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 promote the excretion of unwanted bacteria from your gut while inhibiting the overgrowth of yeasts, fungi and parasites – which can thrive without good bacteria (which the antibiotic kills) .
If you know you have a candida albicans problem, for example, then you will definitely want to take probiotics during your antibiotic regimen to prevent this yeast from multiplying explosively, which can then be difficult to control.
Remember, antibiotics ONLY kill bacteria; they do not kill yeast, fungi, parasites or viruses.
So you really want to add lots of good bacteria to keep these other pathogens at bay both during and after your antibiotic treatment.
Note: I’m going to give you dosage instructions for sodium probiotics here as this is the brand I use myself and recommend to my readers.
If you have supplemented with strong probiotics before antibiotic treatment, then take your probiotics as follows:
- Take 1 teaspoon two hours after taking each prescribed dose of antibiotics. of each Natren brand probiotic (Megadophilus, Bifido Factor, Digesta-Lac) mixed in 6-8 ounces room temperature, filtered water (not tap water) on an empty stomach (15-20 minutes before meals or 2 hours after meals).
- Then take an extra dose (1 teaspoon each) before bed. When your antibiotic regimen is over, do Jini’s Probiotic Retention Enema and take 1 teaspoon. of each powder on an empty stomach (15-20 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 also take the probiotics in capsule form if you wish. When using the Healthy Trinity capsules, you do not need to take them on an empty stomach.
If you haven’t supplemented with probiotics Slow down before antibiotic treatment to avoid the Herxheimer reaction:
- Two hours after taking each prescribed dose of antibiotics, take 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon. of each Natren brand probiotic (Megadophilus, Bifido Factor, Digesta-Lac) mixed in 6-8 ounces room temperature, filtered water (not tap water) on an empty stomach (15-20 minutes before meals or 2 hours after meals).
- Then take an extra dose (1/2 teaspoon each) before bed. When your antibiotic regimen is over, do Jini’s Probiotic Retention Enema and take 1 teaspoon. three times a day on an empty stomach (15-20 minutes before meals or 2 hours after meals) for three months. And then you take 1 tsp. of each powder once or twice a day (always on an empty stomach) for the next three months. If your bowel movements are normal or you are prone to constipation, you can also take the probiotics in capsule form if you wish. When using the Healthy Trinity capsules, you do not need to take them on an empty stomach.
Diagnostic or exploratory GI procedures
If you are undergoing a digestive or exploratory test (stomach, small or large intestine), you should also take probiotic supplementation right away.
These tests are all very disruptive to the bacterial flora and after these procedures you leave yourself wide open to infections by yeast, harmful bacteria, viruses and fungi.
If you have already taken probiotics regularly, then 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 6-8 ounces room temperature, filtered water (not tap water) on an empty stomach (15-20 minutes before meals or 2 hours) after meals ), three times a day for three months and then 1 tsp. of each powder (or 1 capsule of Healthy Trinity) 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 slow down your supplementation to avoid the Herxheimer reaction. Take 1/4 tsp. of any Natren brand probiotic powder (Megadophilus, Bifido Factor, Digesta-Lac) mixed in 6-8 ounces room temperature, filtered water (not tap water) on an empty stomach (15-20 minutes before meals or 2 hours after meals) , 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 do not have a loose stool (or are prone to constipation), you can also take one capsule of Healthy Trinity 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 your intestinal flora before and after a colonoscopy.
Originally posted in October 2015. Last updated May 2021.
Jini Patel Thompson is an internationally recognized expert in naturopathic treatments for digestive diseases. She healed herself from the widespread Crohn’s disease and has been drug and surgery free for over 20 years. Appeared on numerous podcast, television and radio shows in the US, UK, Canada and Australia, Jini gives people hope and visions on how to cure colitis, Crohn’s disease, 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.
