I have seen so many similarities in other cases of people experiencing problems like mine after heavy antibiotic use. Many people, like me, start with problems in the stomach, IBD, Crohn's, Colitis, SIBO. After time new pain or disease, seemingly unrelated to these stomach issues, begins to develop. These people, like me, have stumped countless doctors with their symptoms. They, like me, are confused and scared about the new and constant pain they are feeling in their bodies. Fibromyalgia is what I have been diagnosed with, but no one knows exactly what it is, or even what causes it. And the confusion is not limited to my condition. The cause of Arthritis and Arthritis related disease is still unknown, even cancer and it's cause continues to elude the medical field. Doctors have theories, but no good remedies.
95 million Americans suffer from chronic stomach issues. More than 40 million suffer from Arthritis, with at least 2.5 million who are crippled by their condition.
Because I am one of the millions suffering from chronic, widespread, even debilitating pain, I have spent endless hours researching, trying to find an answer. The patterns emerging out of many cases similar to mine are undeniable. When cross referenced with the research that is being done by very small community of doctors and specialists, the findings are incontrovertible. It is already known that antibiotics can lead to an imbalance of the flora in the intestines resulting in bacterial overgrowth of one or more bacteria types. More often we have seen this happen with women; the antibiotic use resulting in a yeast infection. Because much, or all of the good bacteria has been wiped during antibiotic use, other bacteria types living in the gut are able to grow in abundance causing an imbalance in the flora. This is called bacterial dysbiosis. In my case, and I believe, in countless others, this imbalance causes the body to act in a way it is not supposed to, causing systems in the gut to malfunction.
The articles and books in my reference section at the end of this blog, detail new evidence suggesting that this type of digestive system malfunction, (due to the imbalance of flora in the gut) is the major cause of Irritable Bowel Disorder, Irritable Bowel Disease and IBS, and also causes Leaky Gut Syndrome. But problems arising from this imbalance are not isolated to the stomach and intestines. The systems that take place in our body all work together. It follows that, one process cannot be disrupted without affecting the others. SIBO (small intestinal bacteria overgrowth) is a conditon that affects the stomach/gut. It causes terrible bloating or an intolerance to certain foods. SIBO has also been linked to Eczema and Psoriasis, Rosacea, other skin diseases, Rheumatoid Arthritis and arthritic diseases like Ankylosing Spondylitis, as well as other syndromes such as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, and you guessed it—Fibromyalgia. Even colon and breast cancer have been linked to SIBO.
The doctors that have been researching these connections suggest that when we ingest food in this state, it causes one or more of the following symptoms: putrefaction, fermentation, deficiency, and sensitization of food. These systems of irregular digestion cause the food we eat to become toxic, and what follows is an excess or decline of the body’s chemicals relating to these processes. Evidence shows that eating a low carb diet helps alleviate a vast array of symptoms due to the fact that carbs break down into simple sugars and feed the bacteria that have overgrown in the intestinal tract. I am not saying that all cases of the related diseases are due to this cause, therefore not all people can relieve their pain in this way, but cutting carbs from the diet to see if the negative symptoms dissipate can help people to understand more about their condition.
In my case, I have an overgrowth of the Klebsiella pneumonia bacteria. This happened after taking months of antibiotics to treat (unsuccessfully) the reoccurring tonsillitis I was experiencing. Regardless of the antibiotic treatment, I needed a tonsillectomy. I have not had another throat infection since, but because of this over-use of antibiotics, all my beneficial bacteria was completely wiped out, Klebsiella bacteria (which is highly resistant to antibiotics) was allowed to grow. It was a few months after my heavy antibiotic use that I began to have terrible stomach pain and bloating. After multiple trips to a variety of doctors (and after taking a Comprehensive Stool Analysis) I was diagnosed with SIBO. This infection is not at all rare. I have had this infection for almost 3 years now. It’s a good thing I do not carry the HLA-B27 gene, or it would be very likely that I would be developing Ankylosing Spondylitis, an arthritic disease that causes the joints in the spine, and progressively the rest of the body to fuse together. Spondylitis joined with the Klebsiella bacteria sets the stage for the disease to develop and grow. 90% of people with Spondylitis have a Klebsiella bacteria overgrowth. How many other people are developing these overgrowths due to an overuse of antibiotics? How many people are in pain and have no idea why, and how many doctors even understand what is happening to a growing number of their patients? I have never liked taking antibiotics, and I expressed my concerns on numerous occasions, practically begging for the doctor to take my tonsils out. Why did he refuse? I know now that his decision to treat me for months straight with progressively stronger antibiotics caused the mess I am dealing with today.
The Comprehensive Stool Analysis Test was not covered by my insurance, but it was much more informative than the Bacteria Breath Test (which is only able to determine whether there is bacteria present, or not) and the Colonoscopy. Those two tests alone cost insurance companies thousands of dollars, and cost me about $200, and were not able to give me any truly useful information...except that there was bacteria present.
I am seeing an Ayurvedic doctor now, and I have given up on all conventional medicine for the time being. I have started a new blog that details all of my alternative treatments and the corresponding lifestyle I have started to follow which has greatly helped to lessen the pain associated with Fibromyalgia. I would love for you to join me on this trip to wellness. I will be updating the blog daily. You can find it here. http://joyswellnesstrip.blogspot.com/
I am seeing an Ayurvedic doctor now, and I have given up on all conventional medicine for the time being. I have started a new blog that details all of my alternative treatments and the corresponding lifestyle I have started to follow which has greatly helped to lessen the pain associated with Fibromyalgia. I would love for you to join me on this trip to wellness. I will be updating the blog daily. You can find it here. http://joyswellnesstrip.blogspot.com/
Again, if anyone has loved ones suffering in any of the ways I discussed, please share this information with them. And PLEASE check out the links/books in my reference section. I don’t know what I would do without this information. Especially:
The article by Intestinal Dysbiosis and the Cause of Disease, by Dr. Leo Galland M.D., F.A.C.N. and Stephen Barrie, N.D. You can find it here if the hyperlink does not work:
Also, the book Digestive Wellness by Dr. Elizabeth Lipski, M.D. offers a wealth of information relating to stomach health and disease. (And, an interesting fact, is that it is the number 1 book stolen from doctor’s waiting rooms.)
And the book Perfect Health, by Deepak Chopra Md.
And the book Perfect Health, by Deepak Chopra Md.
Here are the tests that have been extremely useful in my search:
If you are feeling chronic stomach bloating and general digestive irritability and cannot find the cause, ask your doctor for:
A Comprehensive Stool Analysis with Parasitology by Doctors Data, if you would like to first try a test covered by insurance, then ask your GI for a Bacteria Breath test. If that comes back positive I would highly recommend a Comprehensive Stool Analysis.
If you are feeling chronic, widespread pain throughout your body, in addition to the Comp. Stool Analysis ask for a Sedimentation Rate blood test. It measures inflammation in the body. If there a lot of inflammation present it could mean a couple of things, none of which are good. If inflammation is present and you test positive for an overgrowth of bacteria, LOWER YOUR CARB/SUGAR INTAKE (or even cut it out temporarily to see how you feel.) Test for HLA-B27 (simple blood test) to determine whether you are at risk for Ankylosing Spondylitis.
If you test positive for Bacteria Overgrowth (SIBO), or if you have been diagnosed with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia or arthritic related diseases, or eczema, lower or cut your carb/sugar intake and see how you feel. If this helps your symptoms it is likely you have an overgrowth of bacteria.
It follows that it is important to eat a diet low in carbs and cut out all sugars when treating with heavy doses of antibiotics. Harmful bacteria feed off sugars and without the beneficial bacteria to keep them in check there is a possibility of bacteria overgrowth. Because of this doctors should direct patients to eat a low carb diet, and take a good probiotic when prescribing antibiotics. This is a preventative measure that can benefit all of us, but will especially those who have taken a lot of antibiotics in the past and those with lowered immune systems.
I am not the expert on this subject. But this process has made me an expert on my body systems. I’m putting forth the information I have learned that has helped me.
References:
The best article I’ve seen relating to the condition I am covering in my blog. Intestinal Dysbiosis and the Cause of Disease. Amazing article.
Great article regarding treatment of overgrowth of bacteria. I will be following this treatment plan.
This doctor has personal experiences that moved her to research klebsiella, and infection of klebsiella, and other gut related illnesses and how they lead to disease.
Klebsiella Extremely Drug-Resistant Infections traveling fast.
A person shares their story of how cutting carbs greatly helped alleviate symptoms of Osteoarthritis
