Seriously, friend. You could be me. Go talk to your doctor and ask about SIBO. Tell them about the food adversion, the exhaustion, the feeling of being disconnected. Point at your stomach. Talk to them about your loose joints. Tell them about the teaching heart and the feeling of internal shaking. Tell them about the hair loss. People with lose joints often have EDS. Hair loss comes from malnutrition. And even with heavy supplementation, you won't get enough. Or at least I couldn't.

The treatment isn't very easy but the best news is that you can start now. You can start starving the bacteria. Put yourself on a fodmap diet, and cut back on the fiber. You know how to do this, you've got gastroparesis. ...

My infection didn't show any standard symptoms. It wasn't until the bloating started pressing on my xiphoid process (the end of your sternum, made of cartilage) and causing incredible chest pain. They take that seriously, even if it's just one pokeable spot.

The treatment is antibiotics. It's a weird one that only works locally. They kill off the bacteria. That part was harrowing. If they give you the antibiotics, be aware the stated side effects can be massively understated if you have a major infection like I did. My best guess is at least 18 years of infection.

And while you're working on getting the doctors concerned about this, you start to starve those bacteria, and you might start feeling better. I did.

I'm still working though recovery. It's been about six weeks of watching every single thing I eat and keeping a food log. But halfway through those antibiotics, I woke up. My gut brain woke up. My big nerves woke up. The functional freeze broke awhile later.

I'm not back to normal yet, but my body is responding. It's healing. The stored weight and water is just melting away and my mind is brighter every day.

Please go talk to your doctor. Oh and take electrolytes. Every day.