Tummy Bloating (not an intolerance, diet or ibs issue)

[DanielPat]

Hi there,

For the past couple of years I've been experiencing tummy bloating and excessive gas.
It started quite suddenly one week after eating some meat that didn't taste right.
Up till then I had a completely flat tummy and no complaints at all.

I am 28 years old, 6 foot tall and 70 kg. I'm in good health, have no acid reflux or heartburn, or any stool issues (I've always had a very good metabolism). There is also no pain in my tummy, it's purely excess gas - which leads me to believe that this isn't a simple case of IBS.

I don't smoke or drink alcohol, fizzy drinks, red meat or much in the way of bread etc.
I have a spin bike in my apartment which I use.

I've seen my local doctor a couple of times - the first time she prescribed Omeprazole and I had a battery of blood tests for coeliac, lactose intolerance, h pylori etc. All of the tests came back normal. She even booked me in for a UV scan and found nothing of concern.

I've tried a few herbal remedies, windeze, activated charcoal etc.
I do notice that slow-release probiotics relieve about 30% of the bloating, which makes me wonder if this is a bacterial imbalance issue?

I have read about Small Intestinal Bacterial Overgrowth, which is treated with Rifaximin (Xifaxan) and Neomycin, normally alongside strong probiotics to minimise damage to any good bacteria in the gut. Would you recommend that I try antibiotics?

Many thanks and best wishes,

Daniel