Omg...i Might Be On To Something

[Rachel--24]

NoGluGirl--pardon me while I pick my jaw up off the floor! That is a GORGEOUS picture.

Well...I hate to jump on the "bandwagon" but I have to say ...I TOTALLY AGREE!!

Jin....that is a great pic of you. My mom even commented on how adorable you look....yup my mom does read the thread.

I do think your natural color is perfect for you...but whatever YOU feel most comfortable with is ultimately the most important thing.

Just wanted to say that you do look great with your natural color...even if you dont think so.

[NoGluGirl]

Dear Rachel, Alison, and Andrea,

I think Schmitt photo did our school pictures. They always did a great job! I know I will not go back to my natural color. I may just stick with what I have. Thanks for making me feel so pretty! No one believes me when I tell them my age! They think I look so young! It is the Irish in me, I suppose!

I don't know. I think I just am comfortable with my hair the way it is now. I feel ugly when my roots are showing! I did this virtual makeover on beautyriot.com and it was bad! Me a Jen's hair were not meant to be! At least I found out before I made the mistake!

I wish I had you guys' e-mails so I could send you a pic of my great-grandmother. She had really dark brown hair. She is like me, blonde would not work! My eyes are blue instead of hazel or brown is the only difference. Someone told me in high school I look like a Donna, not a Kimberly. I wish my parents would have named me something like that! I do not know any Donnas hardly. There are like a million Kimberlys!

In other news, our Culligan gave out on our fridge. It could be expensive to fix. Just what I need, tap water so I can have more toxins in my body! Did you know arsenic is in our drinking water? That should not be allowed. I have Fruit 2-0 at least, so I only have to use it to make my coffee.

I have a question. I have noticed on days I eat chocolate, I feel better. My nausea is not as bad. Could there be something in the chocolate that I am deficient in that helps me feel better? Claire mentioned I could be low on magnesium. Do you think that could be it?

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

P.S. Jen's hair looked bad on me using this pic, too. Well, now I know!

[Rachel--24]

What does mercury do to your body? I mean what does it look like in their?

Ummm....I dont know what it *looks* like exactly. I imagine its invisible. Its like an invisible poison that just gets into your tissue, cells, organs, etc. You cant see it but its doing plenty of damage.

Think of your body like a machine...with all the equipment inside working just right to keep you healthy. You've got enzymes for this and that....for digesting each chemical in everything you consume...breaking down toxins, etc.

Theres like a million different things going on inside...stuff that you've never had to think about ...everything just works perfectly....like in a factory.....it just all comes together.

Then along comes mercury. It gradually starts finding its way into the various areas of your body and over time it starts accumulating quite a bit...especially if you are a slow detoxer/excreter. You might not notice anything while all of this is taking place....little changes in your body...or autoimmune disease, etc. Nothing to make you think of mercury.

So now theres this poison getting all into your machine...and its killing some cells...disabling some of those critical enzymes....messing up the whole system.

The whole body works together...its all one machine and if certain parts arent working right....the whole thing sort of starts to malfunction. One thing leads to another and everything becomes impaired...it turns into a chain reaction.

All of a sudden your hormones are out of whack....your memory is no good....you're reacting to foods and chemicals...body parts start to hurt, etc.

Alot of this is caused by infections such as candida. The bacteria, fungi, parasites, etc...dont stand a chance when the "machine" is working properly. Once everything starts breaking down and becoming Toxic like the Britney Spears song (I loved that! )....all these critters start to invade all of those toxic areas of the body. Thats the environment that they thrive in.

Mercury also impairs temperature regulation...so we cant get warm very easily. This is prefect for the "bugs"...they like a toxic and cold environment.

For some reason mercury tends to accumulate in the kidneys especially. Once the mercury starts interfering with how the body naturally detoxifies itself...all sorts of *other* pollutants that we eat, drink or breathe...also get trapped in our body...cuz the whole machine is basically shutting down. Things are going haywire in there.

Our immune system is trying to get things back in working order....its constantly trying....but it cant do much since the liver and other organs arent detoxing all of these chemicals...and all these foods arent getting digested. Things usually come in and go out...but NOW...all of these things (both good and bad) are staying in our bodies way too long.

The immune system is trying to fight *everything*.....all of these things that are not suppossed to be lingering around....sort of like a house party that gets out of hand. You're trying to kick everyone out but the crowd is growing faster than you can handle...so you just get overwhelmed.

Once the machine broke and the insides got filthy with toxins and bugs started coming in....theres a million things going wrong....its alot to deal with but it was the mercury that started everything. So thats where we start the "clean up".

We have to get all that mercury out and eventually the machine wont be so toxic anymore...and there will be nowhere for those bugs to thrive...and the party will start to die down...and the machine will slowly start working the way it used to....it will start working to keep us healthy again.

Rachel how did you get your disability?

I first went out on disability because I was not doing well at all...suddenly I was having really bad symptoms that prevented me from working. At the time I was diagnosed with Graves Disease and the docs told me that once they nuked my thyroid...I would be good again.

I got taken off work by my endocrinolgist while we waited for treament to "fix" everything. 7 months later I was even worse off but my Endo. said he couldnt justify keeping me off work since my thyroid levels were stable.

I wanted to go back to work anyway...I missed doing normal activities so I went back but couldnt function like I used to. I called in sick like twice a week...was late everyday (hours late) and could never work the whole 8 hours. It went on like that for about 6 months and then I asked my regular Dr. to take me off work.

I was off for maybe 2 months then tried to go back again...didnt last long at all...went back out for the third time and said that I would not return until I got better.

I had Kaiser and my Dr. had no problem extending my disability month after month....but they werent doing anything to get me better. I was pretty much on my own. I put myself on candida diet...improved alot and at that same time my disability ran out. I had to pay out of pocket for the last month I was off work.

Thank God I had tried the candida diet and did my own research because if I hadnt done it I wouldnt have been able to return to work.....before the diet I was pretty much confined to my bed and having real bad depression. If I couldnt return to work when I did I would have not only lost my insurance...but also my job.

Now that I've started treatment and have had some rough days...I've thought about going back on disability but I really dont want to if I can hang in there for awhile. I hated it when I was off work all that time but also I had no diagnosis for the whole 2 years I was off.....it was alot of time to sit and be depressed, scared and frusterated.

It wouldnt be like that if I had to do disability again...at least I would be on treatment and working toward getting better. I think it would be much easier on my mind now....but I want to keep working if I can.

If it comes to that I would hope my new Dr. would take me off work...I'm not in an HMO anymore and I'm not sure how it works now.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I feel ugly when my roots are showing!

I don't think anybody looks attractive with roots showing, no matter what color! But it doesn't look particularly attractive for a person to have to a hair color so obviously far away from her own natural shade that it fights with her skin tone, either--tends to look like someone took that person, held them upside down, and dunked them in ink!

I guess to my eyes, dyed hair=phony=ugly. Although, for some reason, highlighted hair doesn't strike me this way. I suppose highlights are more of an enhancement, whereas dyed hair is just out and out fake.

[dlp252]

because I am as Toxic as Britney Spears song and I am so tired I can't work like this.

I'm so sorry you're feeling so bad, but this was really funny!!

I think Schmitt photo did our school pictures. They always did a great job! I know I will not go back to my natural color. I may just stick with what I have. Thanks for making me feel so pretty! No one believes me when I tell them my age! They think I look so young! It is the Irish in me, I suppose!

Hum, can't comment about the chocolate, but there are some natural things in pure unsweetened cocoa I think that are beneficial...the new pic of the "old" you is beautiful!!!! People also say I look much younger than I am...it's catching up quickly though now that I'm not well.

Ummm....I dont know what it *looks* like exactly. I imagine its invisible. Its like an invisible poison that just gets into your tissue, cells, organs, etc. You cant see it but its doing plenty of damage.

Loved this explanation.

By-the-way, HI Rachel's mom, lol!

--tends to look like someone took that person, held them upside down, and dunked them in ink!

I'm glad my hairdresser decided to dip me in a lighter ink then, lol.

[Rachel--24]

Donna,

Good luck with Dr. S. today.

Rinne,

Cant wait to hear more about your treats!!

I'm waiting anxiously.

Good luck !!!

[AndreaB]

For you California gals on here I posted a thread about AB16 that goes to vote tomorrow.

It's wordy but basically is old HPV language that was gutted and changed to strip medical/religious/philosophical beliefs and add parent beliefs which is undefined. The problem with that is that could be removed in the future and parents would have no recourse.

It would also bypass the legislature for future vaccine mandates and everything would go directly to the State Public Health Authorities and be mandated after 5 years, taking away the public's feedback on a proposed mandated vaccine.

Rep numbers etc are listed on the thread.

[Rachel--24]

NGG...

Your real name isnt bad...I like that name.

I'm kinda partial to "Rachel" now but if my mom had given me the name Kimberly...I would have been cool with that too.

Although...I do think I look more like a Rachel than anything else.

[Rachel--24]

NGG's pic was so cute...Now I wanna see everyones childhood pics!!!

C'mon.....Andrea?? Donna?? Mia?? Patti??

[AndreaB]

NGG's pic was so cute...Now I wanna see everyones childhood pics!!!

C'mon.....Andrea?? Donna?? Mia?? Patti??

Ok, so what age range are you preferring. I'm thinking Jin was around 14 in that picture.

[Rachel--24]

Andrea....it dont matter. You could put a baby pic up...or 5 years...or 10 years....or 16 years...whatever you want. It would be fun to see everyone as a kid though.

[dlp252]

Good luck with Dr. S. today.

Thanks! I'm feeling kind of icky today so it's a good day to go, lol.

Although...I do think I look more like a Rachel than anything else.

I don't think I look like a Donna, but I don't think I look like anything else either. I'm a no namer.

NGG's pic was so cute...Now I wanna see everyones childhood pics!!!

C'mon.....Andrea?? Donna?? Mia?? Patti??

Cameras weren't invented yet when I was a child.

Ha. We did this a work once...forget what event it was for, but everyone put up a childhood picture of themselves and then everyone had to try to guess who was who...the winner got something, can't remember. It was very fun.

I'll see what I can some up with.

[jerseyangel]

Cameras weren't invented yet when I was a child.

Donna

[AndreaB]

Cameras weren't invented yet when I was a child.

No excuses.

It's just after 3.....wondering how your appointment went/is going.

Ok gals and guy....I loaded my gymnastics picture from 7th grade I think it is. I have two others I'll put up from my senior year but I figured some of you might want them younger than that.

[Rachel--24]

Ok gals and guy....I loaded my gymnastics picture from 7th grade I think it is.

Andrea...I love that pic!!

The feathered hair...

It was soooo hard to make my hair do that...I had my hair like that for awhile...then I moved on to the BIG hair..."hairbear" look.

It would be fun to try to guess who's who...but obviously we cant do that here.

Maybe when Carla gets back from her trip she can put one up too.

No excuses.

Yeah Donna...NO EXCUSES.

I'm not buying the "no cameras back then" thing...

[AndreaB]

The feathered hair...

Yeah, I was looking at the group shot and most of us had feathered hair.

So you know we expect a picture of you too. If you don't have pictures at your place then I'm sure your mom does........we will understand if you can't load it until the weekend though.

[NoGluGirl]

Dear Andrea,

You are exactly right! I was 14 in that pic! That was back before I got these huge hips and ghetto booty. I have come to the conclusion that becoming a woman makes you fat! After my periods started, within a year, I went from a size 0 to an 8! Yep, it was all downhill from there.

Your pic is nice, too! I love that hair style! It looks like Farrah Fawcett's hair! It is so pretty! I would never get my hair to do that! Even in that picture, despite its length not being all that long, it would not hold a style for more than 45 minutes! My hair is heavy.

Dear Rachel,

I think you have an innate Rachelness. I do not see my Kimberlyness, but I did find out something neat. I went to this site where it tells the origin of your name. Kimberly was actually from a village in Africa. It tells about the origin of all kinds of names.

Dear Donna,

Now we know better than that! You are younger than my mom! Cameras existed long before you were born! We may have Lyme brain, but we are not that out of it! I am definitely going to watch for your pic!

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

[Rachel--24]

So you know we expect a picture of you too. If you don't have pictures at your place then I'm sure your mom does........we will understand if you can't load it until the weekend though.

I cant put up a new pic until I get home. My mom doesnt have a scanner or any way to upload pics.

I'll try to find one to put up though.

[happygirl]

ok, i'm posting just so you guys can see this one...i dont have many young pics digitally...i'll have to find some. I was about 4 months old here, with my brother.

Andrea, I love the pic!

[jerseyangel]

Andrea, Laura and Jin--I love your pictures!

My black and white baby picture wouldn't scan--this is the best I could do

[dlp252]

Love the pictures!!! Thanks Laura and Andrea! I'll look for one in a bit...it will give me a good chance to use my scanner...I've not used it since I've had it, lol. It's the same brand as my last one so hopefully I can figure it out.

Well, I'm interesting.

I'm not boring.

I've got a good sense of humor.

I've got a lot going on.

Just a few of the comments I heard.

SEVEN vials!!! But I got to recline in a really nice reclining chair.

I liked Dr. S a lot and I believe he really means it when he says he wants to find out why I have all this going on. He said that in people like me (and he thinks I'm pretty toxic apparently, lol) it's usually one of four things: mold, candida, metals or lyme.

We're testing for all of them. I think he ordered 7 labs! Lyme Western Blots, C.D-57, hair elements, molds, Spectracell 5000 (vitamin panel to see where I stand), thyroid antibodies and something else which I can't remember now...maybe candida?? I can't read the word now, but I'm pretty sure he was testing for everything.

He'll wait to order the co-infections until after he sees the western blots. Rachel, I think he knows more about ART now cuz he didn't even blink when I said Scott found lyme during an ART session...he actually asked me what exactly the names where that Scott found! I also mentioned that Anna didn't find Lyme in two separate testing sessions and he actually said close to what Denise said...that sometimes the electric (not his word, but I can't remember what he used) testing doesn't pick something up...so I feel a little easier about that.

He was impressed with my thoroughness in paperwork, lol. I brought EVERYTHING, even the pictures of my scopes last year.

I failed the sobriety test. I couldn't walk a straight line to save my soul! Don't know what he was looking for there, but I failed.

He also said that people like me (with my health issues) need to work in a kind of mundane (again, not his word but I can't remember and it was something like this) jobs...kind of even keel type of things. He was concerned that I work in a law office. He said my adrenals cannot take the stress and cannot bounce back.

He was also very concerned about mold in my environment. I guess we'll wait for the results of the test to see how much mold is in my system...if there's a lot, it's probably coming from my environment. He said if I'm living in a moldy environment it is not likely I would get better from a lyme or toxicity standpoint. That's kind of a bummer.

I forgot to mention the "bug bite" thing from bioset, lol. And, I didn't think about it until I got home, but they (the receiptionists) must not have written down that "Rachel from the Internet" referred me, lol, cuz he only mentioned my friend Scott...had to tell him I only met Scott for the ART testing, but completely forgot to say NO, it's RACHEL who is my friend.

Anyway, I'm glad I went in thinking it was only going to be TWO vials of blood, cuz I may not have gone through with it if I thought 7 beforehand, lol. It wasn't bad in the recliners though. There was a girl there getting an IV of something.

Okay, I'm off to brush my teeth and find a picture to scan and post.

[happygirl]

I LOVE IT PATTI

[jerseyangel]

I LOVE IT PATTI

Thanks

[NoGluGirl]

Dear Alison,

OOPS! I forgot to post to you last time! Lyme brain maybe? That is my story and I am sticking to it! You are like my grandparents. They are like that Hershey commercial "Change is bad!" Remember that? I tried highlights in the past, but was not satisfied with them. I just feel more confident in my black hair for some reason. I think the hair was not the change I was looking for. Perhaps a different change is in order...although I am not sure what at the moment.

I do not think my hair looks bad, I get compliments all the time. In fact, I get checked out more by guys since becoming a dark mistress. Although I am not really interested in dating, it does make me feel good to know I appear attractive. I suppose I feel the black fits my personality more. I actually favor my father more now with my hair like this. I sent that pic of me with Jen's hair, and he agreed, that is not a good idea!

Dear Carla,

My best friend got highlights and lowlights, and she looked fab! Steph always does, though!

I swear, she looks great when she is "scrubbing" even. I feel so frumpy. I need a wardrobe makeover I think is what I need. I just hate the idea of going shopping with this swollen lower abdomen. Kohls has the greatest clearance rack ever! For now, I believe I am happy with my onyx colored locks. You see, I do not want to change my hair unless it was like Jen's. Since it will not work, I believe I will just stick to the brown/black right now.

Dear Patti,

You are beautiful! That is a nice prom pic. I never went to prom. My health was too bad. Frankly, it would have sucked anyway. You were not allowed to even hold hands hardly with your date. I know there needs to rules, but you can go overboard!

Dear Laura,

You guys are so adorable! That is such a cute pic! When I was a baby, I did not have hair. I had blonde peach fuzz! My brother was born with a full head of hair. Now, he is going bald! I have extremely thick hair now. How weird is that? You would think once you had a lot of hair, you always would. My hair was thinner and finer as a girl. Now it is surprisingly thick. It used to thin out when it grew long, now it does the opposite!

Dear Donna,

I will be anxious to see your pic. Don't feel old. I am using anti-aging stuff around my eyes now. They say to stay youthful looking, you need to begin in your 20s applying this stuff. So, I use Equate firming cream around my eyes. I hope it is gluten-free, but as far as I could tell from the ingredients, it is safe. I could not find a number to call. I squint a lot due to being myopic. Just call me Miss Magoo!

Dear Rachel,

I am curious to see your pic, too! This is funny! It is like a started a trend! It is the Rachelville Yearbook! Mountain Momma on another thread complimented my new pic! She thought it was my new pic! I told her, actually, this one is old!

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

[CarlaB]

Everyone's pics are so cute!!

Jin, I still vote for highlights a shade lighter than your natural color and lowlights a shade darker. The first time you'd need some of your natural color put in there, too. The main problem you will have is the black dye ... you can't lift color with color. You will need a professional.

I think the black is harsh ... however, that might be the look you're going for! Sometimes just a shade or two lighter or darker is enough of a change.

I'll have to see if I can scan a picture when I get home.

I had a hot stone massage today for 80 minutes! I took a sauna before, then a shower, then the massage ... he told me to take a sauna or a steam room and a hot shower after to assist in the detox (the hot stone massage is good for detox), so I went to the steam room this time, then another shower ... then I got some sunshine at the pool and yet another shower! All I can say is that I'm very clean! The massage was the best massage I've ever had!

Last night we had dinner at the private home at a spa here of a man whose family owns a major league baseball team (not here) and a spa (here). The spa was beautiful ... speaking of Jennifer Anniston -- she's stayed there ... so has Brittany Spears. He's a customer of Adam's, and there were other customers there, too (18 people total). Let's just say he spoiled us rotten! The chef from the spa/hotel restaurant cooked dinner -- he's going to be on the food network. It was outside, with a beautiful view! Fun evening, very memorable.

I've been fortunate that I've felt good the whole trip!! I'd say 70% of normal ... that's really good since I was 15% in January! (LLMD always asks how I feel in percentages).

Just wanted to check in and say hi.