Reports of a short term decrease in IBS symptoms after antibiotic treatment are prevalent in the IBS research literature. The reasons for this are unknown. Reports on long term studies of probiotics have yet to be published may be because it is too early in the research cycle for long term studies to have been conducted.
Your experience with lactobacillus plantarum appears to coincide with the reports given in the reference #6 on the web site you provide a link to. This study was a small study done in Poland involving 20 IBS suffers and 20 normal individuals. 10 IBS suffers reported a partial improvement in their symptoms - primarily pain. 6 of 10 IBS-C suffers reported an improvement in stool frequency.
The largest study to date was done with Bifidobacterium infantis 35624. The effective dose for this probiotic was 100 million CFU ( colony forming units ) and it provided relief from a range of IBS symptoms. No efficacy was shown at a lower dose of 1 million CFU.
Looking at the OM-X web site the amounts of the various organism in the complicated mixture it contains are not given. You might contact the vendor and ask how much Bifidobacterium infantis it contains. It could be quite low. Also, you might wish to consider how much IF this probiotic preparation has because it contains a variety other organic ingredients.
It looks like you can get Natren products in Australia. The have a product called Life Start 2 that only contains Bifidobacterium infantis. You can get in capsules or powder form (2 billion cfu per 1/2 tsp). It appears to be available through Life Span in these locations.
Probiotics appear to be have promising potential as a management aid for IBS. A recent review of the probiotic literature (see reference below) found that only some species of Lactobacilli and Bifidobacterium have been reported some efficacy for IBS with Bifidobacterium infantis 35624 being reported the most effective. A recent study (see second reference below) demonstrated superiority for bifidobacterium infantis 35624 over both a lactobacillus and placebo for abdominal pain/discomfort, distension/bloating and difficult defecation as well as for a composite score. However, it may be some time before they know exactly which probiotics are effective and in what doses.
Tell us how it goes with your probiotic experiment. Good luck
Reference
Zuccotti, G. V., F. Meneghin, C. Raimondo, D. Dilillo, C. Agostoni, E. Riva, and M. Giovannini, 2008: Probiotics in clinical practice: An overview. Journal of International Medical Research, 36, 1A-53A
Quigley, E. M. M., 2007: Probiotics in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: An Immunomodulatory Strategy? J Am Coll Nutr, 26, 684S-690.
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Re: probiotics success - any long term information?
