I got a supplement for my dog with Bacillus Coagulans hoping it would help his skin problems, but it hasn't been a miracle cure. Nothing has.

Probiotics definitely cleared me right up....but they didn't contain Bacillus Coagulans.

May I ask, why would you use Bacillus Coagulans?

Is it not a spore-forming bacteria that's not found naturally in our large intestines??

Listener, what brand do you use?

Listener wrote:

May I ask, why would you use Bacillus Coagulans?

Is it not a spore-forming bacteria that's not found naturally in our large intestines??

If I recall correctly, I first learned of Bacillus Coagulans on this forum. Someone talked positively about it. Then I did some reading and found that people with IBS, or IBS-type symptoms, had success with it, too. Granted, that doesn't necessarily mean squat for me, as my gut seems resistant to probiotics, which I know that it needs--even if my skin remains unaffected by a more balanced gut flora.

Listener, what brand do you use?

It's called Elixa.

And bear in mind I have tried MANY before, with zilch success. I stopped testing probiotics once i was on like... my TENTH brand.

One brand did do something. But I later found out that was a fiber included in it. (the something that it did, was relating to bowel habits, not skin)

But when I read some good things about Elixa I googled about it and saw their whole style of taking the high dose over a short period of time, as opposed to one capsule forever, so I thought it was significantly different to give it a shot. Here's the url: www.elixa-probiotic.com

First thing it did was clear my seb derm. Infact i wasn't even aware that I had minor seborrhoeic dermatitis all over my body, until i started taking this and felt my whole skin (not just face and scalp) was smoother as a result. I kept taking it and next thing was zits went away. Hardest thing to budge was my SUPER DUPER oiliness. But after about ~4 courses my previously oily, greasy disgusting skin is now matte and to the point where after a whole day there is just a tiny invisible film on my face, which i feel rinse away with a couple splashes of warm water.

Compare this to what it was like before: visible droplets of oil accumulating on my nose pores after a couple of hours of washing my face.

So yeah, I'm extremely pleased that it budged that tough problem. Should have little obstacle getting rid of some zits, i reckon

Listener wrote:

May I ask, why would you use Bacillus Coagulans?

Is it not a spore-forming bacteria that's not found naturally in our large intestines??

If I recall correctly, I first learned of Bacillus Coagulans on this forum. Someone talked positively about it. Then I did some reading and found that people with IBS, or IBS-type symptoms, had success with it, too. Granted, that doesn't necessarily mean squat for me, as my gut seems resistant to probiotics, which I know that it needs--even if my skin remains unaffected by a more balanced gut flora.

Yep, it's interesting stuff.

I did a bit of reading about it a while ago and the only thing that put me off from testing it was the fact that Bacillus Coagulans did form spores. I saw this as a disadvantage because if I tested it out and nothing much happened BUT now there were these indestructible spores hibernating in my large intestine, then.... who knows...... Might have some long term (bad) effect...

I was playing it safe (for once)..It just didn't sound like a good idea to have these 'indestructible' spores of a bacteria that isn't supposed to be there...

I'm on my second 3-day course of Elixa, day 2, about two weeks after the first course, and I'm really disappointed. My skin is basically the same, but I'm having other symptoms that are worrying me. Feeling really exhausted and looking very depleted, with dark circles under my eyes - not something I usually experience. Also, my appetite has completely disappeared and I'm having GERD on a daily basis, which is something I've never really had before outside of unusually spicy meals. If anything, I'm feeling more constipated than usual too. I guess it could be a die-off reaction, but I've seen posts by people on IBS forums, where they seemed to be getting better right away with Elixa, so who knows. I'm wondering if Elixa, or probiotics in general, are just worsening a SIBO condition that I have, and the tremendous amounts of bacteria are giving me lactic acidosis, since I can't clear all of the D-lactate fast enough. Hmm. I wish I knew for sure. I have another 3-day pack, as I planned to make this course a 6-day one, but now I'm scared to use it, as I might be doing more harm than good.

This is frustrating. I wonder if there was a way to administer this in suppository or enema form, as to bypass the small intestine, if SIBO really is the issue here. I do know one thing for sure though: probiotics are not a one-size-fits-all sort of thing, and there is a complex relationship between each individual person and their personal microbiome. I strongly believe that acne can be resolved by healing the gut, but how one goes about that needs to be tailored to them. Not sure what step to take now, as I put a lot of faith in this working, with no results to show for it. Any advice, Listener(I can use it)?

I keep coming back to the fact that times where my acne cleared were almost always times when I had been really working on dealing with stress. I'm lead to believe that health of the gut can be attained through stress-reduction and in a really fast way. I always try to think about what was going on the last time I had a skin clearing, and last time I was: taking small doses of Jarrow probiotics, taking slippery elm and marshmallow on a daily basis, was taking a sandalwood tincture, and was meditating every day, in a really good headspace. I've tried just those probiotics and haven't had any results. Maybe there is something going on with the combination of mucilaginous herbs and probiotics. It warrants further experimentation. I'll put my efforts there and in stress reduction and see if I don't get any results. I'll report back, either way.

This is frustrating. I wonder if there was a way to administer this in suppository or enema form, as to bypass the small intestine, if SIBO really is the issue here. I do know one thing for sure though: probiotics are not a one-size-fits-all sort of thing, and there is a complex relationship between each individual person and their personal microbiome. I strongly believe that acne can be resolved by healing the gut, but how one goes about that needs to be tailored to them. Not sure what step to take now, as I put a lot of faith in this working, with no results to show for it. Any advice, Listener(I can use it)?

It's funny you mention this, because I got my sister into taking Elixa recently (she wanted to see if she could use it to avoid zits around her period time). She said it caused her a few blemishes to begin with and then started working really well. She's researched and had come to the same conclusion as you about die-off, but I can't say that I ever experienced that myself.

I think she took a couple of 6 day courses and it was towards the end that things 'flipped' and her skin improved. I haven't actually seen her in person (we live in separate cities) and I found it hard to believe that it would have caused one of these 'die-off' reactions (since I assumed if it did then I would have experienced it) however she is fairly astute and scientific so I guess it is the case.

I'd say you should see what happens after you finish off what you have. Like you say.... maybe you have SIBO!! In which case we're talking about a completely different thing and no probiotic on earth is going to work well for you with that! Maybe try the lactulose breath test at your doctor's.

Edit:

Bidgood,

Can you share what brands of probiotics you've tried before this one? I'm interested in this whole soil probiotic thing and wanted to know if you've tried them?

 

This is frustrating. I wonder if there was a way to administer this in suppository or enema form, as to bypass the small intestine, if SIBO really is the issue here. I do know one thing for sure though: probiotics are not a one-size-fits-all sort of thing, and there is a complex relationship between each individual person and their personal microbiome. I strongly believe that acne can be resolved by healing the gut, but how one goes about that needs to be tailored to them. Not sure what step to take now, as I put a lot of faith in this working, with no results to show for it. Any advice, Listener(I can use it)?

It's funny you mention this, because I got my sister into taking Elixa recently (she wanted to see if she could use it to avoid zits around her period time). She said it caused her a few blemishes to begin with and then started working really well. She's researched and had come to the same conclusion as you about die-off, but I can't say that I ever experienced that myself.

I think she took a couple of 6 day courses and it was towards the end that things 'flipped' and her skin improved. I haven't actually seen her in person (we live in separate cities) and I found it hard to believe that it would have caused one of these 'die-off' reactions (since I assumed if it did then I would have experienced it) however she is fairly astute and scientific so I guess it is the case.

I'd say you should see what happens after you finish off what you have. Like you say.... maybe you have SIBO!! In which case we're talking about a completely different thing and no probiotic on earth is going to work well for you with that! Maybe try the lactulose breath test at your doctor's.

 

Edit:

Bidgood,

Can you share what brands of probiotics you've tried before this one? I'm interested in this whole soil probiotic thing and wanted to know if you've tried them?

Towards the end of the 6 days, a lot of the GERD went away and I started to get my appetite back. My skin maybe started feeling a little smoother too, even if the acne remained unchanged. Now that I'm two days off of it, I don't really feel too different and my skin doesn't seem better or worse. Maybe the improvement(still not a "net gain" really) in my digestion towards the end of 6-day course was a good sign though. I want to try taking it again sometime soon and see if maybe I've sort of passed that threshold where a lot of the bad bacteria is out of the picture and I can start seeing some improvements instead of just reactions to die-off? It's hard to say. it's definitely worth at least one more try though.

Have you mostly taken 3-day courses? For cost's sake, I want to do another 3-day course instead of 6.

Other probiotics I've taken? I can't really remember names, but I've taken a lot over the past 15 years. Jarrow-Dophilus EPS has been the only one that has ever given me good results though. I took a soil organism probiotic, Primal Defense, and had an extremely bad breakout. I wouldn't touch that stuff again ever.

Other probiotics I've taken? I can't really remember names, but I've taken a lot over the past 15 years. Jarrow-Dophilus EPS has been the only one that has ever given me good results though. I took a soil organism probiotic, Primal Defense, and had an extremely bad breakout. I wouldn't touch that stuff again ever.

Hmm interesting. It has a couple of strains I've not seen before. I'll have to google around about those ones. Why did you stop taking it?

Yeah I did mainly 3-day courses for Elixa.

Ok, so after doing 4 separate 3 day courses, I can safely say that Elixa just does not work for my body. After the last course I actually broke out worse than I have in over 15 years. It's true that everyone reacts to things in their own way, and I strongly believe that is doubly true when it comes to probiotics.

I went back on the Jarrow EPS, along with kimchi and slippery elm and my gut and skin are starting to improve a lot already.

I had gotten badly constipated on Elixa and I was looking and feeling ILL. I don't think it was simply a "die off" reaction that lasted almost a month... I've taken antibiotics in the past, effectively killing off everything, and I felt great from it in the short term. I think some people just don't do well with certain "beneficial" bacteria, and I think we all just need to figure out what works best for our specific microbiome.

I will update about my progress on my new regimen.

The intent of this thread is to discuss Bacillus coagulans. If you guys wish to continue discussing other probiotic strains, please, start another thread about them. As it is, I'm concerned that others who could have something to say about BC may not do so, as this thread has gone so far off-topic.