Probiotics and Supplements

Hi and welcome to Healing well,

I used to take tons of probiotics but I stopped and I haven't noticed any difference in my condition. It is all very individual. Some people say they would flare up immediately without taking probiotics on a daily basis.

My GI has never mentioned taking probiotics, I always took them because I was interested in health and natural treatments. I read that they can be helpful for keeping intestinal bacteria in check. I made yogurt and ate a lot of fermented foods, I even fermented my own foods... Since stopping them, I have saved a lot of money, they are very expensive. My GI is interested in probiotics but I think she has seen more results using them for IBS not IBD.

I have tried a large list of supplements and none of them helped me but that is also individual. Many people here take Psyllium Husk, Boswellia, Slippery Elm, Fish Oil...

Hi, probiotics has become an essential part of my daily routine to keep UC in check. Have been taking probiotics for well over a year and while I still have the occasional flare, there has been a significant change to my quality of life. A lot less urgency, bloating and discomfort, so I'm a convert when so many other options haven't worked. My specialist didn't recommend them, this was something I tried by myself, but neither did he try and dissuade me against taking them. I take Symprove specifically and because it's been successful after so many failures with other drugs and treatments I'm loathe to risk stopping it. In my case I'm intolerant to standard drugs such as Azacol, so it was a case of having to find something that would help.

Good luck with your illness and please post how you get on.

I have been taking probiotcs for the last few months and (I think) they help but it is a marginal improvement.  I have taken them in the past when I was not doing very well and I thought they aggravated my symptoms.  Maybe I just didn't give them a long enough trial.

My doctors do not believe probiotics helps. Whenever I ask them "shall/should I take some probiotics?", they reply "up to you, it does not help or just help very little".

However I saw more than one post here saying probiotics helped them. Although I believe what doctors hold (from science or research result), doctors do not explain well why probiotics work well on some patients. Sometimes, my doctors believe probiotics have the same function as placebo (yes, from research result).

I believe I read about VSL#3 here. I eat yogurt made from it every day.

Most doctors don't recommend supplements because in general the level of evidence is low that they work. They don't get tested like RX drugs because the law doesn't require it and they don't produce the profits to fund testing.

Probiotics are an exception in that there is a lot of evidence that they are good for digestive health and helping with UC symptoms like diarrhea. They are also very safe. You do run into GIs that recommend them and also pscillium husk(which has tons of positive evidence also)

I don't think enough balancing is done between safety and effectiveness with RX drugs v. supplements. I also think the effects of most supplements are subtle and don't produce the instant gratification people hope for and doctors get negative feedback.

Nutrition is really out of the scope of MD training so it might be wrong to expect much from doctors in that area. You will not find much on lifestyle, nutrition, supplements...in medical guidelines but they are very important.