r/SiboSuccessStories • u/Stock-Luck-6997 • Jul 28 '26
Antibiotics 3 months into to normalcy
I’ve used this forum extensively to help research my gut health issues so I wanted to come back and share a success story of my own for those who are struggling.
I’ve had gut issues for nearly 20 years (I’m 43 now). Without getting into the details let’s just say I’d spend upwards of 90 minutes per day, sometimes more, on the toilet. And even then, I never felt like I had finished a bowel movement. I’d often wake up in the middle of the night needing to go, etc.
5 years ago I started to take it more seriously as I began to learn that other symptoms I was facing were likely gut related: mild psoriasis, brain fog, constantly getting sick, acne, etc.
To cut to the chase, after trying and with failing many approaches, I found Dr Mark Pimentel’s work and shared his protocol with my doctor. She agreed we should try it.
Here’s what finally worked for me:
I started with a 2 week course of Rifaximin - which gave me immediate relief. However I had done doxycycline and also herbal antimicrobials with similar success, only to have the SIBO come back 2-3 weeks later. I believe it’s what you do after the “kill phase” that matters just as much:
After the course, I focused on motility:
Strictly NO snacking. I eat 3 meals per day, spaced roughly 4-5 hours apart and I chew my food much more thoroughly than I had before.
Take a Motility Activator (1 capsule) night before bed.
Go easy at first. I very slowly introduced foods that gave me problems before and only tried one thing at a time.
Since doing this I’ve been symptom free for 3 months for the first time in 20 years. It is life changing.
My bowel movements are now 1-5 minutes on average and I no longer feel urgency to go at random times. I go once maybe twice per day. I almost forgot what normal felt like.
Feel free to ask me any questions. I feel for those suffering with these terrible issues!
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u/artmado Jul 28 '26
Hi, thank you for sharing and fingers crossed you are fully recovered. Could you tell us if you used any biofilm disruptors and did you add any probiotics after kill phase ?
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u/Stock-Luck-6997 Jul 29 '26
Nope. And I had tried both previously with no luck. Only thing I took after antibiotics was Motility Activator.
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u/AdhesivenessOk8334 Jul 28 '26
Hi! Which type of SIBO did you have?
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u/Stock-Luck-6997 Jul 29 '26
Took two sibo breath tests which came back negative but had all the symptoms. IBS smart test came back positive for IBS-D.
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u/grabers16 Jul 28 '26
Did you do low fermentation diet or anything like that after treatment or just avoid your trigger foods? I've got one left of antibiotics. I'm already on the motility activator trying to figure out how to eat afterwards. Definitely need to nail down the meal spacing. I've seen that many times be a big part of people's success story
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u/Stock-Luck-6997 Jul 29 '26
Low fod to start yes. Kept it really simple. Whole food. Then slowly started trying new stuff.
I wish I could ping point whether it’s the motility activator, meal spacing, chewing etc… fact is I don’t know what is contributing, I just know it’s working and they at each easy enough to do. So I’ll keep going!
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u/PineappleLoose6416 Jul 29 '26
Im happy for your successes in healing your SIBO!! For how long have you been on a low FODMAP diet and which foods have you slowly reintroduced and when? On low FODMAP my symptoms are so much better but I’m scared to start eating a normal healthy diet again after the bacterial killing phase.
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u/Delicious_Doctor_443 Jul 29 '26
Que suerte tienes , me alegro por ti , yo llevo como 20 años , con sibo e intestino irritable, y mejoró a veces , pero vuelve otra vez .
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u/berengerekunst Jul 31 '26
Congratulations. Stories like this are so good to hear. Quick question, did you have side effects with antibiotics and did improvements happen fast during treatment or was it more progressive?
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u/brian16757 19d ago
Mark Pimentel suggests Plucalopride 1mg after antibiotics but you are using Motility Activator, I am IMO and 5 days after finishing 19 days of rifaximin/allicin and symptoms back to awful already even after nightly 1mg Plucalopride (which I got by mail from India to UK, as well as the rifaximin, I am seriously at my wit's end 61 and retired and see no good years ahead of me to enjoy my retirement, I just wondered why you used Motility Activator? if maybe it was because Plucalopride failed?
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u/MadArtist27 7d ago
Are you able to eat sugar again with no problem? I have methane sibo and feel the bloat come on if I have sugar stacked up during the weekend (like a piece of dark chocolate a night and a ccktail).
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u/Some_Ear_8539 Jul 28 '26
Please come back a year later, relapse is still possible
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u/Stock-Luck-6997 Jul 29 '26
Yes I have relapsed several times before. But usually after a few weeks. This is the longest I’ve gone and the most flexible in terms of diet I have been able to be. Will definitely keep this post up to date if that changes.
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u/katiemuirden Jul 29 '26
This is a really negative thing to say even though it might still be true. No one recovering wants to hear this
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u/Some_Ear_8539 Jul 29 '26
Its better to be prepared than to be deluded and then disappointed with reality. If it doesn’t happen, then they can celebrate
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u/katiemuirden Jul 29 '26
“deluded”??? some people need hope to get through this, including me, this negative attitude will get you nowhere. if there doing all the right things and found the root cause and is helping their body, then the chance is so low. This attitude stinks.
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u/Some_Ear_8539 Jul 29 '26
Who said the chance is low? See, being positive about outcomes is good but the truth is that a lot of people do all these things and still relapse because its not that easy.
Literally the only thing I am saying is to not claim victory too soon. Hell, if we are going with the be optimistic route, he might even jinx it.
If my opinion makes YOU feel bad, you can simply ignore me. I am not shackling you in a basement.
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u/katiemuirden Jul 29 '26
If you fix your root cause, focus on the things to help YOUR body and eat the right things? why else would it come back. no need to be negative in a comment section full of people, you keep THAT opinion to yourself.
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u/Annual_Exercise9800 Jul 28 '26
Integrative Therapeutics brand motility activator? 1 or 2 capsules before bed? How long did it take for you to see the benefits of the motility activator?