If you are taking an antibiotic, you can either wait for treatment to finish before starting probiotic supplementation, or you can take probiotics during antibiotic treatment.
WHY should you take probiotics during or after antibiotic treatment? Because nature abhors a vacuum! This means that once bacteria have been cleared from your gut, the risk of secondary or opportunistic infection is greatly increased.
If you take probiotics during antibiotic treatment, the probiotics will help further encourage the leakage of unwanted bacteria from your gut, while inhibiting the overgrowth of yeasts, fungi, and parasites that can thrive in the absence of good bacteria (that were already present) killed by the antibiotic).
For example, if you know you have a candida albicans problem, you will definitely want to take probiotics during your antibiotic course to prevent this yeast from multiplying explosively, which can then be difficult to control.
Remember, antibiotics ONLY kill bacteria. They don’t kill yeast, fungus, parasites, or viruses.
So you really want to add loads of good bacteria to keep these other pathogens at bay both during and after antibiotic treatment.
Note: I’m going to give you dosage instructions for sodium probiotics here as this is the brand I use myself and which I recommend to my readers.
If you have supplemented with strong probiotics before antibiotic treatmentThen take your probiotics as follows:
- Take 1 teaspoon two hours after taking each prescribed dose of antibiotics. of any Natren brand probiotic (Megadophilus, Bifido Factor, Digesta-Lac) mixed in 6 to 8 ounces room temperature, filtered water (not tap water) on an empty stomach (15 to 20 minutes before meals or 2 hours after meals).
- Then take an extra dose (1 teaspoon each) before bed. When your antibiotic course is over, do Jini’s Probiotic Retention Enema and take 1 teaspoon. of each powder on an empty stomach (15 to 20 minutes before meals or 2 hours after meals) three times a day for three months and then once or twice a day (always on an empty stomach) for the following three months. If your bowel movements are normal or you are prone to constipation, you can take the probiotics in capsule form if you prefer. When using the Healthy Trinity capsules, you don’t have to take them on an empty stomach.
If you haven’t supplemented with probiotics Before antibiotic treatment, you may want to slow down to avoid the Herxheimer reaction:
- Two hours after taking each prescribed dose of antibiotics, take 1/4 – 1/2 teaspoon. of each Natren brand probiotic (Megadophilus, Bifido Factor, Digesta-Lac) mixed in 6 to 8 ounces of room temperature, filtered water (not tap water) on an empty stomach (15 to 20 minutes before meals or 2 hours after meals).
- Then take an extra dose (1/2 teaspoon each) before bed. When your antibiotic course is over, do Jini’s Probiotic Retention Enema and take 1 teaspoon. of each three times a day on an empty stomach (15-20 minutes before meals or 2 hours after meals) for three months. And then take 1 tsp. of each powder once or twice a day (always on an empty stomach) also for the next three months. If your bowel movements are normal or you are prone to constipation, you can take the probiotics in capsule form if you prefer. When using the Healthy Trinity capsules, you don’t have to take them on an empty stomach.
Diagnostic or exploratory GI procedures
If you are undergoing a digestive diagnostic or exploratory test (stomach, small or large intestine), be sure to add a probiotic supplement to it right away as well.
These tests are all very disruptive to the bacterial flora and after these procedures you leave yourself open to infections from yeast, bad bacteria, viruses and fungi.
If you have already taken probiotics regularlyThen follow one of these procedures (gastroscopy, colonoscopy, barium enema, etc.) with 1 tsp. of any Natren brand probiotic (Megadophilus, Bifido Factor, Digesta-Lac) powdered mixed in 6 to 8 ounces room temperature, filtered water (not tap water) on an empty stomach (15 to 20 minutes before meals or 2 hours) after meals ) three times a day for three months and then 1 tsp. of each powder (or 1 Healthy Trinity capsule) once or twice a day (always on an empty stomach) for the following three months.
If you haven’t taken probiotics before the diagnostic / exploratory testsThen you should proceed with supplementation more slowly to avoid the Herxheimer reaction. Take 1/4 tsp. of any Natren brand probiotic powder (Megadophilus, Bifido Factor, Digesta-Lac) mixed in 6 to 8 ounces room temperature, filtered water (not tap water) on an empty stomach (15 to 20 minutes before a meal or 2 hours after a meal) ), two to three times a day for two weeks, then 1/2 tsp. of three times a day for two weeks, then 1 tsp. of each powder three times a day (always on an empty stomach) for the following three to six months. If you don’t have loose stools (or are prone to constipation), you can also take a Healthy Trinity capsule before bed on an empty stomach if you prefer.
In my free colonoscopy report, I also have detailed instructions on how to protect both your intestinal lining and flora before and after a colonoscopy.
Originally posted in October 2015. Last updated May 2021.
Jini Patel Thompson is an internationally recognized expert in natural digestive disease healing. She healed herself from widespread Crohn’s disease and has been drug and surgery free for over 20 years. Jini has appeared on numerous podcast, television and radio shows in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, giving people hope and vision on how to cure their Colitis, Crohns, Diverticulitis and Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) in all natural methods . Her books on natural digestive disease cures have been sold in over 80 countries around the world.
