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"Mutaflor" to be released in Canada next month.

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 12/14/2009 5:03 AM (GMT 0)
Has anyone tried Mutaflor? It's apparently been used in German hospitals for decades and there are many studies on it. It contains the Nissle E Coli (1917) strain and is, according to double-blind studies, as effective as the 5-ASAs in maintaining remission in UC patients. It's being released in January 2010 by Medical Futures in Canada (coincidentally, I have a family member who works for them and I will be pressing them for samples/information tomorrow...) I would love to hear from anyone who's used this.
http://www.medfutures.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=34&Itemid=34
Do a search and many studies come up. Sounds promising...
Posted 12/14/2009 12:32 PM (GMT 0)
Wow! I have not tried it but we have had some discussions about it on here. I have found probiotics to be so helpful for me, I would be excited to try it if it were easier to order! (I looked up the German pharmacy online and just couldn't deal with it.)
Posted 12/14/2009 2:46 PM (GMT 0)
Great news. You can order it already in Canada; just have to have it shipped from Germany. I have used it for years. Could have been helping, but wasn't enough to prevent me from flaring at times. Worth a try.
Posted 12/14/2009 3:39 PM (GMT 0)
Apparently it will be in stock towards the end of January, but I might consider ordering it online from the US for now. Chocolate_stains, are you still on it? Do you use it with or in place of 5-ASAs/other meds?
Posted 12/14/2009 4:47 PM (GMT 0)
Killcolitis, where do you go to order it from the US? It looks like the site you linked to only has the other four products listed on the website.

Does anyone know how it compares to VSL#3 with respect to potency or effectiveness?
Posted 12/14/2009 4:58 PM (GMT 0)
Levi,
The site I linked to was the site for Medical Futures, the Canadian company who will be releasing it in January. I have a relative who works there. I spoke to them this morning and he checked with their warehouse. They don't have it in yet but will toward the end of January. In the meantime he said there was a US distributer who sold it online. I haven't checked it out yet but does nothing come up when you do a search? I'll post a link if I can find one later. I believe it's supposed to be as effective as the 5-ASAs in maintaining remmission in UC (the result of a double blind study with over 300 people). There's been a lot of research on this over the years with articles in The iLancet etc. I'm not sure but I guess this would indictate that it was more potent than VSL#3?
Posted 12/14/2009 6:40 PM (GMT 0)
OK, that explains why I didn't see it in the store then. Guess I'll wait a month and a half and check back.

Thanks for the information, it sounds very interesting. I'll be doing some research on this after work tonight as well. I can guarantee my GI has never heard even heard of it!
Posted 12/14/2009 8:51 PM (GMT 0)
Levi,
Well, my daughter's GI warned AGAINST using probiotics last week and said that VSL#3 was only indicated for treating pouchitis. Not very comforting!
Posted 12/14/2009 10:14 PM (GMT 0)
Killcolitis, why did your doctor warn against using probiotics? Did he say they were unsafe? Or did he participate in clinical trials that demonstrated that they were ineffective?
Posted 12/14/2009 10:18 PM (GMT 0)
tap,
I just don't think she's up on current research and this worries me a lot.
Posted 12/15/2009 3:18 AM (GMT 0)
Obviously, I misinterpreted the "Not very comforting!" comment.
Posted 12/15/2009 12:37 PM (GMT 0)
Wow. My PA had never heard of VSL#3. She went and asked the GI about it and to his credit, he pointed out studies done at a local university hospital showing it to be the best probiotic for UC sufferers.
Posted 12/15/2009 7:10 PM (GMT 0)
You can buy it here: http://www.cocoonnutrition.org/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/15/products_id/3368?osCsid=kdmknqk4ivum7lspkoj3d80817

Only $180!!! Yikes!
Posted 12/15/2009 7:32 PM (GMT 0)
I saw that to WeirdBeard. But hte orginial site Killcolitis linked too that is releasing the medicine 01/2010 had this disclaimer at the bottom: Please note that Medical Futures Inc. is the official, sole authorized distributor for Mutaflor® in Canada and Mutaflor® in the US. Any other source of the product is not authorized.

So who knows. Hopefully the 'authorized' version will be cheaper.
Posted 12/15/2009 7:32 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks for the link weirdbeard. $180 for a month? Have you tried it?
Posted 12/15/2009 8:06 PM (GMT 0)
Currently not on it; stopped it about a month or so ago when i ran out. Used it in combination with a lot of other supplements and meds; it surely would not have been enough on its own to keep me from flaring, but that just my experience. Hard to tell therefore if or how much it was doing to help because it was always along with other treatments as well
Posted 1/14/2010 6:38 PM (GMT 0)
Any updates
Posted 1/18/2010 7:53 PM (GMT 0)
I heard so many good things about E. Coli Nissle but I never knew where or when it might be available. Thank you for the information.
Posted 1/21/2010 6:23 PM (GMT 0)
I just spoke to my cousin at Medical Futures, they now expect to have Mutaflor by the beginning of March. It will have to be ordered directly through them when it arrives as they will cold pack it etc.
Posted 3/12/2010 8:25 PM (GMT 0)
Hey killcolitis

Could you contact your cousin and find out when exactly its coming? They don't give a specific date on www.mutaflor.ca

I read that its even more effective then VSL3 so I really want to try it.. Lets just hope its not over $100+ per month....

Also, what data is your daughters GI using to suggest against probiotics as a whole?
Posted 3/12/2010 8:40 PM (GMT 0)
it says it can only be taken for 12 months???
Posted 3/12/2010 8:57 PM (GMT 0)
I'll check and see if it's out. KrissyUC, do you have it already? I'll ask my cousin about the 12 month thing - he is a sales rep so should know the answer.
Posted 4/7/2010 9:37 PM (GMT 0)
I just found out it's now available.
Posted 4/7/2010 11:54 PM (GMT 0)
Hmm a three month supply at $62 is pretty comparable to what I pay for VSL #3DS. I was going to read back and see if anyone asked about a comparison between VSL and Mutaflor in this thread, someone had, and what do you know it was me. :)

The only comment on the Mutaflor site is:

“Escherichia coli Nissle is an effective alternative to 5-ASA for maintenance of remission of Ulcerative colitis” -– Journal of Crohns and Colitis (2008)2, 24-62.

Not very informative

Killcolitis, did you hear anything from your cousin about the 12 month duration question?
Posted 4/8/2010 1:37 AM (GMT 0)
Has anyone asked them about shipping from Canada to the US? I tried Mutaflor some years back but the person I had transport them from Germany didn't do the best job of keeping them cool and I have reason to believe they may have lost their efficacy. Additionally, I notice that when health food stores ship probiotics with cold packs, the cold packs and the probiotics have still long reached room temp. in most cases by the time Imopen the box. Mutaflor would not divulge to me whether a day or two at room temp. would seriously degrade their CFU count- they simply repeated the instructions to keep them at 7 C or whatever the recc. temp was- but perhaps that was why they did nothing for me over my several months trial.
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