Interstitial Cystitis and SIBO

Integrative SIBO Conference 2018 speaker Dr. Danielle Lewis, Worked in the field of Physical Therapy for many years and currently focuses on women’s medicine and primary care. She is a certified Holistic Pelvic Care provider.

Here are some of my notes to share with you.Some of the following info I took from the source she cited in her presentation (SIBO In patients with Interstitial Cystitis and Gastrointestinal Symptoms)

• IC is chronic syndrome characterized by pelvic pain, increased urinary frequency, urgency to empty bladder, visceral sensitivity and dyspareunia. • IC is viewed as a disorder that co-exists with IBS. Evidence for immune activation in IBS and IC include: 1)mast cells in bladder biopsies 2) mast cells in ileum 3) mast cells adjacent to colonic nerves and lymphocytes in lamina propria and myenteric plexus in IBS 4) interleukin elevation in urine in IC and in serum in IBS.

• 81 % of IC patients with IBS had a positive SIBO breath test in a recent study

• If excess bacteria in the Small intestine were the trigger for the immune activation and visceral hypersensitivity seen in IC, the management of IC can be dramatically improved by treating SIBO.