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After writing my eBook The SIBO Solution where I talk about my experience curing small intestinal bacterial overgrowth syndrome naturally, I started getting a lot of emails from people who are also suffering.  One common question that keeps popping up is this:

“I have SIBO plus another condition.  What do it do?”

SIBO Coexists with Many Conditions

As someone who has had multiple diagnoses along with my SIBO, I know all about coexisting conditions!

While research on SIBO still has a long way to go, we know that SIBO frequently occurs with other diseases and disorders.   Some of the most common ones are:

• H. pylori
• Leaky gut syndrome
• Histamine intolerance
• Low-functioning thyroid
• Adrenal fatigue

Once you learn a bit about the importance of gut health and how it is linked to all parts of our body, it becomes clear why these conditions occur concurrently. If your gut flora is unbalanced, it can affect everything from your mood to your waistline (and a lot in between).

Get Tested First!

Before you start worrying about how to treat SIBO with other conditions, GET TESTED.  You can’t diagnose a condition based on symptoms alone – especially since a lot of the conditions associated with SIBO have symptom overlap.

Is it SIBO which is causing my bloating, or is it histamine?

Is my brain fog caused by SIBO, or is it from adrenal fatigue?

Seriously, you’ll make your life a lot easier (and less stressful) if you get some clear results before trying to change your entire diet for a condition which you might not even have.

The good news is that you can easily test for a lot of these conditions without even having to get a doctor’s note (I’m not saying that you shouldn’t consult your doctor.  I just know that it is often easier and cheaper to test first before talking with your doc.).

Here are some tests that you order at home without a doctor’s note:

• SIBO breath test (3-hour glucose test)
• Histamine intolerance test
• Leaky gut test
• H. pylori test (USA)
• H. pylori test (Europe)
• Thyroid panel test
• Adrenal fatigue saliva test

Some other tests which are good to take include:

• Nutritional panel test (to look for nutrient deficiencies)
• Heavy metal test

*If you aren’t sure about which SIBO test to take, read about SIBO breath tests here.

How to Treat Coexisting Diseases

The problem is that the treatment for these conditions often contradict each other. For example, it is often recommended that you consume bone broth for curing leaky gut – but bone broth can trigger SIBO symptoms!

So, how are you supposed to go about treatment???

Here’s my advice:

Treat the worst condition first.  In most cases, that’s going to be SIBO.

Again, this is my personal stance on the issue and you should always check with your doctor.  But I’ve found that the treatment for SIBO tends to solve the most problems.

Curing SIBO Might Resolve Your Other Conditions

A lot of people who have successfully treated SIBO found that afterwards their other issues suddenly resolved themselves – like hormones becoming balanced once their gut bacteria got balanced.

This is because SIBO might actually be the underlying cause of your other conditions.

For example, one cause of histamine intolerance is bad digestion.  If you have a lot of undigested food in the gut, bacteria eat up this food.  Not only do the  bacteria grow out of control (overgrowth), but some of those bacteria can produce histamine.   Thus, curing SIBO could cure your histamine intolerance in the process.

It might not work out so well for you.  For as many people who are suddenly cured of all their health woes after treating SIBO, there are many who still find themselves plagued with other issues. However, having balanced gut flora sets the stage for making it easier to treat other conditions – which is why I recommend treating SIBO first.

If You Want to Tackle Multiple Diagnoses At Once…

Not all treatments are contradictory, so (assuming you are up for it), you CAN try to treat multiple conditions at once with SIBO.  Just don’t stress yourself over it.  Do the small things which are safe across multiple diagnoses.

SIBO and H. Pylori

The one condition I do recommend tackling with SIBO is h. pylori.  That’s because h. pylori could be one of the causes of SIBO.  Here’s how h. pylori could lead to SIBO:

H. pylori infection decreases stomach acid -> which leads to undigested food in the gut -> which “bad” bacteria then consume -> the bacteria grow out of control -> which causes SIBO.

If you have h. pylori and SIBO, you don’t want to treat it with antibiotics! Antibiotics just mess up your gut flora even more.  Instead, try natural treatments for h. pylori like mastic gum or matula tea.  Both of these are SIBO-safe.

SIBO and Leaky Gut

SIBO and leaky gut also often go together.  The good news is that the SIBO diet is going to cut out all of those food sensitivities which harm your gut.

Another thing you can do to help speed up healing of leaky gut while you also have SIBO is consume gelatin.  Unlike bone broth which has some carbs which might irritate SIBO, gelatin is safe to consume and helps heal your leaky gut.

Want to learn how to get rid of SIBO for good using natural treatments? Read my eBook The SIBO Solution.  Get it here. 

Have you been diagnosed with SIBO and another condition? How are you tackling it? Let us know in the comments!