Diarrhea or Mucus in Bowel Movements? How Saccharomyces Boulardii Helped Our Son
81The information presented in this article is anecdotal and should not be confused research articles found in the New England Journal of Medicine. I am not a doctor and have not subjected my story to the rigors of double blind studies or peer review. This medical history is based on my life, or more accurately the life of my Son. It's a story of restoration, of searching and finding and ultimately,finding the magic bullet.
The Problem
Four years ago, when my Son was three years old, my wife and I observed mucus in his stool. As time went by things got worse. Everyday he had multiple bowel movements that were either entirely mucus or partially mixed with mucus. The mucus was bad enough, but we soon realized that he wasn't growing. The doctor, our family physician, had his stool tested for worms, but it came back negative. My wife, who tends to lean to toward naturopathic medicine, suggested we go see a naturopath. After a few trips to the naturopathic doctor, who coincidentally was also a homeopath, we embarked on regime of diet change, a battery of candida purges and whole raft of oils, pills and homeopathic remedies. None of it worked.
Myself, not impressed with naturopathy, wanted to try a gastroenterologist. After meeting with the gastroenterologist our Son underwent a cacophony of tests. It was so thorough that our pediatrician called it the "million dollar work up". The tests revealed nothing. He did not have chromes disease, cystic fibrosis, inflammatory bowel disease or any other number of diseases that he was tested for. What he did have, was a very full bowel. Our pediatrician and gastroenterologist were baffled. How could a kid be so backed up when he had multiple bowel movements each day? Finally, the gastroenterologist decided to flush his system and give him a colonoscopy. The poor kid was a trooper through the whole procedure, but in the end, it revealed nothing. A few weeks after the colonoscopy the gastroenterologist asked for another stool sample. Two weeks later we received a phone call with the results. The gastroenterologist informed us that our son had C.difficile, a bacterial infection. The specialist advised putting him on an anti-biotic, which we agreed too. After taking the anti-biotic for two weeks, we took another stool sample and sent it off to the lab. We returned to the doctor a month later to find out that the C. difficile was gone, but we informed the doctor that the problem with the mucus and bloating was still a day to day problem. My wife, worried that the anti-biotic had wiped out our Son's flora asked the doctor whether he could prescribe a probiotic (to replace the flora). The gastroenterologist agreed and suggested we try Saccharomyces Boulardii. We had use a different probiotic before (during the time with the Naturopath), but the gastroenterologist wanted to use this one because he said studies had shown it to be more effective.
Options - Saccharomyces Boulardii
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The Solution - Saccharomyces Boulardii
We ordered the Saccharomyces Boulardii and started giving our Son one pill a night. Within seven days the mucus was gone. His bowel movements were perfect. Ten months have passed since he started taking Saccharomyces Boulardii and the mucus has not returned. Many times my wife and I have talked about our Son's journey and have often wondered how much time and money we would have saved if we would have tried the Saccharomyces Boulardii first. I am unwilling to say that it will work for all cases, but for our Son, it was the only thing that made any difference. Our only regret is that we didn't find out about it earlier.
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Benjimester,
Sorry about your lunch....my life for the past three years has been so interwined with bowel movements and observation that I have kind of lost any kind of sensitivity to how it all sounds:)
sschilke
We have been blessed with four kids who have generally good health. It is scary how quickly that can change. Thanks for your information here. I myself have given up on "regular" doctors. They do a lot of good but are far from perfect.
Steve,
In this whole process it seemed like we saw every type of doctor (regular, specialist to alternative) that we could have. They all added insights to our predicament, but none of them seemed to solve the problem. It was almost dumb luck in how we found the solution. Dumb luck may be an oversimplification, we did pray hard about the whole thing. Let's just call it a blessing.
sschilke
im really happy for you and for your son..probiotics are a very good idea for diarrhea treatment..i only have a question : does he has to take it for a long time? or he stopped taking it?
thnx alot for sharing the story
Mezo,
He is still taking it. We probably will keep him on it for awhile more, then experiment with different dosages later on.
sschilke
I like your writings.
I am a gastroenterologist. I treated a lots of patients with C-def and it works very good on regular prescription treatment. There are cases (an exceptions), where there is still a problem. But you know, if we know future, that there is nothing wrong with the patient, we will not spend a lot of money for procedures.
Some do not trust the doctors. Just wait when we go to socialistic medicine.
The Difficile probably set him up for it. I am so glad you found a solution for the kid. Doctors are wrong more often than they are right, and excellent diagnosticians are rare. More often, the med just works anyway or at least masks the symptom so they proclaim success. IMHO so you just gotta keep at it until you find one who figures it out or you do it yourself.
Vladimir Uhri,
Thanks for lending your experience to the discussion. I am not sure the C. difficile was the culprit with the mucus. His stool was tested numersous times before the colonoscopy and C. difficille was not present. I'm not sure how he got it, but the antii-biotic did take care of it, but unfortunately the mucus was still there. The Boulardii seemed to be the difference maker for the mucus. I still have trust in doctors, it's just that this was a very perplexing case that no one seemed to be able to pin down. Thanks so much for your input, it's very much appreciated.
hot dorkage,
It was a long time in comming, but we did finally get resolution. It's funny, but i believe it was somewhat of combine effort between us and our physcians. The relationship was never adversarial, but rather collabarative. In many ways my wife was the tenacious one in this whole episode and must get the lion's share of credit in the solution.
Thanks so much for your comment.
sschilke
Thank you for this story. Probiotics are excellent, especially after a round of antibiotics for balancing the intestinal flora. I wouldn't give up on homeopathics just yet. It may take a while to find just the right remedy that addresses all issues for each person. Not only physical symptoms, but personality, emotions, interactions and perception of the world. All the best, Debby CHOM
Debby,
Thanks for your comment. I am still on the fence when it comes to homeopathy. I have many friends who I respect greatly, who are big supporters of homeopathic medicine. I am a very practical guy. If it works, I stick with it, if it doesn't work I move on. In our case we did everything the naturopath + homeopath advised us to do for 18 months. Nothing changed. Our homeopath was extremely knowledgeable, kind and successful (practice), but for us it just didn't work. After 18 months I felt it was time to move on. I don't doubt he has helped other folks, but for us it wasn't working.
Thanks for your contribution.
sschilke
I am glad a solution was found. I have had similar situations in it taking time to find a solution for health issues. If only doctors learned about the whole body and how nutrients and other things like probiotics are so important, and not just drugs with negative side effects. They would be way more effective in their help.
Interesting article and I am happy that your family has found a solution. I do not have children and have no experience in such serious health issues. Congratulations to your child for his good health. Warmly, Jan
Jennifer,
I think that overall there is much more to learn than has already been learned. The body is still a huge mystery as far as I am concerned. Thanks so much for you comments.
Janet,
Thankyou for your warm wishes, they are appreciated.
sschilke
I have been instructed to give my newborn S. boulardii--what is the best way for it to be ingested? Should I try giving it to her in some water, or would it be okay to just give it to her off of my finger?
Mattie,
Either way sounds reasonable to me. Whenever we give probiotics (powder form) to our children we have given in a small amount of water. The s. boulardii that we gave to our son, we gave in pill form, but he was able to swallow it. What you are suggesting sounds reasonable to me, I do not see why it wouldn't work.
but..
keep in mind that I am not a physician or naturopath, they may have better advice than I.
Thanks,
sschilke
Saccharomyces Boulardii. A probiotic. Thanks for sharing your experience. I am so glad your family found the solution for your child. Have you had the child checked for cystic fibrosis?
JamesBenjaminJrMD,
Yes, cystic fibrosis was one of the many things he was tested for. The test was negative as were all of the other things he was tested for. I wrote this article 7 months ago and the mucus in the tool has not returned. He is still taking the s. boulardii.
thanks for your comment.
So glad your son made it through that tough time with C-diff. It's a hard call for that type of problem. Glad he is feeling so much better. I know C-difficile all too well. My Mom got it in the hospital from a room mate that had it. She went in for hip surgery.My mom suffered really bad with it and also died from c-diff. It was a aweful experience.
Good to hear that your son got better :) I do take my probiotics every day in the form of capsules or yogurt (but yogurt means added calories). Here's the site where I get my probiotics : http://probiotics.mercola.com/probiotics.html
and there's also some really good info about probiotics here such as the different strains and its effects on our body. Also, I think they offer probiotics in powdered form for people who doesn't prefer capsules.
Benjimester Level 5 Commenter 3 years ago
Nice of you to post this right at lunch time :) Or at least it's lunch time in San Diego. My mom always gives me probiotics whenever I come to her house. Mmmm... Tasty