antibiotic / probiotic dosage

Would suggest you look on this website under "IBS...or Coeliac ?" heading - and anything on Coeliac disease as well. Also check Coeliac Org UK website for details of symptoms and diagnosis....and if you have any questions make them direct via their "Talk To Us" link. Not sure where you live but in UK GPs are told by NICE (National Institute of Clinical Excellence) that they must test for Coeliac disease before giving a diagnosis of IBS....as many people are finding out...sometimes years later... that they have CD. With IBS folk start to eliminate foods from their diet and this means if they are tested later for CD the antibodies which prove the CD diagnosis are not showing up in their blood test...hence the need to do it before all else! There is also an endoscopy (via the mouth) offered to verify the diagnosis of CD if the blood test indicates it.

Gas and bloating is often the first symptom of CD....as is anaemia....pains in joints and bones etc....and ulcers or bones which do not heal...there is a variety of symptoms - would advise you get checked by a Gastroenterologist - and tell him of any supplements you may have been taking or any food you have been reducing in your diet...this is very important for him to know! Good Luck.

Unfortunately, I've already been tested via a blood test for CD by both the doctor and myself, with a home kit.. Both came back negative, I did try a gluten free diet for a cople of weks but I lost too much weight, nearly a stone ( maintaining my weight is a big problem ). Thanks for the reply anyway

Alright lee.

Just read your post and you I to have not had a great deal of help from my GP or specialist regarding ibs or whatever is irritating my bowels. I get a mixture of C and D and used to get very very bad gas that would smell aweful and burn. Found out this was caused by sugar in my diet,particularly fizzy drinks. 1 days I just decided to cut sugar out of my diet to see what would happen. Apart from feeling like I was hungover for 3 weeks I got better. Gas reduced massively, it doesn't stink anymore and I'm much less bloated.

I read an article on SIBO but didn't think I could get prescribed the antibiotic in the uk...so just did the following...

Reduced my sugar intake to a very low amount.

Drank a hell of a lot of water.

Take multivitamins daily.

Up the intake of vitamin b and zinc.

Take VSL3 probiotic once a day.

And just watch your diet. I recon I did the above for about 3 weeks before I started noticing a big difference. It's also the only 1 thing I've actually tried that has been a success and made a vast improvement. I wouldn't bother with those activist yoghurt a etc as they are loaded with crap.

Thanks

Damn spell check. 'Activia' yoghurt a etc

If you are vitamin deficient it could also point to Coeliac disease - classic symptom...so this needs to be checked by your doctor Lee, before you start taking supplements or changing your diet - which can disguise the real reason for problems. Talk to your GP first.

You can buy Probiotics in capsule form at health food shops and Healthspan on line...take one a day or as directed on the packet...if you take them too regularly I find they can have a detrimental effect,,,feeling of sickness and upset tummy...so play it by ear and a little at a time. Definitely worth trying though. Sometimes we need to boost the good bacteria in our guts to help fight the bad!

Anyone who has been on a long course of antibiotics can benefit from taking Probiotics as antibiotics are the very thing that can reduce the good bacteria levels you now need. I would just try the Probiotics for a start.

Thanks for the replys,

I'm reluctant to go back the doctor now because I've basically been told that it must be IBS and there's nothing they can do, you feel as though your pestering them. This is why I'm going down the self-fix route and I'm desperate enough to try anything. I'm not sure that I have IBS, to me it seems more of a digestion issue, like I can't break food down properly or maybe bad bacteria is feeding off it ( hence my interest in SIBO ). I've had a lil try of cheap probiotics ( off ebay ), to be honest they didn't do anything but I notice the the VSL3 ones as advised by NED are refrigerated and lot more expensive, I'll give these try. From what I've read, you really need to be wiping out the already-present bacteria with CIPRO antibiotics whilst taking the probiotics, to get the maximum effect. I know self-medicating off google aint ideal but what's the alternative ? Besides, a course of antibiotics is hardly going to kill me.

Very ill-advised to buy antibiotics or medication off ebay/internet. If you need these it should be under medical supervision via your GP. Vitamins, Probiotics via an online well known company is one thing....medication is another. It is known to be dangerous as you never know what is really in it ....

See you are unwell again Ned...on another page on this website....go back to your GP!

I tried a few different probiotics. They certainly have helped. The vsl3 probiotics are good...just expensive!

I'm the same lee. My doctor hasn't given me much support apart from a leaflet telling ked about ibs and was reluctant to refer me as he was 'confident in his diagnosis' of ibs. So I asked him about things like breath tests for sibo, testing for coeliac...etc...etx with the reply 'you've had all the tests everything came back negative'.

Hence it's a frustration but I also want to self fix.

I read a lot of stuff published on the Internet This is where I read about VSL3 probiotic. It's also where I read about sugar and ibs...which also caused 75% of my ibs issues.

Healthspan are excellent suppliers of quality Probiotics and vitamins - they deliver within a few days and are usually better value than others - located in Jersey.....worth comparing....

You will read on other forums on here that other folk have been told they "have had all the tests" but it turned out to be untrue...discovered when returning to the Surgery and seeing a different GP....they can't take "all the tests" on the amount of blood they take on one appointment.....bear that in mind too.