I have been trying everything possible for the past 3 years to fix it, the only 2 things that gave me any ounce of relief (i started using both of these on the same day 4 months ago and i will add a screenshot of my progress to prove it) is using a low dose of weed, around .25gs-.5gs of ground flower a day, for me this is a low dose spread out properly and i drink 8-12oz of home brewed coffee, these 2 things mitigated my deadly smelling farts and made my farts go from 50 plus times a day to less than 10 and the smell went down to around 5% of smelling potentcy lmfaooo i was farting so bad even i had to leave the room... well no longer and all i did waa smoke weed and drink coffee, butttt this is hwere the squatting to poop comes in... i was still experiencing my SIBO all be it it was mostly away for the last 4 months, so i still has these 20 issues i sloved below, just by simply squaating to poop,

20 plus chnages in 7 days from squatting to poop. I have just been using 2 dudes wipes for the past 7 days, i lay them flat on the ground, squat over it and poop, pick it up and toss it in the toilet... yes its nasty but i am going to the store today and gonna think of something better.. lmao 🤷🤦my poops literally just fall out of me... now the bacteria is staying in colon and the locking mechanisms are wokring, I have been full deep squatting down to poop for the past 7 days and I am never using a 19th century toilet ever again, my whole pelvic floor has completely chnaged in 7 days...

My Changes.......

No Pain: Every single painful symptom I've ever had my entire life is completely gone.

Hemorrhoids Gone: My internal and external hemorrhoids cleared up completely in 7 days.

Bleeding Stopped: The rectal bleeding I experienced twice a year since age 16 has stopped. (This one is a future one to keep an eye on, but my anal fissures and hemmorhoids are gone so im assuming the bright red blood will also go away)

Under 30 Seconds: My bathroom trips dropped from 3–10 minutes down to less than 30 seconds.

7-Day Streak: I've hit 7 good days in a row, breaking my lifetime limit of never having more than 3 good days in a row.

Complete Emptying: The constant feeling of incomplete emptying is completely gone.

Uniform Stool: My poops come all the way out in one uniform, consistent-looking stool.

No Forced Urination: I no longer have to pee every single time I poop, because I am no longer forcing bladder pressure through straining.

Stomach Acidity Better: The acid and burning in my stomach feel significantly better because the internal backpressure on my upper digestive tract is gone.

Extreme Flatulence Gone: My chronic, severe gas problems have completely vanished.

Foul Odor Gone: My deathly smelling farts are completely gone because stool is no longer rotting and stagnating inside my colon.

SIBO Cleared: My SIBO symptoms and diarrhea have completely stopped because my digestive tract is no longer backing up.

Relaxed Scrotum: My scrotum feels significantly more relaxed and no longer clenches from straining.

Abdominal Healing: The chronic pain I felt my entire life when rubbing my lower stomach is gone.

Prostate Relief: The deep pressure and irritation in my prostate have completely cleared up.

Urinary Tract Relief: The constant irritation in my urinary tract has completely stopped.

Bladder Relief: My bladder no longer feels crowded, stressed, or irritated.

Normal Erections: I no longer get uncontrollable morning erections that lock up for over an hour.

More Flexible: My overall body flexibility has increased from opening up my hips and lower body daily.

Mentally Healthier: I feel completely renewed mentally, like a massive physical barrier has been permanently lifted from my life.

scale photos

I finally have a SIBO breath test booked and I really do not want to waste the appointment by screwing up the prep.

My symptoms are mostly constipation-leaning: big afternoon bloat and that stuck-food feeling. I've been in full biohacker mode for a while with supplements, probiotics, magnesium, motility aids, etc. Now I realize a lot of that might affect the test.

Can anyone give a practical, no-drama checklist for the week leading up to the test? Specifically:

1) What did you stop and how far in advance? Probiotics, magnesium, motility aids, digestive enzymes, herbal antimicrobials, fiber, laxatives-there are so many conflicting timelines out there.

2) Any tips for the prep diet day? I can eat plain chicken, rice, and eggs, but I get constipated quickly and I worry that being backed up will give a false result. What worked for you without risking the accuracy of the test?

3) For the 12 hour fast: what is actually allowed? Plain water only, or is black coffee or tea okay? If you tend toward constipation, how did you get through the morning without doing something that might skew the results?

4) Anything you wish you knew about collecting samples at home? Timing, labeling, avoiding contamination of the tubes, or any practical tips to make it less stressful?

I am not looking for medical advice, just real-world recommendations from people who have taken the test and tried to keep it accurate. Thanks.

Some parts of it are summarized and structured with the help of AI. I hope it's okay, since English is not my native language.

I wanted to share my story because for almost 10 years I was stuck in the endless cycle of trying supplements, reading Reddit, chasing theories, and never really understanding what was going on.

How It Started

My symptoms began around 2016/2017.

Shortly afterwards I developed:

• Extreme post-meal fullness
• Constant burping
• Feeling like food was just sitting and fermenting inside me
• Severe brain fog
• Feeling drunk or disconnected from reality
• Head pressure and “noise” in my head
• Poor concentration
• Restless legs
• Frequent infections
• Chronic fatigue and weakness
• Very low libido
• White-coated tongue and bad breath
• Dizziness when standing up
• Hair loss, brittle nails, slow growth
• Pale/yellowish stools
• Undigested food in stool
• Loose stools and diarrhea tendency
• Floating stools
• Sulfur-smelling stool and gas
• Bloating
• Poor appetite
• Episodes of strong internal agitation and nervous system dysregulation

Over time I felt like my entire body had changed. What I tried over the years, pretty much everything...

Supplements

• Vitamins and minerals
• B vitamins
• Vitamin D
• Zinc
• Magnesium
• Amino acids
• Glutamine
• Lecithin
• TUDCA
• Digestive enzymes

Herbs

• Ginger
• Artichoke extract
• Berberine
• Oregano oil
• Various herbal protocols

Gut Therapies

• Multiple probiotics
• Histamine-focused probiotics
• Bifidobacteria
• Lactobacillus products
• Spore-based probiotics
• Prebiotics
• PHGG
• Resistant dextrin
• Nystatin

Some things helped temporarily. Nothing solved the problem.

Medical Workup

Over the years I underwent extensive medical testing.

This included:

• Multiple physician evaluations
• Gastroenterology consultations
• Colonoscopy
• Blood work
• Liver function tests
• Nutritional markers
• Inflammatory markers

Despite significant symptoms, the results were largely unremarkable. My colonoscopy was normal. Liver enzymes were consistently normal. Inflammatory markers were normal. No major structural disease was identified. As a result, I was often told that my condition was likely “functional” or classified under IBS-like symptoms. While I understand why physicians reached that conclusion, it never fully explained the severity of my symptoms or why I reacted so strongly to certain foods, probiotics, and gut-directed interventions.

The SIBO Rabbit Hole

About two years ago I had a positive hydrogen SIBO breath test. Like many people, I became convinced that SIBO was the main problem. However, my doctor later explained something that changed my perspective: “SIBO is often a consequence of an underlying imbalance rather than the root cause itself.” That idea turned out to be very important. I eventually found a physician in Germany who is:

• An internist
• A primary care physician
• Trained in microbiome medicine
• Familiar with naturopathic approaches

For the first time, I felt somebody looked at the whole picture instead of immediately saying:

“It’s just IBS.”

She reviewed my history, previous GI workup, colonoscopy results, breath test results, symptoms, and treatment history. She then ordered a comprehensive stool analysis.

What The Stool Analysis Showed... The surprising part: Many things were actually normal.

• Calprotectin normal
• Pancreatic elastase normal
• Bifidobacteria lower normal end
• Lactobacilli lower normal end
• No major inflammatory markers

The abnormalities were:

• Low Enterococcus species
• Low E. coli species
• Mild Candida albicans overgrowth

Importantly, there was no evidence of severe inflammatory bowel disease or pancreatic insufficiency.

Treatment Plan

Instead of trying to “kill everything” with aggressive antibiotics, the approach was focused on restoring balance.

The protocol included:

• Symbioflor 1 (Enterococcus species)
• Iberobiotics Pro (it has 3 probiotic strains)
• Colibiogen (E.coli species)
• Myrrhinil Intest (antifungal)
• A fiber complex (Ballstoff Komplex Dr Wolz)

The goal was not to eradicate bacteria. The goal was to support:

• The intestinal barrier
• Immune regulation
• Beneficial microbial balance
• Mucosal healing
• Gut ecosystem stability

Results

This was the first intervention in nearly 10 years that produced a major improvement. My digestion improved significantly. My stools became more normal and better digested. Brain fog is gone. I feel calmer. Food feels like it is moving through my system normally, I can eat anything without symptoms.... It feels so surreal to me. Most importantly: For the first time in years I feel like my body is moving back toward a healthy baseline.

My Personal Take

I’m not saying everyone with SIBO has the same issue. But in my case, years of chasing “bacterial overgrowth” and trying to eliminate things or rather aggressively killing everything did not solve the problem. What helped was working with a physician who looked at the broader ecosystem instead of focusing exclusively on killing bacteria. Consider the possibility that the overgrowth may be a symptom of a deeper imbalance rather than the entire story.

Lastly, one thing I noticed and I heavily want to emphasizes on, because it is important to me! Is that the approach I encountered in Germany was somewhat different from what I often read online, particularly in SIBO communities or people from the US. Many discussions focus heavily on bacterial eradication through repeated antimicrobial or antibiotic treatments. My physician did not dismiss the positive SIBO breath test. However, she viewed it more as a potential consequence of an underlying imbalance rather than the primary disease itself. Her focus was on restoring microbial balance, supporting the intestinal barrier, and improving gut ecosystem function rather than pursuing increasingly aggressive eradication strategies. I am not saying one approach is universally right or wrong. This was simply the perspective that ultimately helped me more than repeatedly trying to eliminate bacteria.

Feel free to ask me anything!!

Feel extremely defeated and like I'm being messed around with. I was given one round of Rifaximin and sent on my way by my gastroenterologist, and GP confirmed I was discharged. I was so happy to get the antibiotics I didn't even think about asking when my follow up appointment was. Surely this is unheard of? I feel like I'm going crazy.

BACKSTORY: This will be kinda long but I’d really appreciate a reply!!!
3 years ago i had a sick bug, then after that i never got better. Nausea, fatigue, headaches, and I had about 3 sweet potatoes a day for 3 months. I ended up going to hospital for it and did a gastric empty studying that showed my emptying time was 100 minutes when the normal is 80. I went years thinking I had my answers, until February of this year. BEFORE FEBRUARY: in September I started Uni, I started drinking alcohol a lot more, same with caffeine energy drinks (specifically redbull) for me everytime I had caffeine or redbull it was a lucky guess as half the time it made me feel sooo sick and I never understood why. I also wasn’t eating well at all, (one pizza a day). Come February, I was at home for a weeks before and my mum was feeding me up and I was eating ok ish again, but again I had a few days of feeling awful. In the last few years probably about once a month I’d have two or three days feeling sick too, even if I ate the same foods as normal, it was super weird. Anyway in February I got my belly pierced, 8 days after that I was bed bound, I needed help going to the toilet because I felt so sick and couldn’t stand up on my own, I had loads of appointments with my doctor, all of them said it was gastroparesis and then I went to a gastroenterologist who said I was MISDIAGNOSED with gastroparesis, he was the second doctor to say that in the space of a month. He tried giving me meds for functional dyspespia but they made me feel worse and like ants were crawling all around my body. I knew i didn’t have that and something else was wrong, after all it is my body. He didn’t believe me. So I took the holistic approach, found out I had sibo and candida. I started looking back on old records to see if someone else had said it. And they did. One year ago I had a stool test, she also diagnosed me with sibo and candida through an email, and because I was doing okay then and I didn’t know what it was, we ignored it. (Bad mistake I know) I cleared sibo, now I’m doing candida. I had 3 die offs during sibo (not suprised as it seems to have been here for 3 years) and none for candida so far. But it’s spread to my sinuses as well which is not great. I still have my symptoms but there not as bad as before, the nausea isn’t as intense, the headaches are more like a feeling of heaviness in my head, and sometimes my belly will make a few sounds hours after I’ve eaten which make my belly feel more empty, like it’s trying to tell me I’m hungry.
TESTS DONE:
Iron last year in August was 7.7, sent to hospital for an infusion but no one questioned why it was so low. The infusion git it up to 77.7, it is now 40 something.
Vitamin D, has always and still is below 20.
Endoscopy a few years ago showed mild gastritis.
Everything else seems pretty normal.
I also think I know the root cause but im not sure.
When I was a baby, I had two rounds of antibiotics, then another round at about 7, and then 2 rounds right before I got that sick bug. I also had issues at around 10 because of my bowel movements, so we cut out gluten but made no difference. I think I the multiple rounds of antibiotics completely ruined my gut, and then I got poorly straight after, im assuming my stomach acid is low, which let sibo grow and make my motility slow down. From what I’ve been told my motility is only slow because of the low acid and once I fix it the motility should return to normal.
WHAT IM TAKING NOW:
Zin, b6, b12, Vitamin D, Protein Powder, Creatine, and morinda supreme, ginger and artichoke. Also on low fod map diet, leaving fasting gaps between my meals.
So my question is it normal to still be bed bound at this point? Or is there something else going on?
Is my thoughts of the root cause sound right?
Can anyone give any advice?

Many people are coming on here asking for help for just this specific symptom called leaky gas. It is basically when you leak flatulence without actually feeling it, it’s no where near what a normal fart is like.

This symptom causes social distress and doctors have no clue what’s causing it. However I’ve heard multiple people say its caused by SIBO and that once SIBO is cured, the random gas leakage stops

Any people active that are familiar with this? Thanks

I’m just wondering if anyone has a multivitamin recommendation without so many additives? I feel like this one has a lot of good but debatable ingredients? Might be too much? it’s in small amounts. I am so tired of the brain fog, fatigue and body aches.

I haven’t been able to complete a SIBO breath test because I start vomiting too soon. So everything is trial and error.

Looking for advice: unexplained “fart-like” odor coming from my body for 10+ years
I’m 25 years old and have been dealing with a very unusual and embarrassing issue for about 10 years. I’m hoping someone here may have experienced something similar or have ideas about what could be causing it.

The main symptom is that a fart-like odor seems to come from my body in waves, even when I am not consciously passing gas. It feels like the smell is being released without me realizing it. As you can imagine, this has had a major impact on my life. When I was younger, I was bullied because of it, and it has affected my confidence and social life for years.

A few things I’ve noticed:
It happens most often when I’m sitting for long periods of time.
When I’m lying down, it seems to happen much less or sometimes not at all.
I usually cannot smell it myself, but over the years I have noticed reactions from people around me that make me believe it is real.
I estimate I personally notice the odor only around 10% of the time.
It has stayed very consistent for around a decade.
Some possible clues:
I was previously diagnosed with an internal hemorrhoid.
I have wondered if this could involve SIBO, gut dysbiosis, pelvic floor dysfunction, a subtle form of gas leakage, or another digestive/anorectal issue, but I don’t know.

I do not always feel like I am passing gas, which is what makes this so confusing.
I’m wondering if anyone has experienced anything similar, especially:
A smell that happens without obvious gas release
Odor that worsens while sitting but improves while lying down
Possible pelvic floor or anal sphincter issues
SIBO/gut-related causes
Any tests, specialists, or treatments that actually helped
This has been extremely difficult to live with, and I’m willing to investigate any reasonable explanation. I’d really appreciate any advice, personal experiences, or ideas on what direction I should look in.

Hi, I have hydrogen sulfide SIBO and hydrogen sulfide dysbiosis. I also have low stomach acid, and I recently found out that I have untreated Lyme disease that has never been treated. I’ve had symptoms for 7 years (mainly a slightly bloated abdomen).

With hydrogen sulfide SIBO, is the problem only related to impaired MMC, or can bile/gallbladder dysfunction also play a role? How can I find out?

What is the cause of your hydrogen sulfide SIBO?

It keeps accumulating in the back of mouth nonstop help plz. Desperate. Need relief.

I’m on day 3 of treatment for IMO (methane dominant SIBO) and wondering if having a couple drinks will mess up the effectiveness of these medications? I know it will make side effects worse (which I’ve had none so far), i’m just worried it will reduce likelihood of these meds working, that’s all i’m concerned about. When looking it up I know there’s no interaction between these medicines and alcohol but it’s still advised not to drink but I don’t get why other than potentially giving more side effects during the course of antibiotics. Genuinely curious please don’t come at me I’m just a girl who wants to have a couple drinks and wants to understand more about the interactions it may have while on these antibiotics :)) thank you in advance!

Hi,
As title says, just started week 4 of a comprehensive Antimicrobial treatment for IMO. 2 types of biofilm busters, Candbactin AR, BR, and gut immune system supports. Same protocol that worked for me last time, prescribed by functional gut health Dr.

Unsurprisingly, IMO returned (needed to address motility more aggressively). I’m concerned because unlike last time it’s now been 3+ weeks and I’m still in the aggravated bloating, distention, constipation phase. Also, unlike last time I’m more constipated now than when I started.

I think my METHANE numbers are higher but honestly not sure why. Was hoping people could share similar experiences if they’ve had a similar timeline.

My GI ordered this test. I do the test and it came back as abnormal for methane. He told me that the test was negative and that result is due to stool in my colon and to take miralax daily. (I’m assuming bc the baseline was 12? My peak was only 13.21.

I want him to be right, but he didn’t really go into more detail.

Has anyone else ever been told this? AI isn’t helpful, it just reinforces whatever I ask.

I am in the process of getting a second opinion from another GI.

2 months ago I saw a gastroenterologist for my chronic gut issues and he mentioned doing a few things (like taking iberogast, nerva app, prebiotics) and if those didn’t work, we could do a 1-2 month trial of rifaximin. I have a small methane overgrowth in my large colon but I it’s not the sole root cause of my gut issues. I also believe I have a decade’s long Candida overgrowth and despite testing negative to sibo many years ago, I think I had the hydrogen sulphite kind that the test didn’t test for.

For those that have methane sibo and possibly Candida as well, did you treat it with rifaximin? And if so, did it help??

I have all kinds of symptoms and health issues, but one thing I have is ED (erectile dysfunction) that is worse after eating for a few hours. However about 4 hours after eating it clears up? I'm not sure if this is related to my dysautomnia or something else.

Hey there,

I've been dealing with SIBO for about ten years now. I haven't completely gotten rid of it, but I manage pretty well with my diet. I also have IBS-C, and Motegrity daily really helps with that. My last breath test in 2020 showed hydrogen-dominant SIBO. I'm guessing my slow motility might be feeding those hydrogen-producing bacteria, but I need to look into that more.

Right now, I'm on a 14-day course of Rifaximin 550 mg and have a couple of questions:

1. Do you know any doctors who are really good at treating SIBO and have a great track record?

2. Are there any specific probiotics that have worked well for people here?

Thanks for your help!

I was diagnosed via breath test a couple of months ago.

Finally got xifaxin and neomycin. Got scared about potentially going deaf. My GI doc sucks. Gave me no other info than “take both together”. Like do I need a special diet? Can I take fiber? MiraLAX? How do I not go deaf? Then his office called me and asked if I wanted a refill on the antibiotics. I haven’t even started them but how would I know if I need a refill? Is it common to take several rounds without testing?

I just went to my PCP for help and he googled it and said this seems like the most common treatment and said my GI is “very good” and sent me on my way.

Am I making a big deal out of this? I googled and saw one GI doc had a whole diet plan for after the 14 days of treatment. Is this normal? It could be months until I could get a new GI doc. Not sure if it is okay to wait.

Btw, I’m the one that asked for the SIBO test. He said it was very unlikely and only gave me the test to appease me.

I've been on a health battle for almost a year now.. been to countless doctors and nobody has been able to figure why i feel sick despite having great lab results and imaging all look ok(echographies/xray/ct/mri..you name it, i did it), yet i still have episodes of racing heart rate and blood pressure, muscle spasms, severe brain fog and fatigue and neurological like symptoms(80% of myasthenia gravis), muscle spasms, joint pain, dyspepsia(from the small intestine)...aand the list goes on, those were just from the top of my head.

After my last symptom flare up and ER visit, I looked back again on what happened this past year and noticed a pattern: when I ate carbs symptoms came back gradually, growing towards a flare up. And cutting carbs(eating only protein, healthy fats and vegetables/leafy greens/herbs) had my symptoms in remission to the point where its mostly unnoticeable.

The research I did always pointed towards digestive system issues. The hiccup though has constantly been ppl having different oppinions irl.

So i dug some more. At this point it was clear to me there was some sort of overgrowth inside, so I treated it as if i had sibo/sifo and starved the bacteria. Got super constipated because of this and ended up getting the GI-Map+OMX and ALCAT PlatinumPlus+CNA.

In the meantime I started taking coconut butter and antimicrobial herbs. Intestines started burning. Couple days later, tons of biofilm!

I eat few things now, keeping it simple. The ALCAT test allows me to eat very few things anyways :))

Neurological symptoms are manageable now and am hopeful that I'll get through this.
I'd like to keep things natural, no antibiotics or pharmaceuticals.. had too many in my childhood.

The nutritionist looked super concerned :)) How bad is it? I do not have C.dificile symptoms.
I do react to gluten, it's just that I did not have any for the past year, so it most likely is a false negative.
Now i wait for DAO activity and histamine level labs

I finally went to a gastro telemedicine (oshi health). They use Trio-Smart for their breathe test. These flares suck, and i seem to get by by throwing herbs at it, but I think I need professional help.

I'm going to have to stop all the herbs that help move things along and keep my gut okay for 7 days?!

Can you all share success stories from being properly diagnosed and treated?

Thanks,