Help! Can Probiotics Cause Severe Stomach Cramps?

[climbmtwhitney]

Does anyone know if probiotics can cause severe stomach cramping? My 10-year old newly diagnosed celiac daughter is having horrible stomach cramps and can't leave the sofa except to go the the bathroom. My poor darling has been like this for a few days. She's completely miserable!

The nutritionist has her on a variety of supplements. Yesterday I skipped them all to see what would happen and she was good. Today, she's having the cramping again and so far I only gave her Klaire Labs Ther-Biotic Complete and New Beginnings Candida Defense Formula. She tested out as having mild yeast overgrowth. She's been on her various supplements for about 10 days and gluten free for 5 1/2 weeks. We've already been through die off, so what's up? (BTW, my other 2 gluten intolerant kids started the Ther-biotic Complete at the same time and are fine. And, I (also newly diagnosed Celiac) are taking the same 2 supplements as Jenna and I'm fine too.)

One more thing, she went Casein free at the same time we began the supplements. We haven't eliminated 100% of the casein yet, but we're close. Could it be die off from that?

Any help would be so appreciated! Thanks!

Sonya

[ShayFL]

Your poor daughter's body is in an uproar right now. There is literally a "war" going on inside of her. When I killed off my critters, I had ups and downs....die off for a few days and then some calm....then another flare.....It took a good month for everything to settle down nicely. Then I started a different "killer" and the process repeated itself. Different supplements kill off different bugs. I have been on three dif. kinds so far and each one brought die off and then relief with some flares now and again.

Try cutting her dose down and building up slowly.

Keep in mind that as the body heals, it can do weird things and they arent necessarily bad (they just feel bad).

I would STRONGLY advice you looking into the SCD (Specific Carbohydrate Diet) as it has helped MANY on this forum including me. I have been able to add in things as of the last 3-4 weeks. But that diet sure got things straightened out.

[darlindeb25]

I can't take probiotics, and I don't believe in this "kill off" stuff. I think some of us just can't take them, and that's that.

[jerseyangel]

I'm terribly intolerant to casein and have yet to find a probiotic that agrees with me. My main symptom is nearly incapacitating nausea.

Possibly your daughter has developed a casein intolerance after going gluten-free? Just a thought. I think I would discontinue just the probiotic for more than a day and see if she doesn't feel better.

[ShayFL]

Also is the yeast killer caprylic acid? That is coconut. Some cant tolerate coconut.

Honestly, I think the best cure for candida and bowel issues is diet alone. SCD www.pecanbread.com is a good place to look.

[climbmtwhitney]

Hi.

Thanks for the responses! Yes, one of her supplements has sodium caprylate (caprylic acid). But her ELISA results didn't show any significant coconut sensitivities. Hmmm. This is so frustrating! I'm hearing that it could be the supplements, or diary, or still healing from going gluten free. As a mom, you just want to fix it and fix it fast! I hate the trial and error part! I can deal with the ups and downs for myself --I'm old and used to it. But, she's only 10. I just wish I knew for sure.

I'm also struggling with going 100% dairy free. The tests for all of us also came back casein intolerant and I've found that eliminating this is so MUCH harder for us. I can avoid diary for myself easily enough with meat and vegetables. But, she's not too fond of those things and neither is her younger sister and brother. She can't even have her gluten free gravy anymore! Meal time is definitely NOT a picnic around here. So, maybe it's just the casein thing with her since we haven't hit 100% free yet. Crud!

Sonya

[ShayFL]

If she is good with coconut, Turtle Mountain makes coconut ice cream that is delicious. gluten-free and DF. It comes in some yummy flavors like cookie dough, chocolate chip mint, vanilla and coconut. I have tried them all except the cookie dough. I am grain free.

Something like this could ease the transition from dairy. Whole Foods caries it. So does a few of my local health food stores, so see if you can get it.

[mftnchn]

If she's fine without the supplements, that's a good clue. I'd recommend that you keep her off for 5 days and observe. If all is fine, try them one at a time. If a symptom comes up drop that one, wait a couple of days until she is well again, then try the next one.

Once you know which one/ones is causing the problem, then look at the ingredients.

One of the reasons your daughter might be having more problems has to do with the degree of damage to the intestine. The intestinal mucosa produce carb digesting enzymes (disaccharidases) and so she may lack adequate amount of these enzymes. (SCD addresses this problem). She also may have trouble producing enough bile and pancreatic enzymes for digestion.

In terms of probiotics--if this is the problem-- there could be a number of reasons. I tested poorly for many of the probiotics--except the Klaire Labs one you are taking. However, I cannot take it now that I am on the SCD because it contains chickory, FOS and inulin which all are complex sugars/starches. I think a majority of probiotics contain these. My doctor says after 2-3 months of strict healing on SCD that these will cause less problems. Currently I make my own goat milk yogurt using only lactobacillus acidophilus. I tolerate this very well.

If it is the dairy and you have to totally and strictly eliminate, you can make yogurt that is dairy free and get the good bacteria that way. You can even use your dairy containing probiotic as a starter, one capsule. After a couple of batches, the amount of dairy is going to be very tiny, and increasingly tiny with every batch. There are also dairy free yogurt starters available.

Another thing I picked up from the SCD materials--some kids don't tolerate the yogurt/probiotic well at all. The www.pecanbread.com site already mentioned has a lot of discussion about what to do. One of the methods is starting with tiny amounts of yogurt, like 1/8 teaspoon.