Anyone in the know about probiotics?

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Linda, "Overt bleeding associated with low dose aspirin (LDA) is well-recognized, little attention is given to the possibility of association between LDA and occult bleeding, although this is known to occur in healthy volunteers. LDA is used increasingly in primary and secondary prevention of a number of medical conditions, many of which are common in older people".


I just got home from the store. Bought some probiotics (1 billion, not 10 billion). It has the bacteria for stomach ailments. Also, I didn't buy a bunch of fruits and vegetables because many are either acidic or fiberous (fiber harder to digest). I bought a plastic container of melon chunks instead. Just made myself a chicken sandwich with saltine crackers on the side instead of chips. I'm avoiding milk and sodas too. Rice and chicken is what's for dinner. I'm drinking only water with my meals. I believe I'm slowly improving by sticking to a bland diet, using an acid inhibitor and taking probiotics. Thanks for all the input.

Yes, I knew about it being used to treat certain ailments. Makes you wonder about all the people out there, me included, who pop aspirin and/or acetaminophen on a daily basis to make that backache or headache go away, both very common among adults.

Cas, do not try to treat this by yourself. Get to a doc as soon as time allows.

If it's a bacterial ulcer (the H. Pylori thing aforementioned) the cure is as simple as an anti-biotic.

If you must self diagnose (my mother is the same way. She's hardly been to a doctor in her life and is going strong at 93. Go figure, those Norwegians), try some green tea. If that helps, go see a doctor anyway.

Agreed.

Like I said, do little things to try and make your stomach feel better, like the bland diet, etc, but get the ball rolling on getting into the doc. I too am on a waiting list to see a gastroenterologist. It takes forever to get into places like that, but I'm on the list. I don't know why it would take a long time to get in to see your regular GP, but if your symptoms become worse and more frequent, to heck with ALL of them, take yourself to the ER or an urgent care center.
 
This thread us right up my alley. Glad to know I'm not the only one with stomach issues.

I was having majorly inconvenient issues if you get my drift. It was becoming hard to even get any work done. No rhyme or reason as to what would set me off.

I could eat the same meal at a cafe one day, no problem, next time it was a problem. I could eat nothing and it was a problem, I could eat a large meal and no problem. Diet Mt. Dew one day no problem, next day instant problem. Same with iced tea.

I will admit, I am a pretty crappy eater, no pun intended. However, I did cut out a lot of the fried greasy deli foods. No change.

I started taking the lowest dose, ie: cheapest probiotic 1.5 billion critters at Wally World and it instantly helped settle things down. I added a grapefruit every evening and it seemed to regulate things even more, not sure why, but I was just looking at a healthy night treat. Now I take those every other day and it seems to be working for the most part.

I'm not doing it every day because it seems that daily intake of anything for me causes issues. It's like my body just want to flush it if I get too much of the same things.

Anyway, I also should talk to the doctor, but just thought I'd pass on my experiences with a funky digestive system.

It's amazing how many people I've talked to who have some of the same issues.
 
I remember back in 1977 my brother decided to buy this new milk called Sweet Acidophilus. One of the first probiotics being offered. I ended up trading 3 days of work for 3 days on the throne!

If you're eating yoghurt anyway, why not try Activa? It has the probiotics you are looking for and should be less intrusive than a straight probiotic.

The biggest issue with products like Activia is getting the probiotics to your intestines. The acid in you stomach kills them.

Besides, as I already posted, and GG reiterated, the science is not solid in favor of probiotics.

Try keeping a food log, and then see a gastroenterologist. It could be as simple as cutting one or two things out of your diet. That's what it was for me. Or, in my case, some of it was just not eating too much of certain things, or not eating them by themself. Fairly minor changes.

CD

CD
 
Noted and thanks. I had stomach bleeding and anemia 9 years ago due to taking baby aspirin. After a couple of days in the hospital and a colonoscopy, I was prescribed Protonix. Wish I had some now. I'm hoping this condition clears up by itself. If it persists, I'll make an appointment with my primary physician to see a gastroentermologist. I may even possibly be prescribed antibiotics used for this condition if it persists.

Protonix is Pantaprazole. I take it everyday. You can get similar medications over-the-counter. Omniprazole will do the same thing, and you can buy that over-the-counter. All it does is control stomach acid production. It may help, but you still need to gastroenterologist.

CD
 
UPDATE: Just found out today I have a stomach lining infection called h.pylori. I just got back from the pharmacy and picked up two antibiotics which I'll be taking for the next 14 days. It's a relief to finally get to the bottom of what was causing it (thought it was gastritis). I probably got it eating fast food somewhere. Hopefully, I'll finally get my appetite back and no stomach discomfort which I've had for the last month. I haven't had any fried foods or red meat or alcohol for the past month trying to cure it myself. I was eating mostly comfort foods due to lack of appetite. I'm looking forward to getting back my appetite and normal eating.

:clap:
 
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UPDATE: Just found out today I have a stomach lining infection called h.pylori. I just got back from the pharmacy and picked up two antibiotics which I'll be taking for the next 14 days. It's a relief to finally get to the bottom of what was causing it (thought it was gastritis). I probably got it eating fast food somewhere. Hopefully, I'll finally get my appetite back and no stomach discomfort which I've had for the last month. I haven't had any fried foods or red meat or alcohol for the past month trying to cure it myself. I was eating mostly comfort foods due to lack of appetite. I'm looking forward to getting back my appetite and normal eating.

:clap:

I went through the same thing. H. Pylori is a bacteria that, believe it or not, many people carry around and never develop any problems from it. I wasn't so lucky.

They're not even positive how it is spread, but it can cause stomach ulcers and other issues. When I had it, I remember I would fill up quickly. Halfway into a meal, I felt like I had just eaten Thanksgiving dinner. In between meals, however, when my stomach was empty, I had this gnawing, burning sensation in my gut that no amount of antacids could get rid of.

Unfortunately, once you've had H. Pylori, even if it's been completely eradicated, blood tests may still test positive for the bacteria. So ask your doc to do a fecal test. A blood test isn't going to give an accurate result.

PS - were you also told to take omeprazole along with the antibiotics?
 
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Yay, Caslon! I'm glad you got a diagnosis and are able to get this taken care of. Btw, h. pylori can live in the body for decades without causing symptoms, so there's no way to know where you picked it up.
 
Yay, Caslon! I'm glad you got a diagnosis and are able to get this taken care of. Btw, h. pylori can live in the body for decades without causing symptoms, so there's no way to know where you picked it up.

Exactly. In fact, I've read that most people pick up h. pylori in CHILDHOOD.

Is that crazy or what?

They say at least half the world's population carries around that bacteria. Whether that's true or not, I don't know for sure. But that blew me away a little bit.
 
PS - were you also told to take omeprazole along with the antibiotics?

Yes. I had been taking Zantac but will take the omeprazole instead. I read that treating h.pylori may take another set of drug taking if it persists. This h.pylori must have been in my stomach awhile because I had decreased appetite even before other symptoms started to appear. I previously attributed it to stress/depression and alcohol consumption with a less than healthy diet.
 
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Yes. I had been taking Zantac but will take the omeprazole instead. I read that treating h.pylori may take another set of drug taking if it persists. This h.pylori must have been in my stomach awhile because I had decreased appetite even before other symptoms started to appear. I previously attributed it to stress and alcohol consumption with a less than healthy diet.

Read mine and GG's posts above. Some crazy facts.

I too took omeprazole and my doctor told me a little secret... the omeprazole not only reduces stomach acid to let a possible ulcer heal, but it also allows more of the bad bacteria to come out of hiding so the antibiotic can kill higher numbers of it. When stomach acids are lowered, the little guys come out to play because they know they won't be destroyed by the acids. And when they come out to play, blam, the antibiotic begins to destroy them.

Thought that was pretty cool info.

I'll tell ya, though, after my treatment to get rid of those little bad boys, I felt soooooo much better. I was in pain pretty much every day and was so dang hungry, yet I couldn't eat much.
 
Haven't had any booze for 3 weeks now. Thank goodness for Ensure Plus nutritional drinks! That helped me not lose too much weight as I have a fast metabolism. I'm getting tired of eating nothing but chicken and fish too. :(
 
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Thank goodness for Ensure nutritional drinks! That helped me not lose too much weight as I have a fast metabolism. I'm getting tired of eating nothing but chicken and fish too. :(

Good ole Ensure. I keep those around as well, mostly for days where I don't feel like eating, but I don't want to be completely devoid of nutrition.
 
I'm sure that is a great relief for you, Caslon. Nothing like putting a name to a problem. I hope that round of antibiotics knocks it out and you're back to feeling healthy.

Thanks. Being forced to change my diet the past 3 weeks to a more bland one (along with taking probiotics, garlic pills and Zantac) eased some of the symptoms, except the lingering lack of appetite symptom. Yes, I'm very relieved that a name was put to my symptoms. It wasn't just stress and diet after all, tho, that may have been a contributing factor to the onset of this infection.
 
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