Florastor vs Culturelle

[Mehita]

I know lots of UC folks swear by Culturelle for the Lactobaccilus GG. What about for Crohn's? The other name that seems to pop up a lot is Florastor, but that has yeast and I keep reading mixed things on yeast and Crohn's. Help?

 

[my little penguin]

Vsl
Is what our gi recommended for DS.

 

[DanceMom]

A tried Florastor prior to diagnosis. It did nothing for her. She tried Culturelle several years ago and it seemed to make her symptoms worse. I don't get super excited over probiotics and our GI doesn't either.

 

[DustyKat]

I read a book that was recommended to me by someone on the forum...

When I began delving into the medical research about Crohn’s disease, I located studies on the effect of a restricted-sugar diet and also studies on the effect of probiotics. I became aware that research combining the two approaches is lacking. However, preliminary scientific evidence has revealed clues to the credibility of the treatment that Dr. Poley recommended to our daughter.

We feel grateful that she continues to remain well with normal lab work and without clinical symptoms. For the past several years, I have shared our story with others who are suffering with Crohn’s disease in hopes that it will be of benefit to them. This passion to spread the message of our personal experience led me to write the book Reaching for Answers to Crohn's Disease. The book consists of a section with our personal story, a research section with information from published medical journal articles, and also a section of diet guidelines, including recipes.

Restricting sugar along with eating yogurt and taking a probiotic became a lifestyle that not only dramatically changed the course of our daughter’s health but has proven to be beneficial for our entire family.

If you have Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis, it is my hope that you will try this simple approach. It certainly is not harmful to restrict sucrose. The probiotic containing Lactobacillus GG has been the most widely studied probiotic on the market today and has shown no adverse effects through the years. I do advise that you seek guidance from your physician before making any medication changes.

May you be blessed with good health!
Martha Kalichman, R.N.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzetb4n6/crohnsdiseasesuccesswithdietandprobiotics/

I am in no way endorsing this book and probably found it of interest to me as the author's daughter was my daughter's age at diagnosis and their Crohn's is in the same location.

As it is Sarah made her own dietary changes, including eliminating most sugar, independent of this book but I did recommend Lactobacillus GG to her after reading this. I don't know if it is of benefit to her as she remains in remission but it isn't doing her any harm, she has no side effects.

I did ask the GI at Matt's last visit about probiotics. He said that while there were many studies that supported the use of VSL 3 for other conditions there is very little about its usefulness in Crohn's. He was however of the opinion that they do no harm and they may have positive effects for some people.

Dusty. xxx

 

[Johnnysmom]

Florastor is something our GI wants our son on if he is taking an antibiotic in order to reduce the chances of CDiff.

His GI otherwise does not feel the use of probiotics is necessary or helpful, at least for Johnny. I know Allign is used for IBS symptoms and others are helpful in treating Diarrhea.

 

[lblair]

Were in MN do you live???

 

[my little penguin]

DS has a lot of rectal inflammation similar to UC which is why we use it otherwise I don't think I would bother .

 

[Mehita]

We've always bounced around with probiotics. Not necessarily just for the gastro benefits, but also for general health. With one still in elementary school, the germs and bugs that come home are crazy. Yuck. It's purely anecdotal, but I always have had my kids on probiotics during the school year and I do think it helps. I'm just wondering if there is one that can benefit gastro as well. This last flare got me thinking that DS might do well on Culturelle. Can't hurt, right?

I've considered VSL, but it's pretty expensive.

lblair - I'll PM you.