Anyone tried probiotics?

Sorry folks, that was a test. There was a blanket ban on it a few years back because someone over on the Sjogren's syndrome board (another autoimmune disease) was trying to promote a book they'd written on the subject.

The reason for bringing this up is a bizarre change in my food preferences, starting just a few weeks ago. I never had much of a sweet tooth, even in childhood, and lost practically all desire for sugary foods at the menopause, 30 years ago. Now, quite suddenly, I only want to eat sweet things. I can still eat fish, eggs and some fruit and veg, but meat suddenly tastes so revolting I can't even chew it. I can't drag myself away from the cake and biscuit aisles of the supermarket. I know this sounds a bit dramatic, but it feels like I've been possessed! On researching this, I discovered that a sudden increase in yeast overgrowth can be the reason for this weird symptom.

I'm wondering whether to have another go at probiotics. I have some history in this department. Five years ago my GP recommended a powerful US probiotic product recently arrived in Europe for my Sjogren's syndrome (a connective-tissue autoimmune disorder in the same group as lupus). Some doctors consider yeast overgrowth is a major factor in all autoimmune diseases, and I note IBS is generally considered to be autoimmune these days.

Anyway, I got my pharmacist to order the product and started straight in on the recommended dosage of one sachet per day. This was before I'd actually started having serious bowel problems btw, though I've long had a tendency to alternating constipation and diarrhoea. Two weeks later I was totally constipated. Worse still, I was more exhausted than I'd ever felt in my life, to the point where I was having episodes of depersonalisation. I actually got lost on my routine walk home from the office one day, and ended up off the route, sitting on a park bench weeping because I didn't know where I was.

Needless to say, I stopped the probiotic immediately. I recovered within a few weeks. I also did some on-line research, from which I learned that others had had similar problems with this and other commercial probiotic products. One of the possible reasons given for this reaction is that the yeast organisms can stage a kind of last stand in which they temporarily multiply and fight back before dying off. No idea whether or not this is true but I've just started taking the product again. This time, however, I'll start with a low dose and increase it VERY slowly.

I'd be interested to hear whether anyone has any input on this one.