Dr. Amy Nett: Saccharomyces boulardii, you mentioned it might be useful. Chris uses it in treatment of fungal overgrowth, also parasite infection. Also we’ve occasionally used it in the setting of methane-predominant SIBO, sometimes along with rifaximin. I feel like there was a paper on that, but you know, I would have to search for that. I don’t remember. And remember, we also use it sometimes in treatment for Helicobacter pylori, and it’s also great for treatment of diarrhea. That’s another time that we’ll use Saccharomyces boulardii and might even increase the dose to something like three capsules per day, one capsule three times daily, when someone has diarrhea.
The label saying it’s best not to use with an antifungal, that might just be because Saccharomyces boulardii is a yeast, and if you’re taking an antifungal medication, it could be that the antifungal med is potentially going to target Saccharomyces boulardii rather than the yeast that you’re trying to kill. I don’t think that would necessarily have any negative consequences. That said, do be aware of the timing of those. That’s why when we do our treatment protocols we generally recommend taking probiotics probably at least an hour away from the antimicrobial products. If you’re taking, let’s say, Saccharomyces boulardii and A-FNG in the same protocol, you would probably want to take the Saccharomyces boulardii about one to two hours before the A-FNG, something like that, and just don’t take them at the same time.