Questions about S boulardii

[momofmine]

Hi folks,

I gave DS S boulardii for the first time two days ago, and I think it is already making a difference.  I don't know why I didn't try this years ago.  My question though is if I should also be giving another general probiotic like plain acidophilus along with it?  We are on SCD.  I appreciate any thoughts.  Thanks!

[sbgrace]

It's a really good probiotic. It won't stick around when you stop taking it (it's not colonizing) so as long as you keep taking it you don't have to do anything else. If you want to, though, you can if tolerated. I think it's healthier to have some variety. But it's not necessary if not tolerated.

I'm going to move this to Health and Healing as it's not allergy specific and you may be more views!

[mama1803]

 I've always heard that you should be taking something else (that colonizes) along with s. boulardii.  The reasoning is that the s. boulardii will kill off some nasties and you good, healthy probiotics to take their place.

[momofmine]

Originally Posted by mama1803 

 I've always heard that you should be taking something else (that colonizes) along with s. boulardii.  The reasoning is that the s. boulardii will kill off some nasties and you good, healthy probiotics to take their place.

Yeah, that's what I was wondering about.  So what should I be doing along with it?  We are on SCD.  Should I just do some plain acidophilus? We are on SCD, and have not tolerated many probiotics.  We are just getting over a cold/congestion virus thing so I don't want to do any dairy for a while.

It was kind of amazing to see a difference right away.

[sbgrace]

You know, I don't think you have to do something else and given the low tolerance for probiotics in the past and the boulardi is still relatively new, the illness, etc. I think I'd stick with just the boulardi for a while longer.

The colonizing thing is because when you stop it in a matter of days it's gone. You need something else there. But you're not stopping it right now. So I really think you're ok with just the boulardi for now.

FWIW, my son does best with boulardi and culturelle...both of those are super at crowding out bad guys but don't colonize. He does do yogurt and I think variety is good. But in your case I'd just keep with what's working. I wouldn't upset the balance as there is really no reason to do that in my mind. Acidophilus is just one more strain and it's possible the boulardi would crowd it anyway. It's also possible it wouldn't be tolerated and you wouldn't get back to where you are now easily.

[mama1803]

I thought s. boulardii only got rid of other yeasts?  So it wouldn't crowd out acidophilus.  Is this wrong?

[sbgrace]

Acidophilus is a bacteria probiotic while boulardi is a beneficial yeast. That said, boulardi is terrific at crowding out not just yeast but also the really nasty bacterias like c. diff. So, yes, I suspect it would crowd out acidophilus possibly.