Got IBS D? This Probiotic Yeast Could Be Your NBF.

In 2014 my doctor at the time ordered tests in an attempt to find the cause of my longtime gut problems (discussed in Trouble Down Below). The tests came back negative except for the observation that a few Blastocystis hominis (BH) organisms were seen. At some point later on, I mentioned this to a GI specialist and he said, “Oh, that’s nothing!”

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!