Given a food source, bacteria will reproduce so there is no point in spending lots of money on probiotics when you can culture your own very easily. There is a lot to be said about L. Plantarum found in sauerkraut. The others in VSL #3 are not that great IMO. A large number of bacteria, not as many as in a small amount of sauerkraut, but otherwise nothing really special.
Don't believe the hype about probiotics, they are not that strong or beneficial! Claims made by some of them about them being stronger than yoghurt isn't justified. A poor store bought yoghurt maybe but not a well prepared homemade yoghurt. Yoghurt isn't the strongest source of bacteria that you can make either, it's just an example.
Try some sodium bicarb. I know it's not a probiotic but you did mention that you were using iodine.