Bloating, gas and IBS-style symptoms that show up as you come off semaglutide or tirzepatide aren't unusual — and they're not something you have to just live with.
If you've tried the usual fixes — cutting out foods one by one, generic probiotics, waiting it out — and you're still going round in circles, there may be a more specific reason. And it's a reason your GP may not think to ask about.
GLP-1 medications work partly by slowing down how fast your stomach empties. That's part of why they're so effective — food sits, you feel full for longer, you eat less.
The theory: that same slowdown gives bacteria in the small intestine more time and opportunity to build up where they shouldn't — a condition called SIBO (small intestinal bacterial overgrowth). While you're still on the medication and eating less overall, there's less happening to notice. It's once appetite and normal eating return that the same overgrowth suddenly has a lot more to work with — and symptoms become obvious.
This is an emerging pattern, not an established diagnosis pathway yet — which is exactly why a proper test, rather than guesswork, is the useful next step.
A few short questions about your medication and your symptoms. At the end, you'll get a plain-English read on whether this pattern looks worth investigating — plus where to go next.