Omg...i Might Be On To Something

[TriticusToxicum]

forgot to mention...the man who chased the deer was barbecuing, so ran out like a crazy person, waving his meat tongs wildly in the air......THAT scared 'em off!

Are you sure it was a deer?

I've heard stories of the Jackalopes out there. wouldn't want to cross one of them.

http://schadenfreude.cogitox.com/images/jackalope.webp

[AndreaB]

Andrea - - OMG - - I'll email you all my appts, then you can call me - - like Rachel, I forget everything and lose the tiny cards..... Maybe you could come down here and help me run my scattered life for a while?

I'd be glad to......I would need your phone number in with that email or pm though.

I've thought about runnin to Cal for a weekend. Don't think that is what you have in mind though.

Today has started out a little better.....gotta get into the trenches.

Are you sure it was a deer?

I've heard stories of the Jackalopes out there. wouldn't want to cross one of them.

http://schadenfreude.cogitox.com/images/jackalope.webp

[rinne]

Rinne..... my heart breaks for you. can you imagine if you and Rachel and everybody else with these symptoms gets a Lyme dx??? and can GET ON with life? Should we start another thread? about battling Lyme? or maybe just put a giant disclaimer on teh first page - Rachel really CAN eat dairy, here's what's really the problem...

Susan, you are are sweetie and the feeling is mutual, I know you struggle too.

Leave Rachelville. I rarely get over to visit the Rachelville suburb although sometimes I lurk. I suppose it could be something like OMG Part II forget dairy it's Lyme. Or. We can keep going and find ourselves in the Guiness Book of World Records for the longest thread in history. I'm happy to leave it up to our president to decide,

Richard thank you for your warm wishes and I agree with you that we have created something that is quite extraordinary here and what is best of all, for me, is that it is very ordinary. Friends to chat with, an opportunity to learn new things and lots of laughter. You are right, it is very good medicine.

[dlp252]

Donna, the electronic testing is based on acupuncture principles, and the points on the body that connect to energy flow and all of the different body systems, organs, etc. When they test supplements against your body, they might look at the stomach point for digestability and the allergy point for allergy, for starters.

Okay, I guess, lol. Nothing computes in my head these days--still think I'm not sure how the supplements get tested, lol. PS...I'm not sure anyone could explain it to me in my present state...your words were plain enough to understand, lol.

Laura,

That's great news. Now we have 4 appointments next week to look forward to.....five if you include the allergy/intolerance test for my kids and husband.

Rachel....Tuesday

Donna.....Wednesday

Laura......Wednesday

Rinne.......? What day is yours Rinne?

My family..Tuesday

Judy....let us know when your appointment is.

Six if you count the appointment I have on Tuesday with the HealthNow doctors. Tuesday with HN, Wednesday with the mercury dentist--I'm so looking forward to them both.

Susan's right don't give it up! Tick pickin' parties can be fun - in the right company

Careful now, this is exactly how we got in trouble, um, oh, about 200 pages ago, lol.

Yeah....I suppose I am. Even though I love camping and outdoor activities....I gotta say...I wont camp anywhere that doesnt have all the amenities. I'm talking clean restrooms, showers, general store, boat ramp, picnic tables...etc....and you should see all the stuff I bring with me!

Ha, last time I went camping I took an air mattress! Little battery lamp...

[TriticusToxicum]

Careful now, this is exactly how we got in trouble, um, oh, about 200 pages ago, lol.

Sorry, forgot where I was (runs off to the funny pages)

[dlp252]

So Rachel, was it the lyme/mercury specialist who sent you for the electronic testing...wonder if the HN doctors ever do that and what criteria need to be present for them to want to send someone. Hum, I'll ask on Tuesday.

[GFBetsy]

Sorry, I feel like I'm bursting in uninvited, but all this talk of mangy deer reminded me of a book I just read. It was about Prion (malformed protein) diseases (like mad cow), and it was fascinating (it was called "The Family that Couldn't Sleep", but that's beside the point). Anyway, evidently deer and elk and moose in the US are starting to have prion disease . . . they call it Chronic Wasting Disease, and the deer just starve to death. I'm not sure if it's because of the holes in their brains, or what . . . but maybe that's why your deer looked so sick . . . BLECH!

Sorry! So totally off topic!

Edited to say: Just googled CWD, and it appears that deer with CWD don't necessarily look sick at all. So maybe it was just the junk food diet after all . . . I don't even want to think about what all those Milk Duds are doing to MY body!

[rinne]

Nope, you are totally invited. Welcome.

This is all sounding very bad. I've read they discovered that the reason the cows had mad cow disease is that they caught it from humans, as in the dead were fed to cows and the dead had the disease.

I think we forgot or perhaps we are simply skilled at ignoring consequences and that we are now seeing what happens when you go on a toxic binge and dose everyone with poison, not to mention the radiation from bombs and xrays. Most of these agricultural chemicals we have came from laboratories established to create chemicals that kill people.

I know this sounds rather glum but I am not glum at all about the bright spark that is humanity, especially the many bright spirits in this small corner of the universe.

[AndreaB]

Besty,

I've heard of that. I thought I had read they got it from licking the cow's salt licks. Very easily transferable.

Somehow I don't think the SAD is helping the poor critters.

[dlp252]

Sorry, I feel like I'm bursting in uninvited, but all this talk of mangy deer reminded me of a book I just read.

Everybody is welcome here!

[AndreaB]

Rinne,

Who knows whether mad cow disease had been something dormant in cows or not. I have read that feeding dead animals and waste back to the cows, sheep, chickens.....has worsened the problem. Especially considering that cows and sheep are herbavores. Doesn't that make you want to run out and have a hamburger. Yeck. I buy the expensive meat from cows that are allowed to be such. That was one of the reasons I went vegan to begin with. My body obviously didn't like it since I'm intolerant to most of the veg protein.

[GFBetsy]

Actually, I think that the current belief is that the cows developed the disease so widely because they were fed animal protein in order to increase milk production (ie, when there were sick cows, they'd put them down and use them for cow food). So there was one sporadic "mad cow", which was then put down and included in the bovine food chain. They used to think it might have migrated from sheep, but now it appears that prion diseases are more easily passed WITHIN a species, and not so much between. There was a maori tribe that had a lot of CJD, and it appears that they started having it after beginning to practice cannibalism. And once they stopped that practice, the incidence went WAY down.

Just another reason not to eat our dead family members!

[DingoGirl]

Betsy - glad you popped in! very interesting stuff...but what I want to know is, why couldn't the family sleep? I have such killer insomnia - went through 10 years of it, and two of those years thought I might die - there is actually something called "fatal insomnia" and mine wasnot unlike that. So....I take drugs now. Probably always will and that scares me.....

[GFBetsy]

I think they also believe that the deer developed this disease from eating the bovine "cake" feed (including animal protein) that hunters were leaving for them because it helped them to develop bigger racks. Oops.

Betsy - glad you popped in! very interesting stuff...but what I want to know is, why couldn't the family sleep? I have such killer insomnia - went through 10 years of it, and two of those years thought I might die - there is actually something called "fatal insomnia" and mine wasnot unlike that. So....I take drugs now. Probably always will and that scares me.....

It's called Fatal Familial Insomnia, and in middle age about 1/2 of the family members just lose the ability to sleep. Their adrenal system kicks into high gear (sweating, heart racing) and they just can never fall asleep all the way again. It's a disease like Creutzfeld-Jacob (sp?), which create holes in the brain, and it just destroyed the portion of their brains that were responsible for sleep. They eventually died - at least partly from the effect of never being able to rest. It was a fascinating book . . . Don't remember the author, though. I'll check on that, if you'd like.

Drugs didn't work for them, though. They tried Valium and stuff, and they just sleep-walked. . . . still couldn't fall asleep. So (as long as the drugs are working for you) at least it appears you don't have FFI! (It was also usually fatal within 18 months of onset. Not that it's great to have insomnia for 10 years . . . but we're glad you're still around!)

[Green12]

Hi GFBetsy, just jump right in

This is what I was referring to, or trying to refer to, about the elk and etc here in CO. I meant Chronic Wasting Disease, or as Denny Crane on Boston Legal would say "the mad cow" but mistyped JD, I believe JD (Jakob Crucefield (sp?)) is the human form of the disease. Scary stuff imo.

[DingoGirl]

Julie....

DENNY CRANE (that was supposed to be in the same voice that he uses )

Betsy - you're right, I do remember now, they could never fall into REM and I forgot all about the holes in the brain part. I could just never, ever fall asleep, and for a two-year period, would stay awake until 5 or 6 am, sleep for maybe a half-hour to an hour....EVERY SINGLE NIGHT....or not fall asleep AT ALL....and then after about seven days of this, would maybe get four hours....it was unbelievable. And then, trying to work....trying to have a relationship (which ended), I was a total mess, crying nearly every day like an exhausted child.....not to mention not beign able to think clearly, and I still can't, quite often. So now, I do take SEroquel every night....have cut down from 300 to 100, hope to go to 50 but doubt I'll ever be totally off it. Even with this drug, I sometimes still lie awake for hours...it is HEINOUS.

[Mtndog]

forgot to mention...the man who chased the deer was barbecuing, so ran out like a crazy person, waving his meat tongs wildly in the air......THAT scared 'em off!

Andrea - - OMG - - I'll email you all my appts, then you can call me - - like Rachel, I forget everything and lose the tiny cards..... Maybe you could come down here and help me run my scattered life for a while?

Laura - yes, such good news!!

OMG- If we didn't have you around with your great stories, I seriously do NOT know what I'd do!

From what I know about east Coast ticks- deer tick do NOT have to be anywhere near deer. In fact, most people get them in the woods without running into big horned bucks like our SusieQ . There's a town near me called Ipswich that has a huge deer poopulation and if you go to the BEACH there, there are signs everywhere warning you about the deer ticks in the sand dunes.

Also, I don't think (don't quote me on this though) that the deer ticks jump on and gorge to the size of those other ticks where you notice them (when I was little, a friend of mine had a tick latch on and for weeks we thought she had a watermelon seed stuck in her hair till we figured out what it was). The problem with the deer ticks here is that the fact that they are so small that a lot of people don't notice they've been bitten.

rachel- If you tell me you bring a toaster oven to make smores when you go camping, I'm gonna die. My sister does (she camps about once every century ). Then again, you probably don't make smores!

JUDY- BLACK MOLD IS BAD!!!!!!

Either have someone come in and get rid of it or if it's in small areas, you can wipe it off with alcohol. In my research on how to clean my stuff as we were moving, most of the stuff I read said that bleaching is a myth (plus bleach is horrid anyway!). The best way to get rid of it is a combo of isopropyl alcohol and water.

GET IT OUT!!!!!!!!!!!

[DingoGirl]

(when I was little, a friend of mine had a tick latch on and for weeks we thought she had a watermelon seed stuck in her hair till we figured out what it was).

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWWWWWWWWwwthat makes me want to hurl!!!!!!

JUDY- BLACK MOLD IS BAD!!!!!!

Either have someone come in and get rid of it or if it's in small areas, you can wipe it off with alcohol. In my research on how to clean my stuff as we were moving, most of the stuff I read said that bleaching is a myth (plus bleach is horrid anyway!). The best way to get rid of it is a combo of isopropyl alcohol and water.

OMG they have so much black mold at the climbing gym, in the back...and she wipes it with bleach and it never goes away! so....this doesn't work, obviously???? So glad you got out of that evil apartment!

Bev - also glad you like my silly stories

[Mtndog]

For future reference all you campers:

HOME CARE ADVICE FOR TICK BITE

1. Wood Tick Removal:

* Use a pair of tweezers and grasp the wood tick close to the skin (on its head). Pull the wood tick straight upward without twisting or crushing it. Maintain a steady pressure until it releases its grip.

* If tweezers aren't available, use fingers, a loop of thread around the jaws, or a needle between the jaws for traction.

* Note: covering the tick with petroleum jelly, nail polish or rubbing alcohol doesn't work. Neither does touching the tick with a hot or cold object.

2. Tiny Deer Tick Removal:

* Needs to be scraped off with a knife blade or credit card edge.

* Place tick in a sealed container (e.g. glass jar, zip lock plastic bag), in case your doctor wants to see it.

3. Tick's Head Removal:

* If the wood tick's head breaks off in the skin, it must be removed. Clean the skin. Then use a sterile needle to uncover the head and lift it out or scrape it off.

* If a very small piece of the head remains, the skin will eventually slough it off.

4. Antibiotic Ointment: Wash the wound and your hands with soap and water after removal to prevent catching any tick disease. Apply an over the counter antibiotic ointment (e.g. bacitracin) to the bite once.

5. Expected Course: Tick bites normally don't itch or hurt. That's why they often go unnoticed.

6. Prevention of Tick Bites:

* Prevention is important if you are hiking in tick-infested areas.

* Wear long pants and a long shirt. Tuck your shirt into your pants. Tuck the cuffs of your pants into your socks or boots. Light-colored clothing is better because the ticks can be seen more easily.

* Inspect your entire body and your clothing every couple hours. Favorite places are in the hair, so be certain to check your scalp, neck, armpits, and groin.

* A shower at the end of a hike will help rinse off any tick that is not firmly attached.

7. Call Your Doctor If:

* You can't remove the tick or the tick's head

* Fever or rash occur in the next 2 weeks

* Bite begins to look infected

* You become worse or develop any of the "Call Your Doctor" symptoms.

From aurorahealth.org

[rinne]

Andrea, I'm with you on the meat issue, for years I was a vegetarian and even now find it hard to eat a lot of meat but I know I need to.

[AndreaB]

Andrea, I'm with you on the meat issue, for years I was a vegetarian and even now find it hard to eat a lot of meat but I know I need to.

Rinne,

I eat quite a bit of meat again. I was raised on meat so it wasn't hard to go back. I buy from Open Original Shared Link. I don't know if they ship to Canada or not. They ship overnight in the US, the longest the meat is in transit is 2 days but I've always got it in one.

[Guest Robbin]

Hello fellow alien women!! I am feeling much less anxious today. Sun was shining and it helped quite a lot. I worry about the deer ticks here since we have HERDS that run around our development. I had four in my yard the other night. So much development and building going on the poor things don't know what to do. I am wondering what I can do to kill ticks in the yard? Any ideas? I use avantix for the dog and frontline on the cats so I don't worry about them bring them in. I did use Deer Off on the plants in August after they ate most of the impatiens and hostas in my little woods, but how to keep them from even coming around and kill the ticks that are there is still something I need to figure out.

One tick that bit me in PA was in my scalp and I reached up and scratched at it and it just fell off fully engorged. I put it in a tissue and squished and then burned the tissue in a flower pot out side to make sure the germs were gone for good (yes, I do overkill all insects, lol) . The worrisome thing that I have discovered is that ticks are not the only vectors of Lyme. They are discovering other insects including fleas and biting flies. I think the whole thing is like celiac--just the tip of the iceberg has been discovered with this. I really think it is going to be discovered to be the cause of FM and many other conditions that are being diagnosed at an alarming rate.

Thank you all for the support, and Rachel your words of encouragement moved me to tears. I believe I have been having herx-type anxiety and have to cut back on the salt/c periodically as rinne said. I will keep you posted on the dr. I left a msg with a woman that is the head of the Lyme support group near me and am waiting for her to call with the hopes she has some good suggestions for a doc that is in my town and my lousy insurance will cover.

Have a wonderful peaceful, happy weekend all of you wonderful fellow-aliens.

[Rachel--24]

Ha, last time I went camping I took an air mattress! Little battery lamp...

Donna, I always bring a queen size air mattress....I'm telling you my camping trips are quite luxurious. Got a huge tent too....you can stand up in it...even walk around.

So Rachel, was it the lyme/mercury specialist who sent you for the electronic testing...wonder if the HN doctors ever do that and what criteria need to be present for them to want to send someone. Hum, I'll ask on Tuesday.

I'm not sure if they do any of that type of testing....I kind of doubt it though. I think they specialize in certain areas...digestion, allergies, adrenal, gluten sensitivity. Lyme and mercury was out of their territory so I was dismissed. They really did dismiss me but I wasnt at all upset about it since they told me which Dr. could help me better. They told me if I still didnt get anywhere with the new Dr.....I could come back and they'd try again. Obviously my new doc is figuring stuff out so I probably wont need to go back to HN.

If you end up seeing Dr. Rick and he asks how you found out about HN....tell him from Rachel....the really messed up girl who wears a baseball hat and cant handle chemicals. He used to say I was "special" but what he wanted to say was that I was really messed up. You can tell him I found out its Lyme Disease.

Sorry, I feel like I'm bursting in uninvited, but all this talk of mangy deer reminded me of a book I just read.

Welcome GFBetsy....dont apologize....just jump on in. We like newcomers.

I know this sounds rather glum but I am not glum at all about the bright spark that is humanity, especially the many bright spirits in this small corner of the universe.

Yes Rinne....its very bright over here in R-ville.

No glumness coming from me. Heck I just noticed that in my reply to Donna I put a big grinning happy face( )after stating that I have Lyme Disease.

That cant be normal....yet for me it somehow is.

Rinne,

Who knows whether mad cow disease had been something dormant in cows or not. I have read that feeding dead animals and waste back to the cows, sheep, chickens.....has worsened the problem. Especially considering that cows and sheep are herbavores. Doesn't that make you want to run out and have a hamburger. Yeck. I buy the expensive meat from cows that are allowed to be such. That was one of the reasons I went vegan to begin with. My body obviously didn't like it since I'm intolerant to most of the veg protein.

Sheeeesh....how come everyone here knows about all this cow stuff except me.

I'm eating beef regularly....its organic, grass fed from Whole Foods.....hope its ok as far as all the crazy stuff I'm reading here right now.

. Not that it's great to have insomnia for 10 years . . . but we're glad you're still around!)

Yes Susan....we're glad you're still here....telling your crazy stories and making us laugh!

We love you for that.

This is what I was referring to, or trying to refer to, about the elk and etc here in CO. I meant Chronic Wasting Disease, or as Denny Crane on Boston Legal would say "the mad cow" but mistyped JD, I believe JD (Jakob Crucefield (sp?)) is the human form of the disease. Scary stuff imo.

Seeee...Julie knows about all this too!

I am learning something new today.

rachel- If you tell me you bring a toaster oven to make smores when you go camping, I'm gonna die. My sister does (she camps about once every century ). Then again, you probably don't make smores!

nope....no toaster oven for me....I gotta roast my marshmallows over the fire....gotta have a fire! I dont know if I've ever had a smores.

This has actually managed to depress me on several occassions...at work....watching people buy stuff for making smores....me wishing I'd done it when I had the chance.

However, several people have told me that I've definately had smores....we used to make them everytime we camped.

I have no recollection of this.

Stupid Lyme Disease.....robbing me of my smores memories.

For future reference all you campers:

HOME CARE ADVICE FOR TICK BITE

Thanks for that list Bev....will definately be printing it for future reference. I have a feeling I'm gonna have to live more cautiously now.

[rinne]

However, several people have told me that I've definately had smores....we used to make them everytime we camped.

I have no recollection of this.

Stupid Lyme Disease.....robbing me of my smores memories.

And I don't know why I find that howlingly funny but I do.

I predict the gluten free industry is going to boom as more and more people are diagnosed and soon we will be able to have all the ingredients for gluten free smores. Take that Lyme Bugs.

[Guest Robbin]

And I don't know why I find that howlingly funny but I do.

I predict the gluten free industry is going to boom as more and more people are diagnosed and soon we will be able to have all the ingredients for gluten free smores. Take that Lyme Bug.

Omg, Rachel, I am so sorry, but I find it funny too. It is good to laugh at some of this. Hey, I bought some rice graham type crackers a few months back, they were hard as rocks, but maybe would work with marshmellows and chocolate bars?

Hey, I wonder if lyme is successfully treated if the food intolerances go away? Any thoughts my learned friends?