vsl#3

Currently trying it again. First time I took it every other day, but didn't notice a change. Now I'm taking one capsule at bedtime and my gut seems quieter, more consistent.

I know a lot of people diagnosed with ulcerative colitis take it, and up to 8 capsules a day. Many people prefer the powder over the capsules. Someone on these forums suggested pill form first.

Before this, the line of probiotics I've had the most success with are:

Renew Life, Critical Colon, 80 Billion count or the 50 Billion count one.

Found at Health food stores in the chilled section. Walgreens now carries it but they do not chill the products, so I'd strongly suggest you not buy them from Walgreens. They need to be chilled. If you try a probiotic in pill form, take it on an empty stomach. I prefer to take mine (currently the VSL #3) at bedtime, hours after I've eaten something.

I had to order VSL #3 from my pharmacy. But you can find Renew Life products right now, go to your nearest health food store. Also, go to the Renew Life website, look at their probiotic line (quite extensive, in all strengths) and see which one would fit your needs. Buy it today, you won't regret it. Very mild.

I imagine I'll back on Renew Life after my VSL #3 bottle is empty, Renew Life just seems to agree with my gut and I sometimes take my doses of RN products 12 hours apart, my gut seems to like that as well.

Yes, you made a good choice. Keep it refrigerated. If you go to their website, you can read customer reviews. That might help you too (about dosage, etc.).

Are you starting with 1 capsule per day? Also, these capsules are encoated, so they are supposed to remain intact and travel unopened until they get to the colon area. So be sure to take them on an empty stomach.

And yes I know they are not cheap but they are very soothing to an irritated gut.

Good luck!

Pretty soon, within in a week at most. I noticed I had fewer gut rumblings and gas problems fairly quickly after starting it. If you travel, be sure to put these pills in a tightly closed zip lock bag. One time I trusted an empty screw top medicine bottle to put the capsules inside, but water seeped in and ruined them. I was then w/o probiotics for a few days until I returned home. I was so stressed out from that silly mistake. Now I still use the plastic bottle but then it's placed in a zip lock baggie. Inside a cooler.

What are your exact symptoms, if you don't mind answering? Sometimes people double up on probiotics if they're really struggling.

Also, one thing I like to pair these probiotics with is an organic liquid yogurt my local produce store sells. The farm that makes it is somewhat local to my area, so if you have a chance look for a product like this too. When I'm really out of whack, having 3 glasses a day of this yogurt, coupled with the probiotics seem to really restore my gut to consistent stool output (I'm in this situation because my lower colon is gone, due to cancer, so I don't have a specific IBS diagnosis, I just share symptoms similar to what many here experience).

Well I am certainly no expert but the Renew Life product would replace any other probiotic, for now, until you determine if it will help you or not.

Also, I might suggest a medication that may help, a mild stool softener. I am also on one, in addition to my daily probiotic intake - Colace, 50 mg. Twice a day. You could start on it on it only once a day to see if that would help you too.

Colace doesn't act like a laxative does, although the packaging states it's a laxative. By taking the lower dose (50 mg is a pediatric dose), I can control how little I take of it. The reason I am on it, is long ago one of my doctors suggested it, so I never have a blockage because I have scar tissue from having had a colon resection and also a temporary colostomy. My abdomen has a lot of scars on it! Colace also helps keep my stool of a similar consistency, not D, not C (although I never struggle with constipation), just somewhere in the middle.

So ask your doctor about Colace. You can find 50 mg at Walgreens or CVC. I can't find it at Kroger's, they have to order it, they only carry 100 mg (which is too strong for me, all in one dose). Also, don't buy generic, make sure you buy only name brand Colace, any generic will contain sennasides and you do not want this - it's an irritant that will induce even more gut rumbling, gurgling, and general upset. I accidentally bought generic for a few months and I was miserable until someone here said to stay clear of sennaside, unless of course you are impacted (I guess it really helps those folks and dislodges hard and impacted stool).

Be sure to read the list of ingredients on your generic stool softener, if you see senna or sennasides - be wary, I didn't realize that's an old chinese herb of sorts, it's meant to irritate the lining of the colon and induce bm's, rumbling, upheaval in the gut. It's for people with severe constipation.

Yeah well my life is what it is but thank you for the kinds words. My surgeon did save my life from cancer but I've never gone back to my old bowel habits nor being able to eat anything I wanted w/o trouble. Just today I've had a massive and total cleanout. And I mean total. My husband thinks I need to eat a whole foods diet, since fruits and vegetables do not mess me up terribly, he keeps reading how we can't eat processed foods. I had half a Stouffer's cheese pizza for lunch and a cup of noodle mix soup (similar to Mrs. Grass but a different brand, I added celery, carrots, etc. to it).

Even though I often suggest others start a daily food diary/log, even I can't always pinpoint where I've gone wrong. My body just seems to have the need to purge itself of all stool, once or twice a month. That is currently what is happening to me this evening. I can't even watch Olympics coverage! Anyway, at least I'll be cleaned out when this is done (I'm nearly the end). It's funny, seems like someone slipped a bowel prep medication in my drink today! :)