Hi Sue,
I am not familiar with the probiotic you are using, but hope it is working well. The one I use is made by UAS labs ("Innovite" in Canada). It contains acidophilus, bifidus, and FOS. It is refrigerated which means you are getting live bacteria, like you do in yogurt, so it will be much more potent than one off the shelf. The FOS is food for the bacteria to help the good flora in the gut grow. I really like this particular brand.
I read your post on the towelettes. Just wanted to say thanks for posting it. I e-mailed the company to learn more. Re. essential oils, I love peppermint oil all by itself as well. It works great to rub on for pain or headaches. NOW brand worked well for me. I tried the Frontier brand but it did next to nothing besides smelling nice. Both are available at local health stores.
There is a site that is by a chinese herbalist - sensiblehealth or something like that. You can google to find it. Customer service is very balanced, caring, knowledgeable. I use their products and have had life changing success with them (chinese bitters and gold coin grass.) Thought you might like to check it out. They have a very intresting perspective on how fibro. begins and what the symptoms are related to. (I e-mailed and asked them about what they thought caused it/how to address it.) Detoxification has proven to be key in my case. But again, I had to find products that worked - many companies market 'detox' products but are not necessarily hitting the mark where it counts. AIM'S barleylife is a product I find very good in this regard. So I stick with these two things.
Candida diet and cleanse helped me as well. But I weakened my body in the long run because I stayed on it way too long and antifungals are very hard on the body. It's best to keep the cleanse to a few months or just listen to how much your body can handle/needs. Years on it are not necesssary nor wise. Just wanted to mention that as a word of caution in case you decide to try a candida cleanse at some point.
Natural route has worked for me. I take no meds., except the occasional tylenol and have cut my pain/fatigue levels in half or maybe more just using herbs, supplements, diet, rest, stress management (still working on the last one!)
I don't come by the forums much anymore, but stop by from time to time to read, so would be happy if you would keep sharing any more helpful links/products here.
all the best, manyembers