18 replies to this topic

[alexisc]

Hello Everyone! I have a question that I am trying to figure out and want to know if anyone has had a similar experience.

I recently upgraded my probiotic to one that is 2 billion with 5 strains, has to be refrigerated and is from a health food store. Almost overnight I woke up with TONS of tiny pimples. 3 days on the probiotic and they are covering what was my clear face. I have stopped taking the probiotics now.

Has anyone else ever broken out from probiotics?

I have three semi-educated theories on why this could have happened, but if you have any additional thoughts please share!

1. The probiotic brand I bought has said it "could have come into contact with dairy products" so it is possible that I am reacting to the dairy in the probiotic. I can't drink milk but I can eat a lot of cheese without any problems so this seems like a strange reaction.

2. I know I have candida and definitely have a gut flora imbalance. Could taking a probiotic for the first time that actually works (My last one was not effective at all and just acidophillus, not refrigerated) have caused a large die off reaction? I know when candida dies it releases endotoxins which would create a large immune response and over-work my whole system. I did feel like CRAP while taking these and attributed it to a die off. How long does a die off usually last? I stopped the probiotic 2 days ago and I'm still breaking out in small spots.

3. I have read that if you have leaky gut and it is not healed that taking probiotics is a bad idea. What happens in theory is that the good bacteria penetrates the intestinal lining and goes into the blood, which would also create a large immune response. Is this true?

I am going to wait until my skin is clear once again (hopefully it will eventually clear!) and then try taking a different brand that has no dairy in it. I'm also going to up my L-Glutamine so that I am properly healing my gut. I'm also going to start off way slower and only take a bit of the probiotic capsule a day and see what happens. Any thoughts, ideas, opinions or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.

It really sucks to go from having clear skin all on your own back down to crappy looking skin all in a matter of a week.

-Alexis

[microbiek]

Hmmm..Thats strange as people here drink milk kefir which has 11 strains and bacteria levels in the trillions! So its not the potency. I'd vote theory 1! where was the bacteria derived from?

[alexisc]

Milk kefir is made from dairy too though, correct? It doesn't say where it was derived, but this is the information from their site:

FloraSMART contains no wheat, gluten, soy, corn, yeast, animal products, additives, or preservatives.
This product has come into contact with milk from fermentation ingredients. Do not use this product if you have a milk allergy. Renew Life does not use genetically modified ingredients. All ingredients are NON-GMO.

• Each capsule contains a Proprietary Blend2 billion CFU
• Lactobacillus acidophilus900 million
• Bifidobacterium bifidum700 million
• Lactobacillus rhamnosus100 million
• Lactobacillus salivarius100 million
• Bifidobacterium longum100 million
• Lactobacillus casei100 million

Other Ingredients: cellulose, hypromellose, pectin, sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, silicon dioxide (mineral source), stearic acid, turmeric
Excipients: None

[Ukulala]

So my somewhat educated guess is your second hypothesis. When I began taking probiotics this past month after not taking them for quite some time, I had some candida issues for a minute -- and I remembered a friend telling me that was normal, as, yes, things are dying off. But about ... hm. A week or two? Into taking them, my candida had leveled off, and everything was back to normal.

My instinct is to say, "keep taking it! persist!" -- but that can be hard to do when a product is causing such a reaction. >.<
I doubt it's the dairy; if you had such a strong reaction to dairy, you'd notice it, even in cheese!

Of course, it's possible you're allergic to something else in there, but -- yes, I'm really thinking it was a die off. If you felt awful too -- it only makes sense.
Why did you decide to start taking a stronger probiotic? Just for general health? (I'm curious, since you said your skin was clear)
Don't worry -- it'll clear up and pass. I know I know I know how scary and unpleasant it is to go from clear to SPOTTTYYY in a such a short time frame (it's pretty much why I'm ... on this site) -- but it'll clear and you'll figure it out! Keep on truckin'!

[alexisc]

Thank you for the reply. I'm having a bad skin day and reading your post made me feel a bit better. Sorry to hear that you are in the same boat in going from clear to breaking out in no time. It's not good for the face or mind.

I think option 2 is the most likely. Especially because I continued to break out for a few days after stopping the probiotic. There must have still been bacteria dying. I am going to try again but I'll take it much slower so I can handle and control the die off. My bacterial balance must be messed! I have known that for a while though.

Oh! And I started taking it to improve my health. The diet that has got me clear is basically an anti candidia diet so I thought if I could fix my stomach then my skin wouldn't be so sensitive to the diet. I also get severe weekly migraines and I think they are related to my bad digestion and stomach issues. Just when you think you have it all figured out you realize you don't.

[harleyquinn1801]

Ahhh I was just about to post a topic like this.

I started to take probiotics for the first time which is Kyolic KyoDopholis http://www.vitacost....th-180-Capsules and has only 1.5 billion cells and I've noticed a huge increase in whiteheads and little papules/pustules all over my cheeks and forehead and temples. I'm pretty sure it's the probiotics that caused the breakouts cuz before that I had NO spots like the spots I have now.

I'm going to stick it out for a few more weeks. I don't think the probiotics I'm taking is strong enough to create a "die off" effect but I actually have been feeling more crappy and lethargic lately since taking it and its only been 2 days. Keep us updated on your progress. I'll be sure to check in the new few days/weeks.

[dejaclairevoyant]

I'm the same way, I can't take any sort of probiotic supps due to my leaky gut.

[alexisc]

Daria - if you are feeling crappy and you are breaking out in little spots I would say you do have die off going on. That's exactly what happened to me. Even at 1.5 billion maybe you had quite a lot of the bad bacteria to begin with?

Dejaclairevoyant - how are you trying to heal your leaky gut? L-glutamine? Any other supplements? I suspect I have this going on as well so I'm curious.

[limpbizkitfan]

All I know is that I bought probiotics from the store called 'lifeway kefir' and it ended up giving me tonnnns of new breakouts within days!! So I stopped drinking it. I think it's best to stick with fermented vegetables home made.

[alexisc]

Interesting.. sorry to hear it made you breakout. :[ I wonder if it was the dairy or probiotics? I've been wanting to try making fermented vegetables but I'm going to hold off for a bit until this probiotic breakout clears. I would like to start any new "experiments" on a clear skin basis so I know how what I'm doing is affecting me.

[k3tchup]

Hello Everyone! I have a question that I am trying to figure out and want to know if anyone has had a similar experience.

I recently upgraded my probiotic to one that is 2 billion with 5 strains, has to be refrigerated and is from a health food store. Almost overnight I woke up with TONS of tiny pimples. 3 days on the probiotic and they are covering what was my clear face. I have stopped taking the probiotics now.

Has anyone else ever broken out from probiotics?

I have three semi-educated theories on why this could have happened, but if you have any additional thoughts please share!

1. The probiotic brand I bought has said it "could have come into contact with dairy products" so it is possible that I am reacting to the dairy in the probiotic. I can't drink milk but I can eat a lot of cheese without any problems so this seems like a strange reaction.

2. I know I have candida and definitely have a gut flora imbalance. Could taking a probiotic for the first time that actually works (My last one was not effective at all and just acidophillus, not refrigerated) have caused a large die off reaction? I know when candida dies it releases endotoxins which would create a large immune response and over-work my whole system. I did feel like CRAP while taking these and attributed it to a die off. How long does a die off usually last? I stopped the probiotic 2 days ago and I'm still breaking out in small spots.

3. I have read that if you have leaky gut and it is not healed that taking probiotics is a bad idea. What happens in theory is that the good bacteria penetrates the intestinal lining and goes into the blood, which would also create a large immune response. Is this true?

I am going to wait until my skin is clear once again (hopefully it will eventually clear!) and then try taking a different brand that has no dairy in it. I'm also going to up my L-Glutamine so that I am properly healing my gut. I'm also going to start off way slower and only take a bit of the probiotic capsule a day and see what happens. Any thoughts, ideas, opinions or similar experiences would be greatly appreciated.

It really sucks to go from having clear skin all on your own back down to crappy looking skin all in a matter of a week.

-Alexis

some probiotics are made from dairy products and when manufactured still contain small amounts of them.I take the Pearls probiotic and it says small amount of milk maybe be present. of course its small but depends as some companies are different and people reaction as well.

might wana try a different probiotic. maybe something gentler?

[kaleidoscope]

Milk kefir is made from dairy too though, correct? It doesn't say where it was derived, but this is the information from their site:

FloraSMART contains no wheat, gluten, soy, corn, yeast, animal products, additives, or preservatives.
This product has come into contact with milk from fermentation ingredients. Do not use this product if you have a milk allergy. Renew Life does not use genetically modified ingredients. All ingredients are NON-GMO.

• Each capsule contains a Proprietary Blend2 billion CFU
• Lactobacillus acidophilus900 million
• Bifidobacterium bifidum700 million
• Lactobacillus rhamnosus100 million
• Lactobacillus salivarius100 million
• Bifidobacterium longum100 million
• Lactobacillus casei100 million

Other Ingredients: cellulose, hypromellose, pectin, sodium bicarbonate, sodium carbonate, silicon dioxide (mineral source), stearic acid, turmeric
Excipients: None

It might be the bifidobacteria that caused the breakout. I had a massive breakout once from a probiotic that contained bifidobacteria, but I've never had this problem with probiotics that only contain lactobacillus srains.

There is a diet called the Specific Carbohydrate Diet that is designed to balance/heal the gut (and has worked for a lot of people), and it forbids the use of probiotics with bifidobacteria... Apparently this bacteria can overgrow easily and cause problems...

[Riddled]

All sources of Probiotics break me out. Tends to be large red inflamed ones and usually on my cheeks where i don't normally get them.

The worst for me was home made sauerkraut, utterly brutalized me.

Yoghurt is pretty bad also, i tried persevering with it for a few weeks once and ate like 500mls a day but the breakouts never lessened so i just gave up.

Supplements weren't as bad as the food sources.


Seems to me that if probiotics break you out rather than help you, you probably have too much probiotics than too little. However that works.

[alexisc]

Sorry to hear this happened to others as well but good to know. I'm still trying to figure out why. My face is clearing up now thankfully. From three probiotic supplements I got around 50 little pimples!!! It was either a huge die off reaction, had something to do with leaky gut or a combination of those two. What I've decided to do now is some anti fungal treatments for candidia which is what I know I have going on, on top of leaky gut. I did a lot of research that said if you break out from probiotics you most likely have leaky gut. In order to deal with leaky gut you need to deal with candidia. So, the best plan for that is to stick to the anti candidia diet and rotate anti fungals every 4 days. Ive got coconut oil, oil of oregano, olive leaf extract and apple cider vinegar. I'll let everyone know how it goes.

Edited by alexisc, 06 February 2012 - 05:18 PM.

[FotoBug]

I recently got some water kefir grains from a friend and made some keifr water.  It's a great way to get your probiotics.  Greek yogurt has 2-5 different species while keifir has dozens and with a higher count as well.  I only started out with a couple ounces and I broke out.  I haven't had acne in years.  Since I was in the 6th grade I was on antibiotics for years, a couple of rounds of acutane and even tried blue laser light therapy.  I still broke out once a month with cyctic acne on my back or chin area once a month.  Then in my 30's I got pregnant and never had much acne again. I don't know if it was a hormone change or what but after drinking just a little bit of this probiotic water and getting 2 zits, I'm thinking I want to stay away from it.

 

I did read how someone started out with spoonfulls and worked their way up so I might consider trying that.  It is disheartening to hear the OP had such a bad experience with probiotics when so many natural health profesionals recommend them.

 

I also read with milk kefir that there is a high concentration of B12.  Those B12 shots give people awful acne so I wonder if water kefir has a high concentration of B12 also and maybe that is the corrilation too? 

 

Anyway, this was the ONLY change in my diet and I'm positive it was the probiotic kefir water making me break out.

[alexisc]

I've learned a lot since I posted this... if probiotics are breaking you out it is likely that you have small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.. adding to the overgrowth (even if it is good bacteria) exasperates the problem. I would try some natural antibiotics (clove oil, olive leaf, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil etc.) to get yourself in balance again. 

[remyhelps123]

Honestly I've been taking probiotics for a few months and I find them very useful in fighting off the damage I did to my body with antibiotics back in the day.. Haven't noticed any breakouts because of them because I refused to take the cheap probiotics my girlfriend said I should buy. Instead I purchase $40 probiotics that are for-sure Dairy-FREE as I have heard that this only aggravates the acne people have because it is dairy after all and dairy likes to make the skin explode (from what I've seen, heard, and witnessed on my own face). My suggestion would be to try a probiotic supplement that states that it is Dairy-Free and I'm pretty positive that you will notice a dramatic difference.

[WishClean]

I've learned a lot since I posted this... if probiotics are breaking you out it is likely that you have small intestinal bacterial overgrowth.. adding to the overgrowth (even if it is good bacteria) exasperates the problem. I would try some natural antibiotics (clove oil, olive leaf, apple cider vinegar, coconut oil etc.) to get yourself in balance again. 

I'm still breaking out although I added probiotics to my diet in January. I think the breakouts are the same, with or without the probiotics but I'm not sure. When I tried to stop the probiotics for a few days, I got horrible bloating and my stomach was upset. Now I'm back to taking probiotics (solgar - dairy, yeast & gluten-free) and my stomach aches are gone. Could I be breaking out from probiotics, yet getting some internal benefits from them as well??? I'm also taking other stuff for acne, but not sure at this point what is working, if anything.