Confusion over information relating to pro biotics!

[creditcrunchie]

Now I feel the Gabapentin is helping me be more comfortable with my leg ulcer problem I thought I would have a go to sort my inflamed bowel problem. I went with this problem to my GP 11 months ago and was told my description of my Poo was normal and I did actually do a post on Health Unlocked about it. Another GP I pursued with this because I wasn’t happy did a cancer test and thank god it was negative. And so the year has gone by…….but because I had a leg ulcer and problematic waterworks I saw the Nurse Practitioner who was amazing….the result being I now know it wasn’t in my imagination but I have a diagnosis of bowel inflammation. So as I was wondering about using pro biotics as a self help but oh boy the reviews on them are so varied ie for and against…….so thought someone might have similar problem. I am trying to avoid anyone touching me at the moment as my ulcer pain so bad hence the thought of cameras etc in sensitive areas doesn’t have much appeal. Thanks for reading.

[Poppy221]

I don't have inflammation (I had an endoscopy which proved that), I do have bowels that are a bit slow. I tried eating kambucha which was OK but it did nothing - no harm, no benefit that I could see and pickled cabbage is not a food I want to experience too often. In terms of the slowness, what improved my bowels no end was adding more insoluble fibre to my diet. I was already taking psyllium husk, a soluble fibre,which adds bulk and softens things, and worked out I was low on insoluble fibre which is a stimulant. Because wheat bran was out of stock I tried oat bran on my cereal (20g) in addition to the psyllium husk in water and it has had a great effect. I later tried wheat bran and it gave me all sorts of cramps and gurgles so never again. Went back to oat bran. I did a search for inflamed bowel and fibre and found the following article on the benefits of fibre on IBS - which could be similar to what you have.

link.springer.com/chapter/1...

[creditcrunchie in reply to Poppy221]

Hi Poppy thanks for info. The Kampuchea seems pretty gross especially to someone like myself who has to force feed vegetables down myself. Hopefully as soon as I get on the right dosage for leg ulcer pain I can start pursuit this but at the moment I feel I can only cope with ne thing at a time . Thank you CC

[amc282]

I have slow bowels and suffer with dismotility. I have been using Inulin (chicory root extract) for constipation, seems to be good. I also take magnesium supplements. As far as probiotics, I think there is little evidence to their effectiveness. I have been taking Keffir a pre biotic and that seems to be effective.

[Poppy221]

creditcrunchie - know what you mean about one thing at a time.

amc282 - thanks that is interesting. There is a section on the SRUK website I was reading yesterday regarding slow guts and that said a lot of laxatives don't work on people with scleroderma and mentioned a compound that persuades muscles and nerves in the gut to work a bit better.

Glad inulin works for you, briefly looked it up and Wiki said

"The side effects of inulin dietary fiber diet, which may occur in sensitive persons, are:[31]

Intestinal discomfort, including flatulence, bloating, stomach noises, belching, and cramping

Diarrhea

Anaphylactic allergic reaction (rare) – inulin is used for GFR testing, and in some isolated cases has resulted in an allergic reaction, possibly linked to a food allergy response."

So you are clearly not sensitive :). Just thought I'd flag so anyone who is reading this can double check before tying.

I've drunk Keffir - alright in a thin yoghurt sort of way.

[amc282 in reply to Poppy221]

Thanks for the info. No, I am not sensitive and I only use it when I am constipated. I also try to limit certain types of pasta, etc. as I seem to have issues with that, although I am not gluten intolerant it seems to block me up. I have tried kombucha and it works for me also.