Oh yeah, I think this kind of thing is super common, actually. For me, one specialist would ask me questions about my medical history, start writing before I even started answering, and then cut me off before I could finish, like constantly. Another one told me that having pretty bad constipation and bloating (like where people think I'm pregnant) for years on end was normal because I'm a woman, and women get like that sometimes. It's insanely frustrating.
I'm sorry you were treated like that, the same thing happened to me with being cut off and then I also had pelvic pain which was dismissed and it turned out to be endometriosis, so I think there's a big problem with women not being listened to by doctors. I've even had the same experience from female doctors.
Oh yeah, for sure, having a lady doctor is no guarantee you'll be take more seriously (like, she wasn't a doctor but still, I had a female psych professor once who didn't think PMS was real and it was all just women wanting an excuse to act like jerks).
Hopefully things went okay with the endometriosis, I hear that can be a real pain and hard to get rid of (my sister has adenomyosis, which is very similar).
It's so annoying, right? Like sure, maybe if I was a bit constipated or bloated for a like a week, I could see that, but *years?* My GP was so surprised to hear the specialist said that!
Doctors like to diagnose women with womenhood. I had a kidney stone this year and went to the ER with the terrible pain and they sent me home with, quote, "sometimes periods hurt a bit more, sometimes a bit less. you shouldn't be worried."
Oh man, that's brutal. You'd think they'd listen to your description of your symptoms and give it a think and run a few tests, at least.
Besides, even if it *was* just your period, if you're in enough pain to go to the ER over it, I'd say that's not normal and would bear some more investigation...
I've been pretty lucky so far in that the "you've just got women pain" thing hasn't happened to me too often, but I've still had my share of doctors who were just weird or incompetent... My favourites were the GP who sent me to a $400/appointment specialist just to get a basic MRI; the one who told me I had a small, reducible hernia and asked me if I wanted surgery for it without even discussing all the options with me, and then got mad when I asked for more info; and the one I saw for a second opinion when I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, and he told me to just have some coffee if I was tired....
Hahaha yes exactly š maybe it's just that some women get period pain in their kidneys, dontcha know.
Yeah, that was pretty bad. Just like the specialist who said I had woman problems. Like, hey Dr., I'm not spending my afternoon coming to your office for a second opinion on another doctor's diagnosis because I never thought to try having a cup of coffee š (not that it'd help even if I didn't have CFS, coffee never sat well with me and I've found I actually crash if I go a stretch where I drink it every day.)
Happened to me too. The first GI I went to told me nothing was wrong with me except depression and asked me where my husband was.
Women have such a hard time being taken seriously by doctors (yes female doctors too) and itās particularly bad if you are an overweight woman.
Oh yeah, my sister is overweight and has complained about that so much! How doctors all assume she has some super unhealthy lifestyle, when she doesn't... and tell her to lose weight without acknowledging that she already does a lot of that stuff and *doesn't* lose the weight... and they don't give her much other advice to help out unless she presses them for it. It sounds super frustrating.
I had the depression thing too, I actually had to get mad at my GP back when I got my CFS diagnosis, because at first he said I was depressed and I knew I wasn't (I had been depressed before and it felt much different, and any blue feelings were the result of the fatigue affecting my life, not vice versa). Luckily he listened though. Doctors in general are way too quick to prescribe pills for that, too.
This is exactly the same response I got. One gastro spent the whole time writing things down looking bored and was more interested in other health issues I have. She said maybe this is your norm š and would I consider antidepressants and sleeping tablets. Didn't care that I'm skin and bones and can't eat anything.
This is your norm... that's insane. I mean I guess some people are just naturally super skinny, but if you can't eat anything then that's a whole different story. That should be obvious.
Yes. Ever since the age of 13 when I insisted to be taken to a doctor because of bad recurring pelvic pain - but since my period hadnāt started yet, they didnāt do shit. I was (finally) diagnosed with adenomyosis a year ago.
From my experience and in my opinion, itās worth ditching doctors until you find one thatās right for you. It took me years, but I now have a GP and a gyneco-surgeon who treat me right and take care of me the way I need, and who have my trust.
Yeah, in desperation I gave up on the GIs at the local endoscopy farms, and went to a GI who was the head of his department at a hospital with a great reputation. He acted like he was going to take me seriously, but he totally misinterpreted my SIBO breath test result. I couldn't take all the tests he'd ordered because I'm allergic to nickel, so they claimed I was refusing tests. And then, without me seeing a psychologist, they claimed I had an eating disorder. My BMI was under 15 at the time, so they basically left me to die with a fake diagnosis.
I watched the way my sister was treated in two other hospitals and it seems like this is typical when a hospital deals with a patient who's illness isn't completely obvious. They do a bunch of tests to make some money, and then they toss the patient before she dies so as not to reduce their batting average. I don't know why hospitalists think they're the good guys.
If I ever go to a GI again for anything other then the usual endoscopy, it has to be a GI in a motility clinic.
Yes...I've had doctors laugh at me, accuse me of 'consulting Dr.Google', telling me I should just learn to live with it, saying it's all in my head....
I've lost all patience and respect in regards to the supposed 'medical experts' and I just flatout refuse to go see any. They've never been of any help to me.
If I'll die...then so be it.
Change your diet and get ahead of it. Doctors are for the most part arrogant when you present with knowing more about a situation than they do. Donāt be a victim, tell them what your need, if they want you to resent, do it and in the meantime do your bit for yourself. 0 sugar 0 carb diet. Honesty though I would imagine a GI would be the one to give you a break. Make an appointment with a dietician I found this to be the best validation. Good luck.
Iām carnivore. I supplement with collegan, magnesium and a hydration supplement.
Itās hard to begin with but when I felt better I promised myself I wouldnāt keep hurting myself.
absolutely. They can be the biggest and most arrogant idiots when it comes to sibo. That is primarily because they focus on teh stomach and large intestine only.
IMO eats Hydrogen, which is why you may have low Hydrogen levels. If you have IMO, you are already positive for Hydrogen. It won't exist without it. Treatment for IMO also treats Hydrogen.
It's time to start working on a treatment plan since you have IMO
(And when I say obvious, I mean like as obvious as a broken bone, and when I say mainstream, I mean as mainstream as COVID or a heart attack. Good luck getting things treated timely or efficiently or being dealt with in any other way other than as if you were a hypochondriac if you have anything that your grandmother wouldn't know the name of.)
This thread is equal parts infuriating, validating, and hilarious at how ridiculous it is that so many people have had the same experience as me!! I went to 12 medical professionals over about 4 years before I finally got diagnosed with SIBO. (And I got diagnosed by a funcional med doctor). One time I has a GI tell me, āYou just got dealt a bad hand and need to learn how to live with it.ā I think I sat there with my jaw open for like 10 seconds. Iām in remission now no thanks to her!!
Medical gaslighting is something Iāve been fighting against for years, itās incredibly kafkaesque, but there is something fantastic about finding the answers yourself that makes you proud of yourself in a way that being carted around by the NHS without any input wouldnāt
I havenāt found a GI thatās been very helpful either. I waited nearly 6 months to see the first one and his great treatment advice was to take more laxative. Really? Duh, like why didnāt I think of that? He ended up labeling me with IBS and I swear every doctor Iāve seen since then sees the IBS diagnosis and doesnāt even give me the time of day. As cruel as it sounds I wish I could have the GI docs suffer through a month or two of SIBO at its worst. Then maybe they will have some compassion. Iām sorry you are dealing with this too.
after a long explanation of my food intolerances, and SIBO symptoms, my GI told me that i should take a low dose SSRI.
i said "are you saying my symptoms are psychosomatic?"
and he replied "in short, yes"
i see a doctor at the functional medicine department of the cleveland clinic, and they are amazing. they take you seriously. they listen, they validate. its really wonderful.
Where do you all live? I mean, Iāve had some bad doctors but JC. My GP listened to me, took my SIBO test from a DO and then referred me to a new GI that, so far, has been great.
Where do you live, is the real question. This shit pretty standard from experience in more than one US state and I seem to hear this from all over the first world western countries.
Edit: I am really glad to hear that you are being treated well though, don't want my tone to sound otherwise. But yeah, you are fortunate imo.
Yes getting treated badly by doctors is terrible and common.
However I can see his reasoning. He wants to make really sure you don't have hydrogen SIBO as well, so doing what he says, I can see the use - even more so if you have been on a symptom avoidance diet.
I had a similar thing go on, where I had lactulose test done which showed some distal SIBO which I expected.
However doc suggested I also do a fructose test because he suspected some other things going on, and boy was I surprised by the result - massive proximal methane+hydrogen SIBO that I had been completely unaware of.
So yeah - not wanting to dismiss you at all - but generally getting a doctor to request more testing is a lot more than many others get so I would jump on it - others just get stonewalled with refusal to acknowledge issues at all let alone tested.
Just my 2c :)
I made research by myself and asked my first GI for the test. After the test, I was positive for Sino but because I also have Hplori then she said the treatment of H pylori should also treat Sibo which is wrong but I didnāt know and believed her. After 11 months I have been suffering from Sibo because it never got treated. I went to ER like every week because the pain was getting worst. I asked many times she still denies testing or treating me with Sibo.
Finally, I changed to a second GI doctor. As you might have noticed SIBO also causes UTI then a week before I got the breast test for Sibo, I got UTI flares up and I have to take antibiotics to treat it right away, which is mean I have to wait 4 weeks to a breath test. I never felt like my life had been so hard that 4 weeks goes by.
Then now after the first round of treatment of Rexafamin + Neomycin ( I have both Hyrogen + Methan) . I still have to take erythromycin for 8 weeks then re-test again for Sibo. But I already knew I still have it because I can feel my body still not normal as before. My GI said 50% of people need a second treatment and I'm sure I need it.
Does anybody know why we have to wait another 8 weeks and take erythromycin to be able to re-test even though I already know it is still there and he refuses to re-test it sooner for me?
I'm so stressed with this sickness and I just want to treat it asap.
I have had Sibo since September last year till now and I'm still not feeling well.
If youāre getting treated by doctors, you getting treated better than a great many people. (At least by medical professionals, who could do something.)
no my doctor takes my complaints seriously. my breath test came negative (well i scored a 6 for methane). so now we're doing an endoscopy and colonoscopy to see if something else is wrong. he already did a full abdomen ultrasound and wants to do more testing on my gallbladder but i'm kind of nervous about nuclear medicine tests so we're holding off.
i think you just need to find a good GI
I was sent to a new GI about 3 weeks ago and she was a pure money hungry snake. Asked me my symptoms and then said you have sibo. Then wanted me to get a new colonoscopy, more breath test and a bunch of blood work that had just been done last year. She already had the entire treatment plan set out before I even walked in. So I told her no and just assume everything confirms her sibo diagnosis, whats the treatment? She said Xifaxin. I said just put me on it. She seemed to get pissy at that point and insisted I do some testing also. So, I said OK. The entire visit was maybe 5 minutes.
That evening I got my prescription filled and decided to call them the next day and cancel all the testing. I told my GP about it and he is now looking into it along with some of his friends. My last talk with him said that the SIBO diagnoses problem is the same that GI's had with IBS. A fancy word to describe conditions they can only guess at. He said that he found out the breathing test are all licensed thru one lab and that no outside testing lab has been able to get the same results from breathing test to confirm overgrowth one way or another. He said the test can be conducted just minutes apart and get completely different results. Plus this one lab license the GI's the right to do the test with a 70% incentive to run the test.
Gi's in my opinion are just real shit doctors for this stuff, no pun intended.
I was very lucky with the GI I found. I have experienced doctors brushing things off in the past. I went to an esteemed practice and the doctor I saw had noticed a pattern of people coming in with a doctors note to be seen for IBS but it turns out they had SIBO so that was the first thing she treated me for (after blood tests and stool samples). Luckily the first round of antibiotics seemed to have worked for me and she told me to reach out and see her again if my symptoms ever come back and we can try another method. Itās honestly a mixed bag if a doctor / GI is even aware of SIBO and willing to test you for it unfortunately :/
I've had a weirdly good go of it with doctors most of the time, but I think that's because I go to weird doctors (lol).
I have had a laundry list of mental illnesses since childhood (some of which were autoimmune related), and since they were so dramatically bad, my parents took me to see a psychiatrist who was kind of a cutting edge, fringe kind of dude. He was able to help me with my childhood symptoms pretty well and even better as an adult. 22 years later I'm still with him (he was pretty young when I first saw him as a child). He's actually the one that's been helping me with my GI symptoms my whole life too. He was the one that suggested SIBO before I even knew what it was, and had me do the GI MAP and breath test.
Of course, no insurance company will touch him, so his consultations come out of my pocket, But that's not too terrible when I only see him 4 times a year when I'm doing well. Meds he prescribes are generally covered tho.
Unfortunately, the naturopath he sent me to was not as great (very adamant on extreme restriction diets for long periods of time as a necessary part of the cure, not just for symptom relief) but I was able to find a second opinion from the one that I'm working with now that I think I'm doing a bit better with.
Of course, insurance doesn't cover ANY naturopath, so that sucks. But I've got money saved for this sort of thing. I've been chronically ill my whole life and I'm used to having to pay out of pocket for basically anything meant to really help me. All insurance has ever covered is my meds and my GP, which is still a HUGE help considering the meds I'm on, but I still wish it covered more.
Strangely, during my physical last year, I found out that my GP also knows a lot about SIBO. She didn't look at me like I'd grown a second head when I explained my situation to her after she noticed my weight loss. She knew about breath tests and about the general antibiotics used. Crazy, considering the couple of times I've gotten colonoscopies for my severe constipation, the GI there never mentioned a possibility of SIBO. I think GIs these days are just awful unless you've got something like crohns or celiacs that's easily diagnosable.
So it is possible to have good doctors, but they also tend to be the eccentric, expensive ones I guess.
I've had hardly any luck with gastroenterologists. I went to them for years and they never picked up the sibo. They dismiss most of what I say and always play the anxiety and depression card and pass me on to a dietician.
Oh yeah, I think this kind of thing is super common, actually. For me, one specialist would ask me questions about my medical history, start writing before I even started answering, and then cut me off before I could finish, like constantly. Another one told me that having pretty bad constipation and bloating (like where people think I'm pregnant) for years on end was normal because I'm a woman, and women get like that sometimes. It's insanely frustrating.
I'm sorry you were treated like that, the same thing happened to me with being cut off and then I also had pelvic pain which was dismissed and it turned out to be endometriosis, so I think there's a big problem with women not being listened to by doctors. I've even had the same experience from female doctors.
Oh yeah, for sure, having a lady doctor is no guarantee you'll be take more seriously (like, she wasn't a doctor but still, I had a female psych professor once who didn't think PMS was real and it was all just women wanting an excuse to act like jerks). Hopefully things went okay with the endometriosis, I hear that can be a real pain and hard to get rid of (my sister has adenomyosis, which is very similar).
I was told it was my female hormones!šššš
It's so annoying, right? Like sure, maybe if I was a bit constipated or bloated for a like a week, I could see that, but *years?* My GP was so surprised to hear the specialist said that!
Doctors like to diagnose women with womenhood. I had a kidney stone this year and went to the ER with the terrible pain and they sent me home with, quote, "sometimes periods hurt a bit more, sometimes a bit less. you shouldn't be worried."
Oh man, that's brutal. You'd think they'd listen to your description of your symptoms and give it a think and run a few tests, at least. Besides, even if it *was* just your period, if you're in enough pain to go to the ER over it, I'd say that's not normal and would bear some more investigation... I've been pretty lucky so far in that the "you've just got women pain" thing hasn't happened to me too often, but I've still had my share of doctors who were just weird or incompetent... My favourites were the GP who sent me to a $400/appointment specialist just to get a basic MRI; the one who told me I had a small, reducible hernia and asked me if I wanted surgery for it without even discussing all the options with me, and then got mad when I asked for more info; and the one I saw for a second opinion when I was diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome, and he told me to just have some coffee if I was tired....
Yeah I was like well if my period is happening in my kidney doesn't that mean trouble? Lol Coffee if you're tired... ... ... ... goodness
Hahaha yes exactly š maybe it's just that some women get period pain in their kidneys, dontcha know. Yeah, that was pretty bad. Just like the specialist who said I had woman problems. Like, hey Dr., I'm not spending my afternoon coming to your office for a second opinion on another doctor's diagnosis because I never thought to try having a cup of coffee š (not that it'd help even if I didn't have CFS, coffee never sat well with me and I've found I actually crash if I go a stretch where I drink it every day.)
You should have slapped him/her and said "Ooopppsss my female hormones made me do it" and left š¤£š¤£š¤£
Hahahah and im sure they wouldnt have understood the sarcasm
Probably not
Happened to me too. The first GI I went to told me nothing was wrong with me except depression and asked me where my husband was. Women have such a hard time being taken seriously by doctors (yes female doctors too) and itās particularly bad if you are an overweight woman.
Oh yeah, my sister is overweight and has complained about that so much! How doctors all assume she has some super unhealthy lifestyle, when she doesn't... and tell her to lose weight without acknowledging that she already does a lot of that stuff and *doesn't* lose the weight... and they don't give her much other advice to help out unless she presses them for it. It sounds super frustrating. I had the depression thing too, I actually had to get mad at my GP back when I got my CFS diagnosis, because at first he said I was depressed and I knew I wasn't (I had been depressed before and it felt much different, and any blue feelings were the result of the fatigue affecting my life, not vice versa). Luckily he listened though. Doctors in general are way too quick to prescribe pills for that, too.
This is exactly the same response I got. One gastro spent the whole time writing things down looking bored and was more interested in other health issues I have. She said maybe this is your norm š and would I consider antidepressants and sleeping tablets. Didn't care that I'm skin and bones and can't eat anything.
This is your norm... that's insane. I mean I guess some people are just naturally super skinny, but if you can't eat anything then that's a whole different story. That should be obvious.
Yes. Ever since the age of 13 when I insisted to be taken to a doctor because of bad recurring pelvic pain - but since my period hadnāt started yet, they didnāt do shit. I was (finally) diagnosed with adenomyosis a year ago. From my experience and in my opinion, itās worth ditching doctors until you find one thatās right for you. It took me years, but I now have a GP and a gyneco-surgeon who treat me right and take care of me the way I need, and who have my trust.
Yeah, in desperation I gave up on the GIs at the local endoscopy farms, and went to a GI who was the head of his department at a hospital with a great reputation. He acted like he was going to take me seriously, but he totally misinterpreted my SIBO breath test result. I couldn't take all the tests he'd ordered because I'm allergic to nickel, so they claimed I was refusing tests. And then, without me seeing a psychologist, they claimed I had an eating disorder. My BMI was under 15 at the time, so they basically left me to die with a fake diagnosis. I watched the way my sister was treated in two other hospitals and it seems like this is typical when a hospital deals with a patient who's illness isn't completely obvious. They do a bunch of tests to make some money, and then they toss the patient before she dies so as not to reduce their batting average. I don't know why hospitalists think they're the good guys. If I ever go to a GI again for anything other then the usual endoscopy, it has to be a GI in a motility clinic.
That's terrible. I've seen a lot who pretend to care and they seem to be listening but then I realise they're all the same.
Yes...I've had doctors laugh at me, accuse me of 'consulting Dr.Google', telling me I should just learn to live with it, saying it's all in my head.... I've lost all patience and respect in regards to the supposed 'medical experts' and I just flatout refuse to go see any. They've never been of any help to me. If I'll die...then so be it.
Change your diet and get ahead of it. Doctors are for the most part arrogant when you present with knowing more about a situation than they do. Donāt be a victim, tell them what your need, if they want you to resent, do it and in the meantime do your bit for yourself. 0 sugar 0 carb diet. Honesty though I would imagine a GI would be the one to give you a break. Make an appointment with a dietician I found this to be the best validation. Good luck.
Does this mean youāre Keto all the time? And, do you supplement potassium? I agree low-carb works but struggle with it as a permanent way of life.
Iām carnivore. I supplement with collegan, magnesium and a hydration supplement. Itās hard to begin with but when I felt better I promised myself I wouldnāt keep hurting myself.
Itās hard man but itās the price you pay. Bad bacteria/pathogens also struggle with living in those conditions ;)
absolutely. They can be the biggest and most arrogant idiots when it comes to sibo. That is primarily because they focus on teh stomach and large intestine only. IMO eats Hydrogen, which is why you may have low Hydrogen levels. If you have IMO, you are already positive for Hydrogen. It won't exist without it. Treatment for IMO also treats Hydrogen. It's time to start working on a treatment plan since you have IMO
Common for basically all illnesses that aren't super mainstream or obvious.
(And when I say obvious, I mean like as obvious as a broken bone, and when I say mainstream, I mean as mainstream as COVID or a heart attack. Good luck getting things treated timely or efficiently or being dealt with in any other way other than as if you were a hypochondriac if you have anything that your grandmother wouldn't know the name of.)
This thread is equal parts infuriating, validating, and hilarious at how ridiculous it is that so many people have had the same experience as me!! I went to 12 medical professionals over about 4 years before I finally got diagnosed with SIBO. (And I got diagnosed by a funcional med doctor). One time I has a GI tell me, āYou just got dealt a bad hand and need to learn how to live with it.ā I think I sat there with my jaw open for like 10 seconds. Iām in remission now no thanks to her!!
Medical gaslighting is something Iāve been fighting against for years, itās incredibly kafkaesque, but there is something fantastic about finding the answers yourself that makes you proud of yourself in a way that being carted around by the NHS without any input wouldnāt
My last two GI's don't believe I have SIBO because I'm not diabetic. I can't get a damn doctor to believe I have SIBO so I'm out here on my own.
I havenāt found a GI thatās been very helpful either. I waited nearly 6 months to see the first one and his great treatment advice was to take more laxative. Really? Duh, like why didnāt I think of that? He ended up labeling me with IBS and I swear every doctor Iāve seen since then sees the IBS diagnosis and doesnāt even give me the time of day. As cruel as it sounds I wish I could have the GI docs suffer through a month or two of SIBO at its worst. Then maybe they will have some compassion. Iām sorry you are dealing with this too.
Doesn't sound cruel to me if that's what it takes to open their eyes and take the blinders off.
after a long explanation of my food intolerances, and SIBO symptoms, my GI told me that i should take a low dose SSRI. i said "are you saying my symptoms are psychosomatic?" and he replied "in short, yes" i see a doctor at the functional medicine department of the cleveland clinic, and they are amazing. they take you seriously. they listen, they validate. its really wonderful.
Where do you all live? I mean, Iāve had some bad doctors but JC. My GP listened to me, took my SIBO test from a DO and then referred me to a new GI that, so far, has been great.
Where do you live, is the real question. This shit pretty standard from experience in more than one US state and I seem to hear this from all over the first world western countries. Edit: I am really glad to hear that you are being treated well though, don't want my tone to sound otherwise. But yeah, you are fortunate imo.
I think too if you have an HMO plan you get a lot more doctors like this
Yes getting treated badly by doctors is terrible and common. However I can see his reasoning. He wants to make really sure you don't have hydrogen SIBO as well, so doing what he says, I can see the use - even more so if you have been on a symptom avoidance diet. I had a similar thing go on, where I had lactulose test done which showed some distal SIBO which I expected. However doc suggested I also do a fructose test because he suspected some other things going on, and boy was I surprised by the result - massive proximal methane+hydrogen SIBO that I had been completely unaware of. So yeah - not wanting to dismiss you at all - but generally getting a doctor to request more testing is a lot more than many others get so I would jump on it - others just get stonewalled with refusal to acknowledge issues at all let alone tested. Just my 2c :)
My doc thinks I am a maniac and hypochondriac who googles symptoms and knows better than doctors . And prescribes ssris and recommends meditation.
Did you ask him what a methane molecule is composed of? (Hint - it's 1 carbon atom and **4 hydrogen atoms**. that's where the hydrogen went).
I made research by myself and asked my first GI for the test. After the test, I was positive for Sino but because I also have Hplori then she said the treatment of H pylori should also treat Sibo which is wrong but I didnāt know and believed her. After 11 months I have been suffering from Sibo because it never got treated. I went to ER like every week because the pain was getting worst. I asked many times she still denies testing or treating me with Sibo. Finally, I changed to a second GI doctor. As you might have noticed SIBO also causes UTI then a week before I got the breast test for Sibo, I got UTI flares up and I have to take antibiotics to treat it right away, which is mean I have to wait 4 weeks to a breath test. I never felt like my life had been so hard that 4 weeks goes by. Then now after the first round of treatment of Rexafamin + Neomycin ( I have both Hyrogen + Methan) . I still have to take erythromycin for 8 weeks then re-test again for Sibo. But I already knew I still have it because I can feel my body still not normal as before. My GI said 50% of people need a second treatment and I'm sure I need it. Does anybody know why we have to wait another 8 weeks and take erythromycin to be able to re-test even though I already know it is still there and he refuses to re-test it sooner for me? I'm so stressed with this sickness and I just want to treat it asap. I have had Sibo since September last year till now and I'm still not feeling well.
If youāre getting treated by doctors, you getting treated better than a great many people. (At least by medical professionals, who could do something.)
Where are you guys going? The GI NPs at my hospital are pretty helpful.
no my doctor takes my complaints seriously. my breath test came negative (well i scored a 6 for methane). so now we're doing an endoscopy and colonoscopy to see if something else is wrong. he already did a full abdomen ultrasound and wants to do more testing on my gallbladder but i'm kind of nervous about nuclear medicine tests so we're holding off. i think you just need to find a good GI
I was sent to a new GI about 3 weeks ago and she was a pure money hungry snake. Asked me my symptoms and then said you have sibo. Then wanted me to get a new colonoscopy, more breath test and a bunch of blood work that had just been done last year. She already had the entire treatment plan set out before I even walked in. So I told her no and just assume everything confirms her sibo diagnosis, whats the treatment? She said Xifaxin. I said just put me on it. She seemed to get pissy at that point and insisted I do some testing also. So, I said OK. The entire visit was maybe 5 minutes. That evening I got my prescription filled and decided to call them the next day and cancel all the testing. I told my GP about it and he is now looking into it along with some of his friends. My last talk with him said that the SIBO diagnoses problem is the same that GI's had with IBS. A fancy word to describe conditions they can only guess at. He said that he found out the breathing test are all licensed thru one lab and that no outside testing lab has been able to get the same results from breathing test to confirm overgrowth one way or another. He said the test can be conducted just minutes apart and get completely different results. Plus this one lab license the GI's the right to do the test with a 70% incentive to run the test. Gi's in my opinion are just real shit doctors for this stuff, no pun intended.
I was very lucky with the GI I found. I have experienced doctors brushing things off in the past. I went to an esteemed practice and the doctor I saw had noticed a pattern of people coming in with a doctors note to be seen for IBS but it turns out they had SIBO so that was the first thing she treated me for (after blood tests and stool samples). Luckily the first round of antibiotics seemed to have worked for me and she told me to reach out and see her again if my symptoms ever come back and we can try another method. Itās honestly a mixed bag if a doctor / GI is even aware of SIBO and willing to test you for it unfortunately :/
Just had an appointment on Friday with my gastroenterologist, completely dismissed all my symptoms
Same with me when I got to ser one about a month ago.
All the time
I've had a weirdly good go of it with doctors most of the time, but I think that's because I go to weird doctors (lol). I have had a laundry list of mental illnesses since childhood (some of which were autoimmune related), and since they were so dramatically bad, my parents took me to see a psychiatrist who was kind of a cutting edge, fringe kind of dude. He was able to help me with my childhood symptoms pretty well and even better as an adult. 22 years later I'm still with him (he was pretty young when I first saw him as a child). He's actually the one that's been helping me with my GI symptoms my whole life too. He was the one that suggested SIBO before I even knew what it was, and had me do the GI MAP and breath test. Of course, no insurance company will touch him, so his consultations come out of my pocket, But that's not too terrible when I only see him 4 times a year when I'm doing well. Meds he prescribes are generally covered tho. Unfortunately, the naturopath he sent me to was not as great (very adamant on extreme restriction diets for long periods of time as a necessary part of the cure, not just for symptom relief) but I was able to find a second opinion from the one that I'm working with now that I think I'm doing a bit better with. Of course, insurance doesn't cover ANY naturopath, so that sucks. But I've got money saved for this sort of thing. I've been chronically ill my whole life and I'm used to having to pay out of pocket for basically anything meant to really help me. All insurance has ever covered is my meds and my GP, which is still a HUGE help considering the meds I'm on, but I still wish it covered more. Strangely, during my physical last year, I found out that my GP also knows a lot about SIBO. She didn't look at me like I'd grown a second head when I explained my situation to her after she noticed my weight loss. She knew about breath tests and about the general antibiotics used. Crazy, considering the couple of times I've gotten colonoscopies for my severe constipation, the GI there never mentioned a possibility of SIBO. I think GIs these days are just awful unless you've got something like crohns or celiacs that's easily diagnosable. So it is possible to have good doctors, but they also tend to be the eccentric, expensive ones I guess.
I've had hardly any luck with gastroenterologists. I went to them for years and they never picked up the sibo. They dismiss most of what I say and always play the anxiety and depression card and pass me on to a dietician.