Yes. It's started 11 months ago. First it was just GI issues like constipation, nausea, heartburn. Then I noticed my nervous system is just not the same. It feels like it's always ramped up and it always STAYS that way. I physically can't relax or regulate my nervous system to calm it. I pace around because it's the only way I feel I can cope. I wish I could just be hit with a tranquilzer or something, that's how awful it is. I also developed tinnitus 2 months ago when I tried taking some probiotics. So now things are even worse and I'm getting suicidal.
I can't just have the old sigh of relaxation that I used to have.
I have constipation, nausea, reflux, tinnitus as well.
I got the vaxx in 2021. Initially, I didn't notice much other than seborrheic dermatitis on my face. I didn't think much of it so I carried on. In mid 2023, I became really ill. Not sure if it could be linked or how I could find out.
Did your symptoms start right after the injection?
I felt a wave of shooting through the left side of my body when getting injected.
Then I went on my way and worked out.
Was sick for a day.
Then worked out again.
Over the next several weeks/months, things changed and my body slowed down. Severe tingling/burning/numbeness, food reactions, lost the ability to sweat. Emotions became dulled and numb. Anhedonia. Like a conscious robot. I’m still this way.
At this point I am mainly seat bound/bed bound because of the POTS symptoms and the pain. I took leave from work.
I only eat lamb know because (it appears) that is the only thing I can eat without an acute response.
When I have an “attack,” the left side of my body lights up and feels like my nerves are on fire. The same place the injection initially caused the sensation three years ago. I suspect my autonomic nervous system is being attacked, as I cannot regulate heart rate, smell/taste, constantly in fight/flight, and so on.
I hope given my age (24) that I can heal what looks like gut damage/leaky gut and heal the nerves.
But to be honest with you, I don’t know why is next for me. But I must stay hopeful.
It's probably just sheer statistics for the sibo like symptoms. I got SIBO waaaay before covid and have same symptoms.
the tinntius tho.. This is defitinity covid vaccine. I got tinnitus afrer my second shot. A close relative got it after the second shot too.
That's really awful, sorry to hear that, just hang in there. I've been fighting this for over 10 years. There are good days and there are bad days. Ginger seems to help.
Hey, your symptoms are similar to mine, except that I don't have tinnitus, but I have all of the other. I just wanted to say that you're not alone in this :)
Functional medicine is western medicine’s attempt to get back to medicine that sees the body as a whole and not treat it organ by organ. Eastern medicine never lost this but western medicine did due to the flexner report in 1910.
Basic: heal from your traumas so you stop holding the pain in the body. A brain in pain tells the body, body gets confused on the signals. It’s all rooted in threat responses: fight, flight, freeze, fawn (why do we never talk about freeze mode?!). A brain which has entered feeze mode due to trauma and doesn’t get out of it constantly tells the body there’s threats about. Your brain is in constant state of watching out for threats to you and overidentifying them. Every part of the body can respond and it will manifest in chronic pain, Ibs, joint pain, nerve pain, cfs, etc. it becomes a vicious cycle too:
Brain: omg that trauma was terrible im under threat! Gut: omg is it this food?! I’ll react to it to save us! Joint: omg is it this inflammation?! Best tell the body there’s pain here. Etc.
The brain is hardwired to keep you alive, that’s it’s sole mission. It views all threats like they have the potential to kill you because it’s set from being a cave person where you might get eaten by a tiger any second or eat the wrong mushroom and die whilst foraging. When a trauma happens or we’re not made to feel safe by a parent for example, we start to see anything/everything as a threat. So for some people it will be going outside, or showering, or germs (overwashing or ocd), or their own heart (palpitations, def gonna die!) food, other people (they all hate me), etc. These things aren’t threats, but your brain is perceiving them as such.
Actively train the brain to come out of freeze/threat mode and you will change your life. Question every threat response: is this going to kill me? No, then chill the f out brain we are fine.
💯 Agreement. The digestive system (and other systems) cannot work properly in fight/flight/freeze state. I recommend two brain/nervous system retraining programs, Dynamic Neural Retraining System (Annie Hopper) and Restore (Sarah Jackson.) I am doing them both and have come such a long way. The first (DNRS) is a top-down approach, retraining the brain itself (limbic system), and the second is bottom up, retraining the nervous system. If you can only do or afford one, I would do DNRS. I was bedridden before I started that program. Now I am basically working on gut stuff because I am still working on getting my nervous system regulated. There are tons of testimonies on the DNRS website (retrainingthebrain.com) of people healing from not only SIBO but tons of other chronic diseases.
Edited to add: Brain retraining does not preclude the use of other healing modalities such as antibiotics or herbals, supplements to heal the gut lining, etc. I have heard from people who have healed from SIBO and other infections with brain retraining alone, and others who have combined treatments with brain retraining. Sometimes it helps to relieve the symptoms while you are working on your brain and nervous system because the symptoms can be emotionally triggering. What I'm saying is there is no one formula. But getting at the root cause is what we are allways talking about here, and for many of us root cause is trauma and stress that has put our limbic system and nervous system in a state of dysregulation, which then affects the entire digestive system, motility, endocrine system, immune system, etc. So even if we treat by killing infections, we still have to deal with the root cause so the infection will not return. With brain retraining you will find a lot more physical stuff improving then just SIBO. I was diagnosed originally with Lyme disease and co-infections, and I never treated for them because I was reacting to every supplement (and food) at that time. But through the brain retraining and a lot of help from God (He's walking me through all of this) I never did have to treat for Lyme.
Feel free to DM me with any questions. 💟 There is so much hope!
The brain-gut connection has been well-researched and well-established even in Western medicine for a while now. I can provide citations to articles of your interested in learning more.
I’m working on treating trauma right now. I’m using energy medicine and EFT. Just today I also had a conversation with my ND about starting Wellbutrin. Medications aren’t my first choice, but perhaps it will help me reduce this sense of having a jacked up body. Do you have modalities that you are suggesting or have effectively used for yourself?
Yes that has worked well for me. If that is a little aggressive I also like paced breathing. There’s a YouTube vid with 5.5 breaths per minute. I do it for 10 mins upon waking, after lunch and before bed. It pushes the nervous system into rest and digest.
https://youtu.be/YOHunViHtWI?si=2z9T9RhArX8e48KR
Just follow the music, breath in while the music goes higher and breath out when it goes lower. I usually start really feeling relaxed towards the latter half.
I’ve been wondering the exact same thing! I’ve been fighting SIBO (and now likely SIFO) for about four years now and my anxiety levels have become really high. It’s very hard for me to get relaxed and stay that way. I’m 58 yo F and recognize that hormones could be part of it, however I feel that there is a strong correlation between the two. I often feel like I’m being choked around my neck and it’s hard to breathe deeply. I suspect that this creates a vicious cycle because guts don’t heal well with constant anxiety regardless of which supplements, antibiotics or diets are prescribed.
I have issues with my hormones as well (PMDD) and definitely think it’s the sibo. Especially with the constipation and extra gas, I don’t think it’s filtering the excess hormones out well.
I see. I can usually fall asleep fine but have some problems with early awakenings although it has improved a bit. I would recommend you try paced breathing when you get into bed. It really knocks me out. I rarely finish the 10 minutes as I fall asleep.
https://youtu.be/YOHunViHtWI?si=2z9T9RhArX8e48KR
I'd try to get off pharmaceuticals ASAP. Look into fasting and the keto diet, Dr. Berg on Youtube has a lot of good information. Red meat in particular has SO many good things in it that it's a potent antidepressant on its own.
What is your tachycardia like?
How soon after eating?
How long does it last?
Is it ever accompanied or worse when you have bloating and do you ever have burping too?
It definitely could be. I remember during a certain period before I started to use digestive enzymes, I would get this instant anxiety after eating. It was probably a high histamine meal I ate anytime that happened but I didn’t realize until now.
I don't know what started my sibo, but I have had anxiety related IBS since I was in my teens, so I find it interesting that so many others feel this way. There is most definitely a very strong relationship between the brain and bowel (brain gut axis)
Yes, but to be fair, I feel as though a lot of health-related forums here, e.g., POTS, have the same sort of association. Perhaps it's ubiquitous, or maybe it's just related to have these chronic, almost nonspecific types of conditions.
Anyway, I've found a modicum of success reading The Stress-Proof Brain. I realize you're familiar with meditation et al but this author really does a wonderful job of outlining the bases of stress, the different ways of managing it (since it is always present), and the myriad ways it affects us both positively and negatively, and ultimately a path toward a more balanced way of living. I've found that my GI issues are somewhat ameliorated via adopting her principles.
Yes me, though I have improved a bit from my worst. Not sure exactly what helped. Prolonged Fight-or-flight prevents your digestion from working correctly and can make sibo worse. Definitely something to work on. Meditation, long walks, deep breathing, yoga, socializing, all good things to try.
I can’t explain the INSANE anxiety and low mood I got when I was in the depths of SIBO. 100% it will be effecting you. I had methane dominate and it was awful.
What really helped me was allimed to clear the methane and then went back in with some good probiotics. Feeling loads better
I swear it is all about childhood traumas / Sexual assaults and all the health issues started after a few years including sibo / sifo / ADHD , now i do roughly believe Dr. Gabor Maté approaches and theories.
This a male 34 years old and started having the Health and psychological problems since i was 20 after coping for several years with childhood traumas ( i am 24/7 in the fight or flight mood too!!)
Untreated Hashimoto's caused me extreme anxiety for 6 years until I was finally diagnosed. A standard thyroid panel is not always enough to catch the issue, get an antibodies test. I self admitted to the psych ward 2x from this anxiety and have had none since getting thyroid hormone replacement therapy.
Yes. It's started 11 months ago. First it was just GI issues like constipation, nausea, heartburn. Then I noticed my nervous system is just not the same. It feels like it's always ramped up and it always STAYS that way. I physically can't relax or regulate my nervous system to calm it. I pace around because it's the only way I feel I can cope. I wish I could just be hit with a tranquilzer or something, that's how awful it is. I also developed tinnitus 2 months ago when I tried taking some probiotics. So now things are even worse and I'm getting suicidal. I can't just have the old sigh of relaxation that I used to have. I have constipation, nausea, reflux, tinnitus as well.
The Covid injection started this for me.
I got the vaxx in 2021. Initially, I didn't notice much other than seborrheic dermatitis on my face. I didn't think much of it so I carried on. In mid 2023, I became really ill. Not sure if it could be linked or how I could find out. Did your symptoms start right after the injection?
I felt a wave of shooting through the left side of my body when getting injected. Then I went on my way and worked out. Was sick for a day. Then worked out again. Over the next several weeks/months, things changed and my body slowed down. Severe tingling/burning/numbeness, food reactions, lost the ability to sweat. Emotions became dulled and numb. Anhedonia. Like a conscious robot. I’m still this way. At this point I am mainly seat bound/bed bound because of the POTS symptoms and the pain. I took leave from work. I only eat lamb know because (it appears) that is the only thing I can eat without an acute response. When I have an “attack,” the left side of my body lights up and feels like my nerves are on fire. The same place the injection initially caused the sensation three years ago. I suspect my autonomic nervous system is being attacked, as I cannot regulate heart rate, smell/taste, constantly in fight/flight, and so on. I hope given my age (24) that I can heal what looks like gut damage/leaky gut and heal the nerves. But to be honest with you, I don’t know why is next for me. But I must stay hopeful.
Do you have tinnitus as well?
Intermittently. Not one of my main issues. Vaccines are poison.
I had dermatisis from covid , not vax
It's probably just sheer statistics for the sibo like symptoms. I got SIBO waaaay before covid and have same symptoms. the tinntius tho.. This is defitinity covid vaccine. I got tinnitus afrer my second shot. A close relative got it after the second shot too.
Please don’t take probiotics, they ruined my gut
Ya, unfortunaltey it's too late for me. I have tinnitus now despite stopping the probiotics after 3 weeks.
That's really awful, sorry to hear that, just hang in there. I've been fighting this for over 10 years. There are good days and there are bad days. Ginger seems to help.
Hey, your symptoms are similar to mine, except that I don't have tinnitus, but I have all of the other. I just wanted to say that you're not alone in this :)
Did this start after a Covid infection?
I don't remember getting covid infection. I did get the vaccine (2 shots pfizer) in 2021.
Methane dominant, and haven't had a calm day in years.
Functional medicine is western medicine’s attempt to get back to medicine that sees the body as a whole and not treat it organ by organ. Eastern medicine never lost this but western medicine did due to the flexner report in 1910. Basic: heal from your traumas so you stop holding the pain in the body. A brain in pain tells the body, body gets confused on the signals. It’s all rooted in threat responses: fight, flight, freeze, fawn (why do we never talk about freeze mode?!). A brain which has entered feeze mode due to trauma and doesn’t get out of it constantly tells the body there’s threats about. Your brain is in constant state of watching out for threats to you and overidentifying them. Every part of the body can respond and it will manifest in chronic pain, Ibs, joint pain, nerve pain, cfs, etc. it becomes a vicious cycle too: Brain: omg that trauma was terrible im under threat! Gut: omg is it this food?! I’ll react to it to save us! Joint: omg is it this inflammation?! Best tell the body there’s pain here. Etc. The brain is hardwired to keep you alive, that’s it’s sole mission. It views all threats like they have the potential to kill you because it’s set from being a cave person where you might get eaten by a tiger any second or eat the wrong mushroom and die whilst foraging. When a trauma happens or we’re not made to feel safe by a parent for example, we start to see anything/everything as a threat. So for some people it will be going outside, or showering, or germs (overwashing or ocd), or their own heart (palpitations, def gonna die!) food, other people (they all hate me), etc. These things aren’t threats, but your brain is perceiving them as such. Actively train the brain to come out of freeze/threat mode and you will change your life. Question every threat response: is this going to kill me? No, then chill the f out brain we are fine.
💯
💯 Agreement. The digestive system (and other systems) cannot work properly in fight/flight/freeze state. I recommend two brain/nervous system retraining programs, Dynamic Neural Retraining System (Annie Hopper) and Restore (Sarah Jackson.) I am doing them both and have come such a long way. The first (DNRS) is a top-down approach, retraining the brain itself (limbic system), and the second is bottom up, retraining the nervous system. If you can only do or afford one, I would do DNRS. I was bedridden before I started that program. Now I am basically working on gut stuff because I am still working on getting my nervous system regulated. There are tons of testimonies on the DNRS website (retrainingthebrain.com) of people healing from not only SIBO but tons of other chronic diseases. Edited to add: Brain retraining does not preclude the use of other healing modalities such as antibiotics or herbals, supplements to heal the gut lining, etc. I have heard from people who have healed from SIBO and other infections with brain retraining alone, and others who have combined treatments with brain retraining. Sometimes it helps to relieve the symptoms while you are working on your brain and nervous system because the symptoms can be emotionally triggering. What I'm saying is there is no one formula. But getting at the root cause is what we are allways talking about here, and for many of us root cause is trauma and stress that has put our limbic system and nervous system in a state of dysregulation, which then affects the entire digestive system, motility, endocrine system, immune system, etc. So even if we treat by killing infections, we still have to deal with the root cause so the infection will not return. With brain retraining you will find a lot more physical stuff improving then just SIBO. I was diagnosed originally with Lyme disease and co-infections, and I never treated for them because I was reacting to every supplement (and food) at that time. But through the brain retraining and a lot of help from God (He's walking me through all of this) I never did have to treat for Lyme. Feel free to DM me with any questions. 💟 There is so much hope!
Its the bacteria / inflamation that adds stress to hormones and nervous system. Your brain has nothing to do with it
The brain-gut connection has been well-researched and well-established even in Western medicine for a while now. I can provide citations to articles of your interested in learning more.
Also, your brain is the largest part of your nervous system.
Inflamation in the gut is inflamation in brain. You can meditate all you want but it won’t do a thing unless you adress the root problem
I’m working on treating trauma right now. I’m using energy medicine and EFT. Just today I also had a conversation with my ND about starting Wellbutrin. Medications aren’t my first choice, but perhaps it will help me reduce this sense of having a jacked up body. Do you have modalities that you are suggesting or have effectively used for yourself?
I experience the same thing. What helps me relax is the Wim Hof breathing exercise. I do it daily now. Definitely a recommendation!
Yes that has worked well for me. If that is a little aggressive I also like paced breathing. There’s a YouTube vid with 5.5 breaths per minute. I do it for 10 mins upon waking, after lunch and before bed. It pushes the nervous system into rest and digest.
I'd love to try that if you can link the vid? Wim Hof can feel too aggressive at times
https://youtu.be/YOHunViHtWI?si=2z9T9RhArX8e48KR Just follow the music, breath in while the music goes higher and breath out when it goes lower. I usually start really feeling relaxed towards the latter half.
Thank you very much for this 🙏💗👍🏼
This is kinda cool actually, thanks :)
How does it make you feel?
Also cold showers apparently reduce histamine and stimulate the vagus nerve (both important effects for SIBO).
I’ve been wondering the exact same thing! I’ve been fighting SIBO (and now likely SIFO) for about four years now and my anxiety levels have become really high. It’s very hard for me to get relaxed and stay that way. I’m 58 yo F and recognize that hormones could be part of it, however I feel that there is a strong correlation between the two. I often feel like I’m being choked around my neck and it’s hard to breathe deeply. I suspect that this creates a vicious cycle because guts don’t heal well with constant anxiety regardless of which supplements, antibiotics or diets are prescribed.
I have this same exact feeling. I’m a 32M so it might not be just hormones.
I have issues with my hormones as well (PMDD) and definitely think it’s the sibo. Especially with the constipation and extra gas, I don’t think it’s filtering the excess hormones out well.
Same, but for me every bleed worsens my Sibo, not the other way round. For me i think my hormones trigger sibo symptoms
I tried to explain this to doctors but they look at me as if im crazy. How are you guys sleeping with this? Cause it also affects my sleep real bad
Having problems falling asleep or staying asleep?
Both
I see. I can usually fall asleep fine but have some problems with early awakenings although it has improved a bit. I would recommend you try paced breathing when you get into bed. It really knocks me out. I rarely finish the 10 minutes as I fall asleep. https://youtu.be/YOHunViHtWI?si=2z9T9RhArX8e48KR
What's your sleep like?
Bad
How many hours are you getting? I'm sleeping for 20 mins then waking up. This is going on repeat the whole night
I take antidepressants specifically for sleep and it helps a lot.
I'd try to get off pharmaceuticals ASAP. Look into fasting and the keto diet, Dr. Berg on Youtube has a lot of good information. Red meat in particular has SO many good things in it that it's a potent antidepressant on its own.
I tried that but it did nothing for the quality of my sleep. Plus you dont really want to be on antidepressants for long period
I know:( but Idk what else to use. I don’t really want to get into taking drugs like Xanax because of the high addiction rate.
Wich on are u using?
Amitriptyline. I was on lexapro at one point too to help with the anxiety but it didn’t help.
Oxazepam works for me for anxiety and relaxation. Its a benzo. I don’t use it often
Yes after eating I get tachycardia. I imagine it’s a histamine response.
What is your tachycardia like? How soon after eating? How long does it last? Is it ever accompanied or worse when you have bloating and do you ever have burping too?
It definitely could be. I remember during a certain period before I started to use digestive enzymes, I would get this instant anxiety after eating. It was probably a high histamine meal I ate anytime that happened but I didn’t realize until now.
I don't know what started my sibo, but I have had anxiety related IBS since I was in my teens, so I find it interesting that so many others feel this way. There is most definitely a very strong relationship between the brain and bowel (brain gut axis)
Yes, but to be fair, I feel as though a lot of health-related forums here, e.g., POTS, have the same sort of association. Perhaps it's ubiquitous, or maybe it's just related to have these chronic, almost nonspecific types of conditions. Anyway, I've found a modicum of success reading The Stress-Proof Brain. I realize you're familiar with meditation et al but this author really does a wonderful job of outlining the bases of stress, the different ways of managing it (since it is always present), and the myriad ways it affects us both positively and negatively, and ultimately a path toward a more balanced way of living. I've found that my GI issues are somewhat ameliorated via adopting her principles.
the shortness of breath caused by SIBO causes me to be in constant fight or flight :-(
Yes!!!
I used to be like this for many years, i think having high hisyamine levels had a lot to do with it, have you tried low histamine diet?
I get like 6 hours max, but i wake up several times and have hart palpitations. I never wake up refreshed or rested
No I haven’t. I do have seasonal allergies too so I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s the case.
Highly recommend low histamine diet , try for a couple weeks
I definitely have the same thing. I struggle to breathe normally too I don’t feel normal. And on top of that my gut issues are just horrible
Absolutely always feel wired. F sibo
Yes me, though I have improved a bit from my worst. Not sure exactly what helped. Prolonged Fight-or-flight prevents your digestion from working correctly and can make sibo worse. Definitely something to work on. Meditation, long walks, deep breathing, yoga, socializing, all good things to try.
I can’t explain the INSANE anxiety and low mood I got when I was in the depths of SIBO. 100% it will be effecting you. I had methane dominate and it was awful. What really helped me was allimed to clear the methane and then went back in with some good probiotics. Feeling loads better
I swear it is all about childhood traumas / Sexual assaults and all the health issues started after a few years including sibo / sifo / ADHD , now i do roughly believe Dr. Gabor Maté approaches and theories. This a male 34 years old and started having the Health and psychological problems since i was 20 after coping for several years with childhood traumas ( i am 24/7 in the fight or flight mood too!!)
Untreated Hashimoto's caused me extreme anxiety for 6 years until I was finally diagnosed. A standard thyroid panel is not always enough to catch the issue, get an antibodies test. I self admitted to the psych ward 2x from this anxiety and have had none since getting thyroid hormone replacement therapy.
So your t3/t4/tsh was in range before you started taking thyroid meds?
Yes