When I tell people I have SIBO I tend to get the same look. People get super confused at the fact that I have a bacterial overgrowth in my small intestines that makes my life a bit harder than other people. Well, what exactly is SIBO? Well according to emedicinehealth.com, it is “a condition in which abnormally large numbers of bacteria (usually defined as at least 100,000 bacteria per ml of fluid) are present in the small intestine, and the types of bacteria in the small intestine resemble more the bacteria of the colon than the small intestine.” So basically, I am not “normal.” Who really knows what normal is anyway? The only issue is that SIBO has many side effects that make life as a 21 year old pretty freaking hard. Like guess what? SIBO (I refer to them in first person) love alcohol. In fact, they thrive on it. They thrive on literally any fun food, tasty sugary drink, and especially on carbs or any fermenting food. So half the time I am fighting the “treat yourself” side of me and the side of me that really wants these suckers to die. Luckily, there are treatments for SIBO. There are books, websites, essential oils and diets. That brings me to why I decided to start blogging about SIBO: I am going to be trying one of the more extreme methods of killing off SIBO: the elemental diet. This is a two week, liquid only, predigested formula-based diet. I plan to keep you updated on the way by sharing symptoms, struggles, and thoughts on the program.
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14 day recap and results
My 14 day Elemental Diet ended Wednesday afternoon post-doctor appointment. I was very excited and very optimistic, but was fearful to add in solid foods. I added in a small salad and paleo meat/cabbage mixture. It seemed to be okay and didn’t effect me very much aside from a bit of fatigue. Thursday all day I did my 24 hour prep day for the SIBO breath test. I noticed a bit of bloating and discomfort with solid foods. Friday I did my breath test and noticed discomfort, bloating, and slight pain with the lactulose solution. I knew this was not a good sign, but proceeded with the test. To my surprise, the results came back very fast by Saturday evening. Unfortunately, while the elemental diet has an 85% success rate, two weeks did not eradicate my SIBO. My hydrogen numbers dropped from 61 (first time I took the breath test) to 35 (this time). Overall, I choose to take this as successful. Although I wanted SIBO to be gone after these two weeks, I look at a near 50% decrease as successful. I have far further to go, but plan to attack SIBO with a low FODMAP diet, an intense regiment of doTERRA essential oils, and continued use (part of the time) of the elemental diet powder. The antibiotics will never be a choice that I make for myself, and for this reason I may have a harder time getting rid of SIBO. So far, I have actually lost a little weight following a low FODMAP diet, and I feel much better knowing I am not feeding into the SIBO. I will be returning for my last semester of college this week ready to take on SIBO and a full course load. Feel free to contact me if you are curious about my condition or if you just want to know more!
Elemental Diet Day 3
Today is the start of day 3 of the elemental diet for me. Things I’ve noticed: the drink doesn’t taste bad (sort of like vanilla water), but it does leave a weird taste in your mouth and makes your breath smell a little weird so I’ve been using dōTERRA peppermint beadlets to help with that. I haven’t had many adverse symptoms except for I am fatigued and have been wanting to go to sleep 3 hours earlier than usual. I have lost water weight since starting and feel a difference in my inflammation already. My biggest struggle is sticking with my “why.” There have been many temptations already and not being able to eat solid or salty foods is getting to me a little. When I am struggling mentally, I text my mom for moral support. If you plan to do this program, I highly recommend having someone to root for you and hold you accountable. You do not realize how central food is to our lifestyle until you cannot eat it.
The Elemental Diet
For those of you who don’t know, I have SIBO. It’s a bacterial overgrowth in my intestines that causes a ton of problems for me and I’m really over it. So I have decided to do the elemental diet to kill as much of the SIBO as possible. Starting tomorrow evening I will be eating and drinking nothing except for these doctor created drinks–for the next two weeks. They will give me all the nutrients and calories I need for the day, but I can’t eat or drink anything but this mixture (and the occasional plain black coffee or tea–yum…). 
I know this is going to be really hard and in no way a fun process, but I am excited. I have hope that this will help turn around my health for the better. Living with SIBO has caused intense abdomen pains, acne, weight gain (despite dieting and eating well), difficulty focusing, as well as many other symptoms including aggravated depression. Getting rid of all of these symptoms is the goal and is the reason why I have decided to go ahead and try the elemental diet. Like I said, it is going to be really hard. In fact, it is something I have been debating for a long time. I have decided to share my story for anyone who is considering going on a similar journey. Check back for more posts about my experience with the elemental diet and feel free to reach out with any questions!
kalysa’s corner 