Reclaim Your Life From IBS With High Potency Probiotics

Key Takeaways: Reclaiming Control, One Step at a Time

1. Bathroom Anxiety is Real: But with better management tools, you can reduce that fear of straying too far from the nearest restroom.
2. Diet Doesn’t Have to Be a Minefield: A supportive gut microbiome may broaden your safe eating options.
3. Unpredictability Doesn’t Have to Rule Your Life: Targeted probiotics can help stabilize GI function, so symptoms don’t catch you off guard as often.
4. Your Emotions Matter, Too: IBS isn’t just physical—stigma and emotional distress can worsen your overall well-being. Seek understanding from professionals, loved ones, and support groups.
5. You’re Not Alone: There’s hope in the form of emerging research, clinical studies, and medical food probiotics like Visbiome®. Don’t give up searching for the right fit.

While IBS can be isolating, the truth is you have more options than ever before—probiotics included. With the right blend of medical guidance, lifestyle adjustments, and gut-friendly bacteria, you may finally experience a new level of freedom and relief from IBS’s daily challenges.

Living with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome) isn’t just about stomach discomfort—though that’s hard enough. It can mean constantly mapping out bathrooms wherever you go, stressing over food choices, enduring unpredictable flare-ups, and feeling like no one really “gets it.” 

If any of this resonates with you, know that you’re not alone. Below, we’ll explore how probiotics can support better gut health and potentially help you break free from some of IBS’s most frustrating limitations.

Day-to-Day Struggles: From Bathroom Worries to Physical Discomfort

If you have IBS, you know it can dominate your thoughts and routines. Many people describe constantly worrying about bathroom accessibility—mapping out every potential stop during errands or hesitating to travel for fear they’ll be too far from a restroom. 

For others, eating becomes a guessing game, with dietary “rules” changing daily in hopes of avoiding sudden cramping, diarrhea, or painful bloating.

This unpredictability can lead to a roller coaster of physical symptoms. Some days, you might manage life fairly normally; other days, you feel chained to your bathroom or unable to wear your usual clothes.

These physical ups and downs can leave you mentally exhausted, especially when flare-ups arrive without warning. Even well-intentioned advice, like “try more fiber,” or “maybe it’s just stress,” often doesn’t capture the complexity of IBS triggers—leaving you frustrated and confused about what actually works.

Emotional Toll & Stigma: Feeling Alone Despite a Common Condition

Irritable bowel syndrome affects 10–15% of adults in the United States (1), but the emotional fallout can feel invisible. On top of the physical challenges, IBS can take a serious toll on emotional health. Friends or coworkers might dismiss your struggles or minimize symptoms.

It’s hard to explain why you skip social events or choose not to eat out, especially when IBS is largely invisible to others. This can lead to feelings of isolation, as though you’re fighting a personal, daily battle that no one else fully understands.

Because IBS flares can come at the worst possible times, you might avoid activities that once brought you joy—fearful you’ll be caught off guard by cramps or an urgent need for a restroom. This combination of physical discomfort and emotional distress can gradually erode your confidence and create a sense of helplessness. 

That’s why any steps toward relief—be it through targeted diets, mental health support, or a probiotic approach—can help restore not only physical comfort but also a much-needed sense of normalcy and hope.

Probiotics 101: How They May Ease Your IBS Burdens

Your gut is home to trillions of microorganisms that help with digestion, immune function, vitamin production, and more (2). When these microbes are out of balance (dysbiosis), IBS symptoms often worsen (3). Probiotics, known as “good bacteria,” can help restore that balance by:

• Crowding out harmful bacteria
• Improving bowel regularity
• Reducing gas and bloating
• Potentially easing abdominal pain and cramping

Probiotics are found in some fermented foods, but those may not provide enough good bacteria to restore balance in your gut. 

If you’ve felt that standard diets and over-the-counter solutions haven’t helped enough, it might be worth exploring a high potency multi-strain probiotic.

Visbiome®: A Multi-Strain Probiotic for Targeted IBS Support

If you’re looking for a high-potency, multi-strain solution tailored for IBS, Visbiome® could be your ally. 

Visbiome® is a probiotic medical food containing multiple probiotic strains that are formulated for the dietary management of IBS. These strains include: 

• Lactobacillus paracasei  DSM24733/SD5218
• Lactobacillus plantarum SD5209 DSM24730
• Lactobacillus acidophilus DSM24735/SD5212
• Lactobacillus helveticus DSM24734/SD5210
• Bifidobacterium lactis DSM24736/SD5220
• Bifidobacterium breve DSM24732/SD5206
• Streptococcus thermophilus DSM24731/SD5207

Clinical research on Visbiome® is extensive, with more than 100 human peer-reviewed clinical trials over 20+ years. Studies have shown that using Visbiome® as a medical food is associated with reductions in bloating, flatulence, and abdominal pain in individuals with IBS (5-15).  

Visbiome® is a high-potency probiotic medical food, with the number of live microbes (measured as colony-forming units (CFU)) per dose exceeding that of common probiotic supplements. For example, the National Institutes of Health estimates that most probiotic supplements contain 1-10 billion CFU per dose (4), whereas Visbiome® probiotic medical foods contain 100 billion CFU or more per dose. 

As there are around 100,000,000,000,000 microbes in the human microbiome, high concentration probiotics are thought to more effectively rebalance the gut microbiome. 

Visbiome® products formulated for the dietary management of IBS include: 

• Visbiome® GI Care: This product contains 112.5 billion CFU per capsule and includes probiotic strains shown to be effective for IBS symptom management. 
• Visbiome® Advanced GI Care: This product contains 450 billion CFU per packet and is designed for the dietary management of advanced IBS. 
• Visbiome® Extra Strength: This product contains 900 billion CFU per packet and is designed for the dietary management of advanced ulcerative colitis and ileal pouch dietary management. Visbiome® Extra Strength requires authorization to order. 

Visbiome® products are shipped and stored under refrigerated conditions to retain product potency, as even moderately warm shipping and storage conditions can degrade live microbes.

Disclaimer

The contents of this blog are for informational purposes only and are not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or another qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition.

Sources

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2. Abbott, A. Scientists bust myth that our bodies have more bacteria than human cells. Nature (2016). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature.2016.19136

3. Napolitano, M., Fasulo, E., Ungaro, F., Massimino, L., Sinagra, E., Danese, S., & Mandarino, F. V. (2023). Gut Dysbiosis in Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Narrative Review on Correlation with Disease Subtypes and Novel Therapeutic Implications. Microorganisms, 11(10), 2369. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms11102369

4. Probiotics [Fact sheet]. (2023, November 3). National Institutes of Health - Office of Dietary Supplements. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Probiotics-HealthProfessional/

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9. Brigidi P, et al. Effects of probiotic administration upon the composition and enzymatic activity of fecal microbiota in patients with irritable bowel syndrome or functional diarrhea. Res. Microbiol. 152 (2001) 735-741. 

10. Kim SE, et al. Change of Fecal Flora and Effectiveness of the Short-Term VSL#3 Probiotic Treatment in Patients with Functional Constipation. J. Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2015 Jan 1, 21 (1) 111-20.

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12. Tursi et al. Low-dose balsalazide plus a high-potency probiotic preparation is more effective than balsalazide alone of mesalazine in the treatment of acute mild-to-moderate ulcerative colitis. Med Sci Monit 2004; 10(11). Med Sci Monitor2004;10(11)

13. Tursi, et al. Treatment of Relapsing Mild-to-Moderate Ulcerative Colitis with the Probiotic VSL#3* as Adjunctive to a Standard Pharmaceutical Treatment: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study. American Journal of Gastro. 2010.

14. Huynh et al. Probiotic Preparation VSL#3* Induces Remission in Children with Mild to Moderate Acute Ulcerative Colitis: A Pilot Study. Inflam Bowel Dis. 2008.

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