Probiotics & Antibiotics

Hi TE,
Don't sweat it too much...here in France they automatically give you a prescription for Brewer's Yeast with every antibiotic script and pretty much, any doctor who has had a bit of paralelle medicine training, gives you a script for probiotics and tells you to take at least one probiotic yoghurt a day while on antibiotics...Different countries, different protocols but they all basically tell you that you need the good bacteria to prevent bad bacterial over-run from happening...
I always buy the brewer's yeast, those mini bottles of probiotic yoghurt drink, other reinforced yoghurts etc...I tended to get yeast infections every time they put me on antibiotics until I did that.
Sharon

I've brought the yeast prescription pill with us to FL. I'll probably still eat my Greek yogurt a day too. The 900 billion probiotic VSL#3DS I'm putting on hold until I finish the antibiotic.
Thanks

TE Marie,

I understand your post but I always take vsl3 about 2/3 hours in between my antibiotic dosage. I am sure I am negating the effects, but I worry about getting c-diff and my surgeon and GI never had an issue with my taking probiotics while on antibiotics and actually suggest it .

Here is a link supporting what both Sharon and Jeane say - taking probiotics along with anti-biotics is probably a good idea. I personally don't take as much probiotics while on antibiotics, but I don't stop.

I'm taking Flagyl for c-diff. I wasn't sure if I had it again or not but one day on antibiotics everything is much better. I took my probiotic every other time I took Flagyl too. It took a month of Flagyl to get rid of my c-diff the last time so I re-read the VSL#3DS insert. Jan Dollar said something in a post not too long ago about not taking it with antibiotics.

People that are constantly on antibiotics are a different story. I guess you need to take them. Your doctors know much more than I do.

I am mad at myself for not realizing I had the c-diff back. I asked my doctor for the Flagyl prescription as I'm on vacation, so I didn't take a test to prove it. It's worked so fast and I've never had pouchitis before so it must be c-diff. I have been stewing for weeks about this as it's just gotten worse. They all have such similar symptoms, grr. So I'm treating both cuffitis and c-diff and feeling better.

Sorry to hear this TEMarie. I have never ahd c-diff so I am not sure how you would tell the difference between it and pouchitis. Feel better!

I'm just a little bit confused - it sounds like the antibiotics could inactivate some of the VSL strains, which would at most mean it could make taking the VSL while on antibiotics pointless; but - it doesn't work the other way around, does it?

I mean, can the VSL, if taken away from the antibiotics, inactivate the antibiotics? I would think not, but now am not sure ...

You are correct, the only real risk is wasting the expensive VSL#3, not inactivating the antibiotics. It might make sense to take a probiotic while taking antibiotics, but I'd probably opt for something cheap, or some good yogurt. Maybe S. boulardii, which is supposed to keep C. diff suppressed.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20458757

Jan

I'm making too big a deal out of this! After further research in a c-diff support group and other sites like Livestrong etc. I put the VSL #3DS in my Greek yogurt and ate it 4 hours after taking the Flagyl. Then I read the Strands of Bacteria in VSL and the yogurt and neither had the one Jan's researched above. I also took Imodium.

Thanks everyone. I know c-diff is something coloned people get too as I had it back before my surgeries. I know it's not pouchitis because I have the Alien trying to claw it's self out of my belly and diarrhea every time I stand up The same problems I had before. I can not tell if I have cuffitis too as I had them together before.

Thanks everyone!

So sorry you are dealing with this. Keep your probiotics up. I take them every day twice a day due to chronic cipro use.

Oh you have to take them as Cipro was the antibiotic that we thought triggered my first c-diff attack years ago. There again it took a long time to diagnose because it was similar to my UC and IBS. DO you take 2 packets or half in the a.m. and the other half in the p.m.

That was an interesting article posted by Jan. In addition to information about medical applications of S. boulardii, it also provides good advice on buying probiotics in general (look under "Guidelines for Choosing Probiotics"). Perhaps unsurprisingly, many products don't contain what they claim on the label.

It was also interesting to learn that typical therapeutic doses are in the range of 100 billion (stated in section "Properties of S. boulardii").

I may have to grab me some Florastor. Thanks Jan.

100 billion, I just purchased it in 5 billion doses. I guess I'll be taking more than one a day! The bottle says 1-2 a day. I'm still taking my VSL#3DS too.

I slept almost 12 hours, waking up to use the restroom of course and drink water plus take medications. It's been forever since I slept that much. Flagyl was really making me feel lousy but not today. Things are finally getting better.

It is hard to tell what's going on jeane, that's why I didn't realize it for at least a month. I was feeling so lousy I was discussing ditching my pouch! I was treating cuffitis and things were getting worse, that's how I can tell. I get them at the same time. Who knows I could have pouchitis, Flagyl is good for both. It's a nasty antibiotic.

Gee, from what I was reading, it looked like there were doses ranging from 1 to 20 billion per day. Not sure where the 100 billion came from (that would be 10 to the 12th power). But, it is a big article, so it might have been in there and I didn't see it. But, specifically for recurrent C. difficile, it looked like the studies used 5-20 billion.

Marie, glad you are feeling better. I guess I am one of the lucky few and Flagyl does not make me feel funky, just that funky taste in my mouth (glass of wine, and I don't care!). But, I don't take it very often.

Jan

Jan is right, that should read 10 not 100 billion. I inadvertently added a zero. By the way, if I remember my scientific notation correctly (and it has been a while!) I think 100 billion is 1 x 10^11.

I know there are lots of probiotics out there to choose from, but I'll put these out there: iflora has 32 billion cells per serving with 16 strains of probiotics; also, multidophilus-12 (solaray) has 20 billion cells/12 strains. S. boulardii is not in either, but can be obtained separately. (Been researching as my VSL is no longer covered by ins.)

I just started taking probiotics and never considered insurance.
I am taking Ultimate Flora,
15 Billion cells;10 probiotic strain.
9 billion Bifido probiotic and
6 billion Lacto Probiotic

The only probiotic some insurance companies cover is VSL#3DS. I checked with my insurance company before I started taking it. It has to be the DS with 900 billion vs VSL#3 that has 450 billion.

It doesn't have the probiotic in it that Jan is referring to so I bought it from Amazon.com for $14, 90 - 5 billion capsules. SO I am taking 2 a day. Thanks everyone for confirming the dosage.

I am a bit late to this post, but while taking antibiotics you should take Florastor, (s. boudarii) it is a probiotic but a good yeast where as VSL is good bacteria. That is why it is not in VSL. The yeast doesn't get destroyed whilst on antibiotic. I give florastor and make the switch back to VSL after my antibiotics are gone. Then I hit it hard with the VSL we do 400+ billion a day which is 1 regular sachet of VSL for two weeks and then titrate to 200+ billion. Hope this helps. The VSL (reg strength) is covered by our secondary insurance.

Thanks Mary,

I'm taking the s. boudarli or whatever, and thought it was a probiotic and was a bit confused as it's a yeast. I'm taking it with my VSL all the time as it's good for c-diff prevention. I'm glad your insurance covers the lower dose of VSL #3 as it makes sense that a younger person doesn't need the DS dosage.