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Best probiotic to prevent cdiff?

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted Today 10:20 PM (GMT -7)
I’m currently 32 weeks pregnant and will be having a scheduled c-section on 4/19. I had c.diff in September 2017, and have avoided antibiotics since then. I am getting very anxious about the dose of antibiotics that I will be given during surgery. My OB said that he can give a prophylactic dose of vancomycin during the procedure in addition to the other antibiotic to hopefully prevent cdiff from recurring.

I spoke to my GI and she said to make sure I was taking a lot of probiotics leading up to the surgery and afterwards. She had suggested VSL, but I tried to take it a few years ago and it gave me diarrhea. I was in a flare when I tried it, but I don’t want to risk taking it again right now.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a good probiotic to use to prevent cdiff while taking antibiotics? I researched and found that there are a few different strains that are supposed to be good to take during antibiotic treatment, but I wanted to see if anyone had a specific brand that has been effective for them.

The last time I had cdiff I was in the hospital for 9 days and the thought of having that happen again with a toddler and a newborn at home is absolutely terrifying. Any suggestions are very much appreciated!
Posted 2/27/2019 1:33 AM (GMT -7)
Depending on where you're based there is mutaflor (it's available in Canada and germany). This is a benign form of e-coli extracted from a soldier in world war 1 while all his comrades were dropping with dysentry but he remained healthy because supposedly his strain of e coli inhibited the pathogenic strains. I have been taking it for a few months with no side effects. I also take vsl#3 which gave me laxative-style diarrhoea for the first 2 days but then i felt better afterwards...
Posted 2/27/2019 7:13 AM (GMT -7)
VSL 3 is no longer the"real" VSL 3. It is a non-effective knockoff of the original
Posted 2/27/2019 8:56 AM (GMT -7)
The one probiotic that specifically targets C Diff is Saccharomyces boulardii. An added bonus is that S Boulardii is not actually a bacteria but a benign yeast, therefore it is immune from being destroyed while you are taking antibiotics.

I take probiotics but some are incompatible for me. VSL#3 and Culturelle at one time worked wonders but now are ineffective or worse. I think it's because they have since changed the formula and added some extra ingredients and other junk into the formula.
Posted 2/27/2019 10:54 AM (GMT -7)
I recently switched to the "original formula" of vsl#3 (called vivvomixx in europe) and couldn't tell the difference between that and the brand vsl#3 except that it has a slightly different texture. Bowel symptoms did not change.
Posted 2/27/2019 4:45 PM (GMT -7)
If they are giving you intravenous Vanco, from what I understand, it will not get into your digestive system and kill flora. If it's oral, then yes, it will do just that.

Florastor is what I used when I was trying to get over a c-diff infection. From my research at the time, I was pretty convinced that it competes with and even can kill c-diff.
Posted 2/28/2019 6:37 AM (GMT -7)
There's no single best probiotic to prevent c diff. Try a potent probiotic and see if it helps, multiple to try.

C diff is a rapidly reproducing, opportunistic invader. C diff often hits during times of mass-killings like when we take antibiotics. Having a diverse gut bacteria helps that is eating a diverse variety of healthy foods, consider prebiotics and fermented foods (like kefir, sauerkraut, etc).
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