When to wean probiotics

[CDiffMommy]

Hello,
A brief background: I had a baby 6 months ago, after several antibiotics (3 different to be exact), ended up with CDiff - one 10 day round of Flagyl did not do it and I had a relapse....went on vanco for a long taper (while taking Florastor 4x per day-250mg each). I've now been off of vanco for 10 weeks (over 70 days, 2 1/2 months)...can you tell I'm counting? ;) I am feeling great! I eat everything I want (coffee, wine, salad, etc..), thank God...I am pretty close to my old self (with a few parting gifts that I will not go into). Anyway....my question is... I have been taking the same amount of Florastor this whole time....4 per day (250mg each)....2 in the am, 2 in the PM... so I was debating dropping down to 3 per day for a few weeks and then dropping down to 2 and staying at that for another month or so, and eventually going to 1. I also try to eat an Activia yogurt or drink Keifer at least once per day.
What is everyone's opinion on dropping down the Florastor? Should I stay the same...or do what I said above? Was everyone ok after lowering their intake of probiotics? I don't want to mess with a good thing but I do know that eventually I need to lower it a bit.

Thanks so much in advance! :)

[Nancy1]

I did exactly what you describe, that is, taper off of the 4 probiotics I was taking. No problems. This was about 6 months post-cdiff. Good luck.

[Daisydogmom]

I have been giving my son probiotics since he had it. I plan to taper him off slowly after the one year anniversary passes in a few weeks. Boy has it been expensive. I really had no idea when to taper him, either (neither did his doctors). It is just so confusing. Good luck!

[klt03301]

I'm unsure as to whether the question is tapering down to just one or none at all. Is there a reason for going off of probiotics? I've been taking them for over a year now. I alternate 3 different types every month. I've heard they may lose efficacy over time, but is there another reason other than this and the cost?

Thanks,

Karen

[trob25]

I wouldn't taper down and go off them completely. How about you taper down to one per day? It can't really hurt you and is probably still beneficial. I'm down to taking one culturelle and one primadophilus reuteri per day along with one glass of Kefir and one Danactive.

I'm staying on this for at least a full year (I recently crossed the 6 month mark) and I'll probably drink Kefir forever.

[trob25]

Oh, and if things are going well, I'd just stay on what you are taking for 5 -6 months, that's a good safe point to then begin reducing, only if you want to. Pro-b are not going to hurt you.

[klt03301]

Thanks Trob!

[CDiffMommy]

Thanks for your replies everyone - just to clarify - no, I do not intend on coming off of them at all. It's just that I am taking 4 Florastor capsules per day now and I wanted to taper down to 2 per day. I just didn't think it was necessary to stay on 4 for so long, but I wanted everyone's opinions. My doctor had told me to taper after a few weeks but I didn't feel comfortable with that. I figured I'd go from 4 to 3 for a few weeks and then go down to 2, and stay on 2 for two more months. Then I'll go to 1 and take that forever.

[TheVike]

i ll never ever stop my activia, dan active, and kefir everyday now forever no matter what

[CDiffMommy]

Vike - I agree, I will always take Florastor (along with Activia or Keifer) every day.....I'm just thinking that at some point it makes sense to take less than 4 Florastor capsules per day....my intention was never to stop, just to wean/taper to 1 or 2.

Thanks again everyone.