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[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

I recently read about a new book that discusses the many functions of the bacteria that live on our guts. Apparently the two kilo's worth of little critters have the job of fighting pathogens, digesting our food, extracting energy, producing hormones and influencing our moods. The gut/brain connection is a fairly new area of medicine which the author of the book is excited about.

As we know hormones influence gut motility but perhaps the bacteria have a role in the production and quantity of our hormones as well. All the more reason to eat a healthy diet I suppose!

Hopefully this is of interest to some of you ladies.

Take care everyone.

K.

[SueRoe]

Yes I read something about this too. V interesting. Apparently most of our serotonin is produced in our guts. Crappy diet = crappy moods it seems to be suggesting.

[oldsheep]

I find a prebiotic helps. My immune system isn't great; good gut bacteria = better immunity as so much of our immune system is through our gut.
I didn't find a probiotic helped nearly as much. I think they might be more helpful after antibiotics (or before you know you're going to have abs).
My gut just has to be a bit 'off' for me to feel really unwell - pain in my muscles etc. I have M.E/fibromyalgia.
My GP looks at me as if I'm off my rocker when I tell him about prebiotics, but if you ask a gastroenterologist, they will tell you to take them.

[Winterose]

Have read similar in a magazine, trying Symprove for 3 months out of interest, am half way through and def sleeping better - just realised that, will post back at end .

[honeybun]

Sparkle, be careful with prebiotics I tried them last year and they caused stomach pain and terrible bloating. I didn't realise until I googled side effects that this is a common problem.
Many foods we eat have prebiotics in them.

I know you have the same kind of issues as I do so I thought I would tell you of my experience. I still have mine in a drawer but would not try them again as they SO didn't suit me.


Honeyb
x

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

There is a lot of information on the internet about how the bacteria in our guts affects our physical and mental wellbeing and the various steps we can take to increase the diversity of our microbes and thereby improve our health.

Studying the gut microbiota is a new science and there are many clinical studies underway looking at a variety of treatments. Well worth a google session for anyone interested in this topic!

Take care ladies.

K.

[Winterose]

Have a look at Symprove, its not cheap and you have to take it every morning for 3 months but it passes through the stomach and gets to bowel where it recolonises your bacteria, useful if you are ibs etc or had a large doses of antibiotics ( my case 3 years ago) .  Probably a bit of the worried well here , but have noticed better sleep and not so anxious,

[CLKD]

Interesting subject as I found "Actimel" really helped.  I was suicidal with IBS - my gut stopped working so I felt nauseous, sick and hungry but there wasn't any room left in my stomach.  Even a cuppa made me heave 

GP gave me Colpermin and Motillium - which I swallowed within the hour of my main meals for a few years before someone suggested Actimel.  Didn't fancy it but it works for me.  Helps my bowel motions and I got more regular which meant no more slow transit.

Since eating a granola for breakfast I have found my bowel symptoms are eased.  It is hard work finding a happy medium though 

The other thing I found, after GA, was that I had thrush for weeks ......... probably because the gut was empty prior to surgery followed by a slow return to eating. 

[honeybun]

I tried prebiotic supplements. I thought from all the good things I had read that they would really help my stomach. I was fine for a few days and then had a generally sore stomach and I was very bloated. It took a good few weeks for the penny to drop. I then researched prebiotic side effects and found this and other reports.



. Prebiotics exert an osmotic effect in the intestinal lumen and are fermented in the colon. They may induce gaseousness and bloating. Abdominal pain and diarrhea only occur with large doses. An increase in gastroesophageal reflux has recently been associated with large daily doses. Tolerance depends on the dose and individual sensitivity factors (probably the presence of irritable bowel syndrome or gastroesophageal reflux), and may be an adaptation to chronic consumption.

Of course we are all different but for me they simply did not work, in fact they caused so many more problems.


Honeybun
X

[Dancinggirl]

I suspect like all things, it's about getting the balance. Too little or too much of anything can cause problems. 
I do think we all tend to hear or read about things that are supposed to be helpful for certain health issues and perhaps go for big doses from the outset in the hope it will help more quickly, when in fact it's good to start small and give things time.  It's like starting HRT - it's good to start on a low dose first and only build up if really needed. I was given too high a dose of HRT early on in the peri stage and it gave me too many side effects.
It is interesting about the research into the gut and the link with ME that is now being done - I do think that food absorption may have a lot to do with how our gut works. It would make sense that if we weren't absorbing nutrients for some reason, despite having a very healthy diet, then this would have an effect on our health and wellbeing.
I know there is a school of thought that we live in too sterile an environment these days so our guts are less able to cope and our immune system turns in on us and causes many auto immune issues.
I also don't think we should loose sight of the fact that, in the past, so many people died from bacterial infections due to poor hygiene, life expectancy was far shorter than it is today and frankly we need to accept that our bodies simply won't function so well as we age. One thing is for certain, we really need to avoid antibiotics as much as possible as they kill the good bacteria in our guts and we need ABs to do their job when we really, really need them.
I have been given 3 lots of ABs in the last 2 years and each time I wasn't happy about taking them but the doctors insisted - it's tough to know what is the right thing to do.  DG xxx

[oldsheep]

I have to avoid a prebiotic that Boots sell (Bimuno) as it's a gas factory.
The other one I bought online is absolutely fine. (FOS powder)
The probiotic that I was told by the gastroenterology consultant to use is VSL#3. Costs a fortune though. I think you can get it on the NHS in Scotland, but not in England. It has 40 billion good bacteria in one sachet and OH was given it when he had C Difficile.

Otherwise I've started drinking Yakult light. And eating gluten free bread/wheat and rye free diet.
I tend to keep the pre and pro biotic in larger doses for when things flare up otherwise I think they work less effectively but not sure how scientific that is!