Probiotics - Culturelle

[Gemini]

I am happy to hear your have reduced your need for insulin! I read that diabetics can benefit from supplementing with probiotics some time ago and tried to convince my sister to use them. No go. (She also refuses to be tested for celiac, which is heartbreaking. She is also hypothyroid. But the more I nudge, the more resistance I get.)

Maybe I will forward your response to her.

Thanks for telling us about your good response to the probiotics.

I feel like crying right now (from joy for you!!!)

Best wishes to you!!

I have never heard of a diabetic requiring less insulin after using probiotics! That is so interesting and like you, Irish, my brother is a Type 1 who I just know has Celiac also. Why? Because his health has always been poor in the way Celiacs suffer before diagnosis. He had bouts of diarrhea so severe, it debilitated him but his doctors claim that's from the diabetes and not Celiac. You know the drill....we can't find it so you don't have it. My brother is as resistant as your sister so I dropped it a while ago and have to accept he will have a much shortened lifespan. He is in really bad shape with all diseases related to Celiac. I am pretty sure if I broach the probiotic news he will scoff at that too!

[Diane-in-FL]

Why ARE people so resistant to checking out if they might have Celiac? I have a couple of friends who suffer from Fibro and I have told them about the connection between Celiac and Fibro, and given them links to good sources for info. They say "Oh, that's interesting", but never follow through. I don't get why they wouldn't want to explore the possibility that giving up gluten could help. I have also told several people about B12 deficiency and they won't even ask for the test. I'm not pushy or obnoxious about it either. I guess some people just can't face tthe prospect of giving up their gluteny food.

[missy'smom]

I have never heard of a diabetic requiring less insulin after using probiotics! That is so interesting and like you, Irish, my brother is a Type 1 who I just know has Celiac also. Why? Because his health has always been poor in the way Celiacs suffer before diagnosis. He had bouts of diarrhea so severe, it debilitated him but his doctors claim that's from the diabetes and not Celiac. You know the drill....we can't find it so you don't have it. My brother is as resistant as your sister so I dropped it a while ago and have to accept he will have a much shortened lifespan. He is in really bad shape with all diseases related to Celiac. I am pretty sure if I broach the probiotic news he will scoff at that too!

I posted my results on a diabetes forum and not a single response. I imagine there is some scoffing there too.

Inflamation causes an elevation in blood sugar. That's partly why food allergies can raise blood sugar as well. Casein makes my BG jump up a good big notch and not just the meal I consume it in but my whole baseline and all post meal numbers jump up a big notch. I have clear GI inflamation when I ingest my food allergens. My blood sugar is carefully controlled so it's easy to see if something makes a difference. My insulin doses are now still lower since I first reported this. I do still make some insulin of my own so if my pancreas is not using what insulin it has left to manage the blood sugar increase caused my inflamation, then it can use it to help cover my meals, I would imagine. Actually I could just eat more to cover my shots instead of decreasing the dose and that's what some might do, which might distract from the fact that their insulin needs are lower. I might consider increasing my food as well, and upping my insulin once I get a comfortable now stable level and get comfortable with what 1 unit will now cover, which is more than it used to. But I am satisfied with my meals and eat well so I am fine where I am at.

On one level, a shot is a shot and it doesn't matter whether it contains 1 or 3 units but if you get into higher doses, the predictability factor decreases and that can be problematic(at least for some), plus the longer I can maintain what insulin production I have left, that makes fewer shots and easier management. Bottom line though is the probiotic results show healing taking place and that's a very good thing.

One of the D forum members who has the same kind of slow onset T1 I do, was recently dx with celiac disease and reported much easier BG management after only 2 weeks gluten-free.

There's a lot of counterproductive long entrenched stubborneness about Diabetes out there that prevents people/healthcare professionals from embracing some things that do make a difference.

[IrishHeart]

Why ARE people so resistant to checking out if they might have Celiac? I have a couple of friends who suffer from Fibro and I have told them about the connection between Celiac and Fibro, and given them links to good sources for info. They say "Oh, that's interesting", but never follow through. I don't get why they wouldn't want to explore the possibility that giving up gluten could help. I have also told several people about B12 deficiency and they won't even ask for the test. I'm not pushy or obnoxious about it either. I guess some people just can't face tthe prospect of giving up their gluteny food.

That's exactly it in a nutshell, D!

And lack of encouragement from the AMA. Heaven forbid we should actually HEAL people and get them out of misery and out of their offices. No $$$ in that!

The nurse/LMT I see 2X a week who gives me nueromuscular massages and physical therapy to help me get my muscles and strength back? Well, she has dozens of patients who have "FMS" and she asked me to help her convince them to try a gluten-free diet. I wrote up an article explaining how gluten creates inflammation and she gently urges them to try it. Guess what? She told yesterday she is 4/4--all 4 women are reducing their pain in just a few weeks OFF GLUTEN. They are ecstatic!

And when they report this amazing change to their doctors? They are given the eye roll and are scoffed at and told "it's just a coincidence".

[IrishHeart]

One of the D forum members who has the same kind of slow onset T1 I do, was recently dx with celiac disease and reported much easier BG management after only 2 weeks gluten-free.

There's a lot of counterproductive long entrenched stubborneness about Diabetes out there that prevents people/healthcare professionals from embracing some things that do make a difference.

I wish I could introduce you to my sister.

Sadly, she would prefer to follow the doctor's advice and control all of her various AI diseases through medications. She watched me go downhill for 3 years and almost die from celiac disease, yet it is not enough to persuade her to even be tested. I said "At least mention it to your doctor that I have celiac disease, please?" She said "He made a note of it in my chart."

I have said many times that INFLAMMATION underlies all of this, and sent her articles on AI diseases, specifically diabetes and celiac, but it falls on deaf ears. I am terrified her kidneys will go next. But I do not wear a white coat or have a stethiscope around my neck to give me enough credence.

And as Diane points out, she is reluctant to adjust enough to give up her gluteny foods. I feel so bad about it and I cry sometimes, thinking, I KNOW she has celiac and I know she would feel so much better off gluten.

But, we can't make anyone see the light. They have to be as sick as we were and pushed to the wall to " get it."

[missy'smom]

I wish I could introduce you to my sister.

Sadly, she would prefer to follow the doctor's advice and control all of her various AI diseases through medications. She watched me go downhill for 3 years and almost die from celiac disease, yet it is not enough to persuade her to even be tested. I said "At least mention it to your doctor that I have celiac disease, please?" She said "He made a note of it in my chart."

I have said many times that INFLAMMATION underlies all of this, and sent her articles on AI diseases, specifically diabetes and celiac, but it falls on deaf ears. I am terrified her kidneys will go next. But I do not wear a white coat or have a stethiscope around my neck to give me enough credence.

And as Diane points out, she is reluctant to adjust enough to give up her gluteny foods. I feel so bad about it and I cry sometimes, thinking, I KNOW she has celiac and I know she would feel so much better off gluten.

But, we can't make anyone see the light. They have to be as sick as we were and pushed to the wall to " get it."

I KNOW! I totally hear ya! I have run into the SAME things that have been shared on this thread with my family and docs. My mom's doc said he'd put her on a gluten-free diet the next time she had uncontrollable Diareah. Actually he won't even do that. He said once he "didn't want to do that to her" meaning put her on a gluten-free diet. Oh, OK so you just want to let her die of colon cancer instead! I'd sue his a** off if I could but I can't. I've cried but I can't live in that kind of emotional place so I've moved on. I've gotta take care of me and the next generation.

[IrishHeart]

I've cried but I can't live in that kind of emotional place so I've moved on. I've gotta take care of me and the next generation.

I hear ya! But I was hoping that next generation (i.e. my niece and nephews and their little ones) would listen to me.

I have no children of my own (thanks, Celiac ) and I have a huge extended family --all of whom have various AI diseases and assorted GI issues.

Ah well, you can lead that horse to water...

but you can't hold his head under

[Gemini]

I posted my results on a diabetes forum and not a single response. I imagine there is some scoffing there too.

Inflamation causes an elevation in blood sugar. That's partly why food allergies can raise blood sugar as well. Casein makes my BG jump up a good big notch and not just the meal I consume it in but my whole baseline and all post meal numbers jump up a big notch. I have clear GI inflamation when I ingest my food allergens. My blood sugar is carefully controlled so it's easy to see if something makes a difference. My insulin doses are now still lower since I first reported this. I do still make some insulin of my own so if my pancreas is not using what insulin it has left to manage the blood sugar increase caused my inflamation, then it can use it to help cover my meals, I would imagine. Actually I could just eat more to cover my shots instead of decreasing the dose and that's what some might do, which might distract from the fact that their insulin needs are lower. I might consider increasing my food as well, and upping my insulin once I get a comfortable now stable level and get comfortable with what 1 unit will now cover, which is more than it used to. But I am satisfied with my meals and eat well so I am fine where I am at.

On one level, a shot is a shot and it doesn't matter whether it contains 1 or 3 units but if you get into higher doses, the predictability factor decreases and that can be problematic(at least for some), plus the longer I can maintain what insulin production I have left, that makes fewer shots and easier management. Bottom line though is the probiotic results show healing taking place and that's a very good thing.

One of the D forum members who has the same kind of slow onset T1 I do, was recently dx with celiac disease and reported much easier BG management after only 2 weeks gluten-free.

There's a lot of counterproductive long entrenched stubborneness about Diabetes out there that prevents people/healthcare professionals from embracing some things that do make a difference.

Thank you for your insight on this....it makes perfect sense to me so why a doctor can't figure this out is beyond my understanding. Your last sentence pretty much said it all....we should be wearing T-shirts with this on it!

My brother takes a pill for every problem he has. He's up to about 12 pills a day and his kidneys are a mess. Most likely, he will need a transplant in order to survive. He has 3 sisters and we were told we could not be donors because of our high risk for diabetes. Of course, big mouth me piped up that I certainly wasn't at high risk for diabetes anymore as I was gluten free and my labs prove how much inflammation there isn't in my body anymore. You can imagine the stereophonic eyerolls I got on that remark!

[IrishHeart]

Of course, big mouth me piped up that I certainly wasn't at high risk for diabetes anymore as I was gluten free and my labs prove how much inflammation there isn't in my body anymore. You can imagine the stereophonic eyerolls I got on that remark!

Same rolling eyeballs I get whenever I even mention WHY a gluten free diet and some probiotics might help someone?

Why don't they believe us? Simple.

Not enough awareness of how inflammation creates illness. This is why I make it my personal mission to educate the masses!!

Converting the gluten intolerants, one person at a time.

This is why I have been dubbed by those who know me as "She Who Sees Celiacs Everywhere", the Gluten Police, the Gluten Nazi and the Celiac Whisperer. They poke fun, but deep down, they know I am right.

[Em314]

re: OP- I just bought Culturelle "Health & Wellness Immunity Support Formula." Seems like it's pretty much the same as digestive health, except this one has more of the Lactobacillus GG, but doesn't have chicory root extract.

It'll be hard to tell what I can give credit to, because I'm still healing (and at the moment adjusting a couple of variables at once because scientific curiosity has lost to the desire to fix a couple of things as quickly as possible), but I figure it can't hurt. I'd frankly be content even if it just had a placebo effect.

Why ARE people so resistant to checking out if they might have Celiac? I have a couple of friends who suffer from Fibro and I have told them about the connection between Celiac and Fibro, and given them links to good sources for info. They say "Oh, that's interesting", but never follow through. I don't get why they wouldn't want to explore the possibility that giving up gluten could help. I have also told several people about B12 deficiency and they won't even ask for the test. I'm not pushy or obnoxious about it either. I guess some people just can't face tthe prospect of giving up their gluteny food.

It scared the crap out of me when the possibility was brought up- I brought my symptoms to my doctor, consented to the initial blood tests, and knew my symptoms were a very good fit for celiac, but I still didn't want to think it could possibly really be the problem and tried pretty hard to convince myself it couldn't be until I got back the first bloodwork results. And, personally, I *do* tend to face things head-on, so I can only imagine how much worse it must be for people typically cope by avoiding/ignoring. Part of my particular response to the idea of having celiac was thinking it would be more restrictive than it actually is. (Once I got a better handle on how much I could still eat/how doable it would really be, and realized I would in fact *not* be stuck living on food that tasted half as good but cost three times as much as I was used to, I started *hoping* it would be celiac, because it was an explanation, and a solution- but I wasn't a happy camper during the early research-and-anticipate phase.) Denial is a dangerous thing for medical issues like celiac, and really sad with celiac specifically because it's so easily treatable, and IMO the diet restrictions have nothing on the reduced quality of life that symptoms cause, but I do think I can kind of understand the desire for denial, anyway. Mor often than not, I think people avoid what they fear.