On Wednesday Catherine and I made the drive to Portland so that I could do a SIBO test at the NCNM Clinic on Thursday and not have to wait 2-4 weeks to get the results back.  I went into it feeling that my numbers were going to be down but not quite all the way down since I was still having symptoms off and on over the last month.   Not many though, I only reported symptoms on 8 days in 30 which is a record for me over the past year.

The test was later than I usually do it so I packed along a lunch knowing I’d be about 18 hours w/o food by the time I finished.  I sat in the lab area for the test along with one other woman and got to chat with the lab techs and Dr. Keller who I got to meet in person for the first time.   After my 3 hour test I chowed down lunch while the results were getting finalized and put into the report.   Well, turns out I was right, numbers down significantly but I still have SIBO.  The test was another technically “negative” test according to the machine output but Drs. Siebecker and Pimentel have changed the positive criteria to be any methane >=3ppm so I’m well above that.  Still, I dropped from a high of 33 methane, 9 hydrogen and combined high of 42 to a high of 13 methane, 14 hydrogen with a combined high of 24.  That is a good reduction in methane of 30 ppm and the increase in hydrogen is expected as the levels of methane go down.   This is really the best result I’ve had in that there is only one real spike in the graph, it is lower down, and the hydrogen is starting to show up finally since I was usually a high of 2-3 on hydrogen.

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Today I am finishing up my 5th major round of herbal antibiotics since starting them in June of last year.  I did start out slow by ramping up in June so really didn’t hit full strength until July so that means I’ve been taking pretty heavy doses of herbals for seven months with maybe a 4-6 weeks off of them at times while testing and waiting for results.  It has been a very up and down and back up seven months.  My numbers were high in May, high in June, weird in July, very low in September after Round 3, up again in November after my 4th and what I hoped was my knock-out round and since then I’ve been very strict with diet and we’ll see what it gets me.   I head to Portland this week to do the test in person at the SIBO Center so I don’t have to wait 2-4 weeks for the results to come back.

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I really tried to use the Purge the Whorl to help clear my b.hominis parasite while doing my current SIBO herbals but it just was not meant to be.  The first time I tried I got sick off 1t. and the nausea lasted about 2 days.  I waited a week and tried again but decided to slowly ramp up from 1/2t. 1x a day up to 1t./3x day over the course of about a week.  I lasted 3 days on the full dose and then got really sick from it.  The stuff is vile to say the least, it deserves the Mr. Yuck sticker on the bottle.  It was never easy to choke down and then just made my stomach very upset.

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I thought for sure that the last 40 days of herbal antibiotics was going to knock out the SIBO once and for all.  Instead SIBO regained some strength and managed to fight back pretty hard and throw a few good punches.   Things aren’t as bad as they have been but they sure aren’t as good as my September test and are much closer to the worst test in July than the September test.   I went from a high of 10 at 120 minutes to a high of 42 at 120 minutes and now I not only have methane showing but also hydrogen showing.  My hydrogen has never been above 2 before and now it is peaking at 9.  My methane was down to a high of 8 from a peak of 42 and now it is back up to 33.   Very frustrating to say the least.

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I decided to try and do something, anything, to get my feet back from being numb and painful due to the neuropathy I’ve been dealing with.   We never did figure out the cause of this but it is most likely either antibiotic toxicity or the methane producing bugs from SIBO.   I  visited a doctor in town who recommended an electro-stim until called The ReBuilder to fix neuropathy so I decided to just buy one instead of having to go in for regular treatments with it.   Now every morning and evening I sit for 30 minutes with my feet in a hot foot bath or in conductive socks and I run current through my feet and legs.  The good news, it seems to be working.  My feet no longer hurt like crazy in the mornings when I first get up and many days I don’t even notice the numbness, especially in my left foot.   They are still numb but not as bad as they were a few weeks ago.  I’ve even been able to walk more and do a bit of light running since starting this treatment so I’m hoping that I can reduce it even more or at least keep it at the level it is at now.

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