Anyone give your child probiotics?

Type 1 and LADA Parents of Children with Type 1 Diabetes
1

If you give your child probiotics:
(1) Does it seem to help regulate their blood sugar?
(2) Which brand do you use and why?

Thanks!
Aimee

2

I do not give my T-1 child probiotics, however I do take them myself. I am T-1, as well. I do not find it affects my blood sugar.

3

Hi Aimee, i have been giving jacob probiotics for years, he can take pills so what every i am taking he takes, i give it to him more for immunity boosting, along with vitamin D and local honey ( this helps his allergies also). I am a freak about him getting sick and dealing with high bs's because of it. If i can do things to keep him healthy it gives me some peace of mind, whether it is placebo or not! There has been literature out again that probiotics can ward off colds or shorten the duration. I do not think it helps with glucose control. The new one out for that is vinigar but i think he is going to draw the line on that one! Probiotics, vit. D and omega's i believe have been remotely linked to prevention of type 1 so i try to send some of these towards my younger son, although they seem to be genetically sooo different i think his pancreas will remain strong. best wishes! your daughter is a beauty! amy

4

I generally only give a probiotic when Eric has been on antibiotics, but I take them myself. I've seen no blood sugar effects when I give them to Eric, but the whole point of giving them is to maintain his digestive flora so he absorbs his food well. The one time I failed to do this, he had lows for a solid week after the infection. Now, I can't say for certain that the probiotics make the difference — anecdotal evidence isn't all that solid — but that was my experience, and I plan to continue probiotics whenever he has an infection requiring antibiotics.

I don't have a particular brand that I favor. I tend to look for formulations that include both Bifidobacteria and Lactobacillus, and if it has B. infantilis, that's a big plus.

5

Thanks for the replies. I thought I had read or heard that probiotics in some way helped blood sugar, so thought I'd ask. We give our kids a multi-vitamin and vit D supplement - the latter more for our non-T1 son. Although I can't imagine how Liz's T1 resulted from a vit D deficiency since we live in South Florida and get plenty of sunshine year-round! That's one theory I've always ruled out for her.