What supplements help w/ stinky gas 'n poop?
Lori
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If you find anything that TRULY works, please let me know .. I think I've tried all of them (to paraphrase Johnny Cash) ...
I'm currently finishing up a whole bottle of Nullo, after finding out that one sugeon (Dr. Husted?) recommends it to his patients .. So far all it has done is turn my stools a funky shade of "grass green" .. I've tried Devrom many times (both the chewables and the capsules) and can't really tell much difference when used .. I also tried a big bottle of Primal Defense recently, and do not note a difference with that product (same for Culturelle). I think the problem is that none of those products are designed specifically for the needs of DSers, but people with relatively "normal" digestive systems that just have occasional or relatively mild odor "problems". We, by contrast, are a hard core case.
One thing that I now suspect is the primary cause of why our stools and gas can have such a horrible smell are the bile salts that we excrete in large amounts, esp. those of us that had our gallbladders removed. It's my understanding that, since the gallbladder is designed to store the bile produced by the liver until needed, when it is absent the unneeded bile is just dumped straight down our biliopancreatic limb and any that it is "unused" (i.e. is not used to help digest fats) goes right on out of us. Somehow this smell is further intensified by any carbohydrates that we have ingested, particularly simple sugars.
I think it would be interesting to see how post-ops with gallbladders compare in odor problems and/or control with those who do not have their gallbladders. If there is a notable difference, then maybe the wise choice is to keep the gallbladder after all, until and unless it does present stone problems.
The one thing that does seem to help when it gets real bad is a round of Flagyl/Fishzole, at least for me. Not sure how that can be the case, if in fact excess bile salts are the culprit, since the idea with anitbiotics like Flagyl is that they kill off the overgrowth of "bad" gut bacteria strains that would ordinarliy otherwise be kept in check by the "good" strains of gut bacertia, but which are out of balance in our DS systems.
Frank talk about the DS / "All I ever wanted to be was thin, like that Rolling Stones dude ... "
HW/461 LW/251 GW/189 CW/274 (yep, a DS semi-failure - it happens :-( )
on 2/14/10 8:59 pm
In the bathroom, I light a match when I first smell it and one before I leave. I also spray a little Neutra Air, and run for the hills.
I also did not like Nullo, it left a green taste in my mouth and didn't do much for me. If anyone wants to try it, send me your address, and I will send it to you, but read above about how it could interfere with vitamin absorbtion first. I had no idea.
Ann