Probiotics…

[Saba82]

Just started probiotics and iron supplements. Can both of them cause diarrhea?? Diagnosed 3 months ago still don’t know what good for my GI. I feel like if I eat veggies and fruits I get frequent loose bowel movements ,even though I haven’t had that before. Things like carrots,cauliflower fresh greens. I’m confused . And also what kind of GF bread you buy in US? I feel like the GF sourdough gives me heartburn.. trying my best to adjust to new diet and very exhausting :((

[Hidden]

This could be a gut bacteria issue. You might want to get tested to see if you have too much of the wrong bacteria, or a conditition called SIBO (small intestinal bacteria overgrowth). Bad bacteria feed off probiotics in same way good do, so may be making issue worse not better. You may also want to check any residule gluten still in your diet in so-called GF foods (allowed to contain up to 20ppm), or any cross-contamination in your kitchen, etc. There are some older posts on here regarding healing the gut from coeliac damage, including avoid GF oats in first year, keeping processed foods out/to a minimum, avoiding sugar or eating out.

[Saba82 in reply to Hidden]

I don’t have persistent diarreha. I was tested for SIBO and was told that negative forSIBO hydrogen but methane level was elevated. Have you heard about methane. My doctor said you can try antibiotics for 2 weeks,he prescribed me xifaximin .After I started GF diet,like 2 month after I started gf diet I feel incomplete bowel evacuations maybe it’s because of stress. Because since my diagnose I’m extremely stressed out and even depressed. Nonstop thinking about celiac and scared

[Hidden in reply to Saba82]

Methane producing SIBO need a tougher antibiotic protocol. I would request the copy of the SIBO results from your GP to see exactly what the methane production levels are, and if necessary, ask a private functional gut clinic for advice. xifaximin (rifazimin) isn't particularly impactful on methane producing SIBO. Antibiotics also kills off the good bacteria, so your experience may be related to the antibiotic effects also. There is also the potential for yeast overgrowth after antibiotics. There are recommended protocols for restoring gut bacteria that recommend avoiding sugar and fermented foods/drinks for a few months, including fruit sugar, and avoiding any supplement pre-biotics. Fodmaps may also be an issue for you. There are also natural remedies for gut bacteria, and you can probably search under SIBO or similar to find those. Also check the iron supplement and the probiotic for any obviously or covert source of gluten. Some pre-biotics can be grown on a gluten medium and that may present risk if you are particularly sensitive to gluten.

If you are following a completely gluten free diet, there is no point in worrying unneccesarily about coeliac. The worry is in the cross-contamination risks, and GPs/Gastros/NHS dieticians, although helpful, lack full knowledge. Even Coeliac UK recommend foods that are not coeliac safe. You will need to find your own way on a lot of this, and the older threads on here are very useful. The emotional and lifestyle impact of coeliac is greatly under-estimated or not considered by the NHS. Coeliac is not even recognised as a disability as it's deemed treatable with a 'dietary adjustment' - from personal experience it's an entire life adjustment including avoiding jobs that require working away from home overnight, etc. No one gets it apart from those with coeliac. You will find reasonable support via this group.

It might be worth asking your GP for referral back to Gastro if you are still concerned about symptoms.

[Saba82 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you:)I do have my SIBO test result,I’ve done it in London,now I’m back to US. So methane should be under 10ppm for whole 3 hours testing,mine was normal until 90 mins,but after 90 mins it started to increase and at 3 hours it reached 25ppm. My gastro first said that elevated methane might be caused by gas and bloating then after I asked him in more details he prescribed me just xifaximin. I’ve also read that for methane it should be in combination with metronidazole. My diarreha stopped after I stopped probiotics. My blood work after 3 months diet showed improvement,my anemia got better even though I took iron supplements only for 1 month. I will email my doctor I ask about combination of antibiotics.

[Hidden in reply to Saba82]

Worth having a SIBO re-test if you can, just to see if antibiotics helped in any way.

[Saba82 in reply to Hidden]

Haven’t started yet . Will start my antibiotics tomorrow. Doctor said xixafimin 1 pill 3 times a day

[Cooper27]

Probably the easiest thing to do would be to cut out the probiotics for a week or so, just to see if it helps.

There is a thing called "die off" when you start probiotics - it's a bit unpleasant, as your bad bacteria are crowded out by the good bacteria, but it does settle.

I oddly also developed IBS after removing gluten from my diet, which I hadn't had before. It started within 48 hours of removing gluten, and lasted a year.

[Saba82 in reply to Cooper27]

Maybe I’m the same. After I started my gf diet I feel my bowel movement changed,it was better before. Or maybe The pressure of stress. I don’t know how to handle my stress and anxiety anymore.