New Diagnosis: Candida and SIBO

After further testing and visiting my ND this week I learned that in addition to candida I’m also suffering from small intestinal bacterial overgrowth, or SIBO.

What is SIBO?

For those of you unfamiliar with SIBO, it occurs when there is an abnormal increase in the overall bacterial population of the small intestine. The most common treatment prescribed for SIBO is unfortunately antibiotics. While this may help a temporary SIBO condition, this will likely lead to either a candida overgrowth or recurrence due to not addressing the root cause of the issue. Curing chronic SIBO is similar to curing candida; it will likely only be solved through strict dietary changes in combination with targeted supplements.

I found this diagnosis especially interesting because all of my symptoms point to a candida overgrowth, and while there is great symptom overlap between the two, I would have imagined my symptoms would be much less fungal focused since my bacterial overgrowth seems fairly severe. Although, in hindsight, I assumed one of my main symptoms, itching all over my body for no apparent rhyme or reason, was caused by a yeast overgrowth as yeast often causes itchy skin. It turns out the more likely cause of this is my body mounting an autoimmune response to histamines as I’ve likely developed a histamine intolerance. I also very rarely if ever experience bloating, which seems to be the most common and nearly universal symptom of SIBO. I don’t know about you but I find this super interesting! And I’m excited to do a lot more research on it to try and understand it better.

The importance of evidence-based health for diagnosing gut issues

This development also underscores the importance of pursuing a more evidence-based approach to chronic health conditions (when evidence is available, it isn’t always, of course). This illustrates the importance of working with a skilled practitioner versus self-diagnosing and making use of lab tests when they’re accurate and available. (I know this isn’t always possible for people given resource constraints in which case doing your own thorough research and being diligent about trial and error is key). I am now on a 12-week program designed to target both my candida and bacterial overgrowth primarily through supplements as I don’t seem to be reacting strongly to any of the remaining foods in my diet. From my lab results I also learned I have a rare form of candida that only occurs in about 1.7% (!!) of all candida infections and will likely be harder to get rid of as it can get quite deep.

How I will alter my diet

As I don’t seem to react to too many foods aside from the ones I already know I have reactions to from past experiences and tests (gluten, dairy, grains) I do not plan to modify my current candida diet plan too much. However, with SIBO there are foods that should be avoided and it would probably be a mistake to keep eating them at least for the initial period. There can be extra confusion introduced into the equation when treating both SIBO and candida, and extra restrictions unfortunately. This is not an extensive list, but these are the main culprits you have to watch out for that you’ve likely been advised to consume on your anti-candida diet, but will end up hurting your progress if you also suffer from SIBO. If you suspect you have both but cannot afford proper testing to know for sure, it may be prudent to avoid these foods in the beginning of your cleanse.

Foods that will feed bacteria but not candida:

• Probiotics (my daily probiotic is gone for now
• )
• Fermented foods. I have been careful with these already due to the mixed recommendations/research but I think I will be cutting out even my almond and coconut yogurt for the time being
• Onions. (What I have been currently making ALL of my meals with, who knew these were so high in FODMAPS).
• Garlic (Supposed to be even higher in FODMAPS than onions, I will have to find some seasoning replacements until I can have these again. As a tip, I did learn that dry garlic is actually about 3x higher in FODMAPS so if you’re going to cheat on this one opt for fresh garlic).
• Certain fruits. To be safe, I am going to cut out berries for now and then probably introduce around week two or so as they seem to be relatively safe, but I will not be having any high fructose fruits for a while.
• Certain veggies. Most surprising to me at least, is that cauliflower is very high in FODMAPS and this is something that I’ve been using pretty regularly and will not be an option for a while. Artichokes and squash are also high, although these do not usually frequent my diet.

Along with the above I am going to try and be as low FODMAP as possible and avoid higher histamine foods until my final symptoms begin to clear up. I may make this approach more regimented as I conduct more research, but like everything having to do with gut health, there is only so much research you can do that will end up being relevant to your specific microbiome makeup.

The silver lining

One of the main takeaways from my tests was how effed my gut currently is…on a 1–5 dysbiosis score I sat at a 4 four months post candida diet…This will certainly be a long journey after all but this week I’ve been excited to learn more about my current imbalances in the hopes that I’m one step closer to getting better. I’m also very excited to focus more on healing the two conjointly and broadening the topics for this page

If you’re also suffering from SIBO and candida I’d love to connect and know your experience treating them both so far!