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How Do You Get Get Rid of an Overgrowth of Intestinal Bacteria?

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth (SIBO) is defined as the presence of more bacteria than usual in the small intestine. The bacteria are most often similar to the type that grow in the large intestine. Common symptoms of SIBO are bloating, diarrhea, gas and pain. Unfortunately, SIBO can be a difficult condition to get rid of.

  1. SIBO

    • SIBO is most often the result of issues with the intestinal muscles or a blockage. If the organ is not functioning properly, bacteria can easily get stuck and multiply. While antibiotics are useful for killing off these bacterial overgrowths, they don't fix the underlying problem, and the symptoms of SIBO are likely to return when the bacteria begins to accumulate again. One problem of SIBO is that patients will need to be put back on antibiotics once the symptoms recur or even kept on them continuously.

    Antibiotics

    • Your doctor may have to experiment with different antibiotics before he finds the right one to treat your SIBO. The most common prescription is a 10-day cycle of neomycin, but sometimes more than one is used in conjunction such as levofloxacin and metronidazole. One downside about prescribing long-term antibiotics is that bacteria can become resistant to the drugs if used frequently, and there are also many side effects associated with their use.

    Probiotics

    • Another common treatment for SIBO is probiotics, which are live bacteria that help treat other harmful bacteria. You can buy these in most health stores, the most common types being Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria. Some probiotics are the type of bacteria used in yogurt. Though the process of probiotics isn't entirely understood, it is thought that they work by stopping the growth of other bacteria or just cutting down overall inflammation.

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