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Dr. Hive: Need probiotic advice for 6 year old (May be TMI!)


TheAttachedMama
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Hello Everyone,

At the beginning of this month, my 6 year old son was sick with some type of virus that was causing him to throw up.   After that, he started having weird light colored stools.  We have taken him to the doctors and she did all of this blood work on him.   His liver function = normal, kidney function = normal (he had kidney damage as a toddler), and CBC = normal.

She suggested that I put him on a probiotic and give him digestive enzymes.   The probiotic brands she recommended were cultural and florastor.   

Are there any other brands of probiotics that are better?  I am looking at amazon right now and I am feeling very overwhelmed with the reviews and options.   Anything else I should be looking into or trying?  My friend is suggesting that I eliminate grains and dairy for awhile to see.  The doctor didn't think I needed to do that.   

Thanks in advance!

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There's no evidence that commercial probiotics contain any of the actual good gut flora our own guts contain, nor that what they contain survives the trip through the stomach and gut in the first place. You'll have better luck eating more organic produce and fermented foods, and more foods with viable prebiotic fiber.

With that said, if you're going to go the commercial probiotic route you should get something that's kept refrigerated. Better viability that way. Definitely don't buy off of Amazon for this.

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Visbiome and VSL#3 in 1/4 doses might be okay. I’ve ordered them through Amazon and they are shipped 2-day, iirc, in cartons with dry ice to keep them cool. Both have been used in clinical studies.

More fiber, including inulin (small doses), more probiotics, less sugar and refined food if he eats those. It’s most likely an imbalance in his microbiota that’s causing the problem but it’s good you ran some tests.

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16 hours ago, kand said:

Florastor is a very different strain than most of the other probiotics you will look at. If there’s any concern that this was caused by being on antibiotics, you definitely want to put him on Florastor. The culturelle could be added in addition to it. I wouldn’t buy probiotics off Amazon due to storage and transportation conditions possibly affecting whether or not they are still viable by the time you receive them.

He hasn't been on antibiotics for years.   So that isn't a direct concern.   

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14 hours ago, BeachGal said:

Visbiome and VSL#3 in 1/4 doses might be okay. I’ve ordered them through Amazon and they are shipped 2-day, iirc, in cartons with dry ice to keep them cool. Both have been used in clinical studies.

More fiber, including inulin (small doses), more probiotics, less sugar and refined food if he eats those. It’s most likely an imbalance in his microbiota that’s causing the problem but it’s good you ran some tests.

 

Yes, I think his diet REALLY needs cleaned up!   Since he has recovered from the vomiting, he has been eating terribly!   After he got better, we started feeding him anything he would eat.   That meant lots of refined carbs and milk, and very little fruits and vegetables and protein.   He is refusing foods he previously enjoyed....even bananas and apples.   So that is making things difficult.   Today I am going to try some smoothies.   

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