Probiotics and other vitamins and supplements

I found that the probiotics didn't make a noticeable change in my life. Tried them for a few weeks.

I only take vit-D, and only because blood tests have shown I am deficient in that. I've supplements a few times, but frankly, I've never really noticed a change in my health.

Andrew

I read (I think in the New Yorker) about a reporter who lived with a tribe of hunter-gatherers. He wanted to see if eating "dirty" food - not well cleaned and fresh with bacteria from the soil - would make a difference in his microbiome. He had his poop analyzed frequently. There were some beneficial bacteria that flourished in his gut while he lived there, but as soon as he returned home, they vanished. There seems to be a homeostasis effect in the gut ecology. We have a lot to learn about all this.

These things are probably going to have different impacts on each of us. For example, I've been taking probiotics for 8 or 10 years. I originally started at my doc's suggestion, when I was diagnosed with IBS. The probiotics helped calm that lot down immensely. I don't think I would stop those right now, but as others have found, YMMV.

OTOH, I was also taking two different varieties of meds for acid reflux and excess acid production. Recently I ran out of one of them, stopped it cold turkey, and haven't looked back since. No changes, so I guess it wasn't needed.

We've each got to find out what works or helps, and try (if we so choose) to stop the rest, I guess.

I try and eat healthy, but don't really buy into all that supplement stuff. My blood panels are fine for the most part and I exercise a lot (20+ miles a day on my bicycle) so other than my statin every other day, I take nothing. I figure worrying about it will kill me quicker.

Tom

When I asked my doctor about probiotics, he told me they are worthless unless I have problems with diarrhea. I do take Vitamin C for my entire life, and I used to take Vitamin E, and Fish Oil until I read something about increasing risks of cancer.

It’s weird in a funny weird sorta way. Before my dx...I never took a pill in my life. I never thought about it being unhealthy to not take pills. My life went along...working on my boat...seeing my girlfriend...driving and owning different cars...etc...sometimes goin to church for my own reasons...struggling along with this and that issue of the day (which would change according to whatever situation or problem or good days I was having....then...ka boom....an operation...one operation...and sudedenly I’m all sick and takin this and that for this and that....and now...I’m in there fillin up my weekly pill counter...5,6, 8 pills I don’t know...but...I never di$ this before November 25’ 2015...ever...not one pill my whole life except for here or there...heartburn a Tagamet or something from time to time. What’s changed...I do not know.

I stopped taking some pill my gp gave me for something about my urinating...I stopped taking taking probiotics a year and a half ago. I still take 3 pills a day...BP...aspirin (dvt?j...vitamin d3.

What’s changed? Before my operation it never occurred that takin pills was good....takin pills never even occurred me period for my health. I was healthy without pills. Now..I’m unhealthy WITHOUT pills??? And that happened in one....3 hr period of my life? Yes it did is the answer...but it don’t make sense to me.

Makes no sense to me at all at all at all. What changed??? I don’t know? I’m UNHEALTHY now if I don’t take pills??? Doesn’t compute. From am operation?? Not possible!

Take what ya need to take Pratoman...to not have ❤️ attack. But...I don’t know...fillin unhealthy if I don’t take pills....don’t seem healthy to me...that’s all. But don’t have a heat attack...a pills worth it to keep that if it takes that to not have heart problems.

Taking pills to keep from feeling unhealthy just ain’t healthy...yeah...that’s what i think ... I think 🤔


Sorry for spelling and grammar....iPad and eyesight tired ... but if I cared enough that wouldn’t be happening

It, good perspective.
Thanks everyone for the responses.

Last night I went out for dinner with a big group. We ate Chinese food, in a restaurant that was full of mostly Asian customers. So you know it was good Chinese food. And the worst kind. Then we went over to a local joint for Ice Cream. I don’t do these food orgies thatoften. But this must have done wonders for my Blood Glucose🙄.
So I’m not sure what the point is of taking all these pills.

I am going to stick with Vit D and Magnesium and baby aspirin, and of course my prescription drugs. But I think I’ll trash everything else. I eat enough healthy foods and that’s a better way to get what I need.

For a few months before SRT I was taking Liposomal Curcumin and stopped a few days before starting SRT. I then took 135 mg Soy Isoflavones during my SRT treatment to enhance the effects of radiation. (This concept has few studies that support it, and no large double blind, placebos, etc, etc. In other words I did it on my own and I am not recommending others do this). After SRT I stopped the Isoflavones and did nothing for ~14 days. Then I hit it with Sulforaphane, Modified Citris Pectin, (walnuts when I could) everyday for 10 months or so to help trip up the injured cell from repairing and help trigger apoptosis. I had the PC on the run and wanted to knock the m&#$@% out while it was weak.

I've had good results from SRT so far, but impossible to know what, if anything, I did had any effect. I've gone years being undetectable before and it came back, so no celebrations for years to come. Now I pop a few of the above now and then but generally not taking much... few D's.... oh yeah, after SRT I tried to take some pills for diabetes (I think) that is said to possibility help against PC, but that only lasted a month as it did not sit well with me.

I cut my multi-vitamin in half, take half of the Emergen-C packet, vitamin D every other day, omega-3 every other day now after reading too much of these might actually be harmful. After gallbladder removal a few years ago I started having stomach trouble so started taking Align probiotic every day and saw significant improvement. No stomach issues whatsoever now and BM perfect. I have upcoming visit with my GI doc next month and will ask him what he thinks. My primary Doc thinks all these vitamins and supplements are mostly harmless but worthless.

There is at least ONE proven vitamin supplement called "AREDS-2" that works at controlling macular degeneration, a serious eye problem that can lead to blindness..