I can start antibiotic treatment on Monday (if my insurance cooperates & covers the medications I need...now that's a whole different story...thankfully I have more resources this time around & know what to do if there is a delay in getting the prescriptions). Remember to be your own advocate & do your research! You never know what you'll find & hey it might just save your life!
