Irritable Bowel Syndrome Message Boards | Re: Could Stopping Align Do This?

The clinical trails report "For all symptoms, with the exception of bowel movement frequency and consistency, those [IBS individuals] randomized to B infantis 35624 [Align] experienced a greater reduction in symptom scores; composite and individual scores for abdominal pain/discomfort, bloating/distention, and bowel movement difficulty were significantly lower than for placebo for those randomized to B infantis 35624 for most weeks of the treatment phase".

This probiotic is also known to have anti-inflammatory effects which can reduce pain. In the conclusion the first reference below reports "B infantis 35624 [Align] alleviates symptoms in IBS; this symptomatic response was associated with normalization of the ratio of an anti-inflammatory to a proinflammatory cytokine, suggesting an immune-modulating role for this organism, in this disorder."

It is quite possible that if you have been taking Align for some time and then stop that could experience an increase in the symptoms you described. An interesting thing to do might be to start taking it again and keep note of when and for how long the symptoms diminish. If you do please tell us what you experience.

Good luck

Reference
O'Mahony, L. et al. Lactobacillus and bifidobacterium in irritable bowel syndrome: Symptom responses and relationship to cytokine profiles . Gastroenterology 128, 541-551 (2005)

Whorwell, P. J. et al. Efficacy of an Encapsulated Probiotic Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 in Women with Irritable Bowel Syndrome. The American Journal of Gastroenterology 101, 1581-1590 (2006)

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