Today I'm going to share my recent SIBO test results post-treatment, so stay tuned.
If you're new here, welcome. My name's Amanda Malachesky. I'm a certified functional nutrition
health coach and a digestive and allergy detective. For tips and tricks on how to go
from food anxiety, endless questions, and second guessing to a confident plan for calm digestion,
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As I shared a couple of my recent videos, I recently completed two rounds of SIBO
treatment with rifaximin and neomycin. And so today, I wanted to show you what my
test results look like and how they've changed from my pre treatment test. So by the end of
today's video, you'll have an example of what you can glean from a SIBO test result. And you'll also
have some idea of how to use that to help yourself move forward for your next steps. This is the same
process that I use with my clients to help them make decisions about where to go next with their
case. And you can too, so let's get started. All right. So in the last three months,
at the direction of my natural path, I've done two separate rounds of SIBO treatment with rifaximin,
which is the standard SIBO antibiotic and its companion, neomycin. And I shared all about that
experience in two previous videos. So I'll be sure to leave a link here for the first one of those
videos. And I'll also leave a link below this video to both of those videos, so you can check
those out if you haven't seen the backstory for this video. So today I wanted to show you what I
have to show for it, at least on paper anyways. So let's get started checking out how my SIBO tests
changed from pre-treatment to post-treatment. Now, after you complete a round of treatment,
if you want to test to take a look at how things changed, you have to wait a minimum
of two weeks after the end of treatment to take your test. So I did cover the process
of preparing for the test and taking the SIBO test in my last video called SIBO test demo.
So I will leave a link for that below this video, if you want to go check that one out.
So here on the screen is my first SIBO test, which I completed six months ago. This was my
baseline test that confirmed that I had methane dominant SIBO. So methane anywhere above three
parts per million, anywhere on the test in the first 90 minutes is positive for methane.
Well, for hydrogen, the cutoff is 20 parts per million. You can also be positive for
SIBO if the combined increase of gases is 15 parts per million before the 90 minute mark.
You can see on this baseline test that I have a normal hydrogen gas level. I'm just highlighting
it here for you on the screen. But I begin the test with a very high methane level
at 31 parts per million, and it increases right away in the first 20 minutes to 42, and then it
stays around that amount through the rest of the test until we get to the large intestine.
I waited till after two rounds of treatment to retest because my natural path suggested that
with methane this high, I was probably going to need at least two rounds of treatment. So we did
the two full rounds, and then we retested. Also my symptoms rebounded pretty quickly after the
first round of treatment, I had some relief, but then my bloating came back, so I knew that
I wasn't done yet. So we did the second round of treatment before I ended up doing the repeat test.
So here's my followup test, which I just completed a few weeks ago and it looks quite different,
right? So now the methane starts out at a normal level at one part per million and only rises above
the cutoff at the one hour mark. And now hydrogen is higher than the methane, although it's still
low at the beginning of the test, it doesn't rise above the cutoff until after the 80 minute mark.
So what does all this mean? Well, one thing we need to think about in interpreting our SIBO
test is that around the 90 or a hundred minute mark is the transition to the large intestine.
So we expect to see a large increase in gases then because of the presence of bacteria in
your large intestine, and this is affected by your motility. So how fast or how slow
things are moving through your gut? That helps determine how long it takes for us to get there.
Next, why is the hydrogen so high now after doing all this treatment and the methane so low?
And the answer to this question is because a lot of times really high methane indicates
that there's actually a really bad hydrogen problem because the methane producers feed on the
hydrogen gases. And so that really high methane is an indicator that there's actually a hydrogen
problem. So this test result suggests that the methane producers are much more under control
and that's left the hydrogen producers to be a little bit more active and present and obvious
on this second repeat test. So though I'm not super happy about the elevated hydrogen gases,
I'm actually really thrilled because to me, this looks like huge progress on my treatment.
And one more positive thing that I see in this test result is that previously it looked like my
whole entire small intestine had some pretty significant bacterial overgrowth because it
started off at a high baseline and then increased a lot throughout the early part of the test. But
in this repeat test, the first 40 minutes or so of the test is relatively quiet. So even though
I'm not happy that I still have SIBO, this looks like really great progress to me, this is a huge
improvement in telling me that the upper end of my small intestine is nearly free of SIBO.
So what do I do now? This is that situation that I'm always looking for with my clients, where we
have a really clear indication that things are going the way we want. We did an experimental
round of treatment with pre-testing so we could tell what was going on. And then we did a post
test and we found that actually the situation, both symptomatically for me, with my bloating,
my brain fog, and some joint pain, and some other situations are better. And on paper, they're also
better. So we're seeing some correlation between symptom improvement and actual test results.
So even though the test can sometimes be a little bit of a pain in the butt,
this is a great confirmation for me that things are going how I want them to, and the test was
totally worth it. So in this situation, my natural path is recommending another round of treatment.
We're moving in the right direction, and hopefully we can just get a little bit more attraction
out of the situation. And if you were somebody who was using herbal antimicrobials,
you could do another round of herbal treatment to follow up in this case.
And a couple of you have asked me why I'm willing to do the antibiotics. And I have to tell you,
I was very resistant about it, but I don't really tolerate the herbal products anymore. I've tried
them numerous times and not only have they not given me anywhere close to these results with each
round of treatment, but I just feel awful when I'm taking them. So at some point, I just decided for
me, the risk reward ratio, the difference between the possible benefits versus the possible risks
were actually tolerable and I was willing to try it. And I'm so glad I did. And so now my natural
path, and also asking the very important question of why does SIBO persist for me in spite of
all of these things that I've been doing? And so if any of you have seen my previous
video about my endometriosis diagnosis and experience, you'll know that I have had a
history of endometriosis. And when I went in for my major surgery about five years ago,
all of my reproductive organs and some of my digestive organs were stuck together with large
bands of adhesions and scar tissue, even before we did the surgery. So this is likely one of my
underlying causes and I'm planning this summer to do a intensive course of physical therapy
called clear passage. It's a week long intensive of physical therapy to help reduce or get rid of
adhesions and scar tissue. So I'm really excited about that, and I will be sharing about that in
a video in the future. So stay tuned for that. Have you been confused by your SIBO test result
or not sure where to go next? Leave me a comment below this video and share your questions with
me. So that's the report on my recent SIBO test and how to consider where to go next and what
to consider afterwards. Now, if you're struggling with bloating, constipation, or diarrhea, there's
two main ways I can help you. First, I invite you to download my free guide called the roadmap
to gut recovery. Inside that, you'll find free tools and resources that can help you get started
right away, thinking about how to resolve these digestive challenges the right way the first time.
You can find your free copy of that by heading to confluencenutrition.com/roadmap,
or you can go below this video and I will leave a link for that for you down there. Or if you've
already tried a lot and you're ready for some more specific direct help from me, I just opened
the doors for my brand new online program, which helps you go from food anxiety, endless questions,
and second guessing to calm and peaceful digestion and a plan to help you get there.
So if you want to learn more about that, I highly encourage you to schedule a time to
talk to me about enrollment. I'm only opening 20 seats in this first round of the program.
So places are limited. If that sounds like something that interests you,
please, please schedule a discovery call with me, I will leave a link for that below
this video for you. So I hope that this video helped you feel more confident and comfortable
interpreting your SIBO test results and learning what you can glean from those results and
figure out where to go next. If you like this video, please like and share, comment or send
it on to somebody who you think could use it, and I will look forward to talking with you next time.