How many days after chemo treatment can I take probiotic?

[Bessie]

I plan to take probiotics during chemo, but I know I have to wait a few days. I've heard 3 to 5 after infusion....is this ok??

[JillaryJill]

Personally, I would ask your doctor. I would not do anything to compromise the effectiveness of chemo.

[Aussie Girl]

You'll have to ask your doctor. Your immunity is lowest between day 7 and day 10.

As far as I know probiotics are currently being studied but their value is not yet known in cancer patients. I suspect they would be fine taken day 11 to 20 but this is only a guess.

Aussie Girl

[rhondalea]

The pharmacists at CINJ reviewed my entire supplement list before I started chemo. I just checked my records, and although I removed many from my list, I took probiotics daily throughout chemo with no ill effect.

My understanding is that you should avoid Saccharomyces boulardii like the plague when your immune system isn't up to par, but I'm pretty sure other commercially available probiotics are okay. I took Jarrow EPS, Trader Darwin's and Primadophilus Optima (alternating), and I ate a lot of (greek) yogurt and kefir.

As mentioned, you need to double check with your onc. I didn't have a typical response to chemo (in terms of side effects) or even to one of the supplements I took (the study was published when I was done, so I didn't know just how bad the results were until a year after I finished chemo), so my experience may be different from what you will have. Also, I was given Neulasta after every round of chemo, so my counts never went down until the final round (and we don't know why the final injection failed, although I believe it may have been user--i.e., me--error). Even then, though, I had no problem with the probiotics.

[TanyaRD]

It is best to check with your oncologist but we do not typically restrict probiotic use unless neutropenia becomes severe.