SIBO or Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth is a condition where there is an overgrowth of bacteria in your gut. - Functional Medicine Houston
We have trillions of bacteria in our gut but most of them are located in the large intestine, but in SIBO we have either overgrowth or overabundance of bad bacteria especially in the small intestine (hence the name!).
Several people have been mislabeled to be suffering from IBS ( Irritable bowel syndrome) while in reality, they were suffering from SIBO.
These people after being diagnosed with IBS were given antidepressant medications telling that they were making up these symptoms in their head.
But now we know that these symptoms were because of an underlying condition called SIBO which is causing them to feel miserable.
The good news is that SIBO is treatable but the bad news is that if proper protocol is not followed, SIBO returns in a very high percentage of people.
SIBO is notorious for coming back even after successful treatment, but with a comprehensive approach, you can cure SIBO and prevent it from returning.
For that, we need to first understand the symptoms of SIBO and also the underlying causes of SIBO.
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SIBO Symptoms
Because of this imbalance in our gut bacteria we see the typical symptoms of SIBO.
Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth comes with a host of symptoms, so it is very important to first know if your symptoms can be because of SIBO or not.
As I mentioned that our gut harbors trillions of bacteria, but in SIBO there is basically an imbalance in those bacteria. A person suffering from SIBO will have more bad bacteria as compared to the good ones, in small intestine specifically!
The easy way to understand why some one gets SIBO is:
When you are born, your gut is empty and ready for bacteria to come and live there. Now there can be good or bad bacteria. When you got breastfed, it created an environment that was appropriate for good bacteria to live in your gut, and also you got good bacteria from breast milk.
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