I hate my gut flora

Hi all. I'm new.

about 6 months ago I had the first resection for Crohn's after 8 years of what seems to me like almost complete remission (including 4 years without meds). The resection itself was minimal (a few centimeters) but was necessary because of complications (abbsess).

The problem is that ever since the surgery I feel that my digestive system is not functioning like it used to. I have evening bloating, gas and soft stools with undigested food but no pain, blood, fever or diarrhea. Also, I have an iron deficiency which only gets worse.

I am currently trying to find out the cause of these new symptoms. Three months before the surgery I was put on an elemental diet and cipro+flagyl. My doc said it could be lactose intolerance or bacterial overgrowth. He suggested a lactose-free diet and if that doesn't work, then a course of cipro+flagyl followed by probiotics is needed. I have tried to go lactose free and it didn't help. As for the antibiotics, I am not eager to take them yet, because it might make things worse.

Has anyone else had a similar experience and have tips for me?

Thanks.

I like Garden of Life's Primal Defense Ultra. It has S. Bouldari, which is very important for recolonizing the flora. As long as it has S. Bouldari.

A possible choice for a "medical-grade" probiotic is VSL#3. The capsules (I would not recommend the sachets due to fillers) have 250 billion beneficial bacteria. As with most things here, not everyone has good success with VSL, while others swear by it. My local Walgreens has ordered it in for me in the past.

You might want to consider making your own yogurt because it has 4 times the beneficial bacteria that store-bought yogurt has. The book "Nourishing Traditions" by Sally Fallon also explains how to make other fermented foods for their beneficial bacteria, such as sauerkraut and fruit chutneys.

Yes, take the probiotics while on antibiotics. Experts say to take them two hours before or after your antibiotic to lessen the killing of beneficial bacteria by the anti's.

Lastly, if you are going the cipro+flagyl route, you might want to consider what AyurvedaHeals said and take a probiotic with Saccharomyces boulardii. Florastor is a name brand that doctors often prescribe, but I'm sure there are others. S. boulardii has been proven to fight/prevent C diff. infections which are sometimes caused by the big-gun antibiotics. Here's what Wiki says:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saccharomyces_boulardii

Good luck to you!

Probiotics need to be taken at least 2 hours AFTER you're done taking your antibiotics for the day cuz antibiotics kill everything (which is why you need to take a good probiotic daily and indefinitely---flaring or not---). Probiotics are essential for IBDers cuz we tend to have bacterial overgrowth, there are many good ones on the shelves, it's a matter of find one that contains at least 10 billion, too low is a waste of time and money. One that carries the most strains is best too. Actually, you'll likely find the best quality in the store fridge, the ones that need to be kept cold.

VSL3 is about the highest/strongest you can get usually by RX.

:)

Ok, so you two have me wondering where I read the before or after antibiotics thing.   After a little bit of looking I found this article that is probably the best plan of attack:

"During antibiotic therapy, a good dose is between 6 and 25 billion total viable probiotic cells per day. They should be taken as far away from the antibiotics as possible (for instance, if the antibiotics are to be taken every eight hours, the probiotic supplements should be taken four hours after the antibiotics). Probiotic therapy should be continued a week to a month beyond the antibiotic treatment period to replenish any beneficial bacteria lost during antibiotic use. Probiotic use should not interfere with the effectiveness of antibiotics."

The source seems like a pretty good article:

http://www.lime.com/magazines?uri=consciouschoice.com/lime/1999/cc1208/probiotics1208.html