In general, this seems to be true. In 2000, approximately
23% of the US population was infected with this protozoan, most with no
symptoms at all. (In less developed countries, the percentage is much higher.)
BH tends to run with IBS and with colorectal cancer but the relationship is not
clear. For a few unlucky people, it can cause major digestive upsets lasting
weeks or months.
During a trip last month I started to have diarrhea, acid
reflux, and intermittent queasiness. Since I do sometimes have digestive upsets
when I travel, I didn’t think much about it. When I got home, the other
symptoms went away; the diarrhea got worse—many, many trips to the bathroom,
often in the middle of the night. Before calling my nurse practitioner to see
about ordering tests, I did some online research to see what treatments were
likely to be. One word: antibiotics.
I’m not totally against these medications; if I have a
life-threatening bacterial infection, an antibiotic is certainly what I want to
be taking. In my present situation, though, I had reservations. Antibiotics
don’t always work for bowel problems. They can also do long-term damage to the
immune system by killing off good bacteria in the gut and they
may have unpleasant side effects, like diarrhea and yeast infections.
I started looking around for other options and came upon a
yeast called Saccharomyces boulardii (SB). This probiotic is a veritable Swiss
Army knife of beneficial functions and has been studied for decades. It has
repeatedly been shown to work well against diarrhea, sometimes as well as or
better than antibiotics. SB is believed to be a strain of baker’s yeast (S.
cerevisiae) and is completely safe and without side effects, except for people
who are allergic to yeasts. SB can be combined with antibiotic treatment to
help support bowel function; since it’s not a bacterium, antibiotics won’t kill
it. SB has been shown in some studies to be effective against Candida albicans,
ironic because they are both yeasts. There are also researchers who are looking
at various uses of SB for cancer patients.
I started taking SB 250 mg. three times a day. The tests
came back showing—you guessed it—Blatocysitis hominis! After a few days with
not much change, I went online again and discovered a French study from 1996
about diarrhea in 30 people with AIDS
(under Clinical Studies in PWAs). The subjects took 3000 mg of SB per day, six
times the normal daily dose. After two days, they saw significant improvement,
at eight days their bowel function was normal.
I started taking 3000 mg per day of SB and also saw
significant improvement after two days. For me, it took about three weeks to get
back to normal. I plan to continue at the same dose for another couple of
weeks, then gradually reduce it. Given the possibility of an allergic reaction,
I think it was just as well that I tried the lower dose first.
SB is sold under the brand name Florastor, $20 for 20 250 mg
capsules, cheaper on Amazon and Ebay. CVS has a generic version that is
sometimes on sale. Swanson, the online supplement store, sells its own version,
$5.99 for a bottle of 30. Are they as good as the brand name, or better? I
don’t know but I plan to experiment later on. Given my gut situation, I expect
to be taking SB indefinitely, and happily too!
