ICA had contacted me recently because in their CAM survey they conducted last year, there was a lot of positive commentary from my patients regarding alternative medicine and the use of probiotics was mentioned a lot. She had asked me to clarify my thought on probiotics and was going to use what I wrote in a piece she was doing, but, she just told me that information will not be used. So, I thought I would post it here in case it is of any interest to anyone: 

Basically to answer your first question-probiotics are fundamental in treating IC and many other chronic disorders as the microbiological balance in the gastrointestinal system is the basis for good health in that it effects 70% of our immune system. This is why so many chronic diseases are outed in the gut. There are trillions of microorganisms in the intestines and researchers are only beginning to understand some of them. Increasing attention is being paid to this dynamic and it certainly is a very big part of my treatment of  IC. There is enormous detail on this subject in my Ph.D. dissertation in how it effects health, IC, and so many other chronic illnesses.

In using probiotics, one must understand them and how they work. A common mistake that may be made in administering them in someone having IC, is using them without other supplements. In most cases, somewhere in the neighborhood of 98%, uncomfortable reactions occur when probiotics are used alone in chronic illness. When used in concert with other supplements, those unwanted effects are reduced or eliminated completely so the patient can feel more comfortable as the probiotics are able to recolonize the gastrointestinal tract.

The choice of which probiotic to use at what point in treatment is often complicated and depends on numerous factors. Each strain will have a differing effect and when combined with other strains those same effects will be influenced by the newly introduced strain. Also how the probiotic is processed and combined will alter the result of its effect on the body. Sometimes the strain could be correct, but the process of the strain could be incorrect confusing the practitioner and the patient. It is very important to isolate these variables including the way in which a probiotic (as with all supplements) is encapsulated.

I highly recommend not taking probiotics or other supplements without the supervision of an experienced healthcare practitioner, particularly one who is experienced with IC due to the extraordinarily sensitive nature of these person's physical and emotional states. It is not that these effects are dangerous, but they are uncomfortable and may cause confusion. Often new patients will tell me they have tried probiotics and they do not work for them. So, they come feeling unwilling to put them back into their protocol when in reality, they very much need them. It takes longer to work with these patients to allow them time to regain the confidence to try probiotics once more.

When a good probiotic protocol is put together with the appropriate supplement protocol and it is monitored and adjusted as changes occur in the body in response to them, it is my opinion that systemic inflammation slowly reduces and the health of the patient improves thereby positively effecting the imbalance underlying the IC.

I hope this gives your readers an overall picture of the need for probiotics. For more reading, I highly recommend my dissertation, which, may be purchased on line or through my office.

Matia Brizman, Ph.D., L.Ac.