My husband is getting over a bout of pouchitis and doing great on flagyl (750 mg) and VSL3 sachets each 900 billion (2 a day). The VSL3 is very expensive but it is doing its job now. When this bout of pouchitis is passed, what do you recommend as a maintenance of VSL3 (without flagyl) - each sachet he has is 900 billion. I would like to know if he can take a VSL3 for one-two weeks every few months to maintain. Any advice appreciated. Oh and some sachets are only 450 billion, what do you think?
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I take a lot of VSL for maintenance - four double-strength (900 billion) per day. Most people don’t seem to need so much, but I don’t think intermittent use has been studied. You don’t say if he’s had pouchitis before, but if it’s been a recurrent problem then you can tell whether your maintenance dose is working by assessing the frequency of episodes. SImilarly, if this is the first episode then a fairly low dose (e.g. one sachet per day) may turn out to be plenty.
Some insurance companies will cover the higher-strength formulation.
Also see if you can get a coupon from VSL. My husband uses that and can get a 3 month supply for $179.
The coupons are easy to find on the VSL web site.
Thank you. He's had some pouchitis over the past 25 years but this bout was worse as he had blockage too which took over two months to start to clear up (even tho doctor doesn't related blockage to pouchitis, husband feels he is wrong and they are related). Medicare doesn't cover VSL but will check the website and see how much we can save. thanks for all your answers.
