Hi all,First I want to share my success in case it helps anyone else. I have been reading these boards for a while as a IBS-d sufferer for about 10 years. About a month ago I finally struggled through taking probiotics which has 10 billion friendly bacteria and 1 million S. bolourdi w/ a prebio also. In the past I had tried the probiotics but quit after having the adverse reaction which I now know is the "die-off" effect. cramps, d, headache, muscle ache, etc. After a week of struggling through a painful die-off period I began to feel results. After a month of taking this pill my symptoms are completely gone. Yes, 100% gone!!! I feel I have my life back. My morning d is gone, urgent feeling throughout day is gone, more energy in the morning, etc. In a nutshell I feel like I am 18 again with no worries. So i will heavily encourage anyone else to give these probiotics a try.My question is for anyone else that has gone through this though. How do I get off this product because I'm actually a bit worried to stop or cut back on something that's clearly changed my life. Are smaller doses at this stage enough? I don't want to undue the healing that has already occurred. Can I continue the 10 billion forever with no adverse effects? Anyone with a bit longer term experience i would greatly appreciate some advice. Thanks
Probiotics saved me...how do I get off them though?
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There shouldn't be some medical reason you have to stop them. The bacteria are not harmful and one of the reasons people started looking at them was some groups of people that eat a lot of yogurt every day of their life seemed to stay healthy and live a long life (not sure what other factors go into their longevity, but eating a lot of bacteria every day isn't harming them).I found that after several months when I found one that worked I could go off them for awhile, but eventually my fart frequency will go back up.Probiotics are transients in the colon so if you don't reseed them regularly you will have a big drop in population.If you do well for the next several months you can see if you can cut back to every other day or a couple of days a week. Lately I'll not take them for a month or two and then when the farting comes back I'll take them for a week or so. I never get a die off, so I don't have to worry about initial symptoms, and that may be a reason to just keep it up (even if you you do them once or twice a week to maintain the population).
Can you please name it? What probiotics are you using?
Thanks Kathleen. I think i might go another month and then reduce the strength and frequency. It's just something i always think i would rather my body not be dependant on anything but sounds like i shouldn't worry too much about that then. At this point I am actually in shock that it worked because I've tried all sorts of misdiagnosed treatments over the years and the one that does work seems to be the healthiest and least amount of side effects. Mirmark I am using Probio7. I believe its only offered in the UK but i'm sure you can get the ingredients off the website and look for something similar. As I said I had a really strong reaction at first and I would say that if you have a similar strong reaction stick through it as you will have probably hit the problem.
Thank you for info!I still can get it from UK
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Your colon will be full of bacteria whether you take probiotics or not.And you are kind of dependent on them no matter who is in there (keeping mice in completely germ free conditions so they never get any bacteria in there tends to make them less healthy than their germ filled cousins).All you are doing, IMO, when you take probiotics is have some say about what you are reseeding in there. Kinda like growing a lawn. You can just let the bare earth gather seeds and hope some of it is the grass you want or you can put down seed to make sure you have the kind of grass you want.All low lying plants will cover the dirt and survive being mowed, but you might get the lawn you like by planting the kind of grass seed you want than just leaving it up to chance and hoping whatever is growing next door doesn't end up taking over your yard.
Speaking of probiotics, my gastro recommended I try them. So I went to the store and bought a bunch of yogurt. I should also mention that I really HATE yogurt and always have, but I've had very bad D on and off for the past 8 months and it coincides with my period. Anyway, I'm doing well on the yogurt so far with regards to the D, but my acid reflux is really flaring. I've thought about just trying the regular probiotics you guys are talking about, but am now concerned about my reflux issues. I'm already on Prevacid and Zantac every day. Any ideas?
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I tried Align but had to stop after a few days as they seemed to irritate my bowel. Shame as they are not available in England & so I asked a friend to bring a few boxes back from the U.S. for me. Just started some Kirkmans's Gold, recently tried Dr Mercola's, I did tolerate them but no obvious change.
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