Update to original review from 9/20/08:
We are continuing taking the pearls daily and they are still working beautifully. The company advertises them as a way to control constipation, but they work well for us for control of diarrhea. I have accidentally forgotten to take them a couple of times now and had my symptoms come right back. These things are worth their weight in gold.
During a recent MRI, a serious sinus infection was found & I had to take HUGE doses of antibiotics for 10 days. I did not get any secondary infections this time, either.
I had such a miraculous recovery from all my gastro problems that my doctor asked me to get some for him & he's been amazed by them, as well. He dislikes prescribing lomotil & wouldn't take anti-diarrheals himself. He told me the last time that I saw him that he's had similar results for whatever his problems were (too much information, I didn't want to know, lol).
Original review:
I have spent years battling with doctors over what 'disease' I have..Crohn's/IBS/Celiac?? I suffered greatly for over 25 years with raging bouts of cramps & diarrhea. If I took Lomotil or Immodium, they would either not work or cause constipation & even more bloating and gas.
5 months ago I went on a modified version of the Metabolic Syndrome Diet and started an exercise regimen, (I have lost over 50 lbs so far), but whole grains seemed to aggravate me even more. I experienced horrible bloating, sporadic diarrhea & a sharp pain in my lower left abdomen. My GP suggested going on Atkins, but I tried that in the 90's and hated it. I don't eat a LOT of carbs, but I wasn't about to give them up altogether!
I can't eat sugar or milk, so most of the plethora of probiotic products on the market were off-limits, so I decided to try acidophilus. I tried the regular acidophilus tablets and they did not help at all.
I saw these on a gold box special and thought that they made sense. It's only logical that stomach acids would alter the bacteria if eaten in yogurt or cheese (my hubby ate those stupid 'activ' cheeses for 21 days straight with NO benefit at all).
After starting the pearls, my entire digestive system seemed to have miraculously returned to what it was in my teens within days. No gas, no bloating, no diarrhea or constipation (from immodium or lomotil, which I no longer have to take). Now I know what 'regular' means..it's wild!
I always got diarrhea, yeast AND bladder infections from antibiotics. The last round of Cipro I took for a badly infected cut did NOT cause me any problems at all, it had to be because of the probiotics. I used to keep Monostat and Sulfa on hand at all times because of the secondary infections I couldn't avoid. No more!
My husband had digestive problems, as well, and the pearls have caused vast improvement for him, too. The doctor hadn't been able to diagnose what was causing his varying diarrhea/constipation bouts, but they're gone & the doctor let him cancel the $1500.00 colonoscopy he had scheduled (bad insurance). Quite a savings!
I will not be without these Acidophilus Pearls ever again if I can help it! After so many years of suffering, I'm simply flabbergasted that something this simple (& cheap) would solve both our problems so quickly. We found that it took about a week for optimal results.
GET them, they're worth a try & they certainly can't hurt you!
These acidophilus pearls are easy to store, pack, and take. If you've recently taken a round of antibiotics, you NEED to take acidophilus in some form to re-establish these friendly bacteria in your bowels. Do a Google search to find out why in detail. Not to be too graphic, they help your system eliminate better, plus acidophilus bacterium produce B vitamins as by-products of their work, a big benefit to your body and your general health. Highly recommended for acne sufferers and anyone who has undergone antibiotic therapy. One other perk of this product: the pearls are specially designed to survive your digestive system's somewhat harsh environment (most harsh: the strong acids in the stomach itself) so that they can ultimately colonize in your bowel; you can't always be sure how much of the acidophilus in yogurt and other cultured dairy products will survive the trip.
I just read a report by Consumer Labs on probiotics, which included this product. Natrol BioBeads wasn't specifically evaluated, but since BioBeads and Pearls appear to offer the same technology, I compared the contents. According to the manufacturers, Pearls provides two types of bacteria, while BioBeads has four. Consumer Labs indicated that, in general, the broader the variety of flora a product provides, the better. Ironically, Consumer Labs also indicated that the types of bacteria in both products(strains of Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium) can usually survive gastric acids and don't need a coating anyway. - Acidophilus - Pearls - Digestion - Health'
Detail Products
Detail Reviews
Click here for more information
