Probiotic Causing Problems After 4 Months

[Wyok]

First of all, let me thank all of you on here. I have been "lurking" for some time, and the information and support has been invaluable.

Quick background: Like others here, I got cdiff after taking clindamycin for a tooth abscess. A tooth abscess! I am a generally healthy 62 year old. About four years prior to that, I had a parasite infection (was nasty, but got rid of it with herbs and probiotics) and, right before the abscess, I had dysbiosed myself (long, stupid story), but was pretty much recovered when the cdiff hit. I'm thinking I might have gotten it because my innards were not quite back to normal.

Anyway...I got a case that wasn't bad. As a matter of fact, my doc didn't think it was cdiff at first. Once we knew, she decided to give me a three day course of Rifaximin. It worked like a charm. Things were not totally back to normal, but pretty OK. I started feeling like maybe it wasn't quite gone so, about 8 weeks after the initial course, she gave me another one. That really seemed to knock it out. That was the end of December. So, since the beginning of January, I have been taking two VSL#3 and two saccromyces pills a day. Everything was just about back to normal. But...in the last week or two, I have been having odd looking stools, mush, you name it, but it doesn't feel like cdiff. When I went back to her, she said it is likely that I need to change up the probiotic since I've been using the VSL for four months, which is a long time. She said that the bacteria can actually start to cause problems. She says she usually recommends cycling off one probiotic and onto another one every two months. Of course, I didn't think to ask her about this the first time. Have any of you had this happen to you? Can your body simply start to reject the probiotics you've been taking?

[beth22]

I have been taking VSL#3 for a few years, but I take a very small dose - only part of a capsule and I don't have any problems. I can't take Florastor at all. It makes me sick. Too much yeast is not good either. You could try switching and see if that helps you. Or you can just take one of them and see. But, if your doctor recommends switching, I would try that. Probiotics definitely can cause GI symptoms including gas, bloating, loose stools or D and cramping. I get all of those with many different probiotics, but I have SIBO too (dysbiosis). For those of us with SIBO, probiotics can be counterproductive.

[Wyok]

Thanks for your reply.
I have been taking two VSL a day now, so it sounds like I am overdoing it. I don't get D or pains, but I am more gassy, get mush and weird (even triangular) stuff. It varies, but just started happening recently.
I guess it could also be IBD, but my doc doesn't seem to think it quite fits. I suppose I could have a mild case.

I will try this new probiotic - just one a day - and see how it goes. I am bummed because I was doing really well, and was back to eating almost ( not quite ) anything.

My dysbiosis was not SIBO, just the regular gut flora messed up for about 8 weeks. I got it back to normal pretty fast, but,as I said, I think it left my gut a bit sensitive.

Thanks again...this board has been a lifesaver.

[NanciT]

I can only speak from my experience. I also have continued on 1 VSL#3 for the last 6 months after 10 months of treatment for C DIff. I developed IBS post C DIFF and have continued to have issue's with that. My MD actually told me to get off the VSL3 but I could not see doing that.
There are many probiotics and several people on this site use different ones. I have tried a few others but the VSL3 seems to work best for me, everyone is different.
It sounds like you are in healing process and it takes time, I am happy to hear you have been able to eat well!

[ResearchGrandma]

Was your C. diff diagnosed with a stool culture? I have not heard of anyone else being cured of C. diff by such a short course of rifamixin. You are one very lucky person if this is truly what happened!
If your symptoms worsen after a suitable trial of adjusting probiotics you might consider getting another test for C. diff.

[Wyok]

Thanks for all of your responses and encouragement.

NanciT...I guess it just is an up and down process. I have a feeling I may have some IBS too, but, again, it doesn't seem that bad compared to what other people have talked about.

ResearchGrandma - One of the things I like about my doc is that she is not afraid to take a new approach. She is a general practitioner, but also an infectious diseases specialist. She felt that, based on my symptoms, I might do well on Rifaximin. I read somewhere that some docs are now using it as one of the first line medicines. I did have two courses. And, yes, the first time I did test positive for cdiff. When I thought I was relapsing, it came back negative, but she gave me the Rifaximin anyway, before the test results came back. After that course, it seemed much better, no smell. Not sure what, exactly, is going on right now. It's remotely possible that it's come back - although I do not have diarrhea,per se, and no smell - and so I am being tested again.

Getting off the old probiotic and starting the new one today. Will let you know how it goes.

[roy]

Are you sure the Drs initial feeling that its not c.diff was not correct. (Its quite possible to be collonised but no treatment is needed)
I am not sure I would trust a Dr that tests to try and prove c.diff is gone.
I definatley would not trust one that prescribes 3 days of Rifaximin to a patient in an attempt to eradicate c.diff, even if the symptoms did not match the test result.
Rifaximim is not licensed as a drug to treat c.diff.
the following is how it is more often used (after the correct medication, not instead of it)

A randomized, double blind, placebo controlled pilot study found that patients given rifaximin 400
mg tds for 20 days, given immediately after finishing standard anti CDI antibiotics,
had a decreased incidence of recurrent diarrhoea

[Wyok]

Roy - Thanks for your input.

Well, I am sure I had cdiff the first time. I had diarrhea (although it wasn't as bad as some have reported here), and blood and mucus. The second time, it's possible that I was just having a post cdiff reaction. She wasn't trying to prove that I didn't have it the second time; she was trying to see if I did have it and, while waiting for the test results, thought it would be best to start another course of rifaximin, since I had some of the symptoms and that yucky smell still. I believe that if that test had come back positive, she would have given me vancomycin, because we talked about that possibility.

I started the new probiotic today, and this afternoon, I am feeling some difference. Hopefully, this will do the trick.

[Wyok]

My doc is usually up on the latest, and, while they are still "testing" rifaximin as a first line therapy for CDiff, the results so far are very promising. Here's a link: http://www.hindawi.com/journals/grp/2011/106978/

[beth22]

They do give Rifaximin for c diff, although usually as a chaser to vanco because I was told by my ID it only covers about 70% of the strains of c diff. If you happen to have one of those, then it will help, but if not, it won't. It sounds as if it worked on yours. It helped me too as a chaser to vanco when I had c diff - got rid of smell as well. I also took it for SIBO post c diff and it helped me for that too. However, it was a very difficult med for me to take. After 3 - 4 days, it went right through me.