Signs and Symptoms of SIBO Infection

Greetings. It’s New Zealand naturopath, Eric Bakker, author of Candida Crusher and formulator of the Canxida range of dietary supplements. Thanks for checking out my video. We’re back again talking about SIBO. This time we’re going to look at the signs and symptoms of the small intestinal bowel overgrowth or SIBO infection.

There are many different signs and symptoms. And this is a problem that, in fact, recent research in the U.S. has found between 6% and 15% of the population have some kind of SIBO problem that remains undiagnosed. Up to 80% of people with irritable bowel syndrome have got SIBO as well. Probably the reason why it remains undiagnosed is because a lot of people suffer from gas, bloating, reflux and burping, constipation, diarrhea, abdominal discomfort, and they’ll put it down to drinking too much alcohol or having pizzas or chicken burgers or whatever kind of food that some people eat. Many people will put it down to that.

These symptoms are very, very common, and they’re actually a functional complaint, so they don’t really create a lot of pain in your life. They don’t create a lot of financial or relationship problems. Well, gas sometimes can create some relationship problems, but I think you get my point. It’s not really a life-threatening problem. And that’s why a lot of people who have SIBO don’t even go to the doctor. And for that reason, it remains largely undetected.

What are some of the typical signs and symptoms we would see with SIBO? Well, abdominal discomfort is one. When you’re going “Ahhh,” then you have to loosen your belt after you’ve had a meal. Gas is a very common one. Passing gas is quite normal, although we all know that and a lot of people make fun of it. But some people actually have got it really bad. Terminally bad, so it’s shocking.

Bloating, abdominal distension, so the pain or what we called incarcerated flatulence or gas pockets bubbling away inside. Sometimes you’ll feel it. And another term for that is called bulgarismus[sp?] for gas or feeling like something must be alive in your abdomen moving around. It’s usually gas. Diarrhea and IBS like symptoms like constipation or diarrhea are quite common. Anybody with irritable bowel syndrome will know all about inconsistent bowel motions. They did research in England years ago on irritable bowel and found that over half of all cases were stress related, which is quite interesting.

Constipation. Constipation is so common in America; it’s incredible. Many people still follow the SAD or the Standard American Diet, and the bowel turnover is approximately every three days or at least every 72 hours, which is not very good. Over half of the patients I see from the U.S., in fact, don’t pass bowel motions every day. They pass every second or third day. That’s pretty unhealthy, so you really want to be looking at improving your diet, but basically improving the bacteria in your gut to facilitate a better transit time. You’ll find incredible improvements occur when you get that transit time improved.

Belching or lots of burping. You’ll notice that some people are always belching or taking peppermints or mints or things like that. In more severe cases, we’re going to get weight loss and appetite issues with that. What you’ll also find long term some of the signs and symptoms of SIBO will also be fatigue and sleeping disorders and also cognitive dysfunction and mood swings, these people will have. Because once you start messing around with the bacteria in the gut, you’re going to get a lot of problems with production of folic acid and B vitamins and Vitamin K, for example. You can even get bone disorders and many other long-term ramifications of having poor digestive health.

If you look back at medicine in the Chinese medical books going back thousands of years, the digestive system is really the center of the person’s well being. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to work out that if you’ve had a poor digestive function for many years, you’re going to have very poor health overall. It really pays to improve that.

The next video we’re going to do will be on testing for SIB. What tests are available and are they accurate? I’ll catch you in that video. Thanks for tuning in.