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Jordy,
I can't find where I saw that VSL 3 was better for IBS C. I may have got it wrong. I thought I read somewhere that it was good for gas and bloating but not for D?? On their web site they put gas and bloating reduction first, then a reduction in urgency (but not in D itself). It seems incredibly expensive and I am only going to try it after the rest.
If you can't get a similar product to IBS support in the States, I would go ahead and order it. It shouldn't be affected by shipping (unless customs hold it up for ages) but I can't necessarily recommend it to you as we are all different and it may not work although I would still give it a try. I used it for 3 weeks and was great but then had a bad day out of the blue which was disappointing; however, it might have just been a symptom of the flu. I also want to be normal and 3 or 4 bm's/day is not normal enough for me. I am now on antibiotics which can cause D so I have upped my Digestive support to 2 tablets a day while I am on them. I will stay on it after all the antibiotics are over to give it a chance again. I have also ordered Align and am trying to get hold of Lifestart. I want to try them all separately and then maybe in combination. For me, I really feel bacteria have played a strong role in my IBS so anything that can affect the balance is worth trying, (but I could be wrong).
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IBS D
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Some times you have to be careful with the claims made by vendors on their web site about products compared to what was actually shown in the clinical investigations.
Here are links to the abstract of the two small trials done on VSL#3 from two published research papers
Kim, H. J., et. al, 2005: A randomized controlled trial of a probiotic combination VSL#3 and placebo in IBS with bloating . Neurogastroenterology & Motility, 17, 687-696.
Kim, H. J., et. al, 2003: A randomized controlled trial of probiotic, VSL#3, on gut transit and symptoms in diarrhea-predominant irritabke bowel syndrome. . Aliment Pharmacology & Theraputics, 17, 895-904.
Just for comparison here are links to the abstracts of larger clinical trial on Bifidbacterium infantis 35624
Whorwell, P. J., et. al, 2006: Efficacy of an Encapsulated Probiotic Bifidbacterium infantis 35624 in Women with Irritable Bowel Syndrome . The American Journal of Gastroenterology, 101, 1581-1590.
O'Mahony, L., et. al., 2005: Lactobacillus and bifidobacterium in irritable bowel syndrome: Symptoms responses and relationship to cytokine profiles. . Gastroenterology, 128, 541-551.
And finally here is the abstract of a paper that compared the effect of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus in IBS
Furrie, E., 2005: IS Bifidobacterium a more effective probiotic therapy than Lactobacillus for patients with irritable bowel syndrome? Nature Clinical Practice Gastroenterology & Hepatology, 2, 304-305.
The full research papers are quite technical but they make fascinating reading 
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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I didn't describe it very well. I meant that taking just one strain like the 'bifidus regularis' in activia wasn't as good as the probiotics with a few strains.
I have a massive headache.
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IBS-A for 20 years with terrible bloating and gas. On the diet since April 2004. Remember this from Heather's information pages:
"You absolutely must eat insoluble fiber foods, and as much as safely possible, but within the IBS dietary guidelines. Treat insoluble fiber foods with suitable caution, and you'll be able to enjoy a wide variety of them, in very healthy quantities, without problem." Please eat IF foods!
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Re: trials
#327366 - 03/28/08 05:22 AM
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Syl
Reged: 03/13/05
Posts: 5499
Loc: SK, CANADA
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That is what I understood and that is what I tried to explain is incorrect. It is better to take probiotics with one strain that is known to work than it is to take a probiotic with many strains have not been proven to work
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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Aren't you two saying opposite things? I'm confused. It's better to take a probiotic with one proven strain or one that has multiple strains, but maybe doesn't have "company paid for trials" to establish it's benefits?
I always thought multi-strain was much better because it covered more symptom related problems.
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IBS-C with pain and bloat
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Re: trials
#327369 - 03/28/08 06:22 AM
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Syl
Reged: 03/13/05
Posts: 5499
Loc: SK, CANADA
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It is better to take a probiotic with one proven strain than it is to take a probiotic with 10 unproven strains.
Taking a probiotic with unproven strains may worsen IBS symptoms. Some bacteria found in the colon can grow out of control and causing problems. For example, some bacteria can be pro-inflammatory (causes inflammation of the bowel) whereas others like Bifidobacterium infantis is an anti-inflammatory probiotic (reduces inflammation of the bowel).
Quoting this research report "Combining potentially anti-inflammatory and proinflammatory bacteria in the same preparation would be particularly counterproductive and presents the alarming situation where an ill-chosen probiotic species might exacerbate disease."
If the strains you are taking have not been proven to be effective how do you know that they are not causing more problems than they are resolving? 
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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My probiotics contain all the usual strains included in most of the popular probiotics sold in HFS. I see them listed over and over. That's why I assume they are good and effective....never even occured to me that they could do any harm. Worse case, they do nothing. 
Are you sure Little Minnie is saying the same thing as you? I trust you gals!
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IBS-C with pain and bloat
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Re: trials
#327375 - 03/28/08 07:24 AM
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Syl
Reged: 03/13/05
Posts: 5499
Loc: SK, CANADA
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They maybe good. And they maybe effective. But not for IBS
Probiotics are used for a variety of things such as travellers diarrhea, Crohn's, ulcerative colitis and allergies. Any many bacteria found in probiotics are used to produce cheese, yogurt, sourdough, etc and are known to be harmless.
If you wish to improve your IBS symptoms then use a probiotic that is known to help IBS. If you want to take them for any other reasons fine - but don't expect them to help with IBS.
No - Little Minnie is not saying the same thing I am
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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--------------------
IBS-A for 20 years with terrible bloating and gas. On the diet since April 2004. Remember this from Heather's information pages:
"You absolutely must eat insoluble fiber foods, and as much as safely possible, but within the IBS dietary guidelines. Treat insoluble fiber foods with suitable caution, and you'll be able to enjoy a wide variety of them, in very healthy quantities, without problem." Please eat IF foods!
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And ...
#327421 - 03/28/08 06:02 PM
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Syl
Reged: 03/13/05
Posts: 5499
Loc: SK, CANADA
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Indeed it does. Each capsule contains a few hundred milligrams or about 1/4 teaspoon of probiotic plus other ingredients. Casein will account for less than 10% of the weight and therefore each capsule likely contains less than a 1/40 of a teaspoon of casein.
It is interesting how the research reports excellent results in IBS suffers using a probiotic containing a dairy ingredients. It seems another thing this research suggests is that minuscle amounts of diary in a probiotic supplement are probably fine for most IBSers.
By the way - in the VSL#3 trials the probiotic was mixed with 6 oz of yogurt before it was given to IBS patients. And the gastric and small bowel transit time was measured by having the subjects ingest two labelled scrambled eggs, a slice of whole-wheat bread and one glass of whole milk. And even with this dairy load some IBS patients reported an improvement in bloating
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STABLE: ♂, IBS-D 50+ years - Science of IBS
The FODMAP Approach to Managing IBS Symptoms
Evidence-based Dietary Management of Functional GI Symptoms: The FODMAP Approach
FODMAP Chart & Cheatsheet
The Role of Food & Dietary Intervention in IBS
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