I am only giving a probiotic at night. Is this enough?

[lismom]

I have only been giving my son, who takes zithromax once a day, a probiotic at night. Now I'm wondering if I should be incorporating more. Does yeast make it harder for the antibiotic to work? Does yeast make PANDAS symptoms worse?

 

I have been doing this for more than a year and am more confused then ever. My son is just not doing well. If I could do ivig tommorrow I would but it is not covered by insurance. Kathy

[LNN]

My understanding is that yeast does not interfere with abx, but yes, with behaviors (as well as nutrition as it would be competing with good flora that aids digestion and absorption)

 

My son, who is on multiple abx, has never had many gut problems. No signs of yeast. No loose stools. Our doctor has said that one Theralac probiotic taken at bedtime is enough for him (30Bill CFU). The doctor prefers bedtime (2 hrs away from abx) because the stomach acid is lowest then and the intestines move less, so the probiotics have the best chance to sneak past the stomach and hang out in the intestines without digestion and gravity working against them.

 

You can also test for gut health. We have done a "poop test" on my daughter that looked at her gut flora and gave an indication of whether there was sufficient good stuff and if there was a high level of candida or not.

 

But I think the right answer for you depends on what you see in your own house. If you see signs that the plumbing isn't working right, then maybe experiment with higher doses or combinations of different probiotics. Or perhaps consider testing. We have done both blood tests and stool tests for yeast.

[lyme_mom]

My understanding is that yeast does not interfere with abx, but yes, with behaviors (as well as nutrition as it would be competing with good flora that aids digestion and absorption)

 

My son, who is on multiple abx, has never had many gut problems. No signs of yeast. No loose stools. Our doctor has said that one Theralac probiotic taken at bedtime is enough for him (30Bill CFU). The doctor prefers bedtime (2 hrs away from abx) because the stomach acid is lowest then and the intestines move less, so the probiotics have the best chance to sneak past the stomach and hang out in the intestines without digestion and gravity working against them.

 

You can also test for gut health. We have done a "poop test" on my daughter that looked at her gut flora and gave an indication of whether there was sufficient good stuff and if there was a high level of candida or not.

 

But I think the right answer for you depends on what you see in your own house. If you see signs that the plumbing isn't working right, then maybe experiment with higher doses or combinations of different probiotics. Or perhaps consider testing. We have done both blood tests and stool tests for yeast.

We took 4 one billion probiotics a day during our lyme treatment and never had yeast issues. The pearls that we took were slow release so they could be taken with antibiotics, unlike most probiotics. However, since completing our lyme treatment we have begun taking extremely high doses of probiotics on the advice of a nutritionist recommended by other lyme moms on this forum. This nutritionist wants my son to take 20 50 billion probiotics a day plus half a cup or more of bentonite liquid to heal his gut. He has no "plumbing issues" but this nutritionist says that anyone with lyme or other infections (or other diseases) has an unhealthy gut and that a healthy gut will prevent these diseases. After two years of antibiotics this is worth a try and it cannot hurt. I would have done this earlier had I known about it. Wendy sfmom and Elizabeth told me about their nutritionist. So I would get your child to take more probiotics if you can. The bentonite is to detox the acids from the gut and other toxins.

[lismom]

My understanding is that yeast does not interfere with abx, but yes, with behaviors (as well as nutrition as it would be competing with good flora that aids digestion and absorption)

 

My son, who is on multiple abx, has never had many gut problems. No signs of yeast. No loose stools. Our doctor has said that one Theralac probiotic taken at bedtime is enough for him (30Bill CFU). The doctor prefers bedtime (2 hrs away from abx) because the stomach acid is lowest then and the intestines move less, so the probiotics have the best chance to sneak past the stomach and hang out in the intestines without digestion and gravity working against them.

 

You can also test for gut health. We have done a "poop test" on my daughter that looked at her gut flora and gave an indication of whether there was sufficient good stuff and if there was a high level of candida or not.

 

But I think the right answer for you depends on what you see in your own house. If you see signs that the plumbing isn't working right, then maybe experiment with higher doses or combinations of different probiotics. Or perhaps consider testing. We have done both blood tests and stool tests for yeast.

We took 4 one billion probiotics a day during our lyme treatment and never had yeast issues. The pearls that we took were slow release so they could be taken with antibiotics, unlike most probiotics. However, since completing our lyme treatment we have begun taking extremely high doses of probiotics on the advice of a nutritionist recommended by other lyme moms on this forum. This nutritionist wants my son to take 20 50 billion probiotics a day plus half a cup or more of bentonite liquid to heal his gut. He has no "plumbing issues" but this nutritionist says that anyone with lyme or other infections (or other diseases) has an unhealthy gut and that a healthy gut will prevent these diseases. After two years of antibiotics this is worth a try and it cannot hurt. I would have done this earlier had I known about it. Wendy sfmom and Elizabeth told me about their nutritionist. So I would get your child to take more probiotics if you can. The bentonite is to detox the acids from the gut and other toxins.

 

 

 

Thanks for the info. When do you fit the bentonite clay into your day?

[mom love]

I was going to ask the same about the bentonite clay. And what does it do exactly in conjunction with the high dose probiotics?

 

Also, LLM, I think it was you who told me about theralac and I now give the children's powder once a day. With my dd in school, I can only fit in one time away from the abx. I didn't know about the bedtime though. That is good to know. I could give 2 X on weekends.

 

And LLM, with the poop test, all was clear? no yeast, etc.?

 

Our plumbing issues are constipation. I used to give florastor too as I read it was good to keep yeast away, but also read it can cause constipation so we stopped it. I would say we are maybe a little better without it in terms of the constipation.

 

Lismom, we give zith once a day too and our exacerbation is not getting better either. I do wonder about yeast as well. We need a lyme or DAN! doctor right to do the poop test?

[philamom]

I was going to ask the same about the bentonite clay. And what does it do exactly in conjunction with the high dose probiotics?

 

Also, LLM, I think it was you who told me about theralac and I now give the children's powder once a day. With my dd in school, I can only fit in one time away from the abx. I didn't know about the bedtime though. That is good to know. I could give 2 X on weekends.

 

And LLM, with the poop test, all was clear? no yeast, etc.?

 

Our plumbing issues are constipation. I used to give florastor too as I read it was good to keep yeast away, but also read it can cause constipation so we stopped it. I would say we are maybe a little better without it in terms of the constipation.

 

Lismom, we give zith once a day too and our exacerbation is not getting better either. I do wonder about yeast as well. We need a lyme or DAN! doctor right to do the poop test?

When I use the powder probiotic I like to add some Psyllum Husk to the mix, to keep things running smoothly. I buy the 365 brand from Whole fields (very fine) and mix it all together in applesauce topped with cinnamon.

[LNN]

And LLM, with the poop test, all was clear? no yeast, etc.?

 

Our plumbing issues are constipation. I used to give florastor too as I read it was good to keep yeast away, but also read it can cause constipation so we stopped it. I would say we are maybe a little better without it in terms of the constipation.

 

Lismom, we give zith once a day too and our exacerbation is not getting better either. I do wonder about yeast as well. We need a lyme or DAN! doctor right to do the poop test?

 

Both blood and stool tests came back negative for yeast. DD (not DS that I mentioned in my earlier post) has constipation and GERD. So until we figure out what's going on (endoscope was also "all clear" except for minor upper GI inflammation) we give a pepcid at night and mirolax mixed in with chocolate milk in the morning. It's not idea. Feels like we're only treating symptoms (trouble getting food into her and getting it back out) and not the cause. But it keeps her comfortable.

 

The poop test was reassuring in that everything looks good - no parasites, no H Pylori, vitamin and enzyme levels in good range. So what little food she takes in gets put to good use. It was discouraging in that it didn't give us any leads. The only thing that needed improvement was her level of good flora. Prior to the test, she was taking Culturelle and only DS was taking the Theralac. So we've switched her to the Theralac 5 days a week and Theralac truFlora 2 days a week (did two weeks steady on this and now 2 days prophylactically as an anti-yeast measure).

 

I don't know that you need a special doctor to get the test, but I don't know that "mainstream" pediatricians would buy into the idea or not. If you want more info, PM me and I'll get the name of the lab our doctor used. You could contact them for specific questions, any doctors they do business with in your area, etc.

 

One last thing - life is much much easier now that both kids swallow pills. Could not disguise probiotic powder well enough, especially if bedtime doses were a goal. DD6 learned to swallow tic tacs first (no harm if spit into the sink and got to eat some as a reward if she managed to swallow one, and far cheaper per pill than probiotics). Then we graduated to probiotics, now she can swallow any pill.

[SSS]

Hi- There is a test from Great Plains Labratory that is called the OAT test- it is a simple urine test (they send you the kit, you send back the urine) and it will give you a very good breakdown of yeast and bacteria in the gut- and it also tells about some vitamin status- it does require a Dr. signature, unless you click on the MyMedLab.com link, then it will be sent to you without needing a Dr. signature, for a little bit more money.

My dd5 has a leaky gut- we've been GFCFSF for a few years, and battle yeast--although we have made progress- also run to constipation so I always have to watch that, make sure she goes 1x a day bowel-

I am giving probiotics 2x a day, mixed in applesauce, and using an antifungal- but she is in 1/2 day K, so it's easier...