Sick of bloating, constipation or diarrhoea?

The combination of gut symptoms you have guides the screening investigations and treatment?

       Bloating                                                         •.   Diarrhoea 

·       Weight loss                                                   •    Constipation        

·       Flatulence                                                     •    Abdominal pain 

·       Weight gain                                                  •    Tenderness 

I take a holistic whole body approach to determine the root cause of your symptoms. I

• Undertake thorough case taking and symptom evaluation

• Recommend screening investigations to identifying the underlying causes

• treat with targeted herbal medicines, pre-biotics, pro-biotics, nutrients and diet for optimal therapeutic outcomes .

• Use a step by step approach to ensure the underlying cause for your gut is addressed to restore gut function and optimise your microbiome.  When living with chronic gut issues for some time, gut treatment is often a journey.

Are you ready to begin your journey today?

SIBO is a common gut condition in clinic.  This small intestinal bacteria overgrowth (SIBO) is where they really shouldn’t be, as usually bile acids would keep them in check [1].  SIBO symptoms usually occur with and/or straight after high carbohydrate foods (hot chips) and can occur with nausea and reflux (burping and burning) exacerbated by spicy foods. 

If you are found to There are a few types of SIBO termed hydrogen, hydrogen sulfide or methane dominant, or fungal type, and each is associated with a different combination of the following symptoms [2]:-

· 

What sets the stage for bacterial over-growth in the small intestine?

Common causal factors that are strong pain killers, proton-pump inhibitors, colon removal, and gastric bypass.   SIBO is associated with a range of malabsorption and leaky gut conditions as well as liver damage[3].

Common functional issues that may also contribute to SIBO such as: -

·       low stomach acid; pancreatic/enzyme insufficiency; and hay fever. 

·       small intestinal obstructions; open/keyhole surgery such as abdominal or female reproductive organs; a lazy (ileocecal) valve [4]  

·       reduced bowel flow.  

·       post infection (contaminated water).

Treating the cause

Naturopaths believe in working progressively to treat the cause, and following a therapeutic order, as below.

Establish conditions for health.  

a. Reduce the SIBO symptoms using diet in the short-term (a restrictive diet will not heal the bacterial overgrowth), and long term restriction is not advisable[5].   This means lowering FODmaps or high carbohydrates in your diet, that cause bloating, diarrhoea or constipation in SIBO.  Protein and fats are key, at this stage.

b. Remove the overgrowth from microbiome testing (such as GI map), and/or SIBO testing.  Herbal anti-microbial/fungal treatment may last up to 60 days and is targeted towards specific overgrowths and may involve rotating treatment and enzymes that bust biofilms [6] .  

Work with a practitioner to custom design your treatment.

 Depending upon the SIBO type, I might add a range of digestion and gut/microbiome support, and then reintroduce FODMAPs and fibre back slowly. Antibiotic treatment may reduce the small intestinal bacteria, but often not the cause, and patients often relapse back.  Herbal medicine can be more effective at treating SIBO [7]. 

Address pathology

I use targeted herbal medicine, prebiotics, probiotics and microbiome restoration methods to treat bacterial overgrowth, to ensure the underlying cause for your SIBO isn’t neglected, and retest.  

Prevention

The aim is life balance, to get well and stay well!.

SIBO treatment is a journey, not a quick fix, are you ready to begin your journey? book an appointment today here.

References

[1] El Aidy,, van den Bogert, & Kleerebezem (2015). The small intestine microbiota, nutritional modulation and relevance for health. Current Opinion in Biotechnology, 32.

[2] Grace., Shaw, Whelan, & Andreyev (2013). Review article: small intestinal bacterial overgrowth--prevalence, clinical features, current and developing diagnostic tests, and treatment. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 38(7).

[3] Woodhouse, Patel, Singanayagam, & Shawcross (2018). Review article: the gut microbiome as a therapeutic target in the pathogenesis and treatment of chronic liver disease. Alimentary Pharmacology & Therapeutics, 47(2).

[4] Petrone, Sarkisyan, Fernández, Coloma, Akopian, Ortega, & Kaufman (2011). Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth in patients with lower gastrointestinal symptoms and a history of previous abdominal surgery. Archives of Surgery (Chicago, Ill. : 1960), 146(4).

[5] Heiman & Greenway, (2016). A healthy gastrointestinal microbiome is dependent on dietary diversity. Molecular Metabolism, 5(5).

[6] Potera (2010). Antibiotic resistance: biofilm dispersing agent rejuvenates older antibiotics. Environmental Health Perspectives, 118(7).

[7] Chedid, Dhalla, Clarke, Roland, Dunbar, Koh, … Mullin. (2014). Herbaltherapy Is equivalent to rifaximin for the treatment of small intestinal bacterial overgrowth. Global Advances in Health and Medicine, 3(3), 16.