Blastocystis vs. Probiotics?

Hi there,
What are your thoughts on blastocystis' relationship to probiotics?

I hear everywhere and from everybody that probiotics are the holy grail of gut problems. But when suffering from blastocystis they did NOTHING for me, regardless of the brand, type of cultures, or very high dosage.

I hear on the other hand that blastocystis eats bacteria for lunch (presumably both so-called "good" and "bad" bacteria). So, if true, taking probiotics would only feed the blastocystis and make it stronger.

And yet still, the internet is littered with people taking probiotics to try to get rid of a bug (blastocystis or otherwise). Is this just misinformation that we need to correct at least for blastocystis carriers?

PART 2 of my question is on taking probiotics AFTER anti-protozoal Antibiotics . I figured (at the time) that if the blastocystis is presumably dead that taking probiotics (or yogurt or kefir etc.) would be fine. Now I think that was big mistake.

I felt great and completely recovered and back to my former self after taking the Australia combo. That lasted for 3 months. Then, immediately after taking probiotics and kefir, all the symptoms came back in full force and knocked me flat again. I'm theorizing that there were a few weak cysts left and that feeding them made them rear up again. Next time I try a combo of meds I'm planning to forgo all the "rebuilding the gut flora" stuff and avoid all cultured foods/supplements indefinitely.

In other words, I'm thinking that probiotics are a bad idea for blastocystis suffers both during and after, despite conventional wisdom.

Thoughts?





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