Lactoferrin as a supplement...

Hi Danno_au, I just saw your message. It sounds interesting. It's been 4 months and you've got no answer so far. I wonder if your message went unnoticed or nobody has any information on lactoferrin.

Are you still taking lactoferrin supplements? Do they still help you take antibiotic-free holidays?

Stay well,

I can't help noticing all these posts about the suffering of so many people with pouchitis. The one thing they have in common is the taking of repeated courses of powerful antibiotics. I just wonder if they are doing more harm than good, that the antibiotics are leading to pouchitis?

I have never had pouchitis, thank goodness, although for many years I did take repeated courses of antibiotics for an unrelated problem. I always wondered about  the microbiome in view of the altered transit times and pH of the small bowel. Can I heartily recommend Martin Blaser's Book : Missing Microbes by Oneworld books? Here he emphasis the cause of so many of modern  man's woes through the destruction and lack of diversity of the intestinal flora - so vital for health through antibiotic abuse. I have often marveled at the diet my wife provides which is identical to hers. It is full and varied  with vegetables, salads and fruits.

Obviously I chew each mouthful very thoroughly and am intrigued to see a product quite close to a normal stool although perhaps a tad sludgy. There is clearly active intestinal bacteria judging by the amount of fermented gas. 

I just feel there is vicious circle of pouchitis, antibiotics, microbiome destruction, abnormal bacteria, pouchitis, antibiotics, abnormal bacteria and on and on.

Normal microbiome can be encouraged by fermented foods, miso etc.

Think about it 

Alan

Alan, there is no evidence that I'm aware of that antioibiotics cause pouchitis. They can have all sorts of side effects, they're not very good for a robust microbiome, and they shouldn't be taken unnecessarily, but they aren't responsible for everything your imagination suggests.

Hi Linguist,

Thought I'd check in after a few months of *crickets* and lo and behold, someone noticed .

Yes I'm still taking the lactoferrin, but have incorporated it into my antibiotic rotation. Not because the lactoferrin stopped working (it still works great), but just a means to "hedge my bets" as I don't want to discover down the track that it either a) Loses effect due to resistance or b) Has some other negative long-term effect that we don't yet know about due to lack of studies.

So my rotation is now 2 weeks Flagyl / 2 Weeks Lactoferrin / 4 weeks Rifaximin. I've dropped Cipro as the side effects aren't worth it, even though it works as effectively as the flagyl.

An interesting thing I read about lactoferrin is that it works by starving bacteria of iron. So if resistance did occur it would have to a different mechanism to other antibiotic resistance.

Interesting news! Glad to hear it is working for you. Keep reporting back. We need all the ideas we can get.

Jan