Anyone actually had a doctor . . .

Has anyone had a doctor that has actually suggested any sort of vitamin or supplement such as probiotics, bee propolis, etc? My doctors seem indifferent to something as simple as probiotics.

Also, I just started a new supplement called Chlorella (I think, I don't have it by me right now). Anyone here used it/something like it with any good/bad effects?

My GI has given me samples of Probiotics. And when I was in the hospital they gave me Keiffer yogurt after my rounds of antibiotics.

My doctor told me it would be good to try them. I also had several dietitians visit me during my last hospital stay tell me that taking probiotics would be a good idea. I just started taking an acidophilus supplement today actually and am drinking kefir when I can. Let me know how the chlorella works out. I'd like to try some more supplements like that, but I've noticed a few like the chlorella say "act as a natural laxative" which exactly what I don't need. I'm pretty curious about the bee propolis and aloeelite though...

Chlorella is of limited use unless it is "broken cell" because it is not digested otherwise. As for the probiotics, make sure that your probiotic does not contain FOS. That is added to a lot of formulas because it is a bacteria food. Unfortunately, it can also feed the gut bacteria that cause inflammation. Try to find one that has Lactobacillus casei. That has been shown to have the greatest effect in reducing TNFalpha, just like Humira, without the general immune supression. Lactobacillus bulgaricus is almost as good. Finally, once you have a good base of beneficials in you, you need to feed them. Lactose free whey powder is one option. The best option is home made yogurt or kefir. You need to age it 24 hours to remove the lactose - commercial yogurts are not fully aged and contain lactose and usually other undesirable additives like starch and sugar or FOS.

Usually the term FOS is on the label. Sometimes they spell it out: "fructo-oligosaccherides"

There are studies showing very promising results of Bifidobacterium infantis on IBD...so my doc has been recommending that probiotic. It has helped.

So those doctors from the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Scripps Clinic, etc, who gave presentations at a IBD seminar I attended last year have their head in the sand?  I'll be sure to let them know next time I see them.

In all seriousness, I'm planning to go to another conference soon in which the latest research on probiotics will be one of the topics.  I'll try to post what I learn on here.

And by the way, VSL3 was shown to be beneficial in ulcerative colitis, but not in Crohn's.  And it was only one study.  So the jury is still out.  It's not the simple situation some make it out to be.

beave, as a member of the CCFC, the journals I recieve have more info about new knowledge of the benefits of taking probiotics, there have been more studies than just one and it's believed that probiotics are not only a benefit to IBD (CD and UC) but to IBS as well....maybe the docs at the mayo clinic, cleavland clinic, ect, should become members of the CCFC to learn about the latest advancements when it comes to mechanisms of intestinal susceptibility to bacterial pathogens, archaeal microbiota in IBD, the effect of never growth factor and probiotics not to mention many, many more studies going on regarding probiotics/bacterial infulence and IBD...I assure you the jury is not still out when it comes to the benefits of probiotics (even for those who do not have an intestinal illness), of course much more needs to be learned and no one said it's a simple solution (that would be ridiculous to assume) but it most definitely has it's place where crohn's, UC and even IBS are concerned.

:)

  Well pb4, since the doctors I met at the conference probably WROTE some of the research in your journals, I doubt they need to become members of the CCFC in order to gain access to this info.  But nice try.

Like I said, I'll be attending another conference next month and probiotics will be one of the topics.  I'll hopefully get more info then.

In the meantime, I should point out that the studies in the CCFC journal are *suggesting* there might be a benefit to probiotics.  If and when those studies are duplicated over time, THEN AND ONLY THEN will you or anybody be able to say with confidence that probiotics help.

If probiotics have so clearly been proven beneficial, tell me exactly which strains help and exactly what they help with.  I doubt you can.

Probiotics works and I'd siggest Natren Brand or the Nature's Way, Primadophilus Reuteri. Both are supposed to help the Intestines. There is no point arguing about it, either you try it and it helps you/or not or you don't try it and you will never know.

pb4, thanks for proving my point for me!

The article you link discusses VSL3 and ulcerative colitis.  If you read my earlier posts in this thread, you will see I mentioned that already.  The article does not mention Crohn's.

And, yes, one of the researchers I met was from Canada (University of Western Ontario, I believe).  His name was Brian McFeagan or something like that (I'm not on my normal PC so I don't have my links or any of my info right now).

Have a look at http://gut.bmj.com/cgi/content/abstract/51/5/659 You can view the entire article if you do a free registration. It cites downregulation of TNFalpha by Lactobacillus bacteria in vitro using tissue from crohn's patients having undergone a resection. The graphs in the complete article show that L. casei reduces TNF alpha levels to the level of the controls (no increased TNF). You may want to wait for the placebo controlled double blind study on a large population before you would consider trying something so radical and dangerous... Seriously, if people on this forum report good results from using probiotics, are you going to wait for the science to catch up?

Keeper, you're right that some people on here have reported good results, but we all know that's far from scientific.  I could give everybody on here a sugar pill, tell them it's a new Crohn's med, and 40% would tell me it's helping them.  And what about the people on here who have reported getting *worse* when taking probiotics?  Are we to ignore them because they didn't give the result we wanted to hear (and, yes, people on this forum have reported getting worse after starting various probiotics).

For the record, you seem to think I'm convinced probiotics don't help. Not so.  I have and do take them myself - and in various posts on here I've recommended that others try them - but I'm not so sold on them that I'm willing to make any claims like "EVERYBODY should be on them."  That's what I'm disputing, that it's so cut and dried.  It's not.  Some people, many in fact, get worse on them.

pb4, in an earlier post you said, "It's already known that our system is attacking harmless bacteria which in turn cause our symptoms, we tend to have bacterial over-growth which is why probitoics daily and indefinitely is essential."  That seems to contradict the use of probiotics.  After all, if our immune system is attacking harmless bacteria -- which is exactly what probiotics are -- and that leads to our symptoms, then how is ingesting more of these bacteria beneficial?

And, yes, I'm arguing just to argue.  I enjoy these debates and hopefully all of you do too.  If we learn something in the process, even better.