When is it safe to stop probiotics?

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Doville
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When is it safe to stop probiotics?

Postby Doville » Tue Oct 13, 2020 4:35 pm

Hello, I am 33 year old female 1 month post Dificid treatment (my only treatment, haven’t had any other before).
All my symptoms seems to be improving slowly but I do get a lot of bloating and gas.
I was wondering if it could be caused by probiotics or boulardii yeast and I am curious if it would be safe to not use any?
Has anyone stopped using pill probiotics and yeast and did not relapse?

beth22
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Re: When is it safe to stop probiotics?

Postby beth22 » Tue Oct 13, 2020 9:27 pm

I could not take the boulardii because it gave me terrible gas and bloating and looser stools. I was able to tolerate some VSL#3. Usually people continue probiotics for a few months. You might want to try a different one that agrees with you more. Others drink kefir and that seems to help them.

Doville
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Re: When is it safe to stop probiotics?

Postby Doville » Wed Oct 14, 2020 2:13 pm

Thank you. I will try vsl as I already bought them. I do not want to depend on probiotics for a long time as I read a study that they could prolong recovery of your own microflora. I think I might also try low fodmap diet and by introducing high fodmap foods I might identify what could cause my problems with bloating and gas. Not sure what else I could do.

twoscoop
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Re: When is it safe to stop probiotics?

Postby twoscoop » Wed Feb 10, 2021 3:21 pm

Sorry this is a reply to an older post but I also didn't want to become dependent on probiotics after recovery so I stopped 2 months out and my cdiff came back :( just curious if you ever stopped or ended up continuing

NS789
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Re: When is it safe to stop probiotics?

Postby NS789 » Wed Feb 10, 2021 9:22 pm

Probiotics are a topic of much debate. Even my ID specialist and his intern were very wishy washy about them when I met with them. They basically said that the research is limited and at times contradictory regarding their effectiveness.

Their advice to me was... "stay the course." And I repeat that to myself anytime I think about changing things up.

Essentially, the probiotic regimen that I've been taking seems to be working for me, so they said, if you're feeling well with the probiotics, then by all means, keep taking them.

So if you find something that works, just stick with it.

I plan to "stay the course" with my probiotics for a long time. Maybe indefinitely. I don't want to tempt fate :)!
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.

beth22
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Re: When is it safe to stop probiotics?

Postby beth22 » Thu Feb 11, 2021 2:35 am

My mother got c diffcile when she was 86 and she relapsed a couple of times before finally getting over it. She continued to take a probiotic every day until she died at age 98. She had to take antibiotics on more than one occasion during those 12 years and she never got a relapse of c diff. I'm not sure if her probiotic was the reason, but it did not hurt her and might have helped.

Doville
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Re: When is it safe to stop probiotics?

Postby Doville » Sat Feb 20, 2021 1:51 pm

I actually stopped probiotics a bit more than 2 months after treatment and now I am more than 5 months out feeling quite normal with some occasional PI-IBS.. not sure if I should take them or not..

beth22
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Re: When is it safe to stop probiotics?

Postby beth22 » Sat Feb 20, 2021 11:54 pm

If you feel okay without them, then you probably don't need them. If you need to take antibiotics in the future, I would take them during treatment and for a while after.

Doville
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Re: When is it safe to stop probiotics?

Postby Doville » Sun Feb 21, 2021 4:16 pm

Thank you Beth. I would definitely take probiotics and boulardii if I would need antibiotics.. I just really hope it is safe not to take them now. Don’t want any relapses. But I am trying to believe that my own gut flora is now capable of dealing with it and if it was not, then it would have been already a problem few months ago after I initially stopped them..

I assume that perhaps due to my treatment being Dificid and I knocked it out with one round that perhaps my gut flora was already in better shape than people who unfortunately have to be on antibiotics (particularly vanco) for many times so probiotics could be needed for much longer and reducing them should be done gradually..

twoscoop
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Re: When is it safe to stop probiotics?

Postby twoscoop » Thu Feb 25, 2021 9:18 pm

That makes sense! I was actually on flagyl. Ohhhh how I regret that! I didn't know much about cdiff then and wish I would've switched to vanco or demanded it from my doctor but she said flagyl should do the trick. I ended up treating my relapse with dificid this month but I'm too paranoid to stop my probiotic in the future. Maybe I'll lower my intake but for sure I'll be on it for a full year. Not ditch it in 2 months. Hope you are feeling well!


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