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What are the "FOS" probiotics? It would be good to put these advices into the list of supplements.

Hi! I'lll add a bit here to carify somewhat. You are very smart to keep ahead of the gut bacterial issues as taking abx all the time requires a person supplement.

As background every human being has bacteria living in the gut. You actually get some of your b12 from the little fellers. We have a symbiotic relationship with the beneficial gut bacteria. Problems happen for people when they get dysbiosis, or an overgrowth of of an unfriendly bacteria or yeast that upsets the balance and leaves the person short of the right helpful bugs. Various intestinal issues can result, constipation or severe diarrhea for example.

One thing that upsets the delicate balance is antibiotics. Of course since they kill bacteria, your friendly bacteria die off too. The negative result is that the problematic yeasts and resistant bacteria like c. difficile have a hey day. They take over the place which can make you quite ill. Used to be that yoghurt was the only choice offered as it has the beneficial bacteria in it that can replace the friendly bacteria killed in the line of fire. Nowadays people can also take it in pill form which offers many more of the beneficial baceria per dose. There are some people who debate that though, suggesting that since yoghurt has the colonies already bound to protein it may work better because the colonies will be carried to the intestines and not die in the stomach, though the vastly higher numbers in a pill seem better to me.

There are a number of proprietary formulas on the market with some being very expensive and vaunted with a lot of marketing claiming their formula is best. Soil based organisms are fairly pricey as far as probiotics go, but may have an advantage as they have some varieties of beneficial bacteria not seen in other formulas. Three lac is a special formula that has more lactic acid producing bacteria, this being beneficial because it makes it hard for yeast to overgrow which is the cause of candidiasis. However, the fact of the matter is that by and large, the various formulas are very similar. Reading labels can save you money, and trying a couple of different formulas may let you find one you really feel is good for you. I personally use a generic type probiotic and s boulardii. I know Jim has had the best results from three lac.

One exception to the take beneficial bacteria rule is saccaromyces boulardii which is itself a yeast (usually considered bad news), but this is a beneficial one. It aggressively removes damaging candida yeast, then harmlessly leaves not coloniaing the intestinal mucosa itself. This particular probiotic is used to combat c. diff also. There are a number of brands available and they cost about 8 bucks a bottle.

FOS is fructo-oligo-saccharides. Many probiotic formulas include them and they provide food for the beneficial bacteria, but for some people the addition of FOS results in extreme excessive flatulence (gas). I personally must be certain to avoid that particular addition to the formula, yet Sarah for example felt it helpful.

To summarize probiotics are vitally important and must be taken along with treatment. I suggest that you need more than just a yogurt to give you enough. The colonies of bacteria in a pill number in the billions. Remember to keep your probiotics cool to keep them active and live.
SO I hope that is everything a person ever wanted to know about probiotics, eh?
Blessings
Marie

I'm curious what probiotics people have had good experience with?  As many of you know, I'm trying to prepare ahead of time to start treatment in April (provided my neurologist continues to be supportive of the idea).  I've been using a pretty good probiotic for over a year, off and on.  It's Primal Defense and has a list of SBOs.  It's primarily for the lower GI.  It will reseed the good bacteria, again in the lower GI.  What I don't know is whether it will be useful in combatting the other side effects of taking anti-biotics.

Another probiotic I've been thinking of trying in conjunction with the one I use now is Culturelle, which contains lactobacillus gg.  The manufacturer lists that it is effective against the side effects of anti-biotics.

What has worked for you?  If you're more comfortable writing me a private message on this, please do.  Thanks in advance.

John

Like Paron, I have what I have always called an iron stomach.  But I read the list and it says "take probiotics" so I do.  When I started Azithromycin on top of all the other abx my stomach said "rumble' rumble".  I find that on Zith days I need an extra probiotics pill at lunch and everybody is happy again.  Walmart  has many but not all supplements and I get their "acidophilus" several bottles at a time.  I like yoghurt but usually in the summer with frest fruit and I need Acidophilus every day.   Paron, I think you can eat yoghurt - just make sure it is 2 hours away from Doxy.

gnorance is voluntary bad luck.  Lauritz S.   A true Viking

If you come to a fork in the road, take it. Yogi Berra

I just take one or two of something like this: http://store.yahoo.com/iherb/bifidus.html and eat live yoghurt.  That's all.  I am also someone with a caste iron stomach though.  I must have because I was so angry with someone on Friday evening that I ate a big teaspoonful of hot English mustard left over from our rump steak, just for the hell of it.....Sarah

SBO's and culturelle should be a good combo. I have elected for a more "generic" less expensive group as money matters to me. I use saccaromyces boulardii which is the yeast I wrote about above and a generic probiotic with a variety of lactobaccili and acidophilis. I' ve been on treatment for 7 months with no trouble. another of our members got c' difficile and had to stop all abx for some time and had serious weight loss. This happens if c. diff is allowed to get the upper hand as it is an antibiotic resistant bacteria. S. Boulardii is one that is listed as useful in treatment of c.diff infection which is one reason why I take it along with my regular formula. The other reason is to combat unfriendly yeast which can also overgrow in abx use. You may find your formula has it in there. If you keep lots of colonies of good bacteria going, c diff and candida can't take over the place. PROBIOTICS are not optional, and you are smart to be interested in getting this going ahead of time!
Marie