This is something I've been thinking about a lot after recently suffering from four recurrences of C. diff.
If you're taking a diverse variety of high dose probiotics, shouldn't your gut flora become healthy and strong enough to fight off any attempts by C. diff to re-establish itself?
I guess the C. diff must be strong enough to overpower any good bacteria in your gut, no matter how many probiotics you're taking. I like to think that the probiotics will shield me against bad bacteria but so far, that doesn't seem like the case. I picture a battle between the C. diff and the good bacteria in my body and it seems like the C. diff always wins.
Why don't probiotics prevent recurrence?
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Why don't probiotics prevent recurrence?
32 y/o female. Got C. diff in Feb. 2020. Prescribed Flagyl (10 days), then Flagyl again (4 days), then Vanco (10 days), then Dificid (10 days), then Dificid again (10 days), then a Vanco taper (5 wks), then a Dificid taper (2 mths) and finally recovered.
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Re: Why don't probiotics prevent recurrence?
Theres between 2 and 6 pounds of bacteria (in weight) in your gut and it's taken your lifetime to mature.
Theres probably 500 or more diferent types living inside us.
A few pills of " probiotics" that are not normal gut flora and do not multiply inside you dont add much to it.
Possibly some probiotics might take up the same receptors that c.diff wants to latch onto but nobody knows if that's correct.
Regardless of the type or brand though they are gone within 48 hours of stopping taking them
Imagine eating 4 pounds of sausages and you realise how much probiotic bacteria you would need to consume to replace the natural flora!
Then theres the fact that almost all of it would be destroyed before it reached the place where it lives.
Probiotics "might" help but the aim should be to slowly rebuild the normal flora and avoid damaging it again.
Theres probably 500 or more diferent types living inside us.
A few pills of " probiotics" that are not normal gut flora and do not multiply inside you dont add much to it.
Possibly some probiotics might take up the same receptors that c.diff wants to latch onto but nobody knows if that's correct.
Regardless of the type or brand though they are gone within 48 hours of stopping taking them
Imagine eating 4 pounds of sausages and you realise how much probiotic bacteria you would need to consume to replace the natural flora!
Then theres the fact that almost all of it would be destroyed before it reached the place where it lives.
Probiotics "might" help but the aim should be to slowly rebuild the normal flora and avoid damaging it again.
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Re: Why don't probiotics prevent recurrence?
I wonder how long it takes to rebuild your natural gut flora after your body has been ravaged by c diff and its associated antibiotics.
32 y/o female. Got C. diff in Feb. 2020. Prescribed Flagyl (10 days), then Flagyl again (4 days), then Vanco (10 days), then Dificid (10 days), then Dificid again (10 days), then a Vanco taper (5 wks), then a Dificid taper (2 mths) and finally recovered.
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Re: Why don't probiotics prevent recurrence?
It takes a long time because the antibiotics to treat c diff also ravage your system. GIs have told me at least 6 months, but more like a year or more. I think everyone is different. I think it also depends on how many relapses and round of antibiotics one takes.
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Re: Why don't probiotics prevent recurrence?
So how do you rebuild your gut flora?
Male 54, contracted C-Diff on Feb 5, 2020, diagnosed on March 2nd, Took Flagyl for 8 days, Vanco for 10 days, relapsed 5 weeks post-Vanco. finished Dificid Taper on June 20 relapsed two weeks later, had the FMT on July 14th, 2020
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Re: Why don't probiotics prevent recurrence?
The healthy gut flora can be helped by a good diet , fiber , preventing iritation (also diet related , the gut will heal faster when people stay away from inflamatory foods ) and time (because that bacteria won't multiply over night).
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