Backward slide - probiotics or vitamin?

Forvia is very expensive but there are cheaper multivitamins that are much better than Centrum. I would at least double the daily dose of Culturelle because an independent testing lab has shown that it doesn't have the full potency as labeled. But if you are going to spend all that money on Culturelle then you may as well buy a more advanced probiotic.

The best bet would be VSL3DS if you can get health insurance to pay part of it. Otherwise RenewLife Ultimate Flora Critical Care or Primadophilus Reuteri are good.

This was posted last July about Culturelle and Align. Obviously they are effective but are they worth the money for what you get?

FYI. An independent consumer lab tested two of the more popular brands of probiotics and found some deficiencies. Vitamins and supplements are not regulated by the FDA so these kinds of problems can occur. To get around this you could check out the independent lab results or find a major manufacturer that cannot afford to get the reputation for sloppiness that will ruin sales. Caveat Emptor.

"# Align claimed to contain 1 billion live bacteria when manufactured “and an effective level until as least the “best by” date. ConsumerLab.com testing revealed that only 530 million bacteria were viable. However, a clinical study of the bacteria (Bifidobacterium infantis 35624) in Align showed that it could reduce symptoms of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) at a dose of just 100 million. ConsumerLab.com found that the product exceeded this amount, so the product’s claim to provide an effective dose is correct. Whether or not a higher dose might offer greater efficacy is not known.

"# Culturelle claimed to provide 10 billion cells in a daily capsule through the “best used by” date; ConsumerLab.com found only 5.8 billion viable cells. It is not clear whether this is a sufficient dose. Most clinical studies with Lactobacillus GG have used 10 to 20 billion viable cells per day. A dosing study (Saxelin 1991) using the bacteria in Culturelle (Lactobacillus GG) found that a daily dose of 1.5 billion cells was not able to colonize the gut, but a dose of 15 billion was. The amount found falls between these two dosages."

primodophilus reuteri is about $20 for 90 pills, they seemed to work ok for me

and i completely understand about money issues, a couple of years ago, i halved my asacol intake to save money... bad idea!

Does culturelle have bifidum.....? My GI said that was the probiotic that has been proven best to help. I don't know, except that he seems to know his stuff so far (We're been together only a year.)
We're getting Align for my son at a good price at a local wholesale club that accepts coupons (Procter and Gamble has a $5 one this month, at least in this area...)

The vitamin.... I take One a Day, so... don't know.

Gosh, let's hope things get turned around soon!

I had been taking centrum for months now but had to stop in early september because it was suddenly unavailable here (Ireland) pharmacist said it had been recalled due to labelling issue :(

Have had a fairly bad flare up since shortly after that, could be coinncidence though as I went back to college at the same time and usually flare up during cold weather.

Am taking a sonaplus multivitamin now, am still flaring badly though, have never really tried too many different types of probiotics or vitamins though, I'm only starting to look at different ones now, just know that centrum had been working nicely for me.

Good luck!

Chiming in here with a question..

Which brand multi vitamin is the best?

Currently Im taking the Target brand Women's with iron.