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Probiotics can support the effect of antidepressants

unibas.ch

31–40 of 216 posts

Re: Probiotics can support the effect of antidepressants

#31

Sample size of 1 here, but just hear me out. Probiotics are a cheap and low-risk. If you have any general inflammation type issues that don't seem to have a cause, it might be worthwhile to just try probiotics. My Dr. told me to try them for a digestive issue - and they sort of helped that. But a handful of other things unexpectedly improved. Acid reflux went from really bad to barely noticeable, and my skin really c…

> Probiotics are a cheap and risk-free.

Not entirely risk-free, but the side effects of a negative reaction don’t last too long at least.

I felt notably worse for about a week after trying one of the mainstream probiotic brands with strange brain fog I couldn’t shake. This effect was repeatable and I could start the malaise again by resuming the probiotic. The same effect didn’t happen with another antibiotic with different strains.

Probiotics could be worth trying, but you have to go in with the understanding that the possible outcomes are more than just “no effect” and “improved health”. Worsening is also a real possibility.

Re: Probiotics can support the effect of antidepressants

#32

Anyone have recommendations for which probiotics are the best ones to buy? I always get confused while looking at all the various options, and this seems like a good place to find someone who’s done a lot of research.

I've had bad gas most of my life. I just kind of assumed it was me and there was nothing I could do about it. I started on 10 Billion CFUs of Lactobacillus Acidophilus [0] a few weeks ago and my gas went away in literally one day. I take 10B CFUs every day or every other day now (every other is probably sufficient), and it's still gone. I'm literally amazed. I started taking it because I saw a video from Dr. Eric Berg [1] about how to deal with a potential candida overgrowth.

[0] https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-acidophilus/art...

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9wWC7M0QxI

Re: Probiotics can support the effect of antidepressants

#33

Sample size of 1 here, but just hear me out. Probiotics are a cheap and low-risk. If you have any general inflammation type issues that don't seem to have a cause, it might be worthwhile to just try probiotics. My Dr. told me to try them for a digestive issue - and they sort of helped that. But a handful of other things unexpectedly improved. Acid reflux went from really bad to barely noticeable, and my skin really c…

Was that OTC probiotics? Most of them seem to need refrigeration, and I'm surprised they are not sold as such (just placed on non-refrigerated shelves in stores or sent by mail in a normal box without cooling).

Re: Probiotics can support the effect of antidepressants

#34
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does this serotonin make its way to the brain?

Seratonin is produced in multiple places in the body (not just the brain, and apparently, most of the seratonin in your body is not produced in the brain), but doesn't appear to cross the blood-brain barrier. I'm not a doctor but I think what that means is "seratonin in your gut probably doesn't make it's way to the brain; but, the rest of the body is already awash in seratonin, so additional production in the gut ca…

How does serotonin in a pill reach the brain then? :)

Is there some special delivery mechanism behind it?

Re: Probiotics can support the effect of antidepressants

#35

When I think of probiotics I think of this song https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnJM_jC7j_4 because probiotics are the "ones that mother gives you [that] don't do anything at all" (Right up there with Vitamin D supplements. Everything good, like low blood pressure and your team winning the Superbowl seems to be associated with high vitamin D in the population and everything bad is associated with low vitamin D... But…

You're commenting on a post about an RCT that does show probiotics having an effect...? And AIUI, there's plenty of other evidence of a) their efficacy for changing the gut biome and b) the gut biome's causal effect on a variety of health issues.

An rct with n=40 is better than the junk non-controlled studies that inexplicably get funded and accepted by journals but probably meaningless for something involving something as subjective as mental health.

Re: Probiotics can support the effect of antidepressants

#37

Sample size of 1 here, but just hear me out. Probiotics are a cheap and low-risk. If you have any general inflammation type issues that don't seem to have a cause, it might be worthwhile to just try probiotics. My Dr. told me to try them for a digestive issue - and they sort of helped that. But a handful of other things unexpectedly improved. Acid reflux went from really bad to barely noticeable, and my skin really c…

> Probiotics are a cheap and risk-free. Not entirely risk-free, but the side effects of a negative reaction don’t last too long at least. I felt notably worse for about a week after trying one of the mainstream probiotic brands with strange brain fog I couldn’t shake. This effect was repeatable and I could start the malaise again by resuming the probiotic. The same effect didn’t happen with another antibiotic with di…

The brain fog could have been a consequence of the ensuing biological war you started by introducing a new strain of bacteria to your digestion for which your metabolism had yet to adapt to.

Re: Probiotics can support the effect of antidepressants

#38

Sample size of 1 here, but just hear me out. Probiotics are a cheap and low-risk. If you have any general inflammation type issues that don't seem to have a cause, it might be worthwhile to just try probiotics. My Dr. told me to try them for a digestive issue - and they sort of helped that. But a handful of other things unexpectedly improved. Acid reflux went from really bad to barely noticeable, and my skin really c…

> But a handful of other things unexpectedly improved. Acid reflux went from really bad to barely noticeable What are you even buying if you don't mind me asking? I don't get acid reflux often, but I definitely want to prevent it happening so often, because it continues for days when I do get it. There's all sorts of things that say they have / are probiotics, including a few different sodas out there.

Culturelle. Just their basic "Digestive Daily Probiotic". It's a single strain Lactobacillus rhamnosus. My Dr. suggested either that or Align.

The first thing I tried worked so I haven't tried anything else. A friend of mine had the same problem and he buys generic bulk acidophilus from amazon and he says it works for him.

I didn't expect it to work, but I didn't want to wonder if it failed because I cheaped out, so I went for the expensive stuff.

Re: Probiotics can support the effect of antidepressants

#39
post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seratonin is produced in multiple places in the body (not just the brain, and apparently, most of the seratonin in your body is not produced in the brain), but doesn't appear to cross the blood-brain barrier. I'm not a doctor but I think what that means is "seratonin in your gut probably doesn't make it's way to the brain; but, the rest of the body is already awash in seratonin, so additional production in the gut ca…

How does serotonin in a pill reach the brain then? :) Is there some special delivery mechanism behind it?

There is no serotonin in pills. SSRI stands for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. It is a chemical that modifies how certain cells reabsorb serotonin.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selective_serotonin_reuptake_i...

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