Anyone get worse on VSL#3?

I guess it just doesn't agree with me and I'm worried I threw myself into a bad flare.
Started VSL#3 a week ago, the first 2 days I can't say if I had bloating or cramping or not because I was already having those. The third day, my stool went from a loose stool, to a watery D. Before I could eat a lot of different things, now those things hurt my stomach really badly. I keep having a pressure in my lower right abdomen which I think is my ileum...

I used to go 5 times a day, now I go 12 times a day. I used to only have blood randomly, maybe 3 times a week, now it's everyday in large quantities. My pooo also smells like VSL.

I'm hungry and my head hurts and I thought VSL would help :/ I tried it for 6 days because I thought it was part of the "healing crisis"...now I'm not so sure. i just want some nutrients and to leave the house again :/


Anyway has anyone had this happen and how long did it take for you to feel better after you stopped taking it? I can't ride it out and see if it gets better, I need to be able to work

Probitics - if not the strains needed - can make things worse. What strains are needed can be individual. The ones in VSL are also in a lot of other brands, only they are live in VSL. These strains do help many folks - just not all.

Also, dead or alive, you are adding billions of bacteria to you GI track. This should be introduced slowly to avoid upsetting your immune system.

Could be trapped gas, trapped/impounded stool, inflammation, muscle spasms (although those are quite painful). Most likely trapped gas.

When I first started taking VSL3, I was on Budesonide. For about 10 days, I was worse. I had been down to three poops a day.

Then, it was weird. My poop became fluffy and I was going just twice a day. It wasn't remission at all. It was still soft a fluffy. But, all the tenderness disappeared. The combination gave me the closest thing I've had to remission.

The side effects of Budesonide were horrendous, so I discontinued it. The VSL3 has not worked since getting off the Budesonide.

Today is day 3 not taking VSL#3 and I am miles better. Today I have seen the most improvement in my stomach, but yesterday I had the worst migraine in my left eye that would wake me every 15 minutes and I was shaking (still kinda am- could be dehydration from water coming out or malnutrition, stupid VSL) and the migraine is gone now but still lingering a little.

On VSL I couldn't even roll over in bed without having to get up and use the bathroom immediately, and now I can roll over again, there's less blood, no more watery D, but loose still. Imodium didn't even stop my D on VSL. BUT, VSL did stop my bloating, but that may be because it emptied me out.

I think I overloaded my system, and I'm only sorry that I didn't go off of it sooner. I may try in a couple months if I use a lower dose because it was expensive but right now I hate that stuff lol

Wow jerseyguy- I'm almost certain that's what happened to me.

I cannot express how bad my migraine was yesterday. Yesterday was 3 days off the VSL#3 after only taking it for 6 days... My stomach continues to get better and the blood has lessened a lot and I'm so grateful, but that migraine in my left eye was so intense. I'm pretty good with pain (duh- I have UC!) but that was unbearable. I had a constant dull pain, and if I moved my head even an inch, the throbbing would start up again and my god, I actually ripped a chunk of my hair out because it was so bad. At one point I questioned if I could die from it or if my brain was being damaged, I ran tests with myself like the year and president. It was terrible. Nearly went to the ER.

I don't really know what to say, other than today is day 4 with no VSL and I feel so much better, no headache. Hardly any blood anymore. No more fountain sounding BMs.

I think VSL#3 is an amazing thing that can help so many people, so I really hope this doesn't deter anyone from trying it, I just had a terrible experience with it. I bet if I started lower, maybe 1/4th of a capsule, I would have had a better time. It did work for me when I was 13, although those were the sachets and not capsules- I don't remember how I felt but I remember HATING taking it because of the taste but I would force myself to take it because it made me feel better.

Thanks for the link! I couldn't find anything online about migraines after stopping potent probiotics or anything about them causing violent symptoms in people, so I appreciate it! xo

Unfortunately, gathering information from blogs and others similar sources leads to all sorts of misinformation. People start seeing links where none exist, based on speculation.

Glad you stopped the vsl, as it makes some people a lot worse.

jerseyguy1 said...
Actually, I should thank you.

For the last few days my bowel movements have been persistent. Last night I woke up several times to use the bathroom. That hasn't happened since I was first diagnosed. The, I remembered your post. I decided to stop using it.

Almost immediately, I was a bit better.

When I got home from class, I dug into it. That articles rang true for you and for me.

While I was researching, I also came across one guy from a Nootropics group. These people are insane. They take massive quantities of just about anything that they think will get them more intelligent - or get them high.

This guy actually did a massive dose of probiotics to get high. So freaking weird. Here's the interesting part: He said his high was nearly ruined by...you guessed it, a headache.

I believe there is something involved in our dopiminergic system with our disease. So, for this guy he got a headache. With our disease you got the Mother of All Migraines.

My advice is to ride it out. Prebiotic bacteria are pretty transient. Hopefully, within a few days you'll be feeling much better.

I'm glad you are feeling a bit better! It is such trial and error with this disease. I really wonder if we should try again in a month or so at a MUCH smaller dose and see if it helps us? I'm not sure but I'm kind of afraid of VSL. I can make my own schedule and hours and if I need to take a week off of work I can without peril and I'm so grateful for that (just have to work extra hard when I get back), and I took about 7 days off total because of the VSL so I'm extremely hesitant to try it again.

The migraine is gone, thank god because I couldn't deal with that for any longer. I hope you continue to get better, please update your progress?

Quincy- no UC meds, I would have listed them in my medication part of my signature lol. Let my insurance lapse because I was in remission for 8 years, so my insurance JUST went through and my gastro appt is in 2 months.

This isn an interesting thread... I have mild UC w/out D, but recently have had some problems with C - assumed that was good, as I've seen people say as your healing you tend to get constipated. I started half packets of VSL a few weeks ago, had more gas for a few days and then things leveled out and I think I was feeling better. I've been taking full packets for ~10days now and in general have been feeling worse, more gas, acid indigestion, irregular BMs, etc. Thought it was just taking some time to adjust to it. But, as I look back through my journal, I'm thinking even the half packets might have been causing some problems. Thanks for the article jerseyguy! I'm going to quit the VSL for a few days and see if things get better.