vitamin d/ibuprofen treatment

[elliejay]

Hi bj
I make my own yoghurt from a starter containing l.bulgaricus, s.thermophilus, lacidophilus, bifidobacteria and l.casei.
Occasionally I take a week's course of VSL sachets which contain the following:

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Can you have too much in the way of probiotics and how do you know if you are getting any benefit ?

Ellie 

[bjm]

hi ellie...you certainly seem to have them covered...how long do you let the yogurt "cook" for.'.from the literature i see its suggested 24 hours to use up all the lactose...

i have read in the literature that too many varieties can be counter productive as they compete for lactose etc...but i don't know how accurate that observation is..

as far as results...for me its a subtle reduction in skin inflammation, after a week or more, i can eat gluten without a reaction, i can eat a tomato rich meal without a hint of a flair..peanuts etc...now for me this also coincides with summer sun, so as i say the real test will be winter

now for some...i think like Anita, their diet is so good, that they have a good healthy bunch of microbes, and the GI tract is probably not a source of inflammation..but me,,,today a hot dog .. a liver wurst sandwich, and ten cups of coffee....two cups of homemade yogurt....
 ..no flairs...!!..i know i should eat better and usually do, but i  have been busy...

so if the yogurt is tried in adequate amounts and type, and still no improvement, then i would look for another source of inflammation...that is if the hypothesis of inflammation exacerbating p is correct,,,which i think it is..

bj   20 message limit   

[elliejay]

Many thanks for your message bj
I think it is going to be too difficult for me to know if my probiotics are helping on a day-to-day basis.
I don't have any P so I can't get an immediate response.
I have PA but it doesn't correspond to diet as far as I can tell.
I have consistently raised plasma viscosity (around 2) which does not seem to change whatever I do.
My CRP is normally low but can go to about 50 when I have a flare-up of PA.
I have stopped MTX (which does nothing to help and lots of things to make me feel worse) and am concentrating on trying to reduce any possible gut inflammation as I do believe that is where the problems start. Just frustrating that I don't have anything with which I can judge results.
I will stay with what I'm taking at the moment and see how it goes.
Ellie 

[AnitaG]

I've been on the reduced dose for 7 weeks now (1000iu Vit D + 200mg Ibu) and its coming back.. my legs, arms and torso are getting more guttate spots every day, today I feel like its doubled since yesterday and i've got 2 bits coming either side of my nose and redness on my forehead.. 

I'm seriously tempted to go back to the 2000iu Vit D + 400mg Ibu but my doc was pretty concerned about the ibuprofen  so not sure what to do.. any suggestions?

[elliejay]

Hi Anita
Sorry to hear skin is flaring up again 
Why is your doctor concerned about 400mg ibuprofen a day ?
Lots of people with arthritis take up to 1600mg a day all the time.
Do you have any specific problems which mean you shouldn't take NSAIDs ?
Ellie 

[AnitaG]

Hi Ellie.. He said it was because I'd been taking it daily for 3 years and realistically would be taking it for the rest of my life and he felt that 400mg was pushing it but if i could get it down to 200mg it would be safer.. for short term use you can take quite high doses but with long term use apparantly it can lead to other problems.. So I dunno 

I have no problems with taking NSAIDS as far as I know

[Chappers_27]

Anita

Why dont you go for the middle ground of 2,000IU daily and 200mg ibuprofen one day and 400mg the next day and alternate.

I currently take 5,000IU vit d every other day, along with high strength fish oils. Might start with one 200mg ibuprofen tablet each day now...

[coggers]

H all

Bit of regression over the last month or so principally due to stress and relatively poor diet all down to work reaching a crescendo on a very large project and too much transatlantic travel.  However, its no way near as bad as my snaps showed when I started this.  Got a few patches in all the main areas but interesingly the rest of the cleared area has stayed clear.  However, things are stabilising a bit and Im sure getting a bit better with better diet and more peaceful life.  Im also being much more disciplined about the Ibu, along with 2000IU of Vit D, havent had much UV over the last few weeks due to the weather here unlike what we had earlier this summer - great tan by the way :-)

Ill add snaps if I get the time.

Must say BJ been reading the stuff about the gut flora, and im inclined to to give the yoghurt a go, any recommendations on what make to try and how much to consume a day.

Cheers Coggers

[AnitaG]

Anita

Why dont you go for the middle ground of 2,000IU daily and 200mg ibuprofen one day and 400mg the next day and alternate.

I currently take 5,000IU vit d every other day, along with high strength fish oils. Might start with one 200mg ibuprofen tablet each day now...

Thats a brilliant idea.. why didnt i think of that?  I'll take another 200mg today and then only take one tomorrow and see how it goes!

Are you not already taking ibu? I find its essential.. neither one on its own does anything but the combo is really effective!

[Eveloftus]

Anita, sorry the P is getting a bit worse, myself i wouldn't worry about taking 400mg ibu daily, as Ellie J says, some people take much higher doses daily. You could take it after a meal to go easy on the stomach.

When I first started bj's formula i took only 200mg daily, and i improved but not enough hence the nbuvb. Maybe if i had taken the 400 i would have had a better response.

Ellie J I do find my PA responds to diet, I used to get daily aches in my foot and wrists but now after the yoghurt which I started more than a month ago, there is never any pain. Before my yoghurt phase though, I also responded well to not eating cereals and pulses, and also to the peppermint. While on that diet and the peppermint, no aches at all. Then i stopped the diet when I went on vacation in April for a month. I got PA aches again, but since adding the yoghurt on my return, after 2 weeks the aches were gone for good.