Uniform Charlie said...
I wasn't trying to criticize what you are recommending here. Have you read the Israeli study where they compared the microbiomes of people who took antibiotics followed by probiotics and found that the probiotic delayed the body's ability to return to "normal"? I wonder if, in your case, "normal" is all screwed up, which is why you get the benefit.
Can you detail the timing of your experiment? How many times have you tested it etc?
No criticism taken. Though, I expected and hoped for criticism, as I'd like to suss this theory out.
I have not looked at the Israeli study that you mention. I simply just don't have the time to do deep research on this subject - wish I did, but I've got a busy life. In any case, like I said earlier, if this theory looks like it might bear fruit, I will make the time - need more data points though to justify the time expenditure.
My timing is detailed in the original write-up, but I'll give a brief summary:
I first tried the Z-Pac+Probiotics in August 2017 - I was in ~90% symptomatic remission at the time, which was my normal condition for years while smoking to keep it as such. It was a 5-day Z-Pac, started taking probiotics on day 4 along with the antibiotic (though, I'd take the antibiotic in the morning and the probiotic about
12hr later, in the hopes of avoiding 'wasting' the antibiotic for just killing off my probiotics, and not whatever remained in my gut), and continued the probiotics for a month or so. The remaining 10% of my symptoms cleared quickly (the first couple days), and never came back once (and, I had a colonoscopy showing complete histological remission - aka, zero sign of UC) until I quit smoking. When I quit smoking, the symptoms started again. I knocked them out again with the same course of Z-Pac+probiotic. Symtoms stayed gone for a few weeks, but came back. I then discovered the LiveLeaf, and have used that to knock the symptoms back out - only took two doses for each instance (two or three over the course of a month or so) - and it worked as well as the antibiotics. It's been a good two months now, and I've had zero symptoms at all, so no need for the LiveLeaf if no symptoms. If I start showing symptoms again, I'll simply take a couple doses of LiveLeaf, and I expect that'll do the trick.
To punctuate - I have NEVER been able to remain in symptomatic remission without smoking or relatively large (and ever increasing) doses of azathioprine (Imuran). So, so far, so good.
That's it.