I posted this a while back, but didn't get any answers. This is not the store bought 14 Billion stuff, but it's VSL#3 with something like 450 Billion good bacteria.
The first time I took 1/2 packet, or 225 Billion bacteria and the next day, I had no only a brain herx, but also tons of muscle aches, pains, chills, etc. all c/w a Herx.
I tried 1/4 pckt last night and awoke pretty similar to the way I did last time. My entire CNS has been going nuts just as I was coming out of my last Rife Herx.
My thinking is that I'm having a Candida die off. But what doesn't make sense to me is that I've seen bad Candida in my career and those folks were no where as sick as many of us are. So, even the ones on Nystatin or Diflucan never Herxed the slightest when I treated them in the Hospital setting.
Any Thoughts ?
Posted by manybites (Member # 33750) on :
I had the same exact thing 4 years ago and I thought was candida.
I found out I had activated lyme and all coinfections based on ( test and muscle testing ).
Do not be surprised.I was loaded in parasites and lyme and coinfections.WHen I mean loaded I mean spread to my muscles and from head to toe.
You are late stage.I would recomend you to do parasitic cleansings and continue treatment.
It is not JUST CANDIDA Beilive me.I was mistaken and chased CANDIDA originaly .
Have you treated babesia ? Bartonella ?PArasites ?( you probably have activated viruses as well as I did .MyLLND created a formula herbs to reduce them). Highly dosages of everything can reach the brain .CAndida only does not make you that sick . I take VSL too and when I took the first Theralac it made me sick as you are.That happened 3 years and 1/2 ago .
Now I can take 10 pills of theralac or others ( beilive me I have tried high dosages) and istead of making me sick ( kill candida) it made my gut and my brain better.I can not afford high dosages.But I have tried several times.The very first few months I was sick of only 1 pill of probiotic.
You have had it for very long and you need to take higher dosages of Antibiotics and HERBS to reach the exstremeties otherwise you will stay the same.
Posted by Pony (Member # 32559) on :
Hey everyone,
I know this is a few weeks old, but I thought I would chime in...
I'm having the exact same thing happen to me and I just started VSL 3. I'm doing 2 capsules a day, which equals 225 billion (a far cry from the 30 billion I was taking)...
Anyway, I'm not on antibiotics at the moment and this all started the day after I took the capsules.
I'm not one to say that every symptom I encounter is a herx, but this definitely feels herx like. The increase of fatigue and malaise have been prominent, and they are accompanied by chills and a strong urge to nap!
If anyone is interested I will keep you updated on what I'm experiencing as I continue with this.
At the very least it makes you wonder just how much more effective VSL 3 is as opposed to otc/store bought probiotics?
Hope everyone is having a Happy Easter
Mark
Posted by TerryK (Member # 8552) on :
In a nutshell - The good bacteria (probiotics) keeps the bad bacteria in balance. When there are less of the good, more bad grows. When you start adding good you will kill some of the bad and you may be feeling sick from that. You could also be killing candida along with the bad bacteria.
I would go slower with the probiotic and consider getting a test for gut bacteria problems.
Words to search for are - dysbiosis and SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth).
I had a diagnostechs test for parasites and a number of things and found out that I had an overgrowth of strep or staph (can't remember which one now) and several other bacteria. They gave me xifaxin for it. It is an abx that is used specifically for the gut bacteria problem that I had.
I spoke with an owner of a health food store and she said the biggest mistake people make is jumping into taking a strong probiotic. They should start off slowly by either taking a child dose or breaking the capsule open and gradually increasing the amount. I spoke with her about this as I had been using culturelle along with acidophilus with no problem and when I tried a strong probiotic I developed horrible stomach issues. I have kept with my cuturelle and acidophillus, but also consume raw foods such as fermented kimchi, and also drink alot of Kefir.
Posted by Pony (Member # 32559) on :
Very informative guys, thanks!
Posted by seibertneurolyme (Member # 6416) on :
Hubby had a similar issue years ago when he tried VSL#3. Every dose he took caused a seizure-like episode. This continued for months.
Personally I think there were 2 or 3 reasons he reacted so strongly.
First I think if a probiotic causes brain or nervous system symptoms it is probably a strong indicator of either a bart infection and/or a leaky gut.
I also agree that it could indicate other bad G.I. bacteria. Hubby had klebsiella and a couple of other ammonia producing bacteria show up after he did IV Rocephin the first time years ago. For him olive leaf capsules were helpful plus he used a very good brand of yogurt that became very difficult to obtain after Jordan Rubin's books became so popular.
Also at that time 3 months of oral levaquin did kill off the bad G.I. bacteria but really did not do anything for the bartonella or BLO. It was years later that we realized that bart was still an issue (based on the early F lab blood slides)-- at the time of the original treatment by the Dr B that was the standard treatment for bart.
I would probably try a different brand of good bacteria that either has different strains of bacteria or is not as strong.
And whoever mentioned xifaxin -- that is also a good idea. Hubby took that for a month or two after he had his paralyzed ileus and it was helpful to get his G.I. bacteria back in balance.
But I would definitely look into treating bartonella if I had major problems with taking good bacteria.
This is not medical advice, just my opinion based on hubby's experiences.
Bea Seibert
Posted by Pony (Member # 32559) on :
That's interesting Bea, thank you...
I too am being treated for Bart so thats definitely something to consider...
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
I say it's a reaction to the dairy. Maybe you are now sensitive to dairy. I had to stop VSL for that reason.
Posted by Lymetoo (Member # 743) on :
Be careful taking xifaxin if you do not know FOR SURE that you have SIBO. That drug cleared out every single bit of good bacteria I had left.
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