365 days of IBS (SIBO-C)

If you find yourself on this blog post, I know you have probably already read 1000 articles about SIBO/IMO and know what it is and now you just want to do something about it, right. Just in case you don’t know yet I’ll leave a resource below which explains all. I choose to write IBS as such a high percentage of people diagnosed with IBS actually have SIBO or a form of gut dysbiosis.

THIS IS MY JOURNEY

Firstly, I am so sorry that you are going through this. SIBO can feel like literal hell when it seems like it will never end or in the middle of a flare. Currently, I am in the rebuild phase after almost a year and feel like my life has been saved, even with the journey not over yet.

I was blessed in a few ways during this healing process, starting with being familiar with SIBO so I knew to act fast with tests and caught it relatively early, also finding the right person to help me. My lactulose breath test showed I had a super high count methane dominant SIBO. My stool test showed no parasites, no fat malabsorption or anything. I knew what tests to take and was eventually made a full treatment plan, thanks to Simon Hammett of Gojiman Nutrition who I’ll link below.

I am also vegan for about 9 years and only needed to reduce what I was eating to lower fibre plant foods like tofu, soy yogurt, apple sauce and white rice for a few weeks to manage symptoms until my first antimicrobial treatment. Then I quickly aimed to get all the foods I normally eat back into my diet again. I also credit this way of eating to getting this far rather than the many restrictive diets out there. Diversity of plant foods for a diverse microbiome.

After the first antimicrobial treatment I no longer had acid reflux, iron deficiency, exhaustion after meals. Success!

Compassionate Living with Siún

Almost at the end of our ‘Compassionate Living Series.’ What a joy to read the different perspectives on living a life of compassion. An idea for my next series is ‘How I got through depression’ to get a variety of insights. If this is something you would read, let me know!

Here are the wonderful thoughts of an Irish woman named Siun Byrne about self compassion, compassion for others & life. Enjoy!

Tell me Siun, What does compassionate living mean to you?

Compassionate living, for me, means living a life as free from harm to all beings both human and non-human as possible, being respectful and empathetic, and trying to leave the world in a better way than I found it. It also means extending that compassion and love I have for others, to myself on a moment-to-moment basis too, as it’s always been easier for me to care for others and forget about myself so that’s something that I’ve learned to cultivate within myself over the years.

What does practicing self-compassion look like to you?

Wow, where to start with this one? I practice forgiveness on a daily basis, both towards myself and towards others which I have found incredibly healing as it is so easy to get wrapped up in all the things you did ‘wrong’ and how others have wronged you that we forget that we are all just trying to figure things out and understand what it means to live the human experience! Non-judgement and non-attachment are also both huge parts of my own self -compassion, as well as self-care, not only in the typical sense but in doing the hard work to heal myself and trusting my intuition on what is truly good for me in the moment, whatever that may look like. I could talk about my journey with self-compassion for hours on end honestly.

Can you remember a moment you felt truly free? Where were you and what were you doing?