Does VSL#3 probiotics do any good to you according to your real experience?

I am thinking to order VSL#3 pobiotics from Costco per my wife requests. I am not sure this VSL3 will do any good. What is your experience? I am willing to try anything to improve quality of life.  Thank you.                      Peter

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36 yrs male. From Arizona

VSL #3 worked for my son age 8 (diagnosed at age 4). His UC is particularly aggressive. Nothing else put him into such a great remission. And it happened almost immediately, within 2 days, but it lasted for only about 6-8 weeks before it quit working for him. Perhaps you will get even better results.

Good luck,

JsMom
Son 8 pancolitis. Subtotal colectomy 7/07.

Some people are helped lot, some not a bit, some somewhat helped and that be me. Its a crap shoot : )  Worth a try, would recommend at least two packets a day for at least a month, more if you can afford it.  My unscientific opinion is that if you are in a flare you need massive doses 4 or more per day to work. I use 1.5 to 2 to help maintain remission, good luck 

Thank you guy for the responses. It seems no one in medical field can understand the etiology of the UC. This is why VLS#3 may work for some people while not do a thing for some others. I am gonna give a try once I am done with my Chinese Medicine experiments. I am trying Chinese Medicine now. Chinese Medicine seems working now. No bloating, no urgency, less mucus noted for past two days. I need to find out if insurance gonna pay for it. Thank you. I will keep you all updated. Peter

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36 yrs male. From Arizona

Hey, Peter:

I assume you were checked for C-diff -- right? Augmentin and Clindamycin are among the most notorious for causing a c-diff infection. I had a nephew get it from Clindamycin and an aunt get it from Augmenton. My personal poison that caused me to get it was Cipro.

Mitz

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Sporadic proctitis since about 1985. Mother had J-pouch surgery 1983.
DX'd with clostridium difficile in 2000. Pred, two courses of Flagyl, then Vancomycin finally got rid of it. 2001 colonoscopy dx'd left-sided UC. . Treated with prednisone, Rowasa, Asacol. Asacol not working, switched to Imuran. Three small flares since in 2002, 2005, and 2007, brought under control with steroid and Rowasa enemas. Lap Chole performed October 26, 2007, after gall bladder attack in June, '07.
Daily meds: 100 mg Azathioprine and 225 mg Effexor XR (for chronic, longstanding depression), many vitamins and Primadophilus Reuteri

Thanks. I will check for C-diff too. Peter

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36 yrs male. From Arizona

Peter,
Did you try the Chinese MD I suggested or did you find someone closer to where you live? I've been on his stuff for about 2 months and not huge changes, but I'm starting to think I may also have a yeast overgrowth, since I am finding myself more sensitive to foods with high carb content and yeast. I am not sure if the changes are due to the tea and diet suggested or the probiotics I've been taking, but I'm thinking the latter.

It is not obvious to me if the VSL3 is helping, but wouldn't be surprising if it has helped some. I noticed in the literature that the UC'ers that went into remission (about 50%) had about 8 bags a day (3,600 billion bac) and another 25% improved but not quite in remission, all in about 6 weeks.

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Pancolitis '04

Thanks for your helps. Sory I didn't email you back even I've been thinking about it. I am using the prescription from my family's friend, who is practicing Chinese Medicine. I will keep you updated how things go.

Most often Infection in the body is Candida infection. Many UC have sysptoms of Candida infection. You may do a stool sample test for Candida. Talk with your GI Doc. Thanks Peter

http://www.womentowomen.com/digestionandgihealth/candida.aspx

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36 yrs male. From Arizona

an interesting note is that from my limited observations, the Traditional Chinese Medicine tends to act on the spleen more so than the colon. The spleen is supposed to regulate blood and i believe chi...

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left sided

Hopefully it works for you Peter. I think the treatment will work better when I get this yeast thing under control.

Yes, something about meridian (sp?) lines. Apparently the tea has digestive enzymes that take the burden off the body for the most part. I think the problem occurred when I started on the diet which opened the door to carbs, more than I was originally taking--normally I was consuming plenty of chicken/turkey, but this had to be eliminated. What also seemed to help, which is probably the only real anti-inflammatory herb were these indigo capsules I started to take... they appeared to help some. I don't care much for the theory, I have no idea how much of it is true in a strict sense, but pragmatically if it works then I am on board. I think some of the diet is bogus (such as the high carbs), I need to be more selective and looking at some of his reasoning behind what can be taken, I am quite doubtful. E.g. Avoid even organic chicken because it has bacteria that is harmful, but I proved to him that the standards for this kind of chicken are much higher than standard ones. Plus, he said I cannot have milk products, not because of the lactose, but the milk protein cannot be digested, which I am thinking is too much of a gross generalization. Yogurt and cheese are such a great source of probiotic, metabiotic, and prebiotic components, along with calcium and other vits... something which hasn't been a problem with me in the past and ample benefits doesn't make sense to avoid. I am wondering if he is generalizing Crohn's too much with UC. Anyhow, that is my rant :) The good news is that I am seeing some real improvement: formed stool, rarely blood, and now less bloating.

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Pancolitis '04

I tried my Chinese Meds for 3 days. It tasted like hell.But it works so far, bm once a day, no more gas or bloating. I need to time to tell. Chinese medicine target on the spleen as they believe weak spleen is causing colon problem. Looking at statistics, it seems their theory works on this.

My theory is that certain bacteria and Yeast prosper on milk products, that is why some people have to void dairy products. Thank you all for the nice discussion. Peter

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36 yrs male. From Arizona

I swear by VSL3 but I dont like the pills - the sachets only work of rme at 4 per day.

bob

I disagree with the milk product theory because I have not had it for two months and just this week brought it back into my diet. The OMD said I should avoid it not because of the lactose (though not much would exist with a quality yogurt, for instance), but the inability to digest the milk protein. So far it doesn't seem to be a problem. Actually I have been adding my VSL3 packet to my yogurt and/or Kefir lately. Calcium helps the probiotics (I believe the Lactic Acid forming ones, i.e. Lactobacillus) adhere better to the intestinal walls.

Though I have done the SCD in the past, I would still get a fair share of my monosaccarides in fruit, so it seems good to reduce all forms of sugar for the time being (especially if I do have a yeast overgrowth).

I'm glad the Chinese Doc is working for you Peter... I understood that many people get better in a short amount of time, seeing results within two weeks, but I guess I was that small percentage that it didn't work as well for and possibly due to other complications. Glad it is working so well for you and I do hope it lasts.

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Pancolitis '04

I tried VSL#3 for 8 weeks with no noticeable difference.  Everyone is different, maybe it will work for you, it didn't for me

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Diagnosed UC 1999