HealingWell
Search Close Search
☰

Reaction to Probiotics

Support Forums
>
Ulcerative Colitis
✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
12
❬ ❬ Previous Thread |Next Thread ❭ ❭
Posted 11/5/2008 3:21 PM (GMT 0)
I just started on probiotics this past weekend - I take it just before bed.  Since then I've been getting very itchy hives on my hands - my knuckles are now red and sore from scratching.  Could this be an allergic reaction to the probiotics?  I haven't tried any new foods so I doubt it's something I ate.  I also have anxiety so this could stem from that - has anyone else had this kind of reaction?  Any suggestions?  I plan on stopping the probiotics for a while and see what happens.  Should I try a different kind or give these another chance?

I've also had very vivid dreams since I started taking them - dreams that are like full-length feature films.  Could this be the probiotics too?

Thanks in advance!

Posted 11/5/2008 3:28 PM (GMT 0)
     Personally, I never experienced any adverse reactions to my probiotics.  In the hospital they had me on Flora Q.  That is quite expensive and my nutrionist suggested Powerdolphilus by Country Life.  I order it over the net and take two a day, one with breakfast and one with dinner.  Maybe you should take it with food?  What are you taking and what does it say on the bottle?  It is a possibility you could be allergic to it.  Another thing, the itching could be caused from your anxiety.  My friend breaks out in hives every time she gets upset about anything.  However, just to be on the safe side, I would stop the probiotic for a week or so and see if the itching subsides.
Posted 11/5/2008 3:37 PM (GMT 0)

I'm taking All-Flora by New Chapter - it doesn't say anything on the bottle about reactions, just to take 2/day, which I am doing.  I was told to take it at least 2 hours away from the Asocol, which I take at meals, so I've been taking it before I go to bed. 

Sometimes it seams like everything you do to try to help yourself causes an equal negative reaction!

Posted 11/5/2008 7:14 PM (GMT 0)
ldarcy - I am sorry for your frustrations - this disease is truly frustrating. I noticed you were just diagnosised I was diagnosised 8/25/08. When I was diagnosised I began having a burning itchy sensation around the right side of my rib cage and went around the back on the right side. I think it was neves as it went away over time. My nerves settled a bit too when I found HW and learning from all these wonderful people. Perhaps your problem is from nerves/anxiety. I would suggest that you contact your doctor if it doesn't go away soon.

As far as the probiotic - I take 18 billion acidophlis probiotics a day - that's 2 pills 3x a day. It has not bothered me at all.

I hope this has been of some help to you and I will pray for you that you feel better soon!

Gigi1227
Posted 11/5/2008 8:16 PM (GMT 0)
The only possible side effects I've read you can get is some bloating, gas and possibly even D, but never what you're describing...what kind of fillers are in it, if it's full of a bunch of junky fillers, dyes and additives and such that could be what you're reacting to.

:)
Posted 11/5/2008 8:56 PM (GMT 0)
I'm not sure what kind of fillers are in it - I probably wouldn't know if they were good or bad anyway confused    (so much to learn - so little time!)

This is the info from thier label:

Probiotic Live Cells: L. rhamnosus, S. thermophilus, B. breve, L. acidophilus, B. infantis, B. longum, L. plantarum, L. salivarius, L.helveticus.

Other ingredients: Vcaps - Modified vegetable cellulose (capsule), organic fermented soy, and beet fiber

Naturally gluten free.
100% vegetarian, no artificial flavors or colors.

It sounds all healthy to me, maybe someone else knows better?

Gigi1227 - you were diagnosed the day I had my colonoscopy - I guess we were essentially diagnosed the same day!

Posted 11/5/2008 9:25 PM (GMT 0)
It does sound pretty safe, however I'm wondering about the organic fermented soy...do you maybe have any issues with soy? Maybe that you're unaware of because I know some people have issues with soy that can cause D.

Maybe even the modified vegetable cellulose could be the issue for you?

:)
Posted 12/22/2008 7:17 PM (GMT 0)
Idarcy, I saw your post and just had to join to reply. I got exactly the same reactions with (very high grade hypoallergenic) probiotics about 3 years ago, and again about 6 months ago. I get the same reaction if I eat anything with yeast in it.
Posted 12/22/2008 7:37 PM (GMT 0)

ldarcy said...
I just started on probiotics this past weekend - I take it just before bed. Since then I've been getting very itchy hives on my hands - my knuckles are now red and sore from scratching. Could this be an allergic reaction to the probiotics? I haven't tried any new foods so I doubt it's something I ate. I also have anxiety so this could stem from that - has anyone else had this kind of reaction? Any suggestions? I plan on stopping the probiotics for a while and see what happens. Should I try a different kind or give these another chance?


I've also had very vivid dreams since I started taking them - dreams that are like full-length feature films. Could this be the probiotics too?



Thanks in advance!

I really doubt this is related in any way to the probiotics. Maybe you are allergic to the base that the probiotics are in maybe if its dairy or vegeterian.

Other than that, if the probiotics are giving you trippy dreams - I would keep taking them cool
Posted 9/18/2009 3:19 PM (GMT 0)
Hi,

This question is for LDarcy and Grumpgut, I know this is a very old thread, however I am trying to find people who may have had a negative reaction or allergic reaction from pro-biotics and this thread came up in my search.
I have been trying to give probiotics to My son who is 2 1/2 years old and who is autistic and everytime I give them to him he ends up waking up in the middle of the night, usually crying and is up for hours. He also puts my hand on his stomach to ask for me to rub it. Unfortunately, my son has no language yet so I can't ask him what he is feeling, but he is definitely uncomfortable. I have re-introduced probiotics 3 times for at least a week duration and each time he is up everynight. Now I am starting to find that there seems to be a correlation with when I give him rice yogurt for breakfast and him getting up at night, although these times he doesn't cry he is still up for a couple of hours. (my son is on a gluten free casien free diet as well so he has rice yogurt).
My question is did you ever find out if you were allergic to the probiotics? Did you ever try to take them again? Any info would be greatly appreciated! It is very hard to find negative posts on probiotics.

Thank you,
Mikey's Mommy
Posted 9/18/2009 3:25 PM (GMT 0)
I don't think either of these two people have been on the forum recently.

Honestly, if you've tried it three separate times, and had this reaction each time, I'd say something in them bothers him. Have you tried a different brand? And are you using one specially forumulated for children (so that he's getting the appropriate dose)? Is there a specific reason you want him on probiotics?

Good luck.
Posted 9/19/2009 1:06 AM (GMT 0)
Mikey's Mommy,

Some probiotics can cause excessive bloating, so maybe that's what is bothering your son. I've tried a couple of brands where the bloating became so uncomfortable that I had to get up a couple of times at night too. Also, sometimes it can take a few weeks to get adjusted to a new probiotic, so maybe you're not giving it enough time as you've stopped after a week or so.

What probiotic brand are you using and how much?
Posted 11/14/2009 9:52 AM (GMT 0)

Hi Mikey's Mommy,

Hope Mikey's doing okay these days.  I've read about how it's becoming such a common occurence. Have you had any success so far treating him with the probiotics or "chelating"?    I've personally always thought I get a reaction to any probiotics with Acidophilus in them so I always stop taking them.  It's usually bad acne, excessive gas & unbearable constipation.  No problems with any other strains.

This time I'm going to try and stick out for at least a month to see for sure.  I've seen on other forums, that people had the herx start even at the end of the 2nd week, and have had it last bad through the 5th week.  But smooth sailing from then on.

Right now I'm taking Dr. Ohhira's, which is highly recommended, but expensive.  It's been a week (1 pill before meals) and my hands get so cold they turn purple everyday about 3-4 hrs after a pill (although I do live in Canada) & then when they warm up my knuckles burrn (ahhh, like a chemical burn on my skin).  I think it's eczema?  Every day it gets a little worse.  Never experienced this before, so I'm hoping its a herx. 

Other than the extreme cold and burning knuckles, I'm seeing no other major side effects besides a bit of brain fog & gassiness but on a plus I am seeing reduced IgE mediated food allergies (which is why I'm taking them in the first place) and solid bowel movements.

If you're interested, I'll keep you posted for week two. 

Apple-Pie (I think that's my nick-name)

Posted 12/9/2009 12:11 AM (GMT 0)

It's been about 3 weeks since I first started taking Dr. Ohhira's probiotics, and unfortunately I quit again after two weeks.  I'm pretty sure probiotics make me sick.  The burning on the knuckles went away mostly, but I started getting really sick and having sharp stomach pains.  I don't think that was a herx reaction, because I have tried anti-fungal/anti-bacterias and was able to avoid the sharp stomach pains during herx's.

My Naturopath explained to me that there are some people that can't tolerate probiotics, and a leaky gut is most likely the reason.  The probiotic goes into the bloodstream and your body attacks it to get rid of it. 

So you have to bring down the inflammation and heal the gut lining before you introduce the probiotics.

After a week off the probiotic, I feel a lot better, with the stomach pains going away and the knuckle rash gone.  Homeopathy has also helped.

Posted 12/9/2009 2:49 PM (GMT 0)
That sounds like good advice to me (from your naturopath).

An alternative strategy is to be more selective in your choice of probiotics, especially when (if) you decide to try again. For example, choose a single well known strain like acidophilus or bifidus and see if you can tolerate it. If so, you can begin to introduce more strains until your system begins to stabilize.

Naren offers single strains for purchase that I think are of good quality.
Posted 12/9/2009 6:03 PM (GMT 0)
I'd question the soy addition to it....
Change probiotics and see if you improve.

Regarding your diet....are you eating anything with soy?

q
Posted 12/9/2009 10:37 PM (GMT 0)
I don't think it's soy. i've eaten and drank soy and haven't had these reactions + soy showed up low on the IgG Elisa food allergy test I took last month.

But I think it might be acidophilus. I've tried both Natren Bifido Factor (Maylonth) and Natren Megadophilus (Acidophilus), and am okay with the Bifido, but not the Megadophilus. I've also tried many other brands with Acidophilus and it all ends up the same. Feeling sick.

Anybody have any issues with a leaky gut or a bad reaction to probiotic.
Posted 12/10/2009 2:59 AM (GMT 0)
...so if anyone is having a strange reaction to probiotics (which are simply friendly bacteria that we do already have in our gut flora) then there may be a serious condition going on with you that you may not be aware of.





Sorry, pb4, you know the rules about copying and pasting copyrighted information from other websites.

:)
Posted 12/10/2009 3:29 AM (GMT 0)
I get really crazy dreams when I take Benadryl. So who knows, it could be causing dream issues. As for the other stuff, I don't know, I don't seem to be much affected one way or the other.
Posted 12/10/2009 1:34 PM (GMT 0)
If I might interject in this kerfuffle to reply to Apple-Pie...

I personally have not had a bad reaction to probiotics, but my understanding is that it is not uncommon during states of inflammation. I gather that the body can loose its tolerance for gut flora (even resident flora) while in an inflammatory state - thus the necessity of healing the intestinal mucosa first.
Posted 12/10/2009 5:19 PM (GMT 0)
How bout a link to that website? I feel out of the loop.
Posted 12/10/2009 5:22 PM (GMT 0)
Thanks Icky-poo, I appreciate the insight.
Posted 4/15/2012 2:12 AM (GMT 0)
I have the same reaction to probiotics. I am trying to find something that helps take the itchiness away. Now it seems like when I eat anything I get the itchiness. Have you found anything?
Posted 4/15/2012 3:37 AM (GMT 0)
Instead of stopping the probiotics, try decreasing the dosage. With probiotics, you are always supposed to work your way up gradually. It's likely that if you get any reactions, that you may be allergic to one of the ingredients but any reactions such as stomach aches, fever or detox symptoms are usually signs that your digestive track needed the probiotics and the bad bacteria is fighting with the good that you're supplying your body with now... Hives are no good though, maybe get in contact with the company and see what type of allergic reactions are possible with this product. What is the brand of probiotics by the way?

Wow, I was looking at the view count of this topic, over 11,000? I think our lives are not so much private on this forum as much as we think. ;)

Post Edited (stereofidelic89) : 4/15/2012 7:30:08 PM (GMT-6)

Posted 5/14/2012 2:54 PM (GMT 0)
I took probiotics for the 2nd time in my life. The first time I didn't have a reaction. Two days ago I took probiotics (50 billion/pill) and woke up the next day with a terrible case of hives. My body must have become allergic to probiotics and then gave me a huge rash. I was on benadryl for 48hr solid and was a walking zombie. I will never try that again and I question if I may be allergic to lactobacillus or just a certain strain. Doubt if I'll continue eating greek yogurt because of this. You can see examples of hives from probiotics (lactobacillus) on line. If you do decide to take probiotics start with only a couple different strains. I started with 10 different strains and learned my lesson. Hope this helps. Also remember, if you get swelling in your face/neck go to ER immediately as it can interfere with breathing.

 

✚ New Topic ✚ Reply
12

HealingWell

Connect With Us
© 1997-2024 HealingWell.com LLC All Rights Reserved. Our website is for informational purposes only. HealingWell.com LLC does not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.