To be p***ed off that I cannot get a prebiotic on prescription...

[Fourfingerkitkat]

I sat here with a massive bloated tummy, constant wind and with about 2 weeks of poo inside me. Following a kidney infection I was prescribed two courses of antibiotics and think that my stomach has been upset my them. Laxatives haven't done much other than give me stomach cramps. I've read a lot about antibiotics upsetting the bacteria in our stomach so asked the chemist if I could get a probiotic or prebiotic on the minor ailments service, she said no and that they could only give me from Fybogel, which treats the symptom rather than the cause. Also told me that a doctor would not prescribe it and I'd have to buy it myself....

What I don't understand is that if the antibiotics had caused thrush (which they have done in the past) then I would have been give Canesten or similar on prescription !

"Live in Scotland so prescriptions are free.."

probably not for much longer when they add up how often the service is abused...

Grabby people always make me feel ill.

You realise the NHS hasn't got limitless funds but you expect those funds to be spent on something you don't want to buy yourself?

And I eat a lot of fruit and veg...

I buy my own paracetamol/ibuprofen as I can pick them up for pennies in the supermarket...

toomuch2young - thanks, that's interesting that they're routinely prescribed for animals !

When I was working I would buy vitamins, painkillers or anything else that I needed rather than get a prescription. However having been made redundant and with funds very stretched at home, if a service was available on the NHS then why should I not make full use of it It's not , so I can't. And I'm complaining because I'm sat here in a great deal of discomfort.

I am about as far removed from "grabby" as you can get !!!

Put some olive oil with your tomato on your toast in the morning and that and a cup of coffee will keep you regular enough.

Canesten is actually a licensed medicine called clotrimazole; there are certain restrictions on its sale, and counter-indictions etc for use.

Pro-biotics otoh are still undergoing research & testing to see just how efficacious they are in humans, whether there are any unexpected (and nasty) side effects etc etc.

YABU to compare the two, and to expect it on an rx because you think it's good for you.

All the while Danone take 100 million plus a year from the Activia line and I think the Spanish government made them stop making health claims about it so their adverts have changed to a group of woman making the odd one out feel different that she doesn't eat them as the rest rave about how good they are which apart from being tastier than other low fat yoghurt because of the aspartame sweetener in the zero fat and the sugar in the low fat. Low fat does not mean low sugar. I think the low fat one actually has fructose and sugar.

So the so called healthy thing has aspartame in it.

NovackNGood...that's why I wouldn't buy the stuff out of the supermarket. I assumed that if something was being prescribed then it would be the most effective and "legit"....

Oh well...can I call on any of you ladies that shot me down in flames, to let me use your loo whenever nature eventually does call and I need to do a poo the size of my house ? No ? Thought not.....

You can help yourself OP - as long as you can cope with me flinging you off so my pancreatitis induced IBS afflicted arse can go also.

You're not the only one who suffers from problems in this area, ya know.

Sympathy and all that. They are a food supplement, and effective or not you have to buy them.

Tough but there you are. The nhs is effectively bust money wise. There will be an awful lot bigger things to get pissed off with in the future...

You can make your own natural yoghurt at home for pence. There would be no sugar in it. You can buy the cultures from Lakeland and places like that.

TapirBackRider - you seem to know your stuff..out of interest what exactly is in the likes of Fybogel, Psyillium Husk etc that you can get on prescription ? I'm just curious as to how this differs from acidopholus ? From what I understand Fybogel is purely a bulking agent to get things moving ?

Fybogel, etc are all forms of fibre which pass through the gut unchanged and add bulk to make it pass through easier.

Most probiotics are just a marketing dream, our stomachs are full of acid to kill any bugs in our food so how do these yeasts survive? Simple answer, they don't.

Agree that the NHS should not be funding this bunkum

You need a poo? Several cups of espresso, a bowl of spinach and a tin of pineapple should have you wishing you'd kept quiet!

effectiveness of probiotics is not yet proven. tbh, I don't know if taking a few bacteria orally will ever be enough, when only a minority will survive your stomach acid and they then meet a few kilograms of faster growing bad bacteria.

only effective means to alter your microbiota so far proven is fecal transplant. want to volunteer for this?

until probiotics are proven, yabu.

"bad" bacteria should have been in quotes.

Need a poo? Quadruple espresso and a cigarette. And you'd be welcome to use the downstairs loo as long as you don't mind sharing with the stray cat I've got shut up in there until I can get it to the vet tomorrow morning to see if it's got a chip.

YABU to think you know better how NHS money should be spent.

Of course everyone thinks that they should get the thing that they want on prescription.

Cigarette ? Non smoker here...although I can probably get nicotine patches on the NHS.....joke !

Yanbu

I've been prescribed probiotics for my dog alongside a course of antibiotics.

On the continent they're routinely prescribed to women following c/s to reduce the incidence of breastfeeding thrush.

And there has been a recent Cochrane review showing they're effective at shortening the duration of severed diarrhoea.

I also think if they're happy enough to hand out prescriptions for effing VATS of E45 cream, which you can just as readily buy in the shops for cheaper if you're happy to buy an unbranded product, and also antacids, fibrogel and laxatives, then there's really no excuse for not providing probiotics on prescription.

Trills...I don't think I know better...I'm just fed up feeling like shit because I cannot shit after feeling like shit with a bloody kidney infection !!!!

Thanks Shagmundfreud...very strange that animals get it yet we don't...

First party that stand ups and says the NHS will become only for acute illness treatment gets my vote.

Shagmund - probably because neither of those are dietary. Actually they shouldn't be available on the NHS either.