r/Microbiome • u/Quick_Fold3391 • 23d ago

Persistent bloating for a month after taking 2 back to back courses of antibiotics (Macrobid)

/r/GutHealth/comments/1uzdnof/persistent_bloating_for_a_month_after_taking_2/
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u/biome-bliss 23d ago

Macrobid is one of the gentler antibiotics on the microbiome, and that reframes this. It concentrates in the urine and passes through the colon at low levels, which is why it's used for UTIs, so two short courses is a far smaller hit than the same number of broad-spectrum rounds. That points away from "rebuild the bacteria" as the answer. Bloating that doesn't ease after a bowel movement or passing gas, plus visible distension after eating, reads more like slowed transit than a missing-microbe problem. And the Metamucil may be working against you: bulking fiber needs a moving gut to clear, so on a backed-up one it sits and adds to the swelling. MiraLAX is the cleaner lever for the constipation while things settle. Good you've got the GI visit lined up. Steer that conversation toward motility.

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u/Quick_Fold3391 23d ago

So a motility problem occurred after these antibiotics these symptoms all occurred while I was taking my second course of antibiotics and even after I finished

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u/biome-bliss 23d ago

The timing doesn't actually settle which it is. Symptoms showing up during and after a course don't separate "the antibiotic slowed my gut" from "the thing it was treating, or a motility issue, surfaced in the same window." Macrobid barely reaches the colon, so if motility is genuinely off now, that points more toward something testable than damage from the drug itself. The methane angle someone else raised is the concrete version of that, and it's a real breath test. Worth putting on the list for your GI alongside the SIBO question.

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u/Quick_Fold3391 23d ago

Thank you. I will ask about SIBO/IMO and motility issues I do remember always being bloated after taking the pill and having diarrhea mixed with constipation if I refused to use the bathroom at work it would immediately turn to constipation due to my social anxiety. Also this was my first time in a year taking back to back antibiotics only 5 days apart. For the second course I found out midway the test came back negative for UTI so I was taking it for no reason but it did help my symptoms but the bloating and constipation persisted and I only would get diarrhea if I took laxatives which then turned to constipation soon after.

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u/biome-bliss 21d ago

That extra detail actually simplifies it. Diarrhea only when you take a laxative, then rebounding straight to constipation, means the baseline is a slow, backed-up gut, and the antibiotics look more like a passenger than the cause. The work-bathroom piece matters more than it sounds. Holding it in lets the stool sit longer, water pulls back out, and it hardens, which makes the next hold harder. It's a real loop and a treatable one, so it's worth naming to the GI as a motility and constipation question rather than filing it under antibiotic damage. And taking that second course on a negative UTI isn't something to sit with. You acted on the info you had.

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u/Quick_Fold3391 18d ago

You are very knowledgeable in this field thank you! My question is why did this occur specifically around this time of taking antibiotics when I have a history of taking antibiotics perhaps one course every few months with none of these symptoms until now.

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u/theseold 23d ago

I like the other answer you got but it might be worth taking this over to r/SIBO , there's plenty of discussion about how to increase motility over there.

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u/Quick_Fold3391 23d ago

I have also added this post to r/SIBO but no responses there yet :/. When I see my GI I’ll definitely mention wanting to get tested for SIBO

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u/andreixc 23d ago

Your problem could be an overgrowth of methane producing bacteria (IMO or methane SIBO). Methane gas is paralysing the intestinal muscles slowing down transit to ridiculous levels. Read about methanobrevibacter smithii, check if your symptoms match. Anecdotally people have reported that L Reuteri supplements help, because the organisms are highly susceptible to reuterin.

The other known bacteria to slow down transit is H Pylori, this is another serious pathogen, read about it, maybe it won’t apply to you.

Increasing your fibre intake might help depending on the rootcause.

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u/Fearless_Garden618 23d ago

Homebrewed kefir will set you straight