A. If you are in a hurry for results and are not overly sensitive, you can begin with a much larger than label dose. For example, with Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics 12+ people often take 5 in the morning and 5 at night for the first 6 days. After that they switch to one or two a day. However, if you are in fragile health or have a tendency to overreact to new things, you can do the reverse and start with 1 capsule and build up to a larger dose.
Q. Do I have to take Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics 12+ on an empty stomach and how do I know if it is?
A. This probiotic is very flexible. The typical way to take it is one and a half hours after a meal or first thing in the morning and last thing at night. However, you can actually chew 1 to 4 capsules after a meal that doesn't seem to be sitting well or if you feel heartburn coming on. Up to 80% of the bacteria will still get through and so will the bacteriocins and organic acids that offer a lot of benefit in the gut.
Q. Can I take probiotics if I'm on an antibiotic?
A. Yes. You can start at the same time, just allow 2 hours between the times you take the two so that your antibiotic doesn't bump right into the good guys and damage them on its way to kill the disease-causing bacteria.
Q. How soon should I expect results?
A. It sure would be a lot easier to answer that question if everyone was the same. If your meal is talking back to you and you chew Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics 12+ you might see improvement in a very few minutes. However, for other digestive issues or the health complaints that have arisen because of them taking the capsules as a regular supplement the time varies. For those with a loose stool, relief is often only a day or two away. Otherwise, it depends on how much you take and what shape your system is in but most people see improvement in a week or two.
Q. Are there side effects?
A. The beneficial bacteria are something that must be in your system. A relatively healthy person may see no side effects. As the balance of organisms shifts and adapts to their new food supply, sometimes people experience gas. If there are any other effects such as fatigue or headache, they are likely a result of bad critters like yeasts being dispatched by the new good-guy sheriff in town. Those effects should only last a few days or a week at most. Although these are signs of progress, if you are bothered by them you can always reduce the dosage and restore natural balance more slowly.
Q. Can I take this with my medicine / will my doctor say it is okay?
A. Because these friendly critters are supposed to occur naturally in the intestinal system, you have more to worry about if you don't have them. They do not interact with medicines (however, often medicines interfere with them). A doctor of “integrative” or alternative medicine or a naturopath would encourage you to take it. Unfortunately, mainstream doctors are too seldom trained in nutrition and may be afraid to tell you to take anything they don't know about. However, more and more conventional doctors at least recommend the use of probiotics after antibiotic therapy.
Q. Is Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics 12+ safe for my age and condition?
A. Dr. Ohhira's Probiotics 12+ is safe for all ages (infants to the elderly) and for virtually all conditions (the well to the infirm). A person gravely ill (such as an AIDS patient) whose immune system is so severely compromised that they have problems dealing with even friendly organisms should proceed with caution under a doctor's care (and they definitely should be wary of large doses of single strain freeze dried bacteria.)
