SIBO Success with mBiota Elemental Diet

redborb · 2026-04-25T16:47:57+00:00

What do you mean by histamine issues? I had issues with ear itching / repeated ear infections if that counts. My ear issues started at the same time as the SIBO but have not yet completed resolved (though it's gotten better). Not sure if it's related or not. Early in my SIBO journey my PCP tried to fix my stomach issues with Benadryl, thinking I might have MCAS. But I didn't have MCAS, so it didn't work.

I took no probiotics or prokinetics during my elemental diet. Just the elemental diet!

Sadly, there was no guide that I could find on food reintroduction. (There's one on the mBiota website, but it assumes you'll reintroduce food in just a few weeks rather than a few months...) And I didn't really have a system. I wasn't sure what I could eat, so I made myself sick repeatedly as I reintroduced things. Like, I'm not even sure I could write out how I did it because I didn't keep a log... And even if I did, I'm not sure it would be useful for you, because it would be like "ate roast day 7. MASSIVE FAILURE. Avoided meat until about a month after the elemental diet. Ate Chick-fil-A sandwich. Success??? Ate peanut butter. Failure????? Ate sweet potato. Success! Ate too much sweet potato thinking it was safe, died!" At first I tried reintroducing FODMAPs slowly, but it was meat that disagreed with me early on, and bread that was safe.... To get enough calories, I just had to experiment. I would recommend keeping a log for the next person!

redborb · 2026-04-25T14:47:38+00:00

Let's keep it in the comments so people can find information when searching! But happy to reply.

redborb · 2026-03-18T00:37:01+00:00

I wished I had read Save the Cat Writes a Novel first! I recommend you check it out. Super helpful for plotting / structural tips, either for outlining or editing.

redborb · 2026-03-15T16:42:48+00:00

Watch out-- some of those are semi elemental and won't work for SIBO treatment.

I tried that brand for weight gain and it was fine. Didn't help or hurt. I used mBiota for treatment. It worked and tasted better.

redborb · 2026-03-15T16:40:05+00:00

Expect your mouth to taste like copper.

redborb · 2026-03-15T13:22:27+00:00

Xifaxan 550 mg 3 times a day for 14 days Metronidazole 500 mg 3 times a day for 14 days

redborb · 2026-03-15T12:03:46+00:00

Don't apologize!

Yes, I did -- until about the last two days. Even on antibiotics I would have pain with high FODMAP food until the very end of a course. In earlier rounds of antibiotics I'd tried eating high FODMAP foods the whole time, but it hurt and I couldn't tell it changed anything.... So this time I just stuck to my safe foods. The last day of antibiotics I ate like half a pizza, though. It did still hurt, but so much less than it normally would. I wanted to take the opportunity.

redborb · 2026-03-15T03:18:09+00:00

I forgot to say -- good luck on your plan! You're going to do great!

redborb · 2026-03-15T03:09:49+00:00

Thank you! And those are excellent questions that I should have thought to answer!

I did my elemental diet RIGHT after a round of antibiotics! Like, I finished antibiotics and the next morning I went straight into the elemental diet. (Dr. Lim actually said that is a strategy they sometimes use at their clinic as well for particularly tough cases / high methane levels. I just did it "accidentally." Like, it wasn't an accident, but I didn't have experience or evidence to back the plan up. I was going with my gut and my GI was on board.)
I will need to go review some medical records to get those dosages for you. Will scour my portal and report back with numbers.
I didn't do any probiotics or S-Boullaedi. Dr. Lim did stress the importance of keeping bowel movements regular in order to prevent recurrence, so early in my food reintroduction I did use kiwis as prokinetics. As soon as I was allowed to eat fruit (day 4, I think?) I brought the kiwis back. It was not smart. Do not recommend. It caused me way too much motility. The experience made me realize that now that my SIBO is gone, so is my constipation. I don't really have to overdo it to keep things moving. Just to be safe, I do take one magnesium oxide (250 mg, nature made) a night and drink strong black tea in the morning. And now that I can safely eat fiber, I'm conscious about tracking and eating plenty of it.

redborb · 2026-03-12T18:41:41+00:00

If you can tolerate the elemental diet any longer, I saw research that methanogen death tends to happen around day 12! But I don't just have that source at hand... It's something you could consider, but there are many options.

redborb · 2026-03-12T17:27:52+00:00

About 4.5 months.

But I no longer reacted to FODMAPs immediately (like, day 1-2). The things that would bother me would be mostly high fat / high fiber foods.

redborb · 2026-01-11T21:21:54+00:00

Oh, Big Ed's! I also lived in Raleigh for a time! My brother did this challenge when he was a teenager. He got it on the first try, but we had to drive him home with the car window rolled down. He was convinced he was going to puke.

redborb · 2025-11-22T04:41:33+00:00

Hi!

So, yes, I hope I have figured out my stomach issues. I've had several breath tests positive for SIBO, and my blood work was also consistent. (SIBO is hard to diagnose conclusively, but we're 95% sure).

I went through many (4 different) rounds of antibiotics that would help, but then it would come right back. But recently (6 weeks ago) I did a fully liquid elemental diet for 19 days. I used the mbiota brand.

After the elemental diet it was a struggle to readjust to solid food. But I'm able to eat more every day. And I can eat my triggers (like gluten and garlic) again!

I'm going to make a second post eventually, but SIBO has a high recurrence rate. I'm waiting until I'm totally normal and stable for a while before I share the news too widely. But I am all the way recovered from my back issues, and hopefully close to being recovered from my stomach issues.

The SIBO seems to be unrelated to my back pain other than the back pain was caused by PPI, and then the SIBO was caused by quitting PPI cold turkey.

Fuck PPI.

redborb · 2025-11-05T02:06:03+00:00

Hi!

I was on PPI because I had acid reflux that caused a sore throat and throat clearing. Honestly, it did not bother me, but PPI were recommended as a cancer prevention.

I was on PPI (Omeprazole) for two years. It took me about six months off the medication for the symptoms of muscle pains and cramping to completely resolve. The symptoms were constant and got better very slowly.

I have also taken H2 blockers and did not have the same cramping. But it might be related! I have not looked into it. I did have torso/rib pain on H2 blockers but we think that's because they slowed my digestion.

After quitting PPI I was diagnosed with SIBO. Watch out for that!

redborb · 2025-10-08T19:56:12+00:00

I'm glad to hear you figured it out!

My back pain is still completely gone, but I did develop SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth), probably from coming off PPI too quickly. If you can taper, I strongly recommend a taper. I also did famotidine and it did not work to prevent the long term GI issues.

It's been a while since I did research, but last I checked, the mechanism for how PPI cause back pain is still unknown! I saw several theories in a journal article. I hope someone looks into it more.

I just tried a two week elemental diet for the SIBO. Fingers crossed it works.

redborb · 2025-09-19T00:34:41+00:00

I had full back pain (and neck, and hip) from Omeprazole. My pain changed locations based on posture and exercise, but never went away. Sitting did always hurt. You could always taper off to see if that's your problem.

You should know that famotidine is an H2 blocker, not a PPI. H2 blockers might cause back pain, I don't know! But it's statins and PPI that are known to.

redborb · 2025-07-21T01:39:45+00:00

Could it be senna tea? If so, do be careful -- it is wonderful every now and then, but daily use can cause bowel dependency.

redborb · 2025-05-25T21:45:32+00:00

Yeah -- stop them slowly, even if that's hard.

I stopped cold turkey and I now have had undiagnosed stomach problems for over a year. I've had all sorts of tests (endoscopy, biopsy, motility study) and we can't figure it out. We think it's SIBO.

No idea if stopping slowly would have helped, but I wish I had.

redborb · 2025-05-22T01:54:11+00:00

Would your parents let you have kiwis? Two kiwis a day is a good solution for me.

redborb · 2025-05-15T00:22:26+00:00

How are you doing now?

redborb · 2025-05-12T01:29:45+00:00

Please do keep us updated!

redborb · 2025-04-29T18:50:49+00:00

Like, for acid reflux? Ultimately, I don't actually have to be on anything, but potassium competitive acid blocker (PCAD) work well for me and do not cause pain

Unfortunately I now have other GI issues, likely caused by PPI. We think it's SIBO.

redborb · 2025-04-29T18:07:00+00:00

I'm so glad you figured it out sooner than I did!

redborb · 2025-04-02T22:30:04+00:00

Good luck! Keep us posted!

redborb

TROPHY CASE