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Hi All--

First, thanks to everyone who responded to my question, "What are the side effects of taking probiotics?" I received approximately 60 replies and boy, was I surprised by what people had to say!

Generally speaking, if the probiotic is guaranteed GF and working as it should, people may experience fatigue, slight GI symptoms and probably soft and/or frequent stools for the first several days. This is a result of th
e die-off of the bad bacteria.

What I didn't expect was that approximately half of the people who replied indicated they weren't able to take probiotics due to bad reactions, most not related to gluten. Wow! So, probiotics aren't for everyone. My advic
e from experience, if you're just starting, buy a small bottle of whatever you want to try.

Secondly, I wanted to pass along information I've received from the manufacturer of Primal Defense. Since it was PD I took and felt I reacted badly to (increased constipation, which is my sign I've ingested gluten), I wro
te the company. No response. I wrote again (they don't offer a toll-free telephone number for the public - only retailers, etc.) I don't necessarily recommend others use this tactic, but in my second email, I tactfully no
ted that this was my second email and I was requesting someone contact me to tell me the gluten status of Primal Defense. I then told them that I had celiac disease and that if I did not hear from them by a certain date,
I would contact my attorney who would be in touch. I did NOT mention a law suit - I just wanted someone to call me.

The Quality Control Manager called me two days ago. To make a long conversation short, prior to receiving my second email, Primal Defense made the decision to take "Gluten Free" from their label. This manager had been not
icing that some of the lots of PD were showing 15 to 20 parts per million gluten. So....they are going to their contract companies to evaluate how the contract companies are handling their processes.

Also, the manager told me that many people simply cannot tolerate HSOs and that not all bad reactions are from gluten.

Anyway, alternatives suggested by some of you are good yogurt with lots of good bacteria (not the yogurt marketed for the mainstream public) and Kefir.

Again, thanks so much for everyone's interest in my quest for an answer to my problems. Ya'll are terrific!

Cheers,
Ayn in Alabama


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