With LuLu on a megadose of antibiotics (two antibiotics for 14 days), I need to point out to those of you who haven’t experienced this yet…antibiotics are not particular about which bacteria they kill. While you definitely need antibiotics to rid your body of such nasty bugs as Strep or h pylori, antibiotics also wipe out the “good” flora of your intestinal tract, giving yeast a chance to take control.

I first discovered this as a new mother 16 years ago, when my baby began to get ear infections and be prescribed many rounds of antibiotics. She then developed the most gruesome diaper rash, that I quickly learned was a yeast infection.

So, anytime that one of us is on antibiotics, we supplement with probiotics to replenish the good flora. Probiotics should be given “opposite” of the antibiotics…at least 2 hours a part, so the antibiotics will not wipe them out as well.

Probiotics have been shown to help strengthen your immune system, aid in digestion, reduce diarrhea, help with irritable bowel syndrome and chronic colds, as well as lactose intolerance and eczema.

Families pursuing biomedical interventions for their children on the autism spectrum very often use probiotics to help balance out the gut flora that becomes so dysfunctional, resulting in “leaky gut”.

In LuLu’s case, the h pylori, while a problem that needs to solved in it’s own right, is likely an indicator that her immune system isn’t as strong as it needs to be to keep bacteria from invading her intestinal system and contribute to the leaky gut. The name of the game is to use whatever means you have to lower the inflammation caused with the body has an allergic reaction…and that’s what leaky gut is all about. The intestinal tract allows too many food particles to slip into the bloodstream (i.e. leaky), and the immune system (white blood cells) see these particles as something to be attacked. The immune response causes inflammation, and can manifest itself as several different symptoms.

For people with relatively healthy immune systems, using yogurt of any other foods that contain probiotic cultures is often enough to but their system back in balance. But other children need strong probiotics, like the kinds that can be purchased through Kirkmans’ Laboratory or Houston Nutraceuticals. Both of these sites carry highly potent probiotics that are casein and gluten-free.