Omg...i Might Be On To Something

[CarlaB]

Bringing a tray of brownies is a good idea, but why not bring something for yourself?

Take lots of vitamin C and garlic for the bug coming on. It's good for you if you have Lyme, too.

[CarlaB]

Kristina, LOL, I find humor helps me, too.

I'm glad your able to eat small portions. Sorry about the oregano oil.

[confusedks]

I guess I could bring something for myself. I don't want to have to cook and clean the dishes...lol! I have become more and more lazy as the days are going by.

Kassandra

[CarlaB]

I guess I could bring something for myself. I don't want to have to cook and clean the dishes...lol! I have become more and more lazy as the days are going by.

Kassandra

I hear ya'!

Of course, I don't have a kitchen right now, so no cooking for me.

[melmak5]

Definitely bring something.

You don't want to end up hungry and tempted by the evil foods.

If you bring a small you-portion and then you can bring chips or veggies and dip (something you can pull a portion out for yourself before the wolves have at it).

(I know dip has dairy usually... but you can buy a pre-made tub of it and not fuss)

Its a party, it should be fun. You aren't lazy, you are sick, and you shouldn't stress yourself out about bringing something. They should be showering you with gifts for gracing them with your awesome presence.

[confusedks]

Carla,

What are you guys doing for food?

Kristina,

I guess I will go buy something from Whole Foods that I can eat.

[melmak5]

My friend just sent me three boxes of Enjoy Life cookies.

The snickerdoodles were the best, hands down... and I believe they meet your dietary guidelines.

Have fun!!

[CarlaB]

Carla,

What are you guys doing for food?

Fortunately my food intolerances are gone because I'm eating out a lot!

Twice a day I have a whey protein smoothie made with my hand blender and usually a piece of fudge .... we have a refrigerator and a microwave, so I get frozen stuff for the kids .... I eat lunch when I work out at the gym (egg salad, lettuce, tomato, onion) .... I'll pick up stuff at Wild Oats ... it actually hasn't been too bad ... I'm easy to feed, the kids like the frozen dinners, and Adam's been traveling a lot or he'll pick up something on his way home from work ... it's not like I was cooking much anyway. Though I did cook when I felt good, but I've felt mostly bad with this bartonella.

I've been feeling so toxic the past few days. I don't know if it's the Tindamax (cyst buster) stirring up the dormant Lyme or if it's the Samento I started a couple days ago (three drops per day) ... so I finally tried an epsom salt bath after a sauna. It's amazing how much it helps! I feel less toxic and it relieved a lot of the aches.

[Rachel--24]

I wish I could have French Bread

OMG Jin ....me and you both.

In my previous life (before my gut got destroyed) I was addicted to bread and milk....enuf said.

Donna has not been gone all that long, but it seems like forever! I miss our Smiley Spice!

Yeah...when is Donna coming back....shes been gone for like a year already!

My new glasses are great! I have not really had to adjust at all. My vision is so much better now!

Glad to hear it Jin...its always nice when we can actually *see* stuff...aint it.

Dear Rachel,

I hope you had a pink day today!

Not quite. I seriously need more pink in my life....apparantly thats all I really need to be happy.

Ok...I need Big Macs too.

P.S. Has anyone heard from Julie, Rinne, Lisa, Ami, Charlie, Judy, Mia, or anyone else we have not seen much of recently?

Lisa called me last night!!

I missed her call though.

Hopefully she'll call back soon.

I am supposed to be going to a party tonight for a friend. I hate these things because I feel so crappy and I can never eat anything...it's so hard being free of gluten, dairy, soy and nuts!!

Its pretty crazy that I WISH I could just be gluten, dairy, soy and nut free!!

OMG...imagine the possibilities.

Kassandra, I hope you have a great time at the party.

Kassandra - I am glad you laugh. I was making periodic table of element jokes the day of my barium swallow. No one thought they were as funny as I did. All of this stuff is so invasive and ridiculous, I think laughing is the only way to get through it.

Yup....laughter really is the best medicine!!

My friend just sent me three boxes of Enjoy Life cookies.

The snickerdoodles were the best, hands down... and I believe they meet your dietary guidelines.

SNICKERDOODLES!!!

OK...sorry for shouting but I just ate these for the first time tonight.

I've had the chocolate ones lots of times (always react to them though) the snickerdoodles are even better (even though I still react ).

Portion size seems to be the key for me, in new things and eating in general. If I eat a handful or less of food at a time I seem to have a better chance of it staying put.

Yup...this is true for me as well. If I dont stuff my face I might get away without a reaction. Unfortunately I dont know how to do the "small portion" thing yet....I just dont know how to stop eating!!

Everything I eat is in massive amounts.

I was good with the snickerdoodles tonight...I only had 4. I probably should have stopped at one since I reacted to the first couple bites....but DANG...they are GOOD!!

Cant stop eating stuff tonight...I think I need an intervention.

How come I eat all this food and I never freaking gain a pound!!

Where the heck does it go??

[AndreaB]

Cant stop eating stuff tonight...I think I need an intervention.

How come I eat all this food and I never freaking gain a pound!!

Where the heck does it go??

I'm thinking you'd better be careful. As you heal you may be more subject to gaining weight along with the rest of us. Then again, some people can eat tons and never gain an ounce.

Just thought I'd post a little snippet from Blaylock's recent article.

Soy, cow's milk, eggs, legumes, fish and nuts are common foods that result in allergies.

I find it interesting that my family all has varying intolerances to the above listed foods.

[confusedks]

Rachel,

I am jealous of your ability to not gain weight! I must be finding all the weight! LOL! It is so hard for me...before I went gluten-free I could eat anything and never gain a pound (well, unless I was taking BCP's). But now, I eat salad and I gain weight! LOL!

Carla,

Wow! You are lucky your intolerances are gone...it would be a big pain if they were still there.

Kristina,

Those are the BEST cookies ever!!!!!!!!!!! They are amazing. When I went to Celiac Camp over the summer, because of all of my intolerances, I could barely eat anything they had...until they had the snickerdoodles. I stole a TON of the 2 pack things and put them in my cabin.

I was actually really tempted for the first time tonight to eat gluten. I never would, but they were eating those REALLY long subway sandwiches and cake....it looked so good! I was sitting there thinking "I wonder what would happen!?" Thankfully, I knew that it wouldn't ever be worth it!

Everyone,

It was actually really hard for me to be at that party...I was SO tired at 7:00pm! How sad is that?! I was looking at the clock the whole time...waiting until 10 so I could leave! LOL!

I also talked to my mom and she is going to talk to the new case worker for our insurance to see if I can get more Iron IV's. I can't handle the liver and as the days are going by I am getting more and more pale. I really am starting to look scary. If I have to do it, I will have to have a PICC line put in because last time I got such bad phlebitis I almost had to go to the ER. It was really painful, so we would want to prevent all the poking. It usually took them 3-4 pokes every day to get the needle in. Pray that the insurance company will cover them this time...they didn't last time!

Kassandra

[AndreaB]

I also talked to my mom and she is going to talk to the new case worker for our insurance to see if I can get more Iron IV's. I can't handle the liver and as the days are going by I am getting more and more pale. I really am starting to look scary. If I have to do it, I will have to have a PICC line put in because last time I got such bad phlebitis I almost had to go to the ER. It was really painful, so we would want to prevent all the poking. It usually took them 3-4 pokes every day to get the needle in. Pray that the insurance company will cover them this time...they didn't last time!

I hope all works out well with getting the iron IV's.

Glad you didn't give in at the party. Not worth being so sick, even more so I should say. Try and get some rest and we'll "see" you in the morning.

[NoGluGirl]

Dear Carla,

I get pain in my stomach area as well, mostly below my right ribcage. That worries me, because I am scared I got a stone in my bile duct. I am going to start watching my fat intake very closely again. Maybe that is what the colon cramps are from, or at least it could be adding to the trouble. Carbs tend to irritate it, which may have more to do with the yeast, since it inhabits the colon.

I will have to see about the fault line. The New Madrid Fault is not the largest, but I do believe it was a significant fault. I am going to do some research on that. I will let you know of Cincy is in its line of fire. I am not sure who all it concerns, but know aftershocks from it have been felt all the way in places a few hours from here.

I agree that a sense of humor is essential in dealing with the downturns of life. Without humor, I would never be able to deal with anything. Out of profound sadness comes great laughter. Whether it is my health or battles with my family, if my experience makes someone laugh, then that makes it easier to handle. You know what I mean?

Adam has a good point! Carrying dog poo around is pretty funny. I did not see Kate and Leopold, but wanted to. It looked like a good movie. Maybe I could rent that sometime soon. I will love the scene you described, it sounds hilarious!

Jerry Seinfeld was talking about being a dog owner once. He said if there are aliens, they probably think the dogs are the leaders. This is because we go around following them, picking up their poop! I never even thought of that, but it is a good possibility! The idea makes total sense.

I am so happy to learn your sensitivities are so much less now! You eat fairly healthy, so that helps. Building the immune system is very important. Sorry to hear you have felt so rough recently. It is difficult to say whether it is the Samento or the Tindimax. Thank goodness the epsom salt bath helped! I know the lemon water has been helpful for me despite the fact I have only been doing it for a few days now!

Dear Andrea,

Maybe you will have a windfall come and you will be able to have the detox supplements and other basics needed. I highly encourage you to look up SMC. I really think you could do it. You are smart with money, and you can start for as little as $25. I am working on my holiday gift flyers. I need to scope out these small businesses and see what they sell, so I can personalize the brochures.

I appreciate the updates on Judy, Julie, Mia, and Rinne! Thank you so much! I was getting worried about them. I am sorry to hear Julie is having such a hard time. It is not that nasty angioedema again, is it? At least the others have been on reading here and there.

These new glasses are the best! I have not been as off balance since wearing them. My left eye was making everything a problem. Grandad actually insisted on paying for them! That was so nice, because he did not have to.

Despite what the reports say, I feel most people are feeling the pinch with the rise in prices for food. We all are familiar with that, due to special diets being required. However, plenty of people they spoke to in the article on Yahoo have had a hard time like us. They are eating regular food. Some must pay $750 per month for rent, leaving little for food. One of the people they spoke to was an 84 year-old women.

That is interesting about your family having intolerances to all of those foods. It is odd how one person can tolerate something, and another related to them does not. My parents cannot tolerate onions or garlic. I used to not, but after going gluten-free, I can eat them. My brother Chad cannot handle corn.

Dear Kassandra,

Protective poo in the freezer is a great idea! No one will go near your gluten-free food then! I should do the same. This is worth trying. My parents are awful about stuff. They never pay attention, and even when you just remind them, they act like you are some sort of freak.

I agree with Kristina. You are not lazy, just sick. I have gotten to be the same way. There are days I just hardly have the energy to get up off of the sofa. I am doing a bit better now that I have started taking Vitamin B12 and Calcium. I also have noticed my attention span has improved dramatically.

I hope you enjoyed the party. I always make sure to have something in my purse so I can keep my blood sugar up. Bringing something you can eat is a good idea. For my cookbook, I am working on foods for parties that are gluten-free, as well as having color-coded substitutions for yeast, dairy, soy, and other allergenic foods. Lately, I have been pondering whether coconut milk could be used as a substitute for heavy cream when making truffles. You have to have fat, and that would do it.

I get tired and go to bed at 7pm sometimes. Do not feel bad! I dread going to stuff like that, because I know there is a ton of food I cannot eat, and my medication makes me incredibly drowsy. As long as I take my medication for the nausea, getting horribly drowsy is going to happen. I just do not have a choice. When possible, I limit my trips to two hours. By the way, I am proud of you for resisting the cake and sandwiches, I miss them too!

Humor is the only thing that helps me deal with frustration. My parents annoy me with their insensitivity to no end, so making fun of them and making people laugh helps that. Dealing with health issues is the same way. You might as well get a good laugh out things if nothing else. Laughing also boosts immunity and energy levels.

One thing that is good to help boost immunity during the winter for flu and colds is Black Elderberry Extract. It has corn syrup, though. Sambucol cut my cold down to a week, when everyone else had theirs for three! I always got Bronchitis before. Right now, I am worrying about getting sick with the flu or a cold, because Dad's back and kidney area began hurting tonight, then he got chills.

I am freaked out, because I do not need anything else wrong! You probably have the same trouble. All I do is worry. God, I need to live in a bubble! Hey, wasn't Judy's husband supposed to be working on that?

We all will pray that you get your iron IVs! Insurance companies suck. They will do anything they can to cheat people. Sometimes, you are better off without it. Certain companies make everything so difficult. Most people would just not mess with it and pay out of pocket. Unfortunately, low incomes give some no other option.

Dear Kristina,

Your wardrobe frustration is well understood! Last year, I actually could not go to my high school reunion, because I was so bloated, I could not fit into the pants I had planned to wear! I just broke down in tears. It was awful. If I were not so bloated in my lower abdomen, I probably would be 2 to 3 dress sizes smaller.

I am glad you enjoyed the "Scrubs" clip! Zach Braff always manages to brighten my day in one way or another, but "Everything Comes Down to Poo" just is impossible not to laugh like crazy at! Laughing is so good for you, there is even laughing yoga now! Can you believe it? Therapy comes from some unusual places at times.

Easing up on the baby formula is a good idea. I understand why you need it, though. I was glad you tolerated some fish.

I hope the rice worked out okay. Eating is like playing Russian Roulette with your stomach. You just never know what will happen to work well and what will not.

I do not believe Kassandra is lazy, either. She just is tired and sick. I am like that, too. Having no energy makes it difficult to get motivated. Maybe a few days per week things get done, but not often. When your body aches, head throbs, and you are queasy, staying on your feet and cooking for hours is just not appealing, nor is cleaning the house.

I have never had Enjoy Life cookies, but have made my own Snickerdoodles and Toll House Cookies. One thing is for sure, those are my favorite. I can have an orgasm eating these things. They are all I need! Men, who needs them except for killing bugs?

Be tough with your roommates. They need to take this seriously. It is one thing when they do not know the protocol, and another if they ignore things. Mom glutened my butter, so now I have to get more. On the bright side, she may be itching to go out tomorrow, and they have some good baking stuff on sale at the store this week!

Those periodic table jokes sound interesting. Barium is like a brick in your gut. If you cannot poop it out, there will be trouble. Luckily, I had no trouble with that! Chad said when he did the procedure, he felt like concrete was in his colon.

Dear Rachel,

French bread is great for so many reasons! Garlic toast and stromboli are just two of the reasons. I am not addicted to dairy, and bread was never something I desperately wanted all of the time. The past several years was when I began noticing having consumed at least two pieces of pie a day or sometimes half a pie in a single day, and wondered why I could not stop myself. I never was like that before.

Donna should be back in the middle of next week, I think. Ten days was how long I thought the cruise was supposed to be. How heavenly it must be on the beach! I wonder if she went on the ATV ride? I would like that!

Life is better when you can see, for sure! I had no clue how bad those other glasses were until now. No wonder I was running into things. I was off balance from my depth perception being altered by the left eye being worse than the right. I thought I was just incredibly clutzy!

What a bummer about the non-pink day! Well, tomorrow might be better and more pink! My trouble is, I do not have things that match my pink stuff very often. I need to go to Kohl's and get some jeans. I am dreading it, because of how bad I look in those mirrors, and how fat I feel. Oh, and yes, Big Macs are essential to happiness! I am working on a gluten-free, yeast-free, reduced-fat version.

Maybe Lisa will call back. That is a good sign that she called! I hope she is doing okay. She has had a tough way to go. Let us know when you hear from her! Say hi for me, too!

I actually have not gotten as overweight as most people would if they ate some of the things I do. My brother always has had a hard time with his weight. The gluten probably had something to do with it. I could not lose a pound for a while, then after going gluten-free, my metabolism improved to where it was. My thyroid is hyped up right now, so I will be able to get away with eating crap, but the trouble is, the yeast still feeds on the sugar. Four cookies is normally what I will eat in a sitting.

Dad was saying the other day that I binge on things after I ate an entire large jar of applesauce in two days. I did not used to do that, but since going gluten-free, I have done that more. Sometimes it is hard to control myself! Sugar is my biggest thing right now. I am trying to reduce my intake, but it is hard because I crave it constantly! The leftover Reese's Halloween candies really tempt me. The other day, I ate six during the day!

Sincerely,

Jin

[dlp252]

Helloooooo everyone, I'm baaaaaaccccccckkkkkkk!

The cruise was wonderful and I made it through relatively unscathed! Only felt nauseated a couple of times, and I think that had more to do with the timing of my supplements than eating the wrong things, although I DID have a soy latte while onboard and while waiting in the airport going and I did eat lots of fruit...there wasn't a lot to eat otherwise some days.

I slept really well (even last night at home) and it was great not having to get up at any specific time or worry about doing anything at any specific time. I got off and walked around in Puerta Vallarta and Mazatlan, but didn't get off the ship in Cabo San Lucas. My friend got off and visited with one of her ex-coworkers who moved down there...I was invited and I've met her before, but decided to just do my own thing on the ship. Worked out well, I met two really nice ladies (at separate times, lol).

Couldn't have checked in even if I wanted to because the ship's internet was down for three days. So I can say hola now, lol.

I gained 3 pounds which doesn't sound like much, but on top of the cookie binge poundage, made everything a bit tight.

There were some other people from San Jose who went on the cruise...I saw them on the flight over, and on our bus transfer to the ship and on the flight home, lol.

Hope everyone is well...off to try to catch up at bit, but may have to post later.

[jerseyangel]

Hi Donna!!! Welcome back! Those extra 3 pounds will go away once you get back into your normal routine, I'm sure. Glad you had a nice time!

For those of you who like the Enjoy Life Snickerdoodles (I do, too--I don't care for the Oatmeal or Chocolate ones, though..), I just found their new cookie--Lively Lemon--at my new Whole Foods. They're really good--very lemony.

[happygirl]

x

[AndreaB]

Helloooooo everyone, I'm baaaaaaccccccckkkkkkk!

Hey Donna! Welcome back! We've missed you.

It's so good to hear that you had a nice time. I agree with Patti, the pounds will come off easily enough once you get back to your routine. One thing I'm thinking is that you didn't get sick. That shows that you've made improvements this year and that is exciting!

Anyway, it's good to see your smiling face again.

For those of you who like the Enjoy Life Snickerdoodles (I do, too--I don't care for the Oatmeal or Chocolate ones, though..), I just found their new cookie--Lively Lemon--at my new Whole Foods. They're really good--very lemony.

Those lemon ones are real good. They also have an apple one which I didn't like as well as the lemon but they were still good. I like the chocolate ones though. We don't like the oatmeal ones either.

[confusedks]

Donna,

WELCOME BACK!!! That sounds like you had a lot of fun!

Patti,

I had the lemon ones a few months ago...the director of the Celiac Foundation gave them to me (they get samples early.) They were good, but nothing compares to the Snickerdoodles! We don't even keep them in the house anymore! I also actually made Namaste cookie mix and added cinnamon to the dough. Then we rolled them in cinnamon and brown sugar...omg! They were SO good!! And we had them when they came fresh out of the oven!

Andrea,

We really hope the iron IV's will work out too! I don't know what I am going to do if they don't! The good part is my mom is no longer mad at me for not eating liver!!!

Kassandra

[Judyin Philly]

HI all

just got home and read only last 3 pages..................

so much going on................

Jin new glasses and can now see

Patti in a new home and baking bread already .........oh my ghawdddddddddd....patti......... kitchen is all ready done................ want to come and do mine........?

Rachel in PINK holy s............t. Seems the iv's are going ok.

Andrea my poor friend..............i'll just send prayers and hugs...........wish i could send some $$ to help with the supplements...........would hate to see you guys lose ground as you've tried so hard.

Kassandra...........stupid teachers ...........we sure had to fight for IEP's for our son..............wrote letters to our congressman...........that got results FAST.............SOORY about the back issues.

Donna ...........another cruise........so glad it went well..............

Calra...........house coming along.........that's good.........

i know i'm leaving people out so sorry folks..............

trying to unpack and gettting ready for out of town company flying in on Wed and will need to pack again as she and i are heading back to Cape May NJ for a 'girls over nite'.

my avatar is of the 12 ft waves at the pt in cape may. amazing...........never ever have i seen waves that high there in all the years we have gone.

Is so nice to be back in my own home with my OWN CLEAN ............DE GLUTENIZED........DISHES AND FOOD..................

WILL TRY TO KEEP UP NOW AND THEN

HUGS TO YOU ALL

JUDY

[Green12]

Welcome back Donna

Patti, glad the move went well

Rachel- here's a thought....pink UNDER garments ....at least you can have a bit of pink in your life.

Hi Judy!

Hi to everyone!!

I just got over a bad angioedema outbreak, 2 weeks this round

I'll add my thumbs up too on the Enjoy Life Snickerdoodles. I don't mind the chocolate chip ones either, but the Oatmeal and Chocolate I also don't care for. My stores don't carry any of the other flavors, or at least they didn't. I'll have to check if they have the Lemon and Apple in now (are they new?)

[dlp252]

Okay, I've finally caught up with the reading part, but holy guacamole, I copied all the posts I want to respond to into a Word file and it's 61 pages!!! :lol: Um, I'll be responding to THAT tomorrow, lol.

Also took about 203 pictures... and you won't believe it, but all of them are taken from the ship. Lots of sunsets and stuff like that (was playing with the different filters and settings). Got one of a jet skier just for Rachel, lol, and a parasailer for any other adventurous folks. I'll be uploading them online tomorrow from work...if I try to do it from here it will take a week. No ATV ride for us this time, but we had fun anyway.

Really freaky thing happened...we were out on our balcony one day (about 2-3 days into the cruise) and the ladies next door were out on their balcony...we'd not actually seen them out there, but smelled their cigarette smoke a couple of times. Well, the lady says to my friend..."you look familiar". My friend says, "you do too". Turns out the lady was married to my friend's cousin years ago (divorced for many years now though)! They were cousins, lol, and hadn't seen each other in 25 years! Can you imagine!

My place did okay in the earthquake apparently...just some pictures askew, and a couple of things thrown off counters. My mom was who I was worried about because she lives in a mobile home...they did okay too, no damage. So far I've lived through two hurricanes and lots of earthquakes...not sure which I prefer, lol.

[AndreaB]

I'll add my thumbs up too on the Enjoy Life Snickerdoodles. I don't mind the chocolate chip ones either, but the Oatmeal and Chocolate I also don't care for. My stores don't carry any of the other flavors, or at least they didn't. I'll have to check if they have the Lemon and Apple in now (are they new?)

I found the new ones at the gluten free store near us sometime this summer. I haven't seen them elsewhere, except maybe Whole Foods.

Good to see you back. I still owe you an email.....I haven't forgotten.

My place did okay in the earthquake apparently...just some pictures askew, and a couple of things thrown off counters. My mom was who I was worried about because she lives in a mobile home...they did okay too, no damage. So far I've lived through two hurricanes and lots of earthquakes...not sure which I prefer, lol.

Glad your place didn't get damaged as well as your mothers.

That's funny about your next door cabin women.

I'll look forward to seeing your photos. I love sunet, sunrise pictures.

[confusedks]

So my plans to go to that other party tonite...down the drain!!

My mom has been sick so I took my temp for fun ( I LOVE those ear thermometers...lol) and I have a 100.4 degree fever!!! What the heck!?? I am going to be on the couch for the rest of the night apparently. UGH!

Kassandra

[AndreaB]

My mom has been sick so I took my temp for fun ( I LOVE those ear thermometers...lol) and I have a 100.4 degree fever!!! What the heck!?? I am going to be on the couch for the rest of the night apparently. UGH!

I'm sorry. I hope this is a short run for you and it doesn't get worse.

[mftnchn]

The VSL#3 is rather pricey ... I'm seeing if I still get results from taking it every other day rather than every day .... I have tried cutting it out entirely, but can't.

My doc told me last week that he wanted me to do 2 weeks of this when I get back to the USA to try it. Meanwhile I have my first batch of rice milk yogurt in the sun.

Dr. E got back to me. The toxin binders are important as well as a couple other things. She thinks we'd lose too much ground going off everything. Once we run out of stuff we have most of it will be discontinued.

I am so sorry to hear that, as I know you are very challenged.

I successfully ate fish last night...... Why don't they make stylish spandex unitards for those with who are gastrically challenged?

Wonderful news! Be sure you choose fish less likely to have mercury if you can. I really hope you can get a few more things in.

LOL--boy do I agree about the special sizes for the gastrically challenged!!!! Especially when all the styles are straight up and down and don't have room for my hips even without the bloating!!!

Kassandra, for colds my doctor has me take Vitamin A drops, 16 first day, then 4 for a few days, then 1 to maintain. Also Phytogen and Thymex one each every other day. The other thing that really helps is the ecoffee.