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Posted 11/20/2014 11:54 AM (GMT 0)
If I'm on antibiotics and taking probiotics, are they just cancelling each other out? Are the probiotics really doing anything beneficial?
Posted 11/20/2014 12:14 PM (GMT 0)
Yes, they are.

It's better to fortify, build up, and provide options than to just let it go and wing it.

Never, ever, ever a dumb question in the group. Ever. :)
Posted 11/20/2014 12:16 PM (GMT 0)
While we don't know exactly what's going on in our bodies, I know I was given instructions to space my hefty doses of probiotics (I take them 3x/day) at least 2 hrs. away from my antibiotics doses.

As you know, antibiotics wipe out our gut flora so it's imperative to do whatever we can to restore them.

Here's some info on the importance of gut flora and what we can do to maintain them:

http://chriskresser.com/9-steps-to-perfect-health-5-heal-your-gut
Posted 11/20/2014 12:27 PM (GMT 0)
Oh, I agree there's a chance the antibiotics and probiotics cancel each other out.

However, if we didn't take probiotics, antibiotics would "win" in killing our gut flora...
Posted 11/20/2014 12:29 PM (GMT 0)
the problem only arises if you take them together. the antibiotics will be too busy breaking down the probiotics to work properly. So yes, if you take them too close together, they can cancel eachother out to a degree. Just take them at least 2 hrs away from eachother and you are fine!!

and no, there is never a dumb question!!! =)
Posted 11/20/2014 12:45 PM (GMT 0)
Nope, not dumb question at all.

I ALWAYS give my animals (the herbivores especially) probiotics when they are taking antibiotics, to protect there gut flora. Not doing so can have very severe consequences for them. I always give the probiotics two hours before the antibiotics (usually with food in the middle) to kind of get the gut well stocked up on good stuff, before giving the medicine.

Funnily enough, I have never bothered myself before, until now!!
Posted 11/20/2014 2:15 PM (GMT 0)
dpiddy...not a dumb question! I've wondered the exact same thing before and asked the exact same question!

from all that I've learned, what everybody else is saying, and what my LLMD said, just make sure to take the probiotics at least several hours away from the antibiotics.

sometimes when I wake up in the middle of the night, I take a probiotic to get one in and know for sure that it's far away from my antibiotics.
Posted 11/20/2014 2:17 PM (GMT 0)
My LLMD recommends taking the probiotics two hours AFTER the antibiotics. The idea is that the antibiotics kill off the gut flora and then you repopulate the gut with the probiotics after the abx have been absorbed.

I have had very good success by taking the probiotics after EACH antibiotic dose. Even when I was taking them three times a day. I have been able to avoid yeast overgrowth this way.
Posted 11/20/2014 8:43 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks guys. You are helpful and kind. Appreciate it.
Posted 11/21/2014 2:36 AM (GMT 0)
probiotics very important for immunity. Healthy bacteria that lives in GI tract, and contributes to immunity. antibiotics kills all bacteria...good and bad...and must replenish good....but don't take together. Take at least 2/3 hours apart.
Posted 11/21/2014 2:57 AM (GMT 0)
THe GI tract functions 24 hours a day… it has a specific job even while we sleep. The yeast that is ever-present all over our bodies and in our gut is something the body needs but is also opportunistic. So think if it like a cycle… you take the antibiotics to clear the bad bacteria (although it clears the good, too and it's the good bacteria that keep the yeast from overgrowing), then probiotics replenish the good bacteria that keeps the yeast in check… then you start a new cycle with each dose of abx. It's the yin yang, the black and white cookie, the bogey and bacall, the proton and electron, the fire and water…

-p
Posted 11/21/2014 10:55 AM (GMT 0)
There is no such thing as a dumb question :) We are all learning new things every day! :)
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