I'm gonna sum my story up as much as I can. Hope it helps you!
-Started having IBS-D symptoms about 7 years ago, but it had been especially bad in the last two years. i.e. Very frequent, urgent, usually watery diarrhea.
-It was getting to be embarrassing, so I finally saw a gastrointesinology specialist. After telling him the details of my symptoms he was really convinced I had celiac's disease. I wasn't so sure though, because I'd tried gluten-free diets before with no luck.
-He insisted I have a colonoscopy to check for Celiac, Crohn's, cancer, etc., so I agreed and went through with it. (It's important to have it done if you have these symptoms. Better safe than sorry!)
-Everything turned out to be fine, other than having some inflammation and slight acid reflux. So he said it may have been a parasite causing my symptoms, but not to worry because the Bowel Prep kit that I took prior to the colonoscopy would have wiped them all out if that was indeed the case.
-Following the procedure he recommended taking Florastor probiotics daily (Saccharomyces boulardii is the active ingredient, i.e. a specific type of friendly bacteria to combat the bad gut bacteria.)
-My gastro symptoms were completely gone following the procedure, and suddenly, for the first time in yeeeeears I was having totally solid, totally normal bowel movements. So I figured it must have been a parasite after all. BUT THEN, after three weeks of perfect bowel movements, all of my terrible symptoms returned very suddenly and consistently. It was such a bummer. And now I was totally stumped.
-LUCKILY, I eventually put two and two together and realized it was because when I ran out of Florastor I switched to a different kind of probiotic, which didn't work at all. So I went to a Walgreens, picked up some more Florastor and within two days my symptoms were gone again and I've been having perfect bowel movements for a week now.
So the bottom line is this: FLORASTOR IS APPARENTLY A MIRACLE WORKER! (And I'm sure you could probably find a less expensive generic version. Just make sure the active ingredient is Saccharomyces Boulardii.) I'm pretty sure my symptoms were caused by taking too many antibiotics back in the day and never restoring proper balance to my gut bacteria. So maybe it was a candida overload?? It would make sense because I used to suffer from recurrent yeast infections as well.
Anyways, hope you have the same luck with Florastor / Saccharomyces boulardii!
-Started having IBS-D symptoms about 7 years ago, but it had been especially bad in the last two years. i.e. Very frequent, urgent, usually watery diarrhea.
-It was getting to be embarrassing, so I finally saw a gastrointesinology specialist. After telling him the details of my symptoms he was really convinced I had celiac's disease. I wasn't so sure though, because I'd tried gluten-free diets before with no luck.
-He insisted I have a colonoscopy to check for Celiac, Crohn's, cancer, etc., so I agreed and went through with it. (It's important to have it done if you have these symptoms. Better safe than sorry!)
-Everything turned out to be fine, other than having some inflammation and slight acid reflux. So he said it may have been a parasite causing my symptoms, but not to worry because the Bowel Prep kit that I took prior to the colonoscopy would have wiped them all out if that was indeed the case.
-Following the procedure he recommended taking Florastor probiotics daily (Saccharomyces boulardii is the active ingredient, i.e. a specific type of friendly bacteria to combat the bad gut bacteria.)
-My gastro symptoms were completely gone following the procedure, and suddenly, for the first time in yeeeeears I was having totally solid, totally normal bowel movements. So I figured it must have been a parasite after all. BUT THEN, after three weeks of perfect bowel movements, all of my terrible symptoms returned very suddenly and consistently. It was such a bummer. And now I was totally stumped.
-LUCKILY, I eventually put two and two together and realized it was because when I ran out of Florastor I switched to a different kind of probiotic, which didn't work at all. So I went to a Walgreens, picked up some more Florastor and within two days my symptoms were gone again and I've been having perfect bowel movements for a week now.
So the bottom line is this: FLORASTOR IS APPARENTLY A MIRACLE WORKER! (And I'm sure you could probably find a less expensive generic version. Just make sure the active ingredient is Saccharomyces Boulardii.) I'm pretty sure my symptoms were caused by taking too many antibiotics back in the day and never restoring proper balance to my gut bacteria. So maybe it was a candida overload?? It would make sense because I used to suffer from recurrent yeast infections as well.
Anyways, hope you have the same luck with Florastor / Saccharomyces boulardii!