Success with Pro and Prebiotics

[nilocD]

Hi,

I've had Crohns (or UC, depends on the doctor these days) for over 12 years. During this time I've tried numerous drugs including;

• 
  Humira
  Imuran
  Prednisone/Entocort
  Mesalamine

For a long time i was lazy and left the responsibility of my condition improving in the hands of my doctor. However over 12 years I've learned the futility in doing that and have started to become a lot more active in making myself right.

I've started taking probiotics in tablet form and also trying to get more sources of prebiotics into my diet such as veg. These changes are having a positive effect on my condition so far (although maybe its a placebo effect). I do feel like i suffer less with bloating and certainly less leaky gut.

I wanted to know what other peoples experiences where? Do you find pre and probiotics help with your symptoms? What sources of these nutrients do you find are most effective?

 

[kel]

I have used many different probiotic supplements since I was diagnosed. They are especially helpful when I'm having frequent diarrhea, including antiobiotic induced diarrhea. I take them even when I'm not symptomatic because they also seem to keep digestion more normal.

I tend to rotate brands every few months but the ones that worked best for me are Align (when on antibiotics) and Primal Defense. I tried vsl3 but did not notice any difference.

A lot of people swear by their home made kefir, I've never gotten around to trying the stuff. Other fermented foods are supposed to be beneficial for IBD as well.

 

[nilocD]

thanks Kel.

I'm still learning about probiotics and prebiotics and my undertstanding is that taking probiotics while beneficial is still really like putting a drop in the bucket in terms of replenishing the good bacteria organisms in your colon. (Adding 5-10 billion of these good organisms is less than 1% of overall micro-organisms in the colon and therefore they find it very hard to reproduce in large numbers or find a home)

On the flip side prebiotics enrich the good bacteria already in the colon and help these good ones multiple far faster. So based on this my new aim is to get as many of the prebiotics as possible into my diet.

There's so much mixed messaging out there its hard to find foods/nutrients which are really benefiicial.

 

[kel]

When I was researching prebiotics a few years ago the evidence supporting them was very weak. Maybe there is better information available now. Only one way to find out if they work I suppose.

 

[Garbanzo]

When I was researching prebiotics a few years ago the evidence supporting them was very weak. Maybe there is better information available now. Only one way to find out if they work I suppose.

Where did you see very weak evidence?? There areliterately hundreds of university studies to show they work! not a cure all but they do help!