Probiotic yoghurt drinks and "die off"

jenniewb

About 10 years ago I used to buy probiotic drinks which were portioned out at 250mls. I'd also swallow a 100ml drink on top of that as a breakfast/snack and then another at night and a bio yogurt which also claimed pre and pro biotics (I used to really like the drinks and had an eating disorder so ate little else during the day- don't remind me how stupid this was, I already know).

I got about a month in and had chronic stomach pains- as in couldn't stand up straight. I was in so much pain I ended up in A&E thinking I must have some sort of a stomach ulcer or some part of my body had gone wrong!

They ran tests. Turns out everything showed as normal, apart from very high levels of probiotics. They had at that point given me heavy sedatives and I woke the next morning being asked if I drank "any of those yakult drinks". I felt terrible- I'd thought it was serious due to the pain and felt like I'd wasted their time. They weren't annoyed at me though and said it wasn't abnormal to have that sort of reaction, others infact had been in with very similar experiences and that it was an irritant to them that people were not prewarned as they were back then very fashionable and quite new so it wasn't unique to take too many types in one day.

It also turned out further that I cannot tolerate dairy very well. Tiny amounts are OK but basicly dairy doesn't do nice things to me. I stopped both the drinks and dairy and many issues went away. (Phelgmy chest, groggy feeling, blurry eyes, constantly runny nose and appearing to look as if I was 6-7 months pregnant even when tiny enough to be considered malnourished).

I never had the sore throat issues though.

Fire_Fox

wantsajob wrote: »

Not aware of Candidiasis. A few years ago I had Gall Stones and an operation to remove the Gall Bladder. I had Jaundice at that time caused by the Gall Stones. No known issues since though.

Erm have to admit general diet not great. Suspect I eat too much calories for my physical activity levels, closer to 2/3 a day than 5 fruit and veg. I used to religiously drink diet drinks, but since moving in with my partner 2 years ago have been moving towards the sugar filled variety. Recently did 5 weeks work experience and during this time drank significantly more caffeinated drinks (I wanted to feel more alert, awake, and able to do the work). I'm aware there are withdrawal symptoms associated stopping intake of caffeine. Nothing else comes to mind at present.

If you don't have a candida infection why did you think you were experiencing die off?

IMO sort the diet out instead of wasting money on probiotic drinks, your diet sounds potentially pro-inflammatory and will be feeding the bad bacteria in your gut. Sugar and caffeine in drinks will peak and trough your blood sugar and energy levels, plus encourages weight gain. Diet drinks are not great for digestive health either, most sweeteners are laxative.

Five a day is your minimum, the research actually supports nine portions of fruit and veg a day! :eek: If you work towards this the rest of the diet gets easier because that is relatively few calories but a large amount of food so you shouldn't feel so deprived. Are you hitting any of the other recommendations - oily fish, other healthy fats, wholegrains, dairy, wide variety of foods and so on? Getting the full complement of vitamins, minerals, protein and essential fats boosts and stabilises energy levels.

terra_ferma

totally agree with comments about wasting your money
even worse it gives people a false sense of wellbeing, feeling that they don't need to improve their diet after all, these drinks will take care of their health

'proper' plain yoghurt (not what is often sold as a healthy yoghurt but full of sugar, and all sort of added stuff) has friendly bacteria too, and it's much much cheaper (and you can make it yourself cheaply).