Best brand probiotic in the USA?

[Julia S]

Hi guys,
Just wondering what probiotics you use, if any, what you look for in them, and perhaps a brand name sold in the US?

Thank you!

 

[ronroush7]

My doctor prescribes VSL 3.

 

[Julia S]

Thanks, Ron! How about an option that does not require refrigeration? I'm from Brazil and we don´t have many options here. My dad is travelling to the states in a couple of weeks and I wanted to ask him to bring me some. But, obviously, it has to be something that can be bought off the shelf.

 

[ronroush7]

Sometimes, I use Align.

 

[Clash]

I'm going to tag my little penguin she may can recommend some.

When my son takes antibiotics he uses Florastor. He has tried VSL 3 and some other but they upset his stomach.

 

[Julia S]

By the way, is there any consensus on whether probiotics are good or bad for Crohns? I don´t mind taking them and possibly having no benefit, I just also want to make sure it's not going to make anything worse.

 

[ronroush7]

My gastroenterologist likes me taking them.

 

[my little penguin]

All of the studies show they are useless for crohns
Great for UC , cdiff and proctitis

Ds had a lot of recital issues including rectal prolapse
So he was started on vsl #3 prescription strength
It help his rectal issue s

We stopped it over a year ago

Cutrelle is otc and a lot of people take that one shelf stable

Vsl makes capsules ( not sure if they need refrigerated no prescription is needed but they are behind the pharmacy counter so you have to ask for them

To put things in prospective
Otc capsules like cutrelle and align and florester have around 20 billon or 30 billon per 2 capsule

Vsl#3 prescription. Strength packets -900 billion and ds was taking two packets a day for a month to build up then one packet a day

We probably will start again but trying to get ds to baseline first

 

[wild_one353]

I use vsl#3 but I don't see much benefit for crohn's symptoms except it seemed to get rid of some of my gas, they just make me feel better and lower my anxiety and depression and make me slightly more motivated. first few days i did get some side effects but they went away they may have killed some pathogenic bacteria in my gut or something.

 

[Jaredj]

The issue with supplementing probiotics is stomach acid. Some strains make it through alright, and others are developed to survive, but unfortunately many can't withstand the acid of our stomach.
Jarrow makes a great 10 strain, 50 billion CFU formula with an acid resistant capsule and a 'jell forming matrix' to overcome this. I've had a lot of success using it, and it's really not all that expensive on amazon.
It's called Ultra Jarro-Dophilus

Just as important is the Bacillus Laterosporus (B.O.D) strain. You can get this at The Global Healing Center, and it's called Latero-Flora
This same site also offers a 23 strain, 50 Billion CFU formula called Floratrex.

Last but not least, the Saccharomyces Boulardii yeast is something you wont want to be without. Jarrow has one that includes MOS (MannaOligoSaccharides) A prebiotic.

I've had a surprising amount of success with the above 4 over the last 6 months.

 

[amyh]

Ive been taking Kirkman Pro Bio for years. by Kirkman Labs in Oregon. It's the only one Ive found keeping me in remission. If I stop or change probiotics, I definitely notice.