posted
After six years on antibiotics, I am done with treatment. Now my stomach is messed up. I go between being bloated and gassy to constipation to diarrhea to normal. Everyday is different. I've been off antibiotics for about six months now. Any suggestions, beside probiotics, to ease the gut issues?
Posts: 146 | From California | Registered: May 2008
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posted
You may want to consider testing for small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). I have similar symptoms and was just diagnosed recently by my LLMD.
It requires a breath test to diagnose. I did my test through Commonwealth Labs, but I believe there are other labs that do it as well.
They offer 2 versions of the test - the glucose test or the lactulose test. My LLMD wanted the lactulose version because he felt it was superior/gives better information.
I hope this information helps.
Posts: 26 | From Pennsylvania | Registered: Apr 2011
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poppy
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5355
posted
There is also the possibility of lyme affecting the nervous system to the digestive tract.
Posts: 2888 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
I haven't really been watching my intake of sugars, which definitely can be the problem. The holiday sweets really did me in this year.
I did have problems with my stomach related to lyme, which manifested as nausea. This feels more digestion related, but could be related to lyme.
Or it could be related to the antibiotics. I don't know.
Posts: 146 | From California | Registered: May 2008
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Jordana
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Member # 45305
posted
I had diarrhea for just months, the scary painful kind. Miserable, couldn't plan to go anywhere, etc.
Turned out my gallbladder had quit and nothing was better until I was prescribed Colestipol ( which is a toxin binder anyway.)
Talk about a quality of life improvement.
Have you gotten your gallbladder checked? Lyme adores the gallbladder and some Lyme meds cause stones.
Posts: 2057 | From Florida | Registered: Feb 2015
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bluelyme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
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posted
Slippery elm, dgl , l glutamate , aloe vera gel, have you treated parasites
-------------------- Blue Posts: 1539 | From southwest | Registered: Dec 2015
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Judie
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 38323
posted
HMF Replete healed my gut after antibiotics. I was suffering for 2 years till an ND introduced me to it. It's a probiotic, but is specifically for if you've taken antibiotics.
L-glutamine (5mg) in the AM before food also helps heal the gut.
Posts: 2839 | From California | Registered: Jul 2012
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Brussels
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 13480
posted
Just drop the abx. I'm amazed to see people survive so long on abx, without further damage.
Just shift to herbs, other energy treatments, whatever. It takes very long to heal a damaged gut.
Very long, and adding more abx will not do good, long term.
And next bite, you got to start again, right?
It's the immune system that must heal. Abx does zero to build your immune system.
On the contrary, they destroy good gut bacteria, make digestion worse, and no matter what you take later - remedies or food - you may have trouble absorbing them, because the gut is more dead than alive...
For kids, long term abx is really bad. They are growing, they need a healthy gut.
We only really improved when we stopped taking abx. It was slow, but at least, we improved.
There are so many alternatives to abx, and most people who heal, do not heal with abx-only.
Other therapies help them, you just can see for yourself in success stories.
Posts: 6199 | From Brussels | Registered: Oct 2007
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poppy
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
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posted
People on this forum should not be giving medical advice. Telling them what to do is dangerous. You are not a doctor. Makes you responsible for the results. And you don't even know these patients or anything about their cases. Tell them what worked for you but don't tell them to do it!
This is irresponsible.
Posts: 2888 | From USA | Registered: Mar 2004
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posted
It might help to go to a functional medicine doctor who can run some stool tests and other tests to see what's actually going on in your gut. It can be infection, parasites, candida, bad bacterial balance, histamine intolerance, etc. If you don't have someone test you, then it's just guesswork.
L glutamine is a good gut-healing product, but those of us with histamine intolerance are often intolerant of it, especially if you have an MSG allergy. My doctor and I had to find other ways to get my glutamine up (I used glycine sticks).
-------------------- sixgoofykids.blogspot.com Posts: 13449 | From Ohio | Registered: Feb 2007
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posted
Thanks. I just recently moved to somewhere pretty rural, so I am trying to find a ND/functional med doctor in my area.
Posts: 146 | From California | Registered: May 2008
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posted
There's going to be a gut microbiome online summit Feb 29-Mar 7 - google for it - around 30 experts talking about gut health - can be very helpful to us -
Posts: 13105 | From San Francisco | Registered: May 2006
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posted
Poppy, I totally agree with you. The Lyme itself can certainly affect the gut. Before any antibiotics my gut is literally what led to my diagnosis. I was hospitalized with the GI issues (lost 30 pounds in a month) and they didn't find much of anything (GI Doctor ). This was BEFORE my Lyme diagnosis and BEFORE any antibiotics. After rejecting the meds the GI wanted to put me on, I went to visit my grandmothers doctor and that's where I got my test cdc positive Lyme dx. My point is it's not always the antibiotics causing bowel issues.
-------------------- Ill since 1998 DX 2005 Posts: 93 | From tampa, fl, usa | Registered: Apr 2007
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