SIBO (just a symptom?), PPI's, Integrative Doctors, Functional Medicine

R

RedPost4565

New member
Joined
Jul 31, 2024
Messages
1
Was given PPIs for 15 years rather blindly, then probiotics rather blindly for another 5+. Eventually gut health issues followed and have become more and more severe. More limited diets, more trying unsuccessful supplements, etc..

I was seeing an integrative doctor that treated me for SIBO twice unsuccessfully then basically gave up when I started asking more questions instead of following the same protocol a 3rd time.

Spoke with a functional medicine practice today and it came across with a lot of red flags. Overly convinced that they could solve my issues quickly. They had "100 tests" to pick from that were specific to my needs and more accurate than SIBO. The tests would tell them "exactly" how to fix my issues. I'd be fixed quickly and on my way (or they'd "fire me" for not following their protocols exactly). Then $1250 for 2 appointments, $1500-$2000 for testing + supplements and protocols after. No insurance accepted.

I'm convinced my microbiome is a mess along with other issues, but kind of at a loss as to what should be next. Should I find different functional medicine practice, try western medicine again, find another integrative, do it all myself?
 
You may be interested in this:

Critical appraisal of the SIBO hypothesis and breath testing: A clinical practice update endorsed by the European society of neurogastroenterology and motility (ESNM) and the American neurogastroenterology and motility society (ANMS) (May 2024)

I think SIBO, and similar "diagnoses", are popular with alternative medicine practitioners because they give them something concrete they can say "This is your problem", as well as prescribe various interventions to address it. In the case of SIBO, to "kill it off".

Related:
FMT, donor-matching, screening for specific microbes, and pre-treatment/eradication. "Killing things off" vs suppression & ecosystem restoration.

I've seen every kind of healthcare practitioner over the past two decades and I don't think the vast majority of them, or what they offer, is valuable. I've resorted to "doing everything myself".

 
RedPost4565 said:
Was given PPIs for 15 years rather blindly, then probiotics rather blindly for another 5+. Eventually gut health issues followed and have become more and more severe. More limited diets, more trying unsuccessful supplements, etc..

I was seeing an integrative doctor that treated me for SIBO twice unsuccessfully then basically gave up when I started asking more questions instead of following the same protocol a 3rd time.

Spoke with a functional medicine practice today and it came across with a lot of red flags. Overly convinced that they could solve my issues quickly. They had "100 tests" to pick from that were specific to my needs and more accurate than SIBO. The tests would tell them "exactly" how to fix my issues. I'd be fixed quickly and on my way (or they'd "fire me" for not following their protocols exactly). Then $1250 for 2 appointments, $1500-$2000 for testing + supplements and protocols after. No insurance accepted.

I'm convinced my microbiome is a mess along with other issues, but kind of at a loss as to what should be next. Should I find different functional medicine practice, try western medicine again, find another integrative, do it all myself?
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
Hi!

Your story unfortunately sounds really similar to my own. I was on PPIs for around 6 years in total and it's wrecked my gut. My problems clearly predate the PPIs as I had a reason for taking them, but I believe that was stress related and due to a very traumatic childhood. My body was in fight or flight mode for the first 20+ years of my life.

I've seen every kind of doctor there is and unfortunately I believe most functional MDS / naturopaths are quacks, or even charlatans, but they can still occasionally provide useful services so I do not discount them completely. They're also some of the only practitioners who view the body as a whole system rather than a series of totally siloed organs and groupings that exist in vacuums and have no interplay, or no systemic role.

Like Michael, I have also resorted to doing it myself. I will likely be sourcing FMT capsules from a naturopath but I got to that point without their help, ordering all of my own testing, diagnosing myself with numerous issues (my autoimmune disease was especially difficult to get any MDs to take me seriously - eventually I went to an urgent care and pleaded with a PA to order the tests I wanted done, sure enough I had the first on-paper evidence something was in fact wrong with me and I wasn't just a crazy girl), and coming up with treatment plans on my own. It sucks, but I am in this to win this. I do not want to sit back and accept the things that are wrong with me. I am fighting to get well and I will not stop.
 
smallish said:
I've seen every kind of doctor there is and unfortunately I believe most functional MDS / naturopaths are quacks, or even charlatans, but they can still occasionally provide useful services so I do not discount them completely. They're also some of the only practitioners who view the body as a whole system rather than a series of totally siloed organs and groupings that exist in vacuums and have no interplay, or no systemic role.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
This is exactly the story--both good and bad--with functional MDs/naturopaths. As you put it, they are some of the few medical professionals who accept that symptoms that are in completely different systems of the body can be connected, part of one "syndrome", and that treatments that truly heal (as opposed to just mask symptoms) will tend to improve ALL of them together (or none of them, if they don't work). On the other hand, many of the treatments they offer work no better than what conventional doctors can offer, yet with a much larger price tag.

SIBO is NOT just a naturopath/functional MD thing--I was actually introduced to it by my gastroenterologist, and the discoverer of the whole phenomenon was a gastroenterologist at Cedars-Sinai, medical center well respected by the medical mainstream. That doesn't mean that just any gastroenterologist will test for it, but it's not exactly fringe either. However, even the doctors who test for--and treat--SIBO are at a loss when it's compounded by other issues.

I saw no symptom benefit from rifaximin despite two courses, the second of which normalized my breath test (i.e. three tests total, abonormal--1st rifaximin course--abnormal--2nd course--normal). However, after my first FMT (done by the same gastroenterologist), I had an even MORE abnormal breath test, and THIS time the rifaximin had a short-term, almost "miraculous" benefit that nonetheless went away partway through the course and could not be re-attained by more courses. I attribute this to needing to have healthy microbes to "fill the space" left by the bad microbes that the rifaximin kills. Post-FMT, rifaximin initially created more space for the new microbes, but further treatment killed them off again.

I wish to this day that I had stopped the rifaximin halfway through after the benefit happened, i.e. "quit while I was ahead", but the drug is expensive and so treating halfway seemed at the time like a potential waste of the drug. Before the benefit was lost, I had some gut pain that portended the much worse pain I had leading up to my latest FMTs, in hindsight it was a sign that I needed to stop treating.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top