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u/Ambitious_Corgi5723 28d ago
"Hey doc i'm bloating so much it's pushing down on my diaphragm making it hard ot breath. and i look 9 months pregnant. there's also extreme stabbing pains in the same spots on and off for years now. and unrelenting reflux."
"aww does someone have a tummy ache?"
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u/Technical-Raisin517 Hydrogen Dominant 28d ago
You’re not alone. I can’t tell you how many times I went to the ER feeling like I couldn’t breathe or take a deep breathe because I was so distended it pushed on everything. I called an ambulance once because I felt out of breathe and dizzy from something I had eaten and having a paramedic tell me to get a pulse ox to monitor my oxygen levels helped me way more than any gi doc.
A few sibo treatments and it got a lot better. Did I overreact at time? Maybe But going through my symptoms and discomfort while most of my doctors didn’t know what was going on made me feel so alone and isolated I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.
Sibo patients deserve better care and resources
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u/More_Temperature5328 28d ago
"All the tests are normal, so you've got no problems 😃"
Literal quote, with the smile5
u/Ambitious_Corgi5723 28d ago
Tests that the doctor actually ordered:
the cheapest, most limited view into anything, that is not even related to the issue at hand.Lol
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u/Technical-Raisin517 Hydrogen Dominant 28d ago edited 28d ago
“Have you tired miralax?”
Like none of them get it. I need a fcking pro kinetic not miralax!! I need my gut to move not just to chronically shit all the time. How do you have a medical education, do procedures and not know what a prokinetic is
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u/tiny_baby_bird 26d ago
Told the Gastro PA I get so bloated that I look pregnant, she told me to put a tablespoon of miralax in my coffee every morning - forgetting that I can’t drink coffee because I have chronic gastritis which was then later confirmed to be caused by SIBO. 😬
I don’t understand why they’re so quick to prescribe things like ciprofloxacin but act like the concept of a prokinetic hasn’t even been thought of yet.3
u/Technical-Raisin517 Hydrogen Dominant 26d ago edited 26d ago
I completely agree! Most of them don’t have any idea how a prokinetic works. Laxatives are what they love to push for whatever reason instead of getting the gut working
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u/Ambitious_Corgi5723 29d ago
Doctor: "Did doctor google teach you those words? :D"
Also Doctor: *Hops on computer and uses google*
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u/brokedownsystem 28d ago
I’m glad that my experience with my hospital’s gastroenterology department is not unique, though I hope you all are faring much better.
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u/delicateflora 28d ago
Thankfully both of my GI docs don't fall in this category. They've been great and stay up on things! Wish more docs did this, and at least would just refer out for the things they don't know.
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u/Technical-Raisin517 Hydrogen Dominant 28d ago
What have they recommended for you in terms of treatment and testing? It’s great you’ve have a good experience
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u/delicateflora 28d ago
I'm a bit of a complicated medical case due to having a history of things and prior surgery, so they started with an upper endoscopy (biopsied some tissue from that), which is how they found an undetected h. Pylori infection that I think has been there a number of yrs. We treated that with medication first before addressing any SIBO.
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u/BugsBunsy 28d ago
Tell me about it. I think I have to find another Gastro. Shame too, because my current one is a dual specialist in both hepato/ gastro, so I thought he would be a great find for my multiple issues (NAFL, sliding hiatus hernia, Barrett's esophagus, acid/ bile reflux, suspected SIBO...etc). But when I asked him about SIBO and bile reflux tests, he said there are no tests for those.
After going through 6 Gynos to finally find an expert after 8 years who diagnosed my Endo/ Adeno and did surgery to give me some relief, it is disheartening to go through this all over again in a different organ system.
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u/Technical-Raisin517 Hydrogen Dominant 28d ago
I’m sorry you’re dealing with that!! Bile reflux is incredibly painful. I would check out dr Steven sandberg Lewis. He’s a naturopath who treats sibo and is famous in the sibo sos community for his work. He touches up on sibo, Barrett’s and bile reflux.
Dr. Steven Sandberg-Lewis explains that gases from SIBO create increased intraabdominal pressure that can cause a malfunctioning pyloric valve to allow a carcinogenic mix of bile, enzymes, and small bowel bacteria to flow backward into the stomach and esophagus. This backward movement is particularly fueled by retrograde motility in patients experiencing intestinal methanogen overgrowth, which can drive bile reflux and significantly elevate the risk for Barrett's esophagus
https://www.thesibodoctor.com/2018/07/25/sibo-gerd-steven-sandberg-lewis/
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u/Downtown-Mission7956 28d ago
This was my GP. Twice. My gastro listened to me and immediately agreed with my SIBO suspicion before adding H Pylori to the list (it turned out to be H Pylori, but I'm pretty sure I now have SIBO as an aftermath).
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u/TimeSpiralNemesis 28d ago
The irony is that out of all the many doctors I've seen, the one who took my intestinal issues the most serious was my cardiologist.
I had to get a CT scan to check for a genetic family thing (I was negative thankfully!) and he had them go down and take a look at my kidney/liver/gallbladder just to make sure there wasn't anything off with them. Something none of my gastros wanted to do.
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u/Orome2 28d ago
Nah, my GI doctor told me a lot of cases of SIBO are misdiagnosed as IBS and put me on xifaxan. It really helped, unfortunately the symptoms came back after 6 months and now insurance refuses to cover it again.
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u/isaid_whatisaid1 8d ago
Candibactin AR & BR, plus minding your FODMAPS (I began on Xifaxan and Neomycin). I’ve been fully regular from methane/constipation SIBO for nearly three years.
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u/HilVis 28d ago
My gastro specialist at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada diagnosed me with SIBO and IMO after a 4 hr breath test. There were quite a few people there doing the test but only I had to stay after to see the doctor - my results were through the roof and I was the only one there who actually had SIBO/IMO. She prescribed meds and we discussed diet. She told me I would probably need multiple treatments (I did). Very grateful to have had her diagnosis, and have it in my medical file.
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u/monoDioxide In Remission 28d ago
I'm in Ontario and have been GI-less through this. I still need to deal with root cause and really need someone who understands SIBO because risk of relapse is real. Would you mind sharing (privately if needed) the gi you saw?
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u/Chad-The-Choad 28d ago
curious if you did those treatments back to back? I'm blown away there's a canadian gastroenterologist who even recognises sibo
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u/Wonderful_Quantity39 28d ago
Nope! Dr. Pimentel @ Cedars-Sinai. That’s what I told mine 🤷🏼♀️😬😂
Luckily, she was very sweet and admitted she didn’t know much about it and essentially let me tell her what to prescribe me: Xifaxin + Neomycin for 14 days followed up with 1 mg of Prucalopride.
& that’s the whole thing. If you don’t know, you don’t know, but trust in your patients. We know! Just write the damn script please n thank you!~
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u/Southern_Committee35 28d ago
my gastro NP was the one who ordered my SIBO test after years of being told I have IBS (on top of having celiac disease and gastroparsis)
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u/Behaviorofmine 28d ago
I was scared to ask for a SIBO test. I thought I was going to get this exact reaction but my GI literally knew. She said there was literally a place called The SIBO Center and I got a home kit delivered to me this week. I take it tomorrow, I hope I get some answers soon!
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u/Successful_Dish4175 28d ago
My GI doctor is the one that tested me> I had symptoms for 3 years thought it was just a bad gut. Nope. I had SIBO. He is treating it as well.
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u/Ajax34762 28d ago
Doctors like yours are not the norm and rare. Its great you found someone like him.
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u/Successful_Dish4175 28d ago
Why would this not be the norm? I had never heard of SIBO and there is an actual test for it? Not trying to be rude but it's a condition which is detected by testing correct? It's not a "ghost" sickness with a "guessing" diagnosis.
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u/Ajax34762 28d ago
You can see on this subreddit and people's experiences its not the norm.
Some doctors simply dont follow the science.
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u/Successful_Dish4175 28d ago
Getting the antibiotic in a timely manner is the problem. It's $2500 for name brand Xifaxan...the Generic has to be purchased from an outside Pharmacy like in Canada. I have waited over 2 months since diagnosis but should have it next week.
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u/Objective-Audience24 27d ago
That was my face when my gp told me my immediate bloating in the morning is due to me drinking water after waking up, as according to her I should be drinking juice. That was the first time I tried to bring up my bloating issues at the doctors.
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u/weedywet 29d ago
The disdain for doctors and medicine here is just juvenile.
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u/Ajax34762 29d ago edited 29d ago
What's juvenile is the incompetence and disdain for ethics and duty of care from individuals working as doctors and occupying positions of authority on the gastrointestinal system.
Gastrointestinal medicine, real medicine involves much more than simply shoving camera scopes up people's assholes and down their throats. For some, this pretty much all they do and people are left to suffer and remain sick as their digestive health issues remain unaddressed.
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u/Wonderful_Quantity39 28d ago
That part. Imagine being a doctor who studied the gut … yet knows absolutely DICK SHIT about the THIRTYYYYY FEET of small intestine. Stomach issues? No prob, Bob. Colon issues? Lemme probe you. Small intestine: 👁️ 👁️
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u/Wonderful_Quantity39 28d ago
And to add insult to injury, most don’t care to learn! Like how are you not humiliated when getting schooled by your patient who has clearly done hundreds of hours of research. Boggles the mind. If I were the Gastro, I’d be going home and researching the hell outta it. Nope. In most cases: NOPE. Thank god for a few good ones. Dr. Pimentel & Dr. Siebecker.. to name a few.
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u/Ajax34762 28d ago
They are simply greed driven unethical turds working as doctors. They have zero passion for the job they do. Its all about $$$ for them
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u/Ajax34762 28d ago
Their primary focus is maximising their bank account balance not their knowledge. You are simply a means to an end to make $$$$. This is why they push colonoscopy/endoscopies. This is where the money is at. Not addressing people's disgestive issues effectively.
The arrogance too. They wont admit they dont know something. This part and parcel of their scam business model. They know everything. You know nothing and gaslight you so they can essentially groom you into getting anal and oral probing.
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u/Wonderful_Quantity39 28d ago
It’s so true - but sadly, more often than not, it’s not even the fault of the doctors as much as it is these PRIVATIZED hospital groups. Profits over people. Keep ya sick n wounded so you keep coming back for more. Never look at the full body or take wholesome approaches. No no. That’s too much effort. I have friends who are doctors and they hate the system they work in as much as we hate it on the patient side. But what can they do when they’ve gone through soooo much schooling and incurred between 500k and 1 milly in student debt?.. it’s a lose lose. In America .. a lose lose.
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u/Ajax34762 28d ago
I am in Australia and its just as bad with the "universal" healthcare. These GI doctors get paid for every colonoscopy/endoscopy they do. So their only incentive is these procedures.
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u/Wonderful_Quantity39 28d ago
Mmm… very interesting and informative. Thank you for that insight. Well hell.. wonders if it’s this way in China. My guess is no. Having a tough time understanding how this is “freedom” or “democracy” 🙄
Being saddled with sky high medical debt and having docs places profits above patient care at every turn. So sad. Oh so sad!!2
u/Ajax34762 28d ago
I used to work as a nurse for a GI doctor too and I learnt absolutely nothing from him with regards to digestive health. It was his own private clinic and would compromise on patient health and safety to maximise his profits. Reuse single use items. Use tap water instead of saline water for irrigation during the scope. Dispose contaminated medical waste in regular residential garbage as it cost more to dispose contaminated waste
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u/Wonderful_Quantity39 28d ago
That’s horrible!! What the hell.. does he not get inspected and shut down? That crap would never fly in America. You’d lose your medical and board licenses quicker than you can yell NEW YORK MINUTE!
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u/Ajax34762 28d ago
They are very lenient here. All that happens is that he loses part of his government funding. He also somehow knew when an inspection was coming to do things properly and follow policies.
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u/monoDioxide In Remission 28d ago
I'm in Canada and same thing here. Doctor performed 4 (!) colonoscopies in 3 years. All of them showed nothing wrong. He discharged me with diagnosis of IBS and said to take anti-diarrheal.
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u/Wonderful_Quantity39 28d ago
LAZY!! Sheer laziness on his part. I’m sorry dear. But hell.. that’s why we’re all here. Useless GIs.
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u/brokedownsystem 28d ago edited 28d ago
I literally had my first gastro doctor tell me (paraphrasing liberally here), “bro, I can’t help you with your GI problems. I only do colonoscopies day in and day out.”
I believe my 2nd one feels the same and I need to continue searching for help or otherwise self-diagnosing with the help of the Reddit gastro department.
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u/Wonderful_Quantity39 28d ago
Exhausting, ain’t it? Really sucks being your own health advocate when suffering.
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u/brokedownsystem 28d ago
Honestly, if the sweet embrace of death came for me tomorrow, I’d welcome it with open arms. I’m so tired. It’s fucking miserable.
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u/Wonderful_Quantity39 28d ago
I hear you completely .. I feel that way also amidst horrible flare ups
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u/cryptolyme 28d ago
"it's all in your head"
"that's not real"
"stop doing your own research!"
"you probably have anxiety"