# What to eat while taking antibiotics for SIBO?



## AlecM (Nov 16, 2017)

So I've apparently had SIBO, (small intestine bacterial overgrowth) for years now, as well as IBS. Glad to of learned what the issue is, I am still left wondering what I should be eating now that I'm about to be on two different antibiotics for 10-days. The antibiotics are Flagyl and Bactrim. I was told by my doctor to take probiotics along with these antibiotics, but am unsure on what I should be eating exactly. I know no alcohol for sure and no dairy products, from what I've read online, but anything else I should know about when it comes to what food to eat and what foods to not eat to minimize side-effects? I would really appreciate any recommendations, thanks.


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## richgel999 (Oct 25, 2015)

There are two schools of thought here. One school says to avoid FODMAP's, and starve the beasties in your small intestine out. Another school says to purposely feed them while on the antibiotics, so they try to reproduce and fail due to the antibiotics.

If it was me, I would follow a low FODMAP diet, get my gut motility up if necessary (using a motility agent, or low dose 5-HTP 5-20mg/meal, exercise, etc.), and take lots of probiotics in between antibiotic doses. One the antibiotic course was done, I would keep taking refrigerated probiotics, try to take Inulin (like in "Prebiotin") to feed my lactobacilli, and make sure my motility stays normal.

Constipation is SIBO's best friend and dangerous IMHO, so if you're constipated you need to figure out how to keep your system moving. Also keep your stress levels down, which tends to slow down motility.

Antibiotics are like the "nuke from orbit" option, so you need to make sure the "good guys" in your gut flora don't get too damaged. Check out ubiome.com. If it was me, I would track my biome during treatment by doing before/after snapshots.


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## AlecM (Nov 16, 2017)

richgel999 said:


> There are two schools of thought here. One school says to avoid FODMAP's, and starve the beasties in your small intestine out. Another school says to purposely feed them while on the antibiotics, so they try to reproduce and fail due to the antibiotics.
> 
> If it was me, I would follow a low FODMAP diet, get my gut motility up if necessary (using a motility agent, or low dose 5-HTP 5-20mg/meal, exercise, etc.), and take lots of probiotics in between antibiotic doses. One the antibiotic course was done, I would keep taking refrigerated probiotics, try to take Inulin (like in "Prebiotin") to feed my lactobacilli, and make sure my motility stays normal.
> 
> ...


Thank you for the information, really appreciate it. I will most likely follow the low FODMAP diet while taking the antibiotics and just stay active.

As for the constipation, I've been taking Miralax. It has helped keep my digestive track moving which has minimized the amounts of episodes I've experienced since taking it. Which raises another questions; I'm able to continue to take Miralax while on these antibiotics, correct? Or is that a bad idea being that antibiotics usually cause diarrhea?

Also, how does that ubiome site work? Which kit would I need to get for my specific case?

Again, thank you for your reply. I really do appreciate it.


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## ccoleman (Apr 10, 2017)

I recommend that people undergoing treatment eat as many FODMAP foods as they can tolerate and that they do not go on a low-carb diet.


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## AlecM (Nov 16, 2017)

ccoleman said:


> I recommend that people undergoing treatment eat as many FODMAP foods as they can tolerate and that they do not go on a low-carb diet.


Really? I would think I would want to stay away from carbs.


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