Anyone have any experiences, opinions, etc. on probiotics?
Seems everywhere I turn these days I’m hearing something about probiotics, but I know very little about them.
Just another thought, I took repeated rounds of antibiotics before, during and after my crash (mostly for bronchitis and strep). In the early days of searching for the answer “Why me?” with this MAV crud, I often wondered if my body’s immune system was just so trashed from all the antibiotics I took, if it might have something to do with it. I don’t really believe that now though, but I do believe excessive antibiotics have done me no good in the long haul.
I don’t know much, except that probiotics are strains of bacteria and yeast that can be beneficial to the body.
I took them when I used to get yeast infections during perimenopause. I was taking so much other stuff I’m not sure what was doing what (sound familiar?) Now that I think about it, there was also a probiotic vaginal insert for candida and it worked great.
People do take them after a course of antibiotics because antibiotics wipe out your gut’s normal flora. And I know people who are on long-term antibiotic therapy who also take probiotics long-term (Lyme disease patients). These same people suggested that while i was titrating up on my zoloft and at each titration the zoloft was giving me diarrhea so bad it was wiping me out, that I take some probiotics to build my flora again. I didn’t have the energy at that time to be looking for probiotics - my body did the job itself.
I’ve heard of claims that they help your immune system and other things. This is another thing that a Naturopath would be good with, but I think you would also research it on line.
My sister uses probiotics, I’m not sure why, but she just keeps using alternating the strains, making sure she’s covering as many bases as she can.
I don’t think there’s any harm in taking them, but i’m not that well versed to know for sure.
Thanks Julie. As always, I appreciate your knowledge!!!
Sorry if I sound lazy, I know I should just start researching it, but even the thought just drains me. When you start googling stuff, you know what its like and how long it takes to “weed out” the false info. It seems nowadays, my brain is so tired, I read, and re-read, and still half the time I fight to take it all in. I would like to blame it on the inderal I take, but I don’t think thats the problem. I hate to think this way, but my brain just isn’t what it used to be. I used to be such a reader!!!
Thank you for the info!!!
p.s. - You mentioned a Naturopath. Have you been to one? I’m thinking you said you had a nightmare experience at one point, was that with a naturopath? Not that it really matters, I couldn’t afford to see one at this point anyway.
Kim
The nightmare was with the homeopath - beware homeopathy. The theory is sound, but it cannot be applied correctly in this day and age. It was Hahnemann’s genius and he worked it with his body, mind and soul. Those closest to him were able to come close, but the further we’ve advanced in conventional medicine, the sicker we’ve actually gotten, the more impossible it is to apply. Classical homeopaths spend 3 hours with you during your first consult and not less than 45 minutes in follow-ups. Remedies were never meant to be taken the way they are sold in health food stores, eg. Belladonna for migraines. Did you know the first medical schools in the U.S. were homeopathic? (Hahnemann Medical School in PA) the pioneers were sent across the plains with homeopathic kits to keep them healthy.
anyway, Kim, start with a Wikipedia search on Probiotics. It will give you some basics. In fact, it may give you all you need to know to get started.
Here is a very very interesting story. when I had my first small crash i went to see an ENT who told me there was nothing to be done. So i went to a naturopath. who said “is this a migraine?!” I started crying. I gut KNEW that this crazy vertigo was a migraine. The only problem was, she didn’t know how to treat it. She sent me home with Imitrex. I hadn’t had a migraine since the dark ages. I didn’t know there were such things as preventatives. So i did nothing. How sad I let it go on for another six years.
Anyway, yea, a naturopath is big in GI stuff. And insurance will cover them out of network.
