Severe bloating and gas ever since I had food poisoning last year help
Hi all.
Last year (February 2025) I was struck with food poisoning (which was entirely self inflicted I accidentally licked a utensil with raw chicken on, yep idiot). I was really unwell for about 6 days BUT only from one end (I never threw up weirdly). Ever since then, I have had the most painful bloating after literally anything that I eat. I have had a colonoscopy around August 2025 and they did not find anything concerning. I am aware of things like SIBO but I’m worried the results will be negative and I’ll be stuck again with what the hell is wrong with me. To be entirely honest, this bloating controls my entire life. I always turn down events because I know I’ll be huge and painful. I feel terrible about myself and hate looking at myself in the mirror. I really want this to end! If I do approach the doctors and ask for a SIBO test and it is positive, what is the treatment for this? If it’s negative, what other routes can I take to sus out this problem. For about 8 months after the food poisoning, I did have inconsistencies in my bowel movements, one moment it would be very urgent the next it would be constipation, and that’s what originally made me approach the doctors alongside the bloating. Now, I don’t really tend to have bad bowel movements it is only the severe bloating and maybe gas every now and then. I have come off of birth control as I was worried that would play a part, and I feel like this happens no matter what I eat (gluten, non gluten, lactose, non lactose, fructose etc etc). I’m suffering and with it being summer I just want to hide away as I am sooo uncomfortable. I’m wondering could this be something caused from my food poisoning I had last year? I’d really appreciate any thoughts around this or suggestions to help me. Thank you