Acid Reflux/heartburn Caused by Probiotic??

I'm a nutritional consultant & educator, and I can tell you we see this a lot. Lots of people have these problems, sometimes from the bacteria and sometimes from the added diary, sometimes a combination. You just don't know what's in most commercially prepared products, unfortunately. You probably gave your system a real jolt. Some people have the gas/nausea stuff, and some get the diarrhea/lower GI reaction.

You also don't know what's going on in your digestive tract to begin with. Different people have different amounts of "sludge" coating the walls of their intestines (and it has nothing to do with whether you "go" every day or not - sort of like how blood still moves through arteries covered with plaque!). I have found that achieving digestive health is best achieved with a comprehensive product with both soluble and insoluble fiber (hard to find in the right ratio) plus herbs, digestive enzymes, and other key ingredients to help you achieve balance. When you just put one ingredient in (e.g. probiotics, or a plain fiber product), you can get a real upset that's worse than the deficiencies or problems you were trying to fix.

So I would stop the probiotics entirely, stop all dairy, and stop adding more things into the mix. I know you want relief, but the Prilosec, Gas X, Tums and everything else is just continuing to upset the balance your body is trying to return to. I can help you establish a balance but I'd have to know more about what else you are doing, and what made you want to add the probiotics to begin with (general health, or to treat a problem). The metallic taste may be related to the start of detox but there's a better way to do it that's not so harsh.

I had Activia yogurt once and it did a number on my lower GI. I too, had no issues, so not sure why I even bought it?? I stick with regular yogurt now.

I copied an answer of mine to another mom. Hopefully this will help you:

I have acid reflux due to a hiatal hernia. Nexium is the best that I have tried. It is a prescription though.

A few tips for GERD:

Raise up the head of the bed. I use a sleeping bag folded up UNDER the head of the mattress. At hotels, etc. I put pillows or whatever I can find under the mattress. Don't just raise up his head with extra pillows (on top of mattress) because this will put too much pressure on his stomach muscles and force up the acid.

Avoid nuts, chocolate and mint. I switched to Tom's of Maine fruity toothpaste at bedtime. My GI doc said these things loosen up the sphincter muscle allowing acid to escape.

Don't go to bed or lay down right after eating. I try to wait 3-4 hours.

Carbonation is horrible for GERD. So is anything greasy or deep fried.

Eventually when I got a handle on my acid reflux I re-introduced all the above foods and everything was fine. I still do keep my head elevated.

Also, make sure he gets lots of water to keep him regular. Constipation stops everything from moving in the right direction and makes acid reflux horrible.

Probably a coincidence with a stomach bug. My kids and I have had it to. Lots of gas and gas pain and loose stools.

Probably a coincidence, but you may have started with too much too soon. What's the active culture count in the one that you took? Mine is 15 billion per tablet...I started with one and now use two. If you started out too high then sometimes it can cause some discomfort but not like what you describe.

If I were you, I would focus on gentle foods for few days and see how you feel. Homemade broth (chicken, turkey, beef or something else made from bones) can work wonders for healing the stomach. Warm water with lemon juice or raw apple cider vinegar (like Bragg's) is also good...just a teaspoon or so in a glass of warm water. Heartburn is actually caused not by too much acid but by not enough...with enough stomach acid, your stomach digests foods quickly and efficiently and keeps food moving into the intestines. Without enough acid, food sits sort of trapped so food and stomach acid leak up into the esophagus. Anyway...that's why lemon juice and raw ACV are good for stomach issues. Plain organic yogurt (unsweetened with live cultures), kefir, and kumbacha are also good for restoring digestive health.

In all that time did you eat anything?

I've had a very bad response to probiotics. I'm lactose-intolerant and some probiotics do contain lactose.