Probiotic

[clevermanka]

For nearly three months, I've been taking a probiotic to rebuild my gut flora . My (not inexpensive) bottle of capsules is nearly gone. Do I need to order another one? Is this something I should continue to take indefinitely?

My current health expenses are keeping me from putting any money into my savings account. It would be nice to cut one expenditure if I can.

Your thoughts?

Comments

[indigodreamer.livejournal.com]

I've been very happy with the Merc brand lactobacillius capsules from the refrigerator case in the supplements department. They are affordable and seem to do the trick whenever I have to take an antibiotic for any reason. (They are in stock most of the time, but occasionally sell out for a week or two, FYI.) Possibly worth a try?

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

They all have dairy as a component. This is the only brand I've found that is dairy-free.

[indigodreamer.livejournal.com]

Ah. Okay; makes sense.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

How quickly will you know whether it sucks to be *off* that supplement? How quickly will it take you to rebalance your system if you end up going back on it again?

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I have no idea.

Honestly, I never noticed if the probiotic did any good, because I was making other dietary changes at the same time I introduced it.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Hrm. Might be a worthy experiment to see if taking it every other day is acceptable, or what. (Says the person who doesn't have to experience it). I do hope you're able to find an agreeable physical and financial balance with this.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

It's especially irritating that I ran into this right before KCRF starts. I should have thought to try your suggestion last month or something.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Awkward. I haven't ever performed at KCRF, but I do have some performance/competition experience. Changing Your Forumla mid-run in any way is really difficult and risky. Erk.

I am in no way any sort of doctor-person.

[fairgoldberry.livejournal.com]

Was it a replacement of gut flora or a treatment to address ongoing hostility in your system? If your system stopped doing whatever it was to kill off your gut flora, then I would think three months is long enough to repopulate. If your system is still hostile, then you may need to keep taking it until your system is stable.

When I've taken probiotics for acute and temporary conditions (the last time was high-dose postsurgical antibiotics), I saw results within a few days and stopped the supplements after two or three weeks without incident, but that was for a pretty cut-and-dried replacement.

Love,
Rowan

Re: I am in no way any sort of doctor-person.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Was it a replacement of gut flora or a treatment to address ongoing hostility in your system?

Yes, exactly. I would hope that in three months, my gut could repopulate. But knowing me....

ARGH. So frustrating.

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

I'm iffy about them. I've tried two or three different sorts, and still haven't noticed any difference. :(
I can't imagine it being one of those "I have to take this forever, or else.." kind of supplements, but more a "get this back in balance" stop-gap.

How long has it been since you went off the antibiotics? Wasn't this a sort of "balance that out" addition?

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's been ages since I stopped the antibiotics. Thank God.

I think maybe I'll stop taking them this week and see what happens.

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

Keeping some in reserve in case of OMGTHISSUCKSMUSTFINDTHEMNOW?

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Exactly!

[grnvixen.livejournal.com]

If it was for rebuilding the gut flora, I would assume there would be, at the very least, a different recommendation for maintaining it. Bummer it is so close to faire but maybe you cut back a bit the next couple of weeks and see how it goes.

Good luck!

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Yep. That's exactly what I'm going to do. Skip the dose for the rest of the week and see how I feel over the weekend. Fingers crossed!

[mckitterick.livejournal.com]

Y'know, it might be a good idea to taper off, then quit for a week, then for two weeks, and so on. Make sense?