# HUGE improvement with a specific strain of probiotic: "Lactobacillus plantarum 299v"



## Kehndy12

*Edit: After taking this probiotic for several more days, I'm sad to say this probiotic is currently not working for me. I now realize my improvement was probably from my change in diet--I was eating less food and not eating late at night. This probiotic may give minimal improvement OR it could help in the long-term, but I'm not sure. I apologize to anybody I've put on the wrong path. (End Edit)*

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*Lactobacillus plantarum 299v:*

Different types of microorganisms in our gut perform different functions. (This is why if one probiotic [microorganism] doesn't work for you, you should NOT dismiss all strains of probiotics.) If we add a probiotic to our gut that actually reduces gas, we should have fewer LG problems. Because the probiotic strain "lactobacillus plantarum 299v" has been purported to reduce gas, I wanted to try it out as a possible cure for LG.

So, I began taking 40-60 billion CFUs (colony forming units, which is just an amount) daily of this probiotic in the form of Goodbelly drinks. By the fifth day, people quit constantly sniffing around me! (People sniffing around me is how I would know I smelled like poop. It used to happen constantly.) I've still had one bad day recently when I ate a lot of food (the more food I eat, the worse I smell), but I've had a dramatic improvement in my LG.

WARNING ABOUT CRAMPS (Cramps are good!): If you quickly introduce a large number of probiotics to your gut, you may get cramps, diarrhea, and gas. If you do, this is a good sign! It means these good probiotics are winning a war against the bad microorganisms in your gut. So, be careful about introducing a large amount of any probiotic to your gut. (Early in my experiment I took 60 billion CFUs in one day [a fairly large amount to begin with], and I got really bad cramps and gas. My body had to adjust.)

I'm hopeful that as I continue to get more of this probiotic in my gut, my LG problems fade away completely.

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*Buying lactobacillus plantarum 299v on Amazon:*

Probiotics can get expensive, and I want to stop people from spending more than they have to. I searched Amazon for products that ONLY contain this strain, and I made a list of them sorted from least to most expensive (as determined by the cost per one billion CFUs). In other words, this list is sorted by what gives you the most to least bang for your buck. The Price is a link to Amazon, and the brand name is a link to the product's website.

If you want the technical info, here's the math:
[Product cost on Amazon] / [(number of capsules) x (number of billion CFUs in each capsule)] = Cost per billion CFUs


$30.24 = $0.02016 per billion CFUs for Probiata: Critical Care (50 billion CFUs/30 capsules)
$24.45 = $0.02445 per billion CFUs for Probiata: Critical Care (50 billion CFUs/20 capsules)
$24.74 = $0.04123 per billion CFUs for Probiata: Digestion Support (15 billion CFUs/40 capsules)
$26.37 = $0.04395 per billion CFUs for Source Naturals: Intesti-Comfort Bowel Relief (10 billion CFUs/60 capsules)
$13.25 = $0.04417 per billion CFUs for Probiata: Digestion Support (15 billion CFUs/20 capsules)
$13.49 = $0.04497 per billion CFUs for Source Naturals: Intesti-Comfort Bowel Relief (10 billion CFUs/30 capsules)
$15.85 = $0.05283 per billion CFUs for Jarrow Formulas: Ideal Bowel Support 299v (10 billion CFUs/30 capsules)
$16.49 = $0.05497 per billion CFUs for Nature Made: Digestive Health Probiotic (10 billion CFUs/30 capsules)
$40.46 = $0.06743 per billion CFUs for Metagenics: UltraFlora Intensive Care (10 billion CFUs/60 capsules)
$37.99 = $0.12663 per billion CFUs for TuZen (10 billion CFUs/30 capsules)
$74.97 = $0.24990 per billion CFUs for Dr. Sinatra: Probiotic Solutions (10 billion CFUs/30 capsules)

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*Goodbelly products:*

And here's some info about the Goodbelly products I've had success with. These require refrigeration so I doubt you can buy them online. I found these at Whole Foods and local co-op grocery stores.


Goodbelly: Beverages (20 billion CFUs per serving)
Goodbelly: PlusShot (20 billion CFUs per serving)
Goodbelly: StraightShot (20 billion CFUs per serving)
Goodbelly: SuperShot (50 billion CFUs per serving)


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## westr

first post and giving so much detail about commercial products reeks of salesman. can you tell us a bit about yourself and your condition to alleviate my suspicion? what other probiotics have you tried? what is your diet like?


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## Kehndy12

@westr:

If I were a salesman, I'd be pretty dumb to advertise competitors' products. Notice that I linked to eight different brands in my post. But I do admit I understand your skepticism and I was afraid of coming off too strongly. I was just excited that I found something that's finally working for me after suffering for eight years. My improvement is what inspired me to finally join this forum and I want to help others so they don't have to feel as miserable as I have.

Since you asked for some info about myself, here it goes:

I'm a 28-year-old man. My LG problems began at 20 years old when I also had digestive problems. I could hardly eat food without quickly feeling full and bloated, I was losing a lot of weight although I was trying to gain weight, and I was constipated. My worst symptom, at least socially, was getting a wet anus at times (this symptom has been discussed by others on this forum). I began seeing a gastrointerologist and had a colonoscopy done. It found "chronic inflammation" that is "clinically insignificant." Since nothing physical was found to explain my problems, the explanation was anxiety and depression. With the help of a psychologist and an antidepressant (Zoloft), my appetite and constipation improved, but not my LG or wet anus.

Here's what I've tried:


Beano
CharcoCaps
Chlorofresh (both softgels and liquid)
Gas-X
Inulin (a prebiotic--I'm still trying this one)
Miralax (for constipation)
Zoloft (for anxiety and depression)

And so many probiotics. These days I use the more potent ones. Here are the ones I can recall:


Culturelle
Digestive Advantage: Daily Probiotic
Jarrow Formulas: Ultra Jarro-Dophilus
MegaFood: MegaFlora
Phillips: Colon Health
TruNature: Digestive Probiotic
Ultimate Flora: Critical Care

I've spent so much money on all this stuff it's ridiculous. I still have numerous containers of the anti-gas stuff in my dresser and numerous probiotics in my fridge. However, I still am a believer in probiotics. I think my gut currently has the wrong combination of microorganisms that cause my gas, and probiotics are the long-term solution that can fix it. I just have to find the right strains by the right brands that package them properly.

As for my diet, I'm allergic to milk and eggs. I mostly eat rice, tomato-based sauces, a few specific vegetables, a few specific fruits, walnuts, and sweet drinks (they're my weakness).

If you have any other questions, feel free to ask.


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## Kehndy12

After taking this probiotic for several more days, I'm sad to say *this probiotic is currently not working for me*. I now realize my improvement was probably from my change in diet--I was eating less food and not eating late at night. This probiotic may give minimal improvement OR it could help in the long-term, but I'm not sure. Since I ordered more of this probiotic, I'm going to continue taking it anyway. I apologize to anybody I've put on the wrong path.

I added the above paragraph in bold to the top of my post so people read it right away.

For me, there's definitely a correlation between the amount of food I eat and the worse my LG gets. I'm not sure if only certain foods trigger my LG, but I'm thinking my less-than-usual consumption of rice had something to do with my improvement. For this reason, I think user tummyrumbles is onto something with his/her low-carb diet theory.


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