Omg...i Might Be On To Something

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Then, it's been about a month now that I haven't been able to find my favorite frozen cherries. They're organic and pitted and I add them frozen to my smoothies. I stare at the frozen fruit shelf too.

I may have to switch stores, lol.

I've been to 5 different Giant Eagle Grocery stores in the last 2 weeks, hunting for San-J wheat-free tamari--and they don't carry it anymore.

And they WERE carrying Authentic Foods brown rice flour, and they don't carry IT anymore, either.

Grrr.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Any thoughts about this??

For people like me...who react to everything.

I was wondering if it could be that our immune systems are hyper alert due to the Lyme. Same reason that I dont get colds....maybe my immune system is gonna be overactive until the problem is better under control and then it can relax some??

I sometimes wonder if thats why I'm reacting to everything...I'm gonna ask my Dr. if my immune system could just be hyperactive rather than in the dumps.

I *did* have Graves Disease and not Hypothyroidism like most people get. My immune system and my body have been revved up for a long time. I've never been one to get sick with colds for as long as I can remember.

After they gave me the RAI to kill my thyroid I went even more Hyperthyroid. They said it could happen...when the radiation starts doing its thing you can actually get more overactive temporarily. The antibodies go way up after the treatment and the thyroid pumps out even more hormone.

This happened to me and it was really bad. I wanted to die...I kept calling the Endo. and he said I just had to wait it out. I was getting tests and it was showing I was going more hyper and the numbers were high. He told me they shouldnt get higher and everything should start calming down...but it DIDNT.

I kept calling him crying....got tested again and my T3 was over 800!!! I had been begging him for Methimazole.....the anithyroid drug I used to take before RAI but he didnt want me taking it because it can compete with the RAI and make treatment ineffective.

At that point with my T3 and T4 being through the roof he said it would be dangerous if I went any higher.... so he gave me the meds. It worked and I felt better and went Hypo. It was after this that I started reacting to everything.....except at the time I didnt realize that foods was causing problems. Things were still happenning because I went hyper one more time after that.

I'm wondering if my immune system was already overactive due to Lyme if having this treatment caused it to go into an even high state of "alarm" and revved it up so much that I became sensitized to everything??

When I read about mercury it says this...

Well....I dont get sick at all...even when everyone around me is sick with colds and flus.

I definately think my immune system is super-charged rather than dragged down. I'm gonna bring all this up to the Dr. next week.

I swear, this is somehow linked with vaccines (which used to contain mercury) the same way autism spectrum disorders are.

When my oldest son was 15 months old, he was given the MMR vaccine (a week before a friend called us up and said not to get it). When he entered kindergarten, we opted not to get the second (supposedly required) dose, but when he hit puberty, we did worry about his contracting mumps. We found a mumps-only vaccine--but it had thimerosal. I asked the ped for a titer in case he was still immune. The ped was great--he said, "Don't get your hopes up, it's been 9 years and the shot was only supposed to last 3-4 years."

Turned out, our son had 4 times the number of antibodies needed to be considered immune--after 9 years.

My hypothesis: Either some of us have hyper immune systems and the vaccines send our systems totally out of whack--or else NOBODY needs that second or third (MMR) (DTaP) (Hib) (fill in the blank) shot and the pharm companies are making a ton of money sending our systems totally out of whack.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Does anyone else feel the same?? Like you just dont wanna talk about it "normal" people who can eat whatever they want?? How could they possibly even comprehend any of it?

I've been assuming that these "normal" people are actually undiscovered celiacs who are just entering the learning curve...

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Happy Almost-New-Year, everybody! May 2007 bring peace and good health to all! And I want to add my deep appreciation for everything all of you have taught me this year. Without all of you, I probably would not have known enough to go gluten-free.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Happy Almost-New-Year, everybody! May 2007 bring peace and good health to all! And I want to add my deep appreciation for everything all of you have taught me this year. Without all of you, I probably would not have known enough to defy the Great Lord Dermatologist and go gluten-free.

[Rachel--24]

Well I'm glad that you're feeling good Rachel! I've been on Artemisinin for quite a while now and I just started Catnip yesterday (I've also been on Grapefruit seed extract for a while) and I haven't "herxed" yet. How will I know when I have? Do you think this bout of constipation counts? LoL.

If you herx you'll probably know because you'll feel alot worse. I think I probably herxed when I was on antibiotics earlier in the year. I was on them for 2 weeks and on day 4 I woke up to go to work and could barely walk. I had to hold onto the wall. I felt like I was gonna throw up and the whole room was spinning. My head hurt really bad and I was dizzy. I couldnt go to work but it passed and I felt a liitle better after going back to sleep.

The entire 2 weeks I was on the pills I dragged through the days, had depression, fatigue, weakness and pain. Alot of symptoms I hadnt had for a long time came back...I even got bruises all over.

If it wasnt herx I have no idea what it could have been.

As for the constipation....did you add anything new into your diet around the time it got worse??

Mine was totally due to food intolerance I think. It was actually before my colonoscopy that the GI saw all the impacted stool (i forgot)....I had a barium thing and thats when he saw all that. He said the preperation for the colonoscopy would clear it out. I had to be cleared out for the colonoscopy or they wouldnt be able to do it.

The GI had said he suspected food intolerance and slow digestion as the cause. I had to drink a bunch of nasty stuff and it still wasnt working. I was scared and crying cuz I hadnt went in a couple weeks and I was worried they'd have to cancel the colonoscopy.

My mom went to the store and got enemas. I tried that....its not the most pleasant thing ever but it worked. I think there was a blockage somewhere with all the impacted stool and the enema loosened everything and after that I got cleared out and had my colonoscopy.

I hope noone I know ever reads this.

After that I stopped eating the foods I think caused it and it hasnt happened again.

[Rachel--24]

I swear, this is somehow linked with vaccines (which used to contain mercury) the same way autism spectrum disorders are.

My hypothesis: Either some of us have hyper immune systems and the vaccines send our systems totally out of whack--or else NOBODY needs that second or third (MMR) (DTaP) (Hib) (fill in the blank) shot and the pharm companies are making a ton of money sending our systems totally out of whack.

I think you're probably right...especially with regards to Autism.

I just dont know if it could be the case for me or not since I felt fine for 30 years even with the thyroid problem. I didnt have any vaccines or anything except maybe the one that protects you from rusty nails and stuff like that. Forget the name right now.

Anyways I dont think I got that anytime around when my symptoms hit. I'll have to check my records at Kaiser to find out.

[CarlaB]

Rachel, didn't you post some information within the past few days regarding body temperature and food sensitivities? If you didn't have food sensitivities when you were hyper thyroid, but did when you were hypo, doesn't that fit the temp. theory? I know for me, right now I don't seem sensitive to anything and my temp is higher than it's been since I started using NFP 13 years ago (not counting when I was pregnant ... then I think I could have heated a room!).

I am not going to test gluten though. Chloe just told me today that her gluten challenge was over, that not only is she waking up with belly aches at night, she's having nightmares about eating gluten! I'm glad we did the challenge, now we know for sure.

[Rachel--24]

AND OMG KAISER SUCKS...grrrrrrrrr.....they messed me up so badly...I wont even try to EXPLAIN what they did to me but I dislike them with intensity. "No we won't test you for parasites because you haven't been out of the country. It's all in your head". GRRRRRRRRRRR.

Yup same story here. The worst Dr.'s around are at Kaiser. My mental health was seriously suffering when I was their patient because they were MAKING me depressed. I had no hope. I felt alone and TERRIFIED because they treated me so horribly and werent doing anything to HELP me. I was WAY sicker because of the stress they were causing me by not LISTENING to me.

When I went on the candida diet and got dramatic improvements to my health the infectious disease specialist laughed at me and told me it was a placebo effect....that nothing REALLY improved cuz it was all in my mind. The only way I would get *better* was to go see a shrink.

He's the same guy that refused to test me for Lyme.

I did end up going to the shrink and she was the *only* one to say that there was something physically wrong that they hadnt discovered yet but that she could NOT help me. She called my Dr. and told him there was something really wrong...he was not too pleased....but I was.

[dlp252]

Does anyone else feel the same?? Like you just dont wanna talk about it "normal" people who can eat whatever they want?? How could they possibly even comprehend any of it?

I'm still in the "I'll tell anything that moves" phase, lol. But, I usually really do just try to keep it short and simple. There's this one "stock" guy in Whole Foods, who recognizes me each week, and knows I love frozen mangos...he noticed that I wasn't buying them anymore and I had to explain how I think I may be allergic and the elimination diet and all that.

[dlp252]

Ha! Sounds like guys trying to make conversation with the pretty girl in the supermarket.

I think you're right!

[dlp252]

What really surprised me was the fact that the baker guy totally looked surprised when I said I ate gluten-free because I had to for health reasons. Clearly he had never heard of such a thing....he looked at me like this.

I think he was actually the bakery manager because he was saying something about possibly expanding his gluten-free section because of sales. He was showing me where he might put more gluten-free stuff.

...

Obviously the gluten-free diet is more of a "fad" thing nowadays cuz this baker had no clue.

Ya, this scares me a bit cuz once the *fad* people drop off they might stop carrying gluten-free stuff, at least in the good selection and quantities, and I doubt we'll EVER find our gluten-free pumpkin pies then.

[Rachel--24]

Rachel, didn't you post some information within the past few days regarding body temperature and food sensitivities? If you didn't have food sensitivities when you were hyper thyroid, but did when you were hypo, doesn't that fit the temp. theory?

I dont think for me its gonna solve the whole problem ....but it might help a little. I took alot of thyroid meds....making myself go hyper again on purpose to see if I'd feel better. This was a couple years ago before diet changes. I went hyper but did not feel warmer or less reactive. I always felt like the thyroid meds just werent working at all.

It was only when I changed my diet that I got warmer and felt drastic improvements in all aspects of my health.

I really had no clue what I was doing back then...just trying things out of desperation. I know I got to the point that I was afraid to eat but didnt fully understand that I was intolerant to foods. I would end up getting really sick and staying in bed. I wouldnt eat because I felt too weak to go downstairs and get food and also too scared to eat. After a day or more I would start feeling better, have more energy, feel happier, etc. Then I would feel like I was recovering and getting better from the whole illness.

I would go shopping for food and try to buy "healthier" stuff but I'd end up sick again and I'd have to throw all the food away and go through the whole process again. I was confused and didnt understand what was happening and each time I felt better I fully expected to *keep* getting better but I would just go through the process over and over and over again.

One time I *really* thought I was cured. I had been really sick and then I started Armour. I wasnt eating much and I think the Armour did something in the first few days and I felt the best I had in a long time....BUT...we also had an unusual heatwave in the early spring and I was outside in the yard LOVING it.

Anyways, I thought I was "cured" by the Armour and didnt have to worry about food anymore.....so I went to Taco Bell. The next day I had blistery rashes on both arms and all my symptoms were coming back.

It was downhill from there until I went on the Candida diet.

[Rachel--24]

Ya, this scares me a bit cuz once the *fad* people drop off they might stop carrying gluten-free stuff, at least in the good selection and quantities, and I doubt we'll EVER find our gluten-free pumpkin pies then.

Donna, I think we're safe with the gluten-free bakehouse stuff since its a whole dedicated facility....it was created for Celiacs and people with gluten intolerance. I think they'll be making more pumpkin pies and other goodies in the future.

Oh...you know what else they had this year??

They had DINNER ROLLS. I bought some the other day and dang....they are GOOD.

I cant eat them though....they have eggs, yeast and soy. I ate two but woke up all puffy the next day. That didnt happen with the pumpkin pie. I'm not exactly sure which ingredient caused it...and I cant recall if they were in the pie...although I'm positive the pie didnt have yeast and I dont think there was soy either. Not sure about eggs?? If the pie didnt have eggs I would suspect the eggs above all alse.

Eggs HATE me....even though I LOVE them.

[dlp252]

Ooooh, I saw the dinner rolls and had them in my hot little hands, but put them back! Also had some bread in my hand...that went back too. Now I sort of wish I had them, but, the way I'm feeling now, I'd probably rachel the whole package, lol.

[AndreaB]

Does anyone else feel the same?? Like you just dont wanna talk about it "normal" people who can eat whatever they want?? How could they possibly even comprehend any of it?

I think a lot of people would want to know the very condensed version, but most don't. Gluten free can be beneficial for many things. I don't have the magnitude of intolerances most of you do, but I do try to understand.....otherwise I wouldn't be here would I?

Ha! Sounds like guys trying to make conversation with the pretty girl in the supermarket.

Can't disagree with that.

I was wondering if it could be that our immune systems are hyper alert due to the Lyme. Same reason that I dont get colds....maybe my immune system is gonna be overactive until the problem is better under control and then it can relax some??

When I read about mercury it says this...

Well....I dont get sick at all...even when everyone around me is sick with colds and flus.

I definately think my immune system is super-charged rather than dragged down. I'm gonna bring all this up to the Dr. next week.

Could be. Sounds plausible. It seems if anyone looks at me with the flu or cold I would get sick. But, I'm exaggerating a little.

I am not going to test gluten though. Chloe just told me today that her gluten challenge was over, that not only is she waking up with belly aches at night, she's having nightmares about eating gluten! I'm glad we did the challenge, now we know for sure.

I'm sorry she had such a reaction. At least she tested it for herself and will hopefully be able to stay on the diet for life without further need of testing.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I think you're probably right...especially with regards to Autism.

I didnt have any vaccines or anything except maybe the one that protects you from rusty nails and stuff like that.

That would be the tetanus shot--except it's "packaged" with 2 other vaccines, diptheria and pertussis.

THat just happened to be the vaccine all three of my kids had a MAJOR reaction to. After the first one, they swore up and down that the problem was the live pertussis, and that the new acellular version would not cause reactions.

As usual, they lied.

At least with my third, we waited til she was much older, and did not let her get any other vaccines at the same time.

[jerseyangel]

When I had muscle testing by a Kinesiologist, he told me that a large percentage (he told me exactly how much, but I forgot) of my issues are caused by past vaccinations.

[AndreaB]

When I had muscle testing by a Kinesiologist, he told me that a large percentage (he told me exactly how much, but I forgot) of my issues are caused by past vaccinations.

That's very interesting Patti. How are you feeling?

I've read so much about vaccinations actually compromising the immune system instead of helping it. Seems like that would make a lot of children etc, more prone to more sickness.

I don't remember if I stated before that when the boys were here one of them said that we look a lot healthier than we did when we were vegans. Don't know if gluten/soy free has had anything to do with that. Still dairy free as well, although Rachel's ice cream sure sounds good.

Right now I'm missing my chocolate chips......Mitch doesn't think I need to get anymore. I'm really the only one they don't bother.

[jerseyangel]

Andrea,

Sorry about the chocolate chips What if you were to get some and have it be your secret stash? I don't mean keep it from Mitch, but enjoy some when you're not with the kids.

The interesting thing about the vaccination comment was that I did remember that he said food comprised only like 17% of my issues. The vac's were much higher than that!

[Daxin]

Just driving by to wish you all a very happy 2007. No, I am not in Greenland yet, not 'til this summer, so I'll be here for quite sometime yet.

[CarlaB]

I talked to my chiropractor about tetanus. He had some interesting comments. The most interesting one was that tetanus is sensitive to oxegen ... it cannot live in the presence of oxegen. So, he said that when you get cut, you should let the air get to it and you'll be fine. I guess if you end up getting something stitched shut, then maybe you'd need a shot.

Don't they still have tetanus by itself? I would think they would since if you get cut by something rusty, you get a shot of it ... this is another thing, tetanus shots can be given after the cut. I wouldn't think they would give everyone the "PT" part of it when they get a wound, but I've heard stranger things.

[jerseyangel]

Just driving by to wish you all a very happy 2007. No, I am not in Greenland yet, not 'til this summer, so I'll be here for quite sometime yet.

I was wondering when that would begin--I know you told us, but I forgot

Anyway, Happy New Year, Ryan

[AndreaB]

The interesting thing about the vaccination comment was that I did remember that he said food comprised only like 17% of my issues. The vac's were much higher than that!

Hmmm, makes me wonder if Micah will be developing more intolerances down the road. Talitha had soooo many. Micah won't get his 4-6 year vac's. He did have everything else though. Talitha had everything and had a lot of high fever's when she was under 15 months....makes me suspect the vac's. We aren't going there with Seth since his breakout. I still think the vac's triggered him. He seems to be intolerant to salmon so neither one of us can have that. Micah probably wishes he were intolerant to salmon.

Don't they still have tetanus by itself? I would think they would since if you get cut by something rusty, you get a shot of it ... this is another thing, tetanus shots can be given after the cut. I wouldn't think they would give everyone the "PT" part of it when they get a wound, but I've heard stranger things.

They have a Td or something like that. It's tetanus toxoid I think. I had to have one about 5 1/2 years ago since I got bit by a horse and he broke skin. He was huge too so it wasn't as if you could avoid him very easily.

I had forgotten about when Ryan went over to Greenland as well. We always like it when you stop in Ryan. Hope all is well with you.

[happygirl]

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