I want to let you know my experience with probiotics.

I went through the worse 6 months of my life not realising probiotics was the main issue.

Basically went to gastroenterologist due to always having IBS related symptoms with certain food, gas, bloating, occasional nausea, it was annoying but manageable.

Go to gastro, she tells me to take probiotics and see dietician. So started a FODMAP diet, initially started to feel good, but then noticed I progressively got went downhill, foods that were not an issue in the past started making me very ill. I started getting nauseous every day, occasional vomiting, my bones began to hurt all over my body, just above my ribs I felt like there was knife pushing into me, I got flu like symptoms every second day, phlegm build-up every morning in my throat, losing hair, I put on weight even though I was hardly eating, my face puffed up like a big beetroot, terrible brain-fog, lethargic to the point where I was having chronic fatigue symptoms and would need to sleep every few hours. So they start putting me on a stricter chemical sensitive diet, but I got worse and worse, till I was barely eating anything. It didn’t make sense to me that before I saw specialist I was okay-ish (not great but I could function) and only after visiting gastro and dietician I was getting worse. I knew it had to be something not food related, and then I clicked it was the probiotics, because I had an issue with the same probiotics the year before…but was much milder reaction, just pains in stomach and diarrhoea. 2 weeks later after going off the probiotics my symptoms lifted and I was like in heaven I can tell you! Just in time to enjoy my overseas European adventure.

I told my gastroenterologist and dietician at the very beginning that I had issues with probiotics in the past, and they didn't believe me. When I ran into the office to tell them, that I was pretty sure I knew the culprit, they looked at me like I was crazy! So the lesson is, don't trust anyone but yourself!

I don’t care what people say about die-off, I think it’s a bunch of baloney. Nothing ingested into you should do something like that, period. I wish people that don’t know the real Science behind these products, would stop educating people on best to introduce probiotics if not tolerated initially.

Probiotics basically stuffed my immune system up more than ever, and although I am so, so much better, I now have to deal with heavily controlled chemical free diet now, and I suspect I will never be able to eat anything the way I used to. At least, I can enjoy life now, but nowhere in Australia do the mention on the labels that any issue can arise. If they had, I would of payed more attention and connected the dots sooner. Don’t believe everything you read about probiotics, I think there really needs to be more research, I am suspicious of the long term benefits to be honest. I would be interested to see what happens in 20 years’ time, with people taking these probiotics.

So yeah, just be careful. I am thankful now that I can function pretty well, and most of my symptoms have dissipated apart from when I eat the wrong foods.