Random Question about Probiotics and Garlic for GBS

[RMM1117]

I am having a homebirth, but I know I am GBS postive. I have been taking probiotics and eating raw crushed garlic to try and help irradicate the GBS. My question is, since garlic has an antibiotic affect, will it counter-act the probiotcs I am taking? Thanks!

[mwherbs]

yes it may alter the probiotics to what degree I don't know it also depends on how much you are taking---
regionally I talked to some mws about their practices with GBS one MW tests before and after she has her gals use garlic and it has worked to kill off the GBS her protocol is to use a garlic clove 1 day a week put in over night- I think she suggests all the dietary stuff as well including probiotics/live culture foods- one clove of garlic isn't even really a theraputic level of garlic but it is an irritant at that level so I think what it does is cause the body to bring in some additional things to deal with the irritation and that is what helps to fight the GBS colonization-
I would say between times that vaginal application of probiotic and your partner should wash before you have sex

[RMM1117]

I am taking my probiotics in the a.m., and then swallowing a crushed clove at lunch and a crushed clove at night. And I'm talking Vit. C.

I am worried about inserting it vaginally bc I am scared I will 'push' the GBS upward. I might just be over-anxious tho., I am realllly trying to irradicate this dang GBS.

[srlpenny]

My MWs and I just had a LONG discussion about GBS this week in which we discussed everything from IV antibiotics, to hibicleanse (sp???). Garlic actually came up as one of the things that all 3, very different midwives agreed on. Not eaten though, inserted vaginally, one actually mentioned the existence of garlic suppositories? The thought was that garlic had an antibacterial effect, but without the risk of killing off ALL the bacteria (good and bad) or any nasty side effects.
They all also mentioned not noticing any effect of anything taken orally before birth, for some women it worked some it didn't.
The other thing all agreed on was that while the effects of GBS are very serious, they are also rare.
I hope you can find something that works for you and a happy healthy baby

[XanaduMama]

The garlic really will be most effective inserted vaginally (make sure you sew a thread to it, so you can get it out afterward!), though taking it orally will help eliminate any GBS in the digestive tract (which is where it comes from).

Honestly, though, if you know you're positive, and really want/need to be negative, I would (and did) do the hibiclens wash. It's very effective, safe, and easy. You can do it before you test, and again when you're in labor if you're being very cautious (I just did it before testing, got a negative result, and didn't worry about it during labor, though mine progressed quickly).

[mwherbs]

nope garlic at a level that will actually kill off large colonies of bacteria, will kill everything good and bad- it doesn't leave healthy flora intact-- how much garlic would you eat if you thought you had a strep throat? many cloves a day several times a day until you are sweating garlic and garlic is on your breath- but using small dietary amounts or 1 suppository a week is not going to have much actual anti-bacterial effect- but hold a clove of un-nicked garlic in your mouth and you will see what I mean by irritant- GBS has a stealth quality that tends to tell inflammatory cytokines to not react and allows the bacteria to not have to fight our immune systems until they have already installed them selves, colonized our systems- I have a feeling that the small amounts of garlic I have been reading about and talking to midwives who say that it has worked is because of the garlic irritating the system enough to wake up an immune response- sort of the way that warts end up clearing out when burnt part of it is the freezing or burning and part is the body's repair reaction that figures out something needs to be gotten rid of.

[XanaduMama]

You can recolonize your vagina and digestive tract after garlic or hibiclens or whatever, just like you would after antibiotics: lots of live-culture yogurt (eat and use on a tampon), fermented foods, probiotics, etc.

[RMM1117]

So, it would be silly to use probiotics and garlic at the same time?

[mwherbs]

if you are taking a small amount of garlic and at a different time of the day you are taking something live culture you are probably fine- if you take it at the same time probably not such a good idea- because it is very likely that the garlic will inactivate what it is next to right then

[AbigailGrace]

Please forgive my ignorance but what is GBS?

[mwherbs]

Group B strep or Streptococcus agalactiae

[AbigailGrace]

Originally Posted by mwherbs

Group B strep or Streptococcus agalactiae

Thanks. This is baby # 7 but the first time I've been on any sort of 'pregnancy' forum. The abbreviations throw me sometimes. But I'm trying to get a little bit more informed...

[RMM1117]

Has anyone noticed in their GBS research that one article/study will say that chlorihexidine (hibeclense) is great at reducing GBS transmission, and another will say that is completely not true. It is really throwing me for a loop!

[XanaduMama]

Some useful info about GBS and chlorhexidine (hibiclens), plus links to actual studies about its effectiveness

http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/gbs.html#Lavage

[mwherbs]

the studies about hibiclense show that it worked as well as treating for risk factors- which is different than the total coverage-- but the most recent assessment of IV antibiotics is not any better- I think that urinary colonization if probably the most dangerous and I don't know if hibiclens would really address that level or type of colonization -- the strain that lives in the urinary tract is more likely to cause an invasive infant infection-
the thing with treating an infection topically is that it could assend and it isnt always predictable when that will happen- so systemic treatment was instututed in order to have a greater preventive effect- but it isn't working as well as they hoped it would

[wiggles06]

I tested positive for GBS 4 weeks before I went into labor and was told by my midwife to try the garlic method (vaginally). I was so happy when she run another test after two weeks and it was gone! I applied the garlic clove right before going to bed for the night and did it for 8 consecutive days. Make sure you attach a thread to the clove so you can take it out easily.

I also did probiotics-kefir whle I did my garlic therapy. I don't see why you shouldn't do both...

Good luck!