Gas and Bloating?

[Elvish2]

Hi everyone,

I'm currently in the pulse phase of a Dificid taper/pulse (Dificid started Feb 2nd and has been 2x/day for 10 days, 1x/day for 7 days, and now 1x every other day for 26 days) and have been doing pretty well overall. The main symptom that's been persistent throughout for me has been uncomfortable gassiness and bloating. I'm unsure if this is a result of just general c-diff throwing things off, or because of the Dificid itself, or because of the probiotic I'm taking,or something else (And symptoms are exacerbated currently due to my cycle, hooray).

To those who might have experienced bothersome bloating and gas throughout treatment and recovery, are there certain things that helped? I asked about taking GasX and the doctor said that was okay, but haven't done that yet (mostly using heating pad when it gets especially bad). I haven't been super careful about what I eat or noticed that particular things make it worse, although perhaps being more attentive would be best.

When I talked to a GI doctor earlier in the month just about general recovery and mentioned I was taking 2 Florastor a day and trying to eat probiotic rich foods (yogurt, kombucha, kefir, sauerkraut, etc), she said to avoid dairy and don't try to eat a lot of fermented etc foods, interestingly, and to up the Florastor to 4 a day. I compromised and have been eating less probiotic-rich foods (but still some) and taking 3 Florastor a day (2 in morning, 1 in evening).

[beth22]

Florastor gave me horrendous gas. Worse than any other probiotic. I had to stop taking it.

[Elvish2]

beth22, interestingly, Florastor really helped me back in 2011, and I've taken it periodically since with no issues! I've gotten gas and bloating with other probiotics in the past, but not Florastor. So I was thinking that couldn't be the issue, but maybe I'm just thrown more out of whack than I thought...

[NanciT]

I was on Dificid for over 4 months. I had abdominal pain, discomfort during the time I was on it and also for some time after. If you take a look at the side effects, you will find these listed.
Hang in there, it DID work for me!

Hope you feel better soon

NanciT

[beth22]

You could try cutting your dose of Florastor a little to see if it makes any difference. With c difficile, I had a lot of bloating too. I was on vanco. But, the Florastor made it a lot worse.

[georgina]

Maybe it's not the Florastor that is giving you these symptoms . You said that you are having fermented foods and lots of yogurt and kefir. MAybe those are creating the symptoms .For example , i can eat most foods now , fermented foods , high fiber foods , fresh fruits and vegetables (no sugary treats , no alcohol)but the yogurt/kefir are still very hard to tolerate . It's been 5 years since i cannot eat a spoonful of yogurt without getting bloated and gassy.Cut back on the yogurt for a day or two and see if things settle down.