Jeez, that sounds bad.

I haven't tried too many, but acidolphilus pearls make my brain feel calmer. Kefir does as well. You might try one or both of those. I know that's not related to stomach aches, but both of those are probiotics I've tried.

Kefir can be bought at a natural foods store or you can get kefir grains over the net and make your own, it's stupid simple to do.

acidolphilus pearls - Yes, that is one that I saw and wondered about. I know there was a post here about kefir and I wanted to try it, but the health food store is quite far away. Good heavens, I live in Idaho people! haha Thanks for the idea about ordering grains.

My recomendation is find out via a bio screen fecal analysis whichenxymes and good bacteria you are missing. H2S and Nitric oxide booth kill good bacteria strains and cause bad bacteria overgrowths like , E.coli, Enterococcus spp, Streptococcus spp, Bacteroides spp, Prevotella spp, Bifidobacterium spp and even Lactobacillus spp to overgrow.
refer
http://www.cfsdiscovery.com.au/images/KDM_Presentation_Oct09.pdf

Hi Katy,

Yes. Yes. Yes. My compounding pharmacist (I did a consult with her, for CFS and hormones so I could take info to a doctor from someone who thought out of the box) ,

anyway...

My comp pharm liked Florajen 3 probiotic capsules for me.

http://www.florajen.com/products-florajen3.shtml

They need to be kept in the refrigerator. Taken one hour before eating, or two hours after. Taken with cold (or not hot) water. (No drink with sugar because if there is yeast imbalance, sugar is what yeast likes to 'eat', and that's what makes the stomach feel lousy, the interaction.)

I had the same problem, 'unwell feeling stomach' no matter what I ate. Probiotics completely eliminated that for me, since 2002. (Unless I overindulge in something, then that's my own darned fault.)

And I've had CFS for 17+ years and I know how you feel about being questioned about diet. I've been there done that... And had to do it on my own, as I couldn't find a doc to monitor me.

One thing though, menopause did wreak a temporary havoc with my stomach. Even probiotics didn't help for about a year.

You might see if you have a compounding pharmacist, you might have one already, and ask them what you should avoid. I found out the hard way I'm estrogen sensitive, so no soy, ginger, easy on the yams - anything with estrogen.

Florajen 3 isn't the only game in town though. Shaklee makes some, but were too strong for me. Any good pharmacy should have some brands that are kept in their refrigerator.

Good luck with trying probiotics in whatever form you try. I know there are members here who have tried and they didn't make much difference. But they did for me.

There's also debate about FOS or inulin, aka 'prebiotic'. Some say it's good, some say it's not good. I drank some kefir that had some in it and it always made me end up feeling weird. The thing is that inulin will feed bad bacteria just the same as good, so if you've got an imbalance it will just feed the bad.

I went through a bunch of different probiotics when i was first starting out... my mom (a nurse) kept telling me about how i needed to strengthen my gut and she kept getting me to try activia. the activia helped some, and i started taking all sorts of probiotics, bb-12, bio salud, lactospore, we went through a bunch...
Here are some of the things I've gleaned... pills have about 15 billion or so colony forming units, 500ml of yogurt has about 5 trillion, and kefir has something like 15 trillion...

Kefir grains are far superior to ANYTHING i have tried. Even better than store bought kefir which is second. Unlike a lot of the strains in yogurts and probiotic yogurts, some of these actually can and do colonize your stomahch. the strains of yeast and bacteria in kefir are completely non pathogenic and can't hurt you... they do however secrete enzymes and chemicals which destroy pathogenic microbes. there are about 40 different strains in homemade kefir and they all work symbioticly to increase eachother's survival against foreign bacteria and strains.

So... IMO live kefir grains are the way to go... i had a whole posting earlier on kefir because i think it helped me tremendously....

also kefir has tryptophan ... a chemical that is broken down by the whole rnase and interferon activation problem that CFSers have... so when you take the tryptophan in through your diet like this it has a HUGELY calming effect on CFS symptoms... at least it did for me. i was one of the people with gastrological cfs disturbances ... UNENDING nausea.... and the probiotics in general stopped a lot of this .... but the kefir stopped all my nausea several weeks after begining it.

*err i meant to say colonize your intestines... few probiotics even survive the stomach... but the whey in in kefir contains enzymes that help people with ulcers cuz it helps kill off the h pylori

Like judderwocky I have been through more probiotics and suppliments than I care to mention.
They full the top of the microwave oven.
My CFS specialist researcher and treating Dr Professor Kenny De Meilier from Belgium said "there is no one size fits all to CFS and supplimentation or enzymes". He said" it all depends on the individual biochemistry and gut flaura that are effected". He said " Some people take a ful ATP protocall including CoQ10 and Coq10 benefits some CFS sufferers while inducing detremental toxicity in other CFS sufferers." Its all to do woth whats driving the Gastro-Neuro-Immune dysfunction and the subsequant bio chemical micro biological toxicities and perpetual imbalances. Thats why he based every recommendation on biofecal analysis from Bio 21 Century run by Dr Henry Butt at Melbourne University. Dr Henry Butt is a world leader in biofecal analysis.
Subsequantly I take fresh squezzed lemon juice first thing every morning. Its the only string acid that tells my pancreas to generate bile which lines my gut wall first thing every morning and helps stop toxins tranfering through the gut wall thereby limiting H2S and NOover production. This is evidant also because Lemon juice doesnt induce a migrane. A migrane is evidance of a neuro toxic overload.
I also take "Enzyme" (by GNLD International (Pancreatin, Persin, Ox Bile, Papain and Alpha Amylase). On the mbasis of my biofecal analyasis De Meirleir said that its the ox bile that will help me.. I also take Ultra Flora Restore as well as Andro NK by Metagenics.
I also take 3000mg of Omega 3 fish oil tablets.
I also take a full ATP protocal.
Nothing has worked as well as the lemon juice though.

Cheers
Al

I may try lemon juice...I won't even touch probiotics. I tried so many that I really think it messed me up worse. I had difficulty eating certain foods, constipation, headaches. My doctor told me that if your not careful you can actually kill off some of the things you need. So I agree if your going to take any probiotic, get a strain test to see what might benefit you best. I still have some stomach issues but I eat one wedge of pineapple (fresh cut) each day. I don't how it works but my doctor said that the acid levels out something. Idk. I take enzymes before meals if needed. I don't like raw pinapple much so I tend to forget. About 2-3 days and I start remembering again!

True Bremac, as with anything, it's possible to overdo probiotics.

And always a good idea to have a test for specifics. I just couldn't find a doc to do it, so I had to be my own guinea pig. A guinea pig exercising caution...

I have been trying probiotics for the past few months. I wound up getting into problems with constipation, so I stopped taking them for a while. The constipation went away after I got off the probiotics, so I am reluctant to try them again, at least for a while.

Constipation can happen from probiotics. My comp pharm told me, probably out of balance the other way and to stop taking them, then only resume for a few days if my symptoms reappeared.

A lot of trying to cope with CFS is trying to find balance. And it's near impossible most times, get relief in one area and another goes awry.

Okay. Weeelllllll...... Thanks for giving me all kinds of info that convinces me to wait on ordering anything until I do a bit more research.

Kefir grains remind me of sourdough starter. I tried some of that years and years ago and couldn't make pancakes, bread, etc. fast enough to use it and it just kept growing and growing and I ended up throwing it out.

I looked up some recipes for kefir and decided I don't have the energy to kefir myself. I don't much like milk or yogurt either so the thought of drinking fermented milk everyday wasn't all that enticing.

THANK YOU ALL FOR SHARING YOUR EXPERIENCE. Wow. What a treasure trove of wisdom and willingness to help.

I guess I thought it would be easier but we are a strange bag of tricks when it comes to remedies for CFS symptoms. Your comments are helpful. I have some new things to look up and study. Kefir isn't totally out of the picture. There's water kefir as opposed to milk kefir, etc. etc.

I'm drinking kefir mixed with apple juice right now. It's delicious.

That's it, I'm going to do the probiotic thing in a big way. And right now, constipation sounds like a dream!