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The following article was published in Your Health Magazine. Our mission is to empower people to live healthier.
Alan S. Weiss, MD
Maybe It’s Not Irritable Bowel?
Annapolis Integrative Medicine
. http://www.annapolisintegrativemedicine.com/

Maybe It’s Not Irritable Bowel?

Over three million people will be diagnosed with irritable bowel each year. Irritable bowel can dramatically affect peoples lives from the unpleasantness of bloating, constipation and diarrhea being a constant feature of living, to the impact of being unable to be productive at work, and to be able to go about life without planning on eating and bathrooms.

But not everybody with these symptoms has “IBS.”

A very common issue is small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO). In this condition, where bacteria grows in the small intestine near the stomach, common symptoms are bloating, diarrhea and/or constipation. While SIBO tends to affect many people, it is often associated with people who take acid blocking drugs, or have had abdominal surgery. There is a higher incidence of SIBO in people who are chronically stressed (and who isn’t?). People with low stomach acid, fibromyalgia and Ehlers Danlos Hypermobility syndrome also have a higher incidence of SIBO.

Once SIBO is suspected, you can do one of two things. You can test for it with a SIBO breath test that takes three hours, but you do it from home and it is fairly simple, or if you are certain of the diagnosis you can have it treated either with prescription antibiotics or with herbal protocols that are quite effective. Some people who are treated can have recurrences that need to be retreated. Complex chronic cases require a more complex protocol.

Another cause of IBS like symptoms is overuse of sugar alcohols like sorbitol, xylitol, erythritol and mannitol. These compounds are used as low calorie sweeteners, but the problem is many people cannot break down (digest) these compounds, so they stay in the intestinal tract, and are gobbled up by bacteria that then release gases and cause bloating and often diarrhea. The cure for this is simple – don’t use these as sweeteners.

Other conditions that can masquerade as IBS include food allergies, food intolerances and mast cell disorder or histamine intolerance.

Food allergies are directed at proteins in various foods, and can cause a lot of discomfort and all the other common symptoms. There are many food allergy tests out there, which are not perfect. Perhaps the most effective way to determine food allergies is to do an elimination diet where the most common trigger foods are removed from the diet and then eventually slowly added back in with an eye towards which foods are producing symptoms.

Finally many people are being diagnosed with mast cell disorder or histamine intolerance where the body’s allergy system reacts inappropriately to certain foods. Common symptoms are hives, rashes and GI symptoms. You should find a doctor versed in this condition if you suspect you have it.

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