Last Updated on 21st October 2020 by Caroline Haye
I’ve chatted with a lot of vitiligo sufferers over the years since telling my story on this site. And so many of them have digestive problems that I’m convinced malabsorption of nutrients is a key trigger of vitiligo… If not the root cause of it.
I have suffered with Irritable Bowel symptoms (and vitiligo) since early childhood. And, although the nutritional products I have been taking the last couple of years have resulted in my almost complete re-pigmentation, my IBS also improved but didn’t go altogether. The missing link for my digestive symptoms seems to have been probiotics. I think I must have had a bad case of Candida or some other sort of imbalance of intestinal flora… Because two courses of high strength probiotics later, nearly all the IBS symptoms have cleared up and I’m feeling better than I have for years.
If you suspect you might have the same problem, I would recommend taking a broad-spectrum, high strength probiotic every day. Most of us don’t get enough of these “good” bacteria in our diets. Not only that, but we get far too many antibiotics one way or another. So, whether you think you have an intestinal overgrowth or not, it’s unlikely to do any harm to take a course of probiotics. Having said that, I must stress I’m not a doctor. The advice is just a matter of common sense and gut instinct!
[Note: taking probiotics is not a substitute for a healthy diet. For my suggestions on diet, see Eating For Vitiligo Recovery.]
4 thoughts on “Curing your vitiligo may take guts!”
I have a nephew who have also a vitiligo or skin condition. It was started when he turned seven years old and now he’s already ten years old. I’ve noticed that he always complaint on stomach pain, irregular bowel movement, and aside from skin pigmentation, he also suffered from skin rashes. We seek a doctor’s advice for his condition and his doctor recommend for a UV therapy to encourage the re-pigmentation of the affected areas. Then after a year of treatment the skin pigmentation lessens but still it never disappears totally but atleast his skin rashes was gone.
I am most concern with my little nephew, So I was encourage to search for other alternatives for his treatments and I found your site.
Thanks also for sharing your own story!
Hi Angela, thanks for your post. As you will have seen from Saly’s comments and my response, there seem to be plenty of people with similar stories of vitiligo being accompanied by digestive problems and rashes. (I had so many stomach cramps and pains as a child that they took my appendix out in the mistaken belief that was the cause!)
I hope my reply to Saly might prove useful for your nephew too.
My daughter(4 y.o.) has vitiligo… This started when she was 1,5 years old after she had very bad diaper rash because of constant diarrhea. Whatever medicine she took, diarrhea never stopped, neither did rash. But one day when I changed her diaper I noticed that rash is gone and… her pigment as well. We thought it’s temporary and will go away, since no one in family had such thing. GP said, there is nothing serious and it may go away itself and she is too young to do any treatment, but prescribed Elidel. Long story short, we did a lot of different topical treatments(except rays and lights) but nothing worked. Her vitiligo still spreading. Tests showed that she has a lot of food sensitivities as well, so almost 6 month we excluded all food items she is sensitive to, vitiligo still spreading… Since she was a 2 y.o. and until now she takes vitamins for kids of her age. She doesn’t have candida(according to test) though, sometimes(not so often, or maybe she just doesn’t always say, not to interrupt playing) she does have stomachache.
Now she does take some vitamins and minerals complex with ginko biloba, still no any results…
I am not sure if all those supplements(mentioned in this site) are ok for kids of 4 years old. Wouldn’t like to fix one thing and harm another, you know what I mean.
Thanks for your comment, Saly – sorry I didn’t reply sooner but my blog wasn’t feeding through to my emails so I didn’t see it until now!
I’m very sorry to hear that your 4 year old daughter has vitiligo. Her symptoms sound so very familiar. I also had numerous digestive problems as a child (and all through my life) and most of my vitiligo lesions were also heralded by an itchy rash which lasted a few days or weeks and then cleared to leave de-pigmented skin underneath.
I understand your hesitation in giving a 4 year old supplements but everything you are telling me suggests that problems with her digestive system are the root of her vitiligo.
I can reassure you that Five a Day+ (which is a food, not a supplement) is completely safe for anyone of any age to take, but I would recommend starting her off on a small dose to start with and gradually increase it until she is comfortable with the amount. Boost, on the other hand, is a supplement but I recently had the mother of a 6 year old ask about its suitability and I sent this question to a qualified Nutritionist, who said that one capsule a day (instead of the recommended 4 a day) would be safe for a child of that age.
Based on my own experiences, and your description of your daughter’s tummy problems, I also wonder if it might be wise to get her on a course of children’s strength probiotics.
Good luck – I hope you see some improvement soon.