I took Threelac last year and found it significantly improved my symptoms. However I stopped taking it because I was allergic to the yeast.
Symbion is virtually a Threelac clone except it does not contain yeast. I've taken Symbion for the last couple of days and can report the exact same initial side effects (constipation, blotchy hands, white tongue) I experienced with Threelac, with the exception of the yeast allergy. Although it is far too early to say whether it will help me, it certainly gives me the 'feel' that it is very similar to Threelac.
I think the main bacteria that does all the good in Threelac is Bacillus subtilis. It is interesting that each sachet of Threelac has 500 million Bacillus subtilis, whereas Symbion has only 100 million. I only took one capsule of Symbion each day, but going by my very strong initial response, there is no way Symbion is only 20% as strong as Threelac. The Cobbs say two capsules of Symbion is equivalent to one sachet of Threelac. My early feeling is that this might be pretty accurate. I remember a sachet of Threelac hit me like a bag of bricks when I started it.
So, if you had problems with the yeast in Threelac, I would definitely consider trying Symbion. IMO, Bacillus subtilis just might be the most therapeutic probiotic strain out there. It stimulates the bowel's immune system, something those of us with intestinal candidiasis really need. It also helps heal leaky bowel.
I think proof of its powerful immune stimulation is that after only two days my tongue has gone particularly white. I take this as a sign of a strong GI immune response.
One piece of advice though. Don't be tempted to increase the dosage too quickly or you will look and feel like death warmed up. Best to start with a low dose and only increase by one capsule every 3 weeks. Be patient. It may take 2-3 months before you notice any improvement. I'm basing this advice on my experiences with Threelac.
Good for you! I hope it works. At least you can be pretty sure it won't do you any harm, except for die-off. There is a good chance it will reduce SIBO, and this may also release some lead if the bacteria are holding onto it. Potentially, Symbion can eradicate both bacterial and Candida overgrowth right at the epithelial level, by stimulation of the immune system. But of course this is just speculation on my part. I have a gut feeling zinc will work very well alongside Symbion. Both stimulate TH1 immune response within the bowel.
Glad u started symbion. I wish u all the best with it. Yeah, it definitely seems just as potent as threelac. I see the numbers of the CFU's on my bottle, but people forget thet THREELAC is coated with canola oil ("micro-encapsulated" lol) in order to avoid stomach acid. Yet, we with digestive issues, and candida usually have minimal stomach acid. You need stomach acid to secrete to stimulate bile- the bile which will allow the candida to lose that coating in order to work.
I seriously think threelac, 'doesnt work' with many people because of how poor their digestion already is, and/or it needs to get on the walls of the colon or small intestine. People with constipation and poor digestion may have caked crap on the walls of the intestines. I find the greatest fiber I have used so far is acacia fiber (Heather's Tummy Fiber, or Clear Fiber by renew life- same thing)
Do you realize that Symbion is a product made by Mark Cobb and his wife? That there story about how they heard about it is a lie?
From their Threelac page:
"But over the previous few months, we had been getting rave reviews from some of our old customers about a new product they said worked even better than ThreeLac and that didn't cause any die-off symptoms, called Symbion Probiotics..."
...and how Alyson Cobb...
"...reluctantly... made the switch in desperation to get control of her remaining candida symptoms. After only a couple of days, she noticed something good happening and she was feeling a bit better. After two weeks, she knew she had done the right thing, as some of her symptoms began clearing up."
Now Alyson may have indeed gone through some trauma where Threelac didn't help, but this whole story about how they heard about it from 'old customers' is complete BS.
They created Symbion and they PATENTED it. A google search will confirm this.
It may indeed work. I don't know. But to lie about it's creation -- a complete and total lie, is truly sickening.
The FACT remains, that Symbion is manufactured by Mark Cobb, so he didn't hear about it from his customers, and his wife was fully aware of the product, so the entire story on candidafree.net is a LIE, and they know it.
The different strain between the 2 products is Threelac's Genus Enterococcus Faecalis and Symbion's Enterococcus Faecium.
I'm a research biologist from Vancouver, Canada and have done a lot of research on Genus Enterococcus Faecalis as I saw it as the workhorse of the Threelac I took some years ago to clean up my Candida symptoms.
This is really an amazing probiotic strain. Amazing because it comes from a pathogenic family which makes people really sick. Amazing moreso because the Japanese have gone deep into this strain to find a substrain that has all the potency inherent in this family but not the dangerous pathology.
I see many probiotics like Symbion with Enterococcus Faecium in them. It's not the same family though it sounds like it might be. It's a rather ordinary bacteria.
I've only seen Threelac's Genus Enterococcus Faecalis in one other product, also from Japan where it seems there is a certain knowledge about this strain. This company, Dr. Ohhira's probiotics uses their own substrain of this genus but it's delivered in a different form (not powder) and doesn't have the same punch against yeast that Threelac has.
BTW, Bacillus subtilis is also fairly common in probiotics.
I have seen other products compare themselves to Threelac saying it's the same thing for less but the manufacturer had either not had the knowledge or the courage to go into Threelac's workhorse strain and make it a part of their package.
Just my 2 cents as I have some inside knowledge of this world.
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