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Lactobacillus plantarum 299v products

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Ulcerative Colitis
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Posted 8/28/2010 6:15 AM (GMT 0)
Hello folks,

Majority of you in the US take probiotics. In Sweden, they refused to prescribe me as those are given for prophylaxis purpose only, for those Swedes who travel to Asia or Africa. Hence I was stuck.

Since last week, I have been taking ProViva fruit drinks. These drinks contain culture of Lactobacillus plantarum 299v. I don't know if its just my mind playing but I am definitely feeling better. My gases reduced by almost 80%. I am sort of in remission i.e. visits less than 5 but always felt like a balloon.

I wonder if there are any such products in the US that contain this strain.

In other words, I am looking for probiotics alternatives. I don't want to be dependent on probiotics for rest of my life so may be regular ingestion of such bateria fortified food products will help.

Post Edited (deltaforce) : 8/28/2010 8:53:42 AM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/28/2010 11:36 AM (GMT 0)
Many think that the best source of probiotic is kefir. There's Dom's site on the web (an australian lad) which describes very well what is it. It's very simple to produce your own kefir. I used kefir but never got remission, but I have to say I did not take any meds and did not do any diet.

Another very well known and recognized source of probiotics is cultured vegetables (i.e. sauerkraut), you can find on youtube the description of how to produce them. I've never done that but I'm planning to try them if I'll manage to get remission.

You can also try to buy a yoghurt maker and make your own yoghurt starting from a small amount of "Activia" that's a source of bifidum.

I find strange that in Sweden there aren't probiotics you can get without prescription, here in Italy they are never prescribed and you must buy them your own. The best for UC should be "vsl#3", "enterolactis plus" and "ferzym".

Regards
Posted 8/28/2010 12:26 PM (GMT 0)
Delta,
You are soon coming to the US, right? (I read that on the thread about "what country are you from?") The area in which you will be living (about 35 miles from me - I'm about 75 miles from New York City) should have many health food stores and vitamin shops where you can find supplements and/or probiotic rich foods.

I also agree with everything asdrubale said about sauerkraut (the fresh kind in the refrigerated section of the grocery store, not the canned kind) and kefir.... and yogurt.

Yes, I wonder about taking the VSL for the rest of my life..... but generally, I choose not to worry that far ahead! I am hoping for new probiotic products, new treatments, maybe a Cure.......
My dreams motivate me.
Posted 8/28/2010 4:54 PM (GMT 0)
Im a swede aswell. I dont find proViva as a good source for me. Its just another low budget youghurt.
Thou Im glad if it works for you.

I been wanting to buy VSL#3 but there are no shop selling them here, only holland and london.

The treatment options are very limited since the socialistic country of sweden is so low on cash.
I wanted to have remicade since Im allergic to Mescaline, but they said it was too expensive, so I told them I pay myself, they said that medication is free but they wont give me that one because its too expensive, so they give me sulfazine instead :(

I wished I lived in USA so that I could get proper health care!
Posted 8/28/2010 5:19 PM (GMT 0)
VSL#3 contains 8 strains of probiotics:
• Bifidobacterium breve
• Bifidobacterium longum
• Bifidobacterium infantis
• Lactobacillus acidophilus
• Lactobacillus plantarum
• Lactobacillus paracasei
• Lactobacillus bulgaricus
• Streptococcus thermophilus

I don't know if VSL's Lactobacillus plantarum is identical to your lactobacillus plantarum 299v.

Very few American doctors recommend probiotics and you probably would not hear of their efficacy except on forums like this one. If it were up to American drug companies and many doctors then probiotics probably would not be allowed in the U.S. either. Our best hope is to use the greed of the makers of probiotics to counteract the greed of the pharmaceutical companies to lobby congress for the benefit of consumers.

Already the U.S. has banned the active ingredients in Red Rice Yeast so consumers would be encouraged to take their prescription statins instead. (RRY has been used for centuries in Chinese medicine for heart conditions and its active ingredients dramatically lower cholesterol).
Posted 8/28/2010 5:36 PM (GMT 0)
From my knowledge, I would not take probiotics beyond certain level. ProViva was an experiment and ProViva has been proved in Irritable Bowel Syndrome not in UC as such. My gut feeling tells me that ProViva will help for another month or so max and then it will plateau. I am just out of flares (due to neproxen for migraine) so it will work till it restores basic level, then I will stop seeing the difference.

After that, I will start kefir experiement as suggested by other posters, still it will be very good to find out any other food sources fortified with such bacteria.


@downgarden,
Where do you live? I live in Stockholm. I have no complaints whatsoever about Swedish system. Yes, I had a tough time to get into the system (1 year without diagnosis and vårdcentral doc kept me on steroids) but once I was in, I was lucky to get good doctors and really nice nurses those who check on me regularly.
about your Remicade, change the doctor. Tell the nurse next time you book an appointment. Make sure to make a list to tell this new doc, why you want Remicade. I was offered Remicade, I denied, because other medications work on me very well (but don't know whats causing migraines.) If you need any specific info, pls PM me. I will be glad if I could be of any help.

@BabeInTheWoods,
One more request, could you please tell me the amount of each of these in every dose i.e. a capsule or sachet? Thanks in advance.
Posted 8/28/2010 5:42 PM (GMT 0)
Most probiotics contain one billion to 50 billion CFUs. VSL#3 contains about 450 billion which is why it is so expensive. Prescription form double strength is VSL#3DS with about 900 billion.

It is considered a proprietary formula so the actual counts for each strain are not published but if you can find the counts please let us know.

Another company Jarrow makes probiotics that can be found in any health food store and some of their formulas have L. Plantarum. Smaller amounts, cheaper and easier to find.

I also like Dr. Q's (Quincy's) recommended RenewLife Ultimate Flora Critical Care probiotics. It also contains L. Plantarum. Actually I like their Vaginal Support probiotic. I know I don't have a vagina but their formula is almost identical to their Ultimate Flora Critical Care except it has 17.5 billion of L. Rhamnosus which is proven effective for IBD.

Post Edited (BabeintheWoods) : 8/28/2010 12:31:44 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 8/28/2010 10:13 PM (GMT 0)
Delta, I just moved to denmark, Lived on westcoast before, thou I get the same respons.
Im right now willing to try some alternative medicine,
I read youre originally from India? Have you tried any ayuirvedic meds?
Posted 8/29/2010 4:55 AM (GMT 0)
downgarden,

I have not tried much ayurvedic medicines, for various reasons.
1. From my understanding, ulcerative colitis is rather a 'new' disease and not well explained in Ayurved. (I could be wrong)
2. When I talked to the practitioners, I was medicated more for acidity (to balance all 3 aspects of body) but from my belief and understanding ulcerative colitis has nothing to do with acidity. I took those meds for one year with no effect.
3. Quality of the medication is questionable nowadays.
4. Majority of practitioners are not well qualified to practice ayurved and those who are, are far away from Mumbai. Due to more acceptance of Ayurved by the western world and the materialistic attitude (candid opinion) that is carried to India, Ayurved has become more of a business. Hence, I have started losing trust in those who practice it. I have reduced my connection to ayurved nothing more than simple massage.

My mother was also a patient of UC (was, because she is not on medication for last 10-12 years and touch wood, no UC symtoms), she also tried some Ayurvedic stuff in mid 90s without much luck.
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