Recommendations/views on probiotics please.

[dev9aug]

We are looking at DS's diet at the moment and we would like to try probiotics. DS has issues with irregular bowels and somebody mentioned that they might be useful.
Has anybody used them with any success?
If so, Can you recommend any good ones.. Preferably liquid form as he can't swallow tablets.

I wish I could remember the names of the ones Simon Murch at the Royal Free recommended to us years ago.... bificuldus or something like that, someone will know.
My understanding is that a "normal" person shouldn't need to take probiotics but should get what they need from their diet, but those who do should try to avoid those horrid little drinks, e.g. Actimel, which are full of sugar and muck. I seem to remember that you could get probiotics in big tubs of powder and sprinkle it over food.

Sorry, not much help but I'm sure someone who is more "current" will be along.

I have used Biocare probiotic straws for children and Culturelle capsules which you can break open and mix with water, juice or milk. DS1 who has ASD used to have very bad gastrointestinal problems and I am pleased to say that they have cleared up!

Thanks for replying Davros..
Thanks Cozzie, did you use anything else apart from the probiotics or were they enough on their own? I really want to give these a go because the next step is GFCF and that just looks scary.

Davros did you mean acidophilus?
We used this for both girls due to major bowel problems. We used yachults as they are sweet and not too big. YOu can buy acidophilus which is the same stuff in holland & Barrett, and just mix it in a youghut.

if gf/cf is looking to be a possible step, then I would be cautious about which probiotics I used. eg yakult is obviously dairy based, and so you would not necessarily get the benefits it is supposed to give, due to the dairy content.

we used a Biocare one, i think, eventually. we had used a different one, but it didn't agree with dd1, and so we changed brands.

oh, ours was a powder, which we mixed in with dd1's daily vitamins and gve to her off a teaspoon. sometimes you can crush tablets and add to juice etc, but I would always take advice on this. capsules too - either we opened them up and mixed the powder contents with ehr (liquid) multivit, or we pierced chewy/gelatine capsules as she couldn't tolerate those either (evening primrose oil was one we did this for, and vitamin E maybe)

Thanks all, really appreciate your views. I think I will give the powder versions a try and see if it makes any difference.

I used the probiotics on their own first which really helped with the discomfort and the smell . Be warned though that for the first couple of days symptoms may worsen a little.

A couple of months later - we then gradually implemented the gluten free diet starting first with just changing his bread. DS1 won't touch any dairy with a barge pole! I would steer clear of the probiotic drinks as they are full of sugar.

Going gluten free not scary - it is so much easier than it used to be. We all feel much better!

we started using biogaia drops 6 weeks ago (we're got free sample from the company), ds can detect anything added to food but he will take these mixed in milk. It has definitely improved the vile smell & we've managed to reduce his movicol dose (which he's been on for over 18 months) from 2 sachets a day to 2 a week with no other changes to his diet.

This is the one that we were recommended by the nutritionist

naturaldispensary.co.uk/products/Mindlinx_60_s-5134-37.html

'Mindlinx? is a probiotic food supplement with added glutamine designed for children and infants to support the healthy function of the gastrointestinal tract and support overall wellbeing. Supplied in powder or vegetable capsules.'

We use the powder as you can just mix it in a drink and he doesn't seem to notice it's there.

Just to add - I think I have read in a few places that probiotics are most effective if given just before bed and/or on an empty stomach (happy to be corrected if this is wrong though!).