Hi,

I'm a 55 year-old male who suffers from Chronic Anxiety Disorder (which can lead to mild Petit Mal attacks when highly stressed) and other CNS issues resulting from having Meningitis as a baby and also have a peptic ulcer which flares up every once in a while plus bowel problems (intermittent diarhea and/or constipation).

As most of you know, anxiety leads to depression when stressed thus compromising the immune system and making us prone to flus, colds, infections, etc.

For the past 6 weeks, I've been trying to shake a flu (no fever, fatigue, dry cough, terrible sore throat, sinus problems, frequent headaches, etc.) and not being keen on traditional antibiotics (which in my opinion, cause more damage than good), I've been searching the Net for alternative treatments to boost my immune system in order to fight this bug.

So, to make a long story short, here is my dilemma. Every time I find something that might help boost my immune system, I also find contradictions, drug interactions and warnings thus leaving me more confused than anything else.

So far, I've tried a "flu and sore throat remedy" found on another site which was a concoction made from cayenne pepper, apple cider vinegar, sodium bicarb and water. This relieved the flu and sore throat symptoms but also made my ulcer and GERD flare up even though they also claimed that this recipe also cured ulcers (yeah, right).

I went to a Natural Products store and after talking to a "consultant", she recommended I take Probiotics and after taking them 3 times/day for 3 days, I got the infamous "kicking in and cleansing side-effects" such as acidic diarhea (twice only) and minor bloating. I was starting to feel better but I read the following on a few sites: "People who are immunocompromised or have an underlying disease or gut condition should take probiotics only under the care of a doctor, and even then, should only take well defined and characterized products produced by reputable companies."

In conclusion, I am quite confused on what I should take, any feedback would be appreciated. As far as drug interactions I have to be careful of, I take Clonazepam (Klonopin) 2mg/day for the Anxiety and Petit Mal and Nexium 40mg/day for the peptic ulcer.

Thanks,
Gene