[partypooper]

i was reading the ingredients on the probiotica bottle and noticed that it had lactulose as one of the ingredients. my prescription drug book says that this is a laxative/stool softener. is this true? i am ibs-d and do not want to be taking anything with a laxative in it. i thought that i better pass this on for other ibs-d sufferers who are considering taking probiotica.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Lactulose in relatively large amounts (like 15-60 ml's of syrup) can be used a laxative. It is unlikely that the amount in the pills would cause a problem for the vast majority of people who take them.K.------------------I have no financial, academic, or any other stake in any commercial product mentioned by me.My story and what worked for me in greatly easing my IBS: http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000015.html

 

[Kathleen M.]

Lactulose in relatively large amounts (like 15-60 ml's of syrup) can be used a laxative. It is unlikely that the amount in the pills would cause a problem for the vast majority of people who take them.K.------------------I have no financial, academic, or any other stake in any commercial product mentioned by me.My story and what worked for me in greatly easing my IBS: http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000015.html

 

[Guest]

I took probiotica a few months ago and it was a complete nightmare......my stomach was soo upset and I had explosive diarrhea and gas. It took me about a week to recover. I should also add that I am very lactose intolerant so that could've had something to do with it. It did't work for me but that doesn't mean it won't work for you.

 

[Guest]

I took probiotica a few months ago and it was a complete nightmare......my stomach was soo upset and I had explosive diarrhea and gas. It took me about a week to recover. I should also add that I am very lactose intolerant so that could've had something to do with it. It did't work for me but that doesn't mean it won't work for you.

 

[Kathleen M.]

Lactose and lactulose are NOT the same molecule.With probiotics I tend to think that when you have problems it is probably more likely that something with the flora being mucked with is what causes things rather than the small amounts of binders and flavorants.Just because the thing that is the active ingredient is generally presant in much higher doses than any of the other things in the pill even when at large doses (like several grams of it) they can cause problems.We don't know that much about the colonic flora, but I know that in other organisms where we know more about the flora in the GI tract (like cows) doing things that cause rapid changes in the bacteria can cause GI upset (actually with cows you can kill them from excess gas if you muck the bacteria fast enough by altering the diet too much all at once).Depending on how your particular flora respond to the invading bacteria you may get various results. Most people don't have problems, and any problems you have should settle down in a week or so (which may or may not be worth toughing it out depnding on your symptoms) once a new steady-state develops. Different species of bacteria may interact with your particular flora differently (and your flora may change over time) so I think some people may do better with one brand vs another.K.------------------I have no financial, academic, or any other stake in any commercial product mentioned by me.My story and what worked for me in greatly easing my IBS: http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000015.html [This message has been edited by kmottus (edited 07-24-2001).]

 

[Kathleen M.]

Lactose and lactulose are NOT the same molecule.With probiotics I tend to think that when you have problems it is probably more likely that something with the flora being mucked with is what causes things rather than the small amounts of binders and flavorants.Just because the thing that is the active ingredient is generally presant in much higher doses than any of the other things in the pill even when at large doses (like several grams of it) they can cause problems.We don't know that much about the colonic flora, but I know that in other organisms where we know more about the flora in the GI tract (like cows) doing things that cause rapid changes in the bacteria can cause GI upset (actually with cows you can kill them from excess gas if you muck the bacteria fast enough by altering the diet too much all at once).Depending on how your particular flora respond to the invading bacteria you may get various results. Most people don't have problems, and any problems you have should settle down in a week or so (which may or may not be worth toughing it out depnding on your symptoms) once a new steady-state develops. Different species of bacteria may interact with your particular flora differently (and your flora may change over time) so I think some people may do better with one brand vs another.K.------------------I have no financial, academic, or any other stake in any commercial product mentioned by me.My story and what worked for me in greatly easing my IBS: http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000015.html [This message has been edited by kmottus (edited 07-24-2001).]

 

[taffy]

I got a $5.00 coupon off on Probiotic and so I went to see what it was. I'm IBS"D". I asked my Pharmacist after I seen the price and he said it is Acidophilus and I can get the same effect and cheaper by going to the herbal section and buy Acidophilus. I used to take that way back before I was diagnoised with IBS and it always seemed to help but then that was 25 years ago and my IBS was not as a big problems as it is today. I was wondering if any body else has tried Acidophilus and what was your results for IBS"D". I take Imodium right now but that can be very unpredicitable. I have some Lotronex left and taking it only when I need it desperatly. I'm trying to save it for a trip in the spring to see my Grandson graduate from High School and my son-in-law 20 year retirement service from the Navy. that would be a 3 hour air trip to the State of Washington. My Pharmacist did not sound very encouraging about Lotronex coming back on the market. He was gone all last week for meetings about this stuff. I sure hope he is wrong. My whole church is praying for the return of Lotronex. Taffy

 

[taffy]

I got a $5.00 coupon off on Probiotic and so I went to see what it was. I'm IBS"D". I asked my Pharmacist after I seen the price and he said it is Acidophilus and I can get the same effect and cheaper by going to the herbal section and buy Acidophilus. I used to take that way back before I was diagnoised with IBS and it always seemed to help but then that was 25 years ago and my IBS was not as a big problems as it is today. I was wondering if any body else has tried Acidophilus and what was your results for IBS"D". I take Imodium right now but that can be very unpredicitable. I have some Lotronex left and taking it only when I need it desperatly. I'm trying to save it for a trip in the spring to see my Grandson graduate from High School and my son-in-law 20 year retirement service from the Navy. that would be a 3 hour air trip to the State of Washington. My Pharmacist did not sound very encouraging about Lotronex coming back on the market. He was gone all last week for meetings about this stuff. I sure hope he is wrong. My whole church is praying for the return of Lotronex. Taffy

 

[Kathleen M.]

The problem with acidophilus (and all dietary supplements) is they are unregulated, and unregulatable. It is hard to determine if the pill actually has what it says it has on it and unfortunately alot of times it does not.I've never had any luck, ever, with any of the cheapy acidophilus supplements, even the refrigerated ones.Certain brands seem to have what they say they have, and most of them tend to be on the more expensive side. Dead bacteria don't do any good. Culturelle, Probiotica, PB8 and a few others seem to work reliably well for people.Probiotica is the only one of the three I've tried and it works well for me even though the cheap acidolphilus (and I've tried several over the last 15 years) never did anything for me. One of the reasons I tried Probiotica is since the people that make Imodium have demonstarted they CAN make pills that have what they say they have in them (Imodium is regluated and regulatable) I figured it was worth a shot. The difference was within the first couple of days of taking it. Other Acidophilus's I've taken I've taken for a month with no noticible change.K.------------------I have no financial, academic, or any other stake in any commercial product mentioned by me.My story and what worked for me in greatly easing my IBS: http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000015.html [This message has been edited by kmottus (edited 07-24-2001).]

 

[Kathleen M.]

The problem with acidophilus (and all dietary supplements) is they are unregulated, and unregulatable. It is hard to determine if the pill actually has what it says it has on it and unfortunately alot of times it does not.I've never had any luck, ever, with any of the cheapy acidophilus supplements, even the refrigerated ones.Certain brands seem to have what they say they have, and most of them tend to be on the more expensive side. Dead bacteria don't do any good. Culturelle, Probiotica, PB8 and a few others seem to work reliably well for people.Probiotica is the only one of the three I've tried and it works well for me even though the cheap acidolphilus (and I've tried several over the last 15 years) never did anything for me. One of the reasons I tried Probiotica is since the people that make Imodium have demonstarted they CAN make pills that have what they say they have in them (Imodium is regluated and regulatable) I figured it was worth a shot. The difference was within the first couple of days of taking it. Other Acidophilus's I've taken I've taken for a month with no noticible change.K.------------------I have no financial, academic, or any other stake in any commercial product mentioned by me.My story and what worked for me in greatly easing my IBS: http://www.ibsgroup.org/ubb/Forum17/HTML/000015.html [This message has been edited by kmottus (edited 07-24-2001).]