probiotics

[Saphire7]

Hi everyone,

I just joined this forum.  I have had IBS since I was 14.  I just re-read the food list on the FODMAP diet.  I have

found that many of those foods cause excessive gas so have to limit the amount I consume.

I have tried numerous probiotics.  What usually happens when I take good quality probiotics is they cause

an increase in symptoms of gas and sometimes diarhea which I have read can be attributed to the die-off

of the bad bacteria.  Of course I can't take probiotics if I have to be in a public environment.

Has anyone discovered a brand that has worked long term? I think my mistake is taking them for a few days

and then giving up because not sure if they are killing off the bad bacteria or I"m just suffering from a flare-up

from the IBS.

Any feedback is welcome.  Happy September!

Saphire7

[Jeffrey Roberts]

Welcome Saphire7!

I used the probiotic Align for about 5 years and felt it worked well at keeping things pretty stable. Oddly, when I stopped it and then when back to it, I found that it didn't control things as well as it did the first time. I hoped it would lessen the amount of diarrhea that I had, but wasn't successful with that. Still, I recommend it long term as I didn't have any side effects from it.

[Saphire7]

Thanks very much for this information. Have a good night!

[Gwyn]

Hey there!

I was taking ALIGN as my daily probiotic and honestly I felt that it worked instantly the day I started taking it. 
I have had IBS symptoms in my teens but they only lasted a day or two at a time, maybe a week at the most and then it would go away for a few months or a whole year. So needless to say I didn’t think much of it. 
It wasn’t until a couple years ago that I noticed my symptoms were coming back and sticking around for more then just a few days. I didn’t think much of it again, but they got worse and worse and doctors had no idea what was going on and would never give me any advice or even any medications to help the symptoms. 
I survived on Pepto and Imodium for the longest time until I started to lose weight— rather quickly. I figured it was because of all the bathroom runs and skipping meals to avoid feeling sick but eventually I went back to a new doctor. Had all kinds of tests and they all came back normal, which is good news I guess but didn’t help to explain what the heck was going on. 
 

I had a pretty gnarly infection in my gut a few years back and we’re pretty sure my IBS spawned from that. So I discovered ALIGN and started taking it in hopes it would help repair whatever damage had been done. 
Honestly it was great at first. Yeah it made me gassy but I would take a GasX to help the pain of bloating. It also made me super regular. Like it would make me get up every morning to use the bathroom, but it also made it easier for me to eat again. I didn’t worry so much about what I could and couldn’t eat and actually gained a little bit of my weight back. I eventually started to take it every other day instead, and finally stopped altogether. I haven’t gone back to it because I haven’t felt the need to as my symptoms have calmed down for the most part. 
I do have some bad days, but they’re pretty manageable at least. 
 

For me ALIGN seems to be the better choice. They have multiple bacteria that can help repair certain damage and promote better gut health. IBS is different for everyone though and probiotics can have different effects on people also, but they don’t really have any negative side effects so I would say give one a try for at least a month to see how your body reacts to it. 
 

I hope you feel better! 🙂

[Saphire7]

Thanks so much for taking the time to describe your experiences and make that suggestion. I thought those Align pills were awfully large.

Maybe they make a smaller version. I'll check that out.  take good care!

[Esjie]

@Saphire7 I always find that big tablets or capsules slip down so much easier if I roll them around in butter first, before swallowing them with some water

[Saphire7]

Thanks very much for your suggestion!

[RAS]

I have taken Extra Strength Align with some good results and I have also taken Bio-Kult with some good results. I have IBS and it’s mostly (but not always) more of the IBS-D or IBS with diarrhea predominantly over constipation.

While both have worked at times separately, after reading an article about mixing probiotics such as Culturelle and Align for good results as well as one on Align and Florastor for good results, I decided to take the daily dose of Bio-Kult (2-4 small capsules) with Extra strength Align and to me this combination has produced the best results. Both these products have many studies to back up their effectiveness with IBS. Regardless, everyone’s body is different, but this combination worked the best for me and I still take it, typically 3 Bio-Kult capsules with 1 Extra Strength Align.

of course, once a month or so things aren’t exactly the same as they typically are each day for whatever reason and whatever I ate, but in general it’s had very good results for me.