It’s D-day! I’m not sure what time my results will come back in, so I’m still having the drink for breakfast. Well, ¾ of it anyway. I got through that much and knew if I tried the rest I’d lose the lot, so I figured ¾ was better than none. I think I’ve ruined my taste for honey permanently. Because I’ve taken a mouthful before the drink to disguise the taste, and another after for the same reason, now, when I take that first mouthful, I’m already trying to stop myself from gagging.

I’m heading off to the doctor this morning for my prokinetic prescription. I’m not even sure my doctor knows what SIBO is, but we have a good relationship so I’m confident he’ll prescribe for me once I explain it.

I’m fantasising about eating real food for dinner tonight. I’m craving vegetables so much. I still haven’t worked out exactly what I’m going to eat, either tonight or for the next few weeks, but I’m still going to dream about it, and I’m quite sure that anything is going to taste absolutely fantastic at this point!

Sooooo….. The test results.

The answer is: it’s complicated. Sigh.

The first complicating factor is that I didn’t have a test done right before I started on the elemental diet. The last test I had done was a year ago, when I was first ready to treat the SIBO. Then, some unexpected family issues meant that I couldn’t follow through with the treatment and that’s why, a year later, I started treating again.

So, it’s hard to know what my levels might have been right before I started on the elemental diet; they could have been better than that test a year ago, they could have been worse. Because it’s an unknown, I’m comparing the current test result to a test one year ago, which isn’t ideal.

Anyway… So I got the test result and excitedly opened it, only to be faced with a graph and a result that was SIBO positive and looked, at first glance at least, exactly the same as my previous test.

In my previous test, hydrogen was normal. Methane had a high baseline level of 31, which rose rapidly at the 20 minute mark to 64, and then sat at about 40 for the rest of the time.

In this latest test result, hydrogen again was normal. The methane base line was 34, which then stayed essentially the same until the 60 minute mark, where it rose to 46. It then averaged out at around 40 for the remainder of the test.

So, I saw the baseline level right up front and knew that it was not improved, and I saw the graph that still showed a rise which meant there was still active SIBO… and I honestly couldn’t believe it. I was somewhat devastated to say the least. I don’t know whether it was because I was so disappointed, or because I was premenstrual, or because I was feeling pretty stressed the last couple of days (which could well be due to the lack of decent food for two weeks), but I pretty much had a meltdown. I felt like everything I’d put myself through was for nothing.

Thank goodness for a voice of reason when I couldn’t see past the obvious, but Emily from Sibotest patiently showed me what my emotional state couldn’t see. In the last test, the jump from baseline to the 20 minute mark was a rise of 33. This time around, there was no rise until the 60 minute mark, and the rise was only 12. The latest thought amongst the experts is that a rise of 10 is positive for SIBO, so I’m only just in the positive zone. I’m one of those people for whom an extra week on the elemental diet would be useful to completely knock it out… and I knew that an extra week was a strong likelihood. At that point, I was already 2 extra days on the diet from when the test was taken, so possibly if I was to test again at that point, the rise might even be less than 10 and technically a negative.

So, I had to make the decision of what to do next.

My original plan was that when I had my negative test, I would stick to a low FODMAP type diet for at least the next 3-4 weeks, as the most likely timeframe to relapse is at the two week mark. I’m thinking that I’m just going to stick to that plan, but add back in the Allicin at the full dose for the four weeks. This typically will reduce methane by up to 30ppm over that timeframe, so technically I should have a negative test then.

I then need to start treating this colonic dysbiosis in order to properly recover.

Onwards and upwards!

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