Is Probiotics Safe with Metronidazole?
Free · No account · based on published sources including NIH ODS, FDA drug labels, and peer-reviewed literature
Take probiotics 2 hours apart from metronidazole. Saccharomyces boulardii is preferred as it is resistant to metronidazole's antibacterial effects and helps maintain gut barrier integrity.
Why this interaction occurs
Metronidazole targets anaerobic bacteria and significantly alters the anaerobic gut microbiota composition. Saccharomyces boulardii, being a yeast, is not susceptible to metronidazole and has clinical evidence supporting its use in reducing metronidazole-associated GI side effects including nausea and diarrhea.
Evidence
Evidence level: strong.
Reported safety data
The FDA’s adverse event reporting system (FAERS) has received 52,138 reports mentioning Metronidazole. This reflects reported cases involving the medication in general — not confirmed causation, and not specific to the Metronidazole + supplement combination on this page.
FAERS reports are voluntary and cannot prove that a drug caused an event. Do not use report counts to assess the safety of this specific drug-supplement pair.
Frequently asked questions
Related interactions
All Probiotics interactions → · All Metronidazole interactions →
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Educational only — not medical advice.
Always confirm with your doctor or pharmacist.