VSL 3 - 60 Capsules Shipped in a Cooler with Ice Pack

I am posting this on a few VSL #3 Amazon listings not to cross-pollinate my own posting or promote the product beyond my own personal experience, but in hopes of saving people time and money, and possibly help someone suffering from GI issues. VSL #3 is very different than other probiotics and hence this will be very long because there is simply more to it.As someone with Crohn’s, and with a brother with severe Crohn’s and a mother with UC, I can identify with how debilitating, dehumanizing, and sickening IBD is. I can relate to planning your whole life based on strategic mapping of bathrooms, and hating that you define yourself by your condition, and that sometimes you are so sick that quality of life is zero, you contemplate the value of your existence, and you would do damned near anything to stop the suffering. I know the frustration of continual colonoscopies, medications with damning side effects with little gain, and relapsing conditions that flare at the worst possible times. I’ve been there with the psychological toll of having a condition that makes living a ‘normal’ life difficult. For those without IBS/IBD, give thanks…and please give those with such conditions the understanding and empathy that would allow logical/medical explanation of why someone with such conditions may behave in a way that seems unusual. For example, someone with IBD who tells you they cannot go out or abruptly cancels plans is not necessarily trying to be unfriendly/anti-social, but may be limited in the activities in which they can do, especially during flares.--------------Considering VSL #3? Do you have gastrointestinal problems or other major health issues? If not, it is probably NOT the probiotic for you. I shall elaborate…HERE is what I think are the TOP HIGHLIGHTS that are critical to understanding VSL #3, determining if it is for you or not, and being able to maximize the chance it helps you…1) VSL #3 is not a supplement for healthy people…it is a medication to manage major GI/bowel issues. It is the ONLY probiotic with clinical evidence that proves it is effective in treating the said conditions. NO other probiotic has this medical backing to show proof of effectiveness. While it may be useful for other conditions, it is designed specifically for specific GI issues.2) If VSL #3 is not handled correctly (kept cold at all times, refrigerated after you get it, used in a timely manner), it will NOT work because certain strains of bacteria will quickly die, and all of the strains of bacteria must interact with each other to work/multiply.3) VSL #3 contains so much bacteria that the quantity results in an adjustment period in which most users initially poop quite a lot…a slow acclimation is a MUST even though VSL’s own literature does not mention this. START LOW, GO SLOW! One VSL DS #3 sachet contains more bacteria than 100-200 ‘standard’ probiotic pills!4) VSL #3 is a delayed-action product…it takes time and it can take weeks and even months. ‘Recolonizing’ your intestines with good bacteria is a slow process and one with a compilation effect. Diet can affect the speed dramatically, as can natural variations in gut motility. It is not a fast-acting solution.5) While VSL #3 has hundreds of times more bacteria than most products, many people still need a very high dose of VSL for it to work best…one may need to take 10 pills or multiple sachets a day. IBD patients will need more than IBS patients and active UC will need the most quantity…insurance WILL cover VSL and even reimburse…so be sure to look into that given the cost.VSL #3 is NOT a supplement. It is a medical product made for people with certain GI problems stemming (predominantly) from inflammation in the colon through the mechanism of ‘seeding’ and ‘recolonizing’ the colon with beneficial bacteria related to healthy gut function. Specifically, it is made for management of Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) and Ulcerative Colitis (UC…a type of Irritibale Bowel Disease, [IBD]), including post-surgical management of operations stemming from UC. It is NOT the probiotic one takes because they want to take a probiotic for better health. It’s much more expensive, it contains different bacteria, and it contains a ridiculous amount of bacteria…in fact, it may make a healthy person have GI upsets with minimal gain versus other probiotics. With that said, for IBS and UC patients, VSL #3 is often effective when virtually all first- and second-line treatments (including biologicals) fail or cannot be tolerated…it also works when other probiotics do not. VSL #3 is a medication…and one insurance often covers. VSL #3 is a medication for major medical problems and is intended for the usage of treating & managing specific GI illnesses that are generally moderate-severe. VSL #3 is best used under the treatment of a physician who is familiar with the product.VSL #3 gets a bad rep partly because of the above. It also gets a bad rep because some of the strains of bacteria in VSL are highly sensitive to climate. When exposed to room temperatures, they have a shelf life of under a week. When exposed to higher heat, the product can be ruined in hours. The VSL bacterial mixture is made with multiple strains of bacteria to work together in a cooperative fashion. I know of no one who has had success with VSL that was not handled correctly by the supplier. So be POSITIVE that your supplier sends it to you refrigerated (i.e., cold packs) and handles it correctly and rotates their stock promptly. Otherwise, you are eating dead bacteria and you won’t have good luck.Another reason VSL #3 gets a bad rep is its tendency to make you poop. The maker of VSL notes that initially use of the product can cause some GI disturbances. That’s an understatement…hell, it’s a serious understatement…but it is normal as you are dramatically increasing microflora…which is a substantial physical change. You will most likely poop quite a lot when starting therapy. My advise is to start small…1/4 a sachet, ½ a pill, or less, and slowly increase the dose. The body adapts. The VSL literature does NOT note this and it should…DO NOT GO STRAIGHT TO FULL STRENGTH OR YOU WILL POOP TO A DEGREE THAT WILL BE SOME SERIOUS ****! (…even by IBD standards…PUN INTENDED...) You may need a few days to even a few weeks to fully adjust…and going slow makes the acclimation soooooooo much easier. And you will almost surely need a few weeks to see results…maybe even a few months to see the full results. The process of ‘seeding’ the intestines with good bacteria is slow…it’s a progressive process that takes time. VSL takes time to adapt to. VSL does NOT work quickly. But stay with it…it does work well. (Note that once VSL is in your system, if you have a flare, dramatically increasing the amount of VSL can be effective in stopping the flare…this seems to be most true with UC patients and when the increase is substantial [3 times or more normal dosing]).--------No luck with other probiotics? Don’t walk away yet…So you are ready for VSL #3 to try it against your IBS or IBD...for people with certain types of IBS/IBD, this could be the silver bullet to achieve or maintain long-term remission without the harsher medications commonly seen for management of such conditions. You may have tried other probiotics without much success. I did…I tried nearly all of them…some I was taking 30 pills a day. Not much came of it for me… The issue with most probiotics is that, 1) they lack the quantity of bacteria needed to work, and 2) they do not contain all the strands of bacteria needed to modify the GI disease. VSL has different types of bacteria and a crap load of it. One VSL DS #3 sachet has more bacteria in it than 100-200+ pills of ‘standard’ probiotics…unfortunately, while that may sound like a lot, in the long run it still isn’t! You may need A LOT of VSL despite it’s high potency. When we poop, something like half the weight of poop is from bacteria. Our gut is PACKED with bacteria. UC patients may need to take six sachets of VSL DS (totaling about 3.6 TRILLION CFU [versus 5-15 billion of most standard pills] to see serious effects)…significantly less may work, but high success rates with UC have been with over 3 trillion CFU of VSL (PubMed has these studies available for free…and it shows high-doses of VSL = very good results where as lower doses have mixed results). In many cases, people who get some results with standard dosage often get remission with higher to ultra-high dosing. Thankfully, unlike medications, it is safe to dramatically spike the quantity of VSL. The only downside is, of course, the higher costs of the product.--------VSL #3 is NOT effective for all types of GI issues, and Crohn’s is the really difficult one here…I have Crohn’s. Luckily, my Crohn’s is the subtype that is in the colon. If you have Crohn’s that is more in the small intestines, it’s less likely this product will provide the relief it would if the inflammation is in the large intestines. It may be worth a try, but Crohn’s is the atypical IBD…and not as well understood as UC given Crohn’s tendency to ‘shift’ the inflammation without any logic that scientists have been able to interpret. Results may vary with Crohn’s. For me, it has helped tremendously and I would encourage it given VSL #3 is a helluva lot easier on the system than immunosuppressants. But if you do not have large gut inflammation, I would caution being hopeful.----------There are other possible uses of VSL #3 due to the role microflora plays with the bodyVSL #3 may also be useful for the treatment of a few diseases that only within the last 3 years have been found to be related to gut microflora. Parkinson’s, multiple sclerosis, Huntington’s, fibromyalgia, mayofacial pain syndrome, and others are now being found to have significant interaction with the large gut and the bacteria inside of it. Microflora impacts these diseases and may even modify or reverse the course of them. This came to light through fecal implantation (now called Fecal microbiota transplantation or FMT)...FMT/fecal implantation is the most effective treatment known for Clostridium difficile infection, and is emerging as a highly effective (possibly the most effective) treatment for long-term UC and other IBS/IBD remission. In clinical trials, it was accidently observed to reverse the effects of Parkinson’s and other similar type diseases. By no means am I saying VSL #3 is effective for these conditions, but I am noting that the possibility exists that the product MAY have use given the linkages to microflora. In the past year, multiple clinical trials have begun examining both microflora supplementation and transplantation for how it effects a variety of illnesses previously thought to have minimal to no relation with the gut. While I do not wish to convey false hope, preliminary findings of FMT has been, for a variety of diseases including IBD, VERY promising…and I would encourage everyone to read up on the topic and follow developments. FMT’s unusually high success rate with UC further explains why high-dosage VSL has been so effective in clinical trials.--------There are other outcomes you may have while on VSL #3Every few years, more capable research suggests that the immune system is more related to the gut than previously thought…microflora plays a HUGE role in wellbeing and clearly it plays a larger role than we are thus far capable of fully understanding. I have seen a spike in my immune system and research suggests that probiotics play a huge role in, and can actually boost the immune system…so it is possible your immune system may benefit from usage of VSL. Allergies also are related to the gut. So is weight regulation…research suggests losing/maintaining healthy weight is related to microflora and studies with the use of probiotics show they are useful here in weight regulation. Skin diseases, especially from autoimmune conditions, are also linked to the gut. And the above is only a minority of the conditions/bodily functions related to gut flora. What I am saying is that the involvement of good bacteria in our gut goes far beyond what we currently understand and have previously believed…and there are tons of user reviews noting that they have seen unexpected positive increases in health and vitality with the usage of various probiotic products. Expecting such increases may not be a good thing to avoid false hope, but if you see positive health changes, it could be related! And hey, that’s an always welcome added benefit!------------So, the final question is, “is VSL #3 a good choice for you?” That’s something only you and your Doctor can answer. However, there is no doubt whatsoever that VSL #3 is a powerful tool for the management of certain GI issues, and a treatment that many have benefitted from. For me, it’s been a very positive experience…and I hope my experience and information helps develop realistic expectations for usage, helps you determine if the high cost of VSL is worth it for your situation, and helps you understand what to expect and what you are looking at timeline wise. I’m just one person with IBD, but hopefully this helps someone. If only one person gets only moderate relief, then my writing this review was worth it 1,000 times over.

Best probiotics I've ever used hands down!!! Stomach pains gone! It came highly recommend by a trusted fitness/health info source and I'm not disappointed I have them a try. They have worked wonders. I feel better every day. I think they have also helped my mood. 80% of serotonin is produced in the gut. Unhappy belly = Unhappy you! These are great! I'll gladly spend 60 bucks a month for these benefits.

I have Ulcerative Colitis and have been coming down off of prednisone AGAIN, the second time in two years with escalating my medication. As I was tapering my prednisone, and even before, I found I was having serious trouble handling fibrous foods, more than I've had in the past, in addition to severe bloating, and (the more I tapered) plenty of bad days where my stools were not "inflamed" but definitely not normal. As a last resort, I ran across the VSL 3 product recommended in a book on IBD, and changed out from my old 1 billion acidophilus probiotics that were doing me zero good at all - to this. I followed the advice of the first reviewer (start small!) and started with 1 pill per day in mid-April. Within a few days, my stools normalized, and for the past few weeks, I have had the first truly pain-free days in YEARS. Even high-dose steroids haven't had me feeling this good (they just lend me a sense of false confidence, insomnia, roid-rage, and a really fat neck!) A few days ago I increased my VSL 3 dose to 2 per day. My energy levels have gone up, I'm starting to be able to manage my weight more easily, and gym-going activities have improved too, where I had an energy crash mid-March due to who-knows-what with my disease. The recommended dose for maintenance of UC remission is 4-8 per DAY. That's a LOT of probiotics and, while I'm doing great now on my lower dose, I plan to taper up on it SLOWLY and see how it does long-term. Hopefully between this and the Imuran I can quit having flares so frequently!Word of advice: make sure you buy this and other high-potency probiotics from the sellers who specifically advertise that they ship in a styrofoam-lined box with a cold-pack. I made sure to do this, but my mom bought a different brand from a different seller and they didn't insulate the box, so it arrived hot with the probiotics damaged from warehouse heat. I bought this from one of the good sellers, and it arrived nice and cool, and the box was well marked that it required refrigeration. So pay attention to the seller you're buying from! You want the probiotics to be still alive when you swallow them!

God knows what is going on in my GI tract (testing has shown no abnormalities), but when I take VSL#3 daily, my abdominal pain completely disappears. If I stop taking the product, the pain WILL return. So, I can't speak highly enough about it.

Unfortunately, these showed up on my doorstep with the tiniest of ice packs that was completely melted and the product was not even the slightest bit chilled. Sure it was on a "cooler" of sorts but they didn't even seal the lid on so I'm not sure how they think it'll stay cold with one of the world's tiniest ice packs. These MUST be refrigerated or they are a complete waste of money. People seeking this product are not doing so for simple health benefits, these people are generally pretty sick and NEED this product but cannot afford to waste this amount of money so its kinda a big deal. Because of the unreliable packaging I'm hesitant to order again and likely won't. Its unfortunate because I was really looking forward to, and truly needed to, start these ASAP. Bummed.