Omg...i Might Be On To Something

[Rachel--24]

Alison,

This is what I would do.

I would save the tick...go to the Dr.'s....if it *is* a tick....get on treatment right away.

I would not hand over the tick...I would send it to the lab for testing to see if its carrying any diseases. I *think* Igenix can test the ticks....not positive but I know I've seen posts on LymeNET about it. I would want the tick tested....that way if its carrying co-infections as well as Lyme....you know what needs to be treated.

[Rachel--24]

Hey everyone how are you?

I have a question if anyone knows. Everytime I swallow my stomach makes a gurggling noise. Does anyone know what this is?? Also I notice as I eat my food doesn't stay in my stomach very long and I can eat a lot my stomach just stays flat, real flar and I can feel my food move down fast.

I have this happen too...totally gurgling stomach and yeah....extreme flatness. Everything I eat will make noises. I dont think its mercury...not for me anyway. It seems to be related to something I'm eating or taking....it used to happen regularly....but hardly ever happens anymore if I'm watching my diet very carefully.

I think for sure mold is a factor in causing these symptoms for me. My stomach will be especially flat in the morning when this happens.

Sounds like a good idea. TAKE YOUR DROPS OF NONI!! Does your mother know you're skipping it? She does now!

You can't fully get rid of borrelia without treating the babs because the borrelia can hide in the babs.

My moms on vacation....not reading the posts.

I guess I figure since the Babs and Lyme are stuck in my head anyway....not much is gonna be happening until I start moving the dang metals out. Thats how I rationalize it.

I can understand your point. There has to be something keeping the yeast around after it being starved. Does the mercury protect the yeast, or is the other way around? Can they protect each other possibly? Or, is a virus or microbe of some sort protecting it, which is activated by the mercury?

No...they dont protect each other...the yeast doesnt protect mercury and mercury doesnt protect yeast. The thought is that the immune system is using the yeast to protect the body from a lethal situation with heavy metals.

Because the heavy metals can cause severe damage to the cells, the organs, etc....the metals can be lethal. Yeast and molds have the highest abilty for absorption of metals...so the immune system would *allow* for the candida to overgrow and absorb the metals.

Candida attaches itself to mercury and this prevents the cells from dying. So they suspect that the immune system is using whats available (the yeast) to protect the body from the heavy metals. It would be a protective infection.

When they clear heavy metals from the body...the candida problem goes away. Its never there anymore once the metals are detoxed.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Alison,

This is what I would do.

I would save the tick...go to the Dr.'s....if it *is* a tick....get on treatment right away.

I would not hand over the tick...I would send it to the lab for testing to see if its carrying any diseases. I *think* Igenix can test the ticks....not positive but I know I've seen posts on LymeNET about it. I would want the tick tested....that way if its carrying co-infections as well as Lyme....you know what needs to be treated.

Thanks. I'll call Igenex in the morning and see if they test ticks. Or if they can recommend where to take/send the nasty little scumbuggy. Can you believe, it's been zipped up tight in a zipper bag for a couple of hours, and it's still crawling around in there?

Oh, and Carla--when I got bitten, it stung and itched for several minutes, and then the feeling went away. I don't think I was mistaking its crawling around for a bite.

If I had said that I'd been stung by a bee, would you tell me that I was mistaking its crawling on my arm for a sting?

I know when I've been bitten or stung by something. Why on earth would you doubt me? Don't we get enough of that from the doctors?

[AndreaB]

Thanks. I'll call Igenex in the morning and see if they test ticks. Or if they can recommend where to take/send the nasty little scumbuggy. Can you believe, it's been zipped up tight in a zipper bag for a couple of hours, and it's still crawling around in there?

Alison,

Please keep us posted. I hope Igenex takes it and tests it......and I still want updates.

I'll be off the computer most of the day tomorrow as T has her next LED session. Plan on booting the computer up tomorrow evening, definately after she goes to bed.

Hopefully you guys won't leave me pages and pages to catch up on.

[NoGluGirl]

Dear Rachel,

I get it! Thank you for the lymification! So, basically, the yeast is sort of a buffer. The body utilizes it to prevent more damage from the mercury? I think I understand now.

Dear Andrea,

I hope T's session goes well! The LED treatment is going to help her! That stuff is so interesting! I am amazed by the process. We will wait patiently until you are able to be back online!

Dear Alison,

I think IgeniX does test ticks. I am not absolutely sure about that. However, I think that I heard about them doing that somewhere. I am not sure if it was on here, or elsewhere. Good luck and let us know!

Sincerely,

Jin

[Rachel--24]

Yeah..Igenix does test the ticks.

Open Original Shared Link

Kind of expensive though...$60 for each infection.

You can send up to 20 ticks and they'll test them all together...at no extra cost.

Kinda makes me think one tick is just not enough.....I would feel like if I was sending 20 at least I was getting my money's worth or something.

Well...I guess it would kind of suck to be bitten by 20 ticks ....so yeah...nevermind.

[AndreaB]

Well...I guess it would kind of suck to be bitten by 20 ticks ....so yeah...nevermind.

Not exactly something I would look forward to.

[tom]

That *was* your original question right??

You asked about what other Dr.'s who treat candida thought about Dr. K.'s theory on "die-off".

I was answering that question....

I have absolutely zero idea by now which sentence in the 500-1000 words may have addressed this.

If it weren't for so many assertions directly contradicting my personal experience on the road to having an actual life, I would've let it slide.

I'm not sure what "direct" or "indirect" treatment has to do with it. Whether or not you chose to continue with seeing the ND or taking supplements was a personal decision. It has nothing to do with my response to your question.

Direct vs indirect clarifies two treatment approaches. I believe your use of the word treatment left too much up to interpretation.

If it becomes scientifically proven that chronic candida infections are directly caused by metal toxicity...

That's a pretty big IF.

Some are, some aren't, is how I see it.

Absolutes are rarely true.

Does anyone really get better??

<raising hand> You really haven't caught on to how much better I've gotten since before various candida treatments. Sure the soy slowed me down, but that's my fault for not doing a good rotation diet in the 1st place.

For the 1st time in TEN YEARS I'm mentally capable of doing highly technical work. Of course, more years were taken away by celiac than by candida, but I don't get here w/out at least getting rid of the vast majority of candida. Sheesh some % of the flora is candida in the healthiest ppl there are.

I dunno....I havent seen it yet....the only ones I know of who've recovered are the ones who got diagnosed correctly and treated those underlying issues.

I don't count because I have no desire to eat more types of things?

The fact that I went off the candida diet has nothing to do with me still *having* the infection. It would be better under control had I stuck to the diet but it most certainly would not be *gone*.

The galvanic biz and other heavy metals issues make a pretty unique situation.

I think most ppl w/ candida get rid of it, at least to the point that it's not adversely affecting their daily lives.

Of course, most of them don't have celiac and the other complications many of us here have had to deal w/.

In reality.....you still have a candida/leaky gut situation.....you've stated this in the past. If the problem were resolved you would have been able to resume a normal diet. Unless I'm mistaken and this is just your preference??

I'm not sure it's accurate to claim that my diet can be "normal" again, assuming u mean eat anything and everything that's gluten-free.

Sometimes things change. Certainly I've known several older ppl who don't, won't or can't eat how they used to, w/out having some specific cause for it. I'm maybe 6' 1 3/4" now and I also don't expect to be over 6'2" again.

Again - my food is great. I don't miss foods. Having more types of food to eat doesn't matter any more to me than what color underwear I "choose" out of the drawer. (As long as not in the Phx jail where they all get pink underwear!)

I think if there is some fear in eating carrots or various colors of bell peppers....then there is still some issue with the candida. Its not "cured".....its simply "managed" by your dietary restrictions. Theres a HUGE difference between the two.

Fear isn't the word. Hehehehe

I don't care whether I think I can have a carrot or not.

And again - I'm eating ALL colors of bell peppers. (While on the strict diet, I'd forego the sweet red)

Clearly my idea of a cure differs widely from yours. Brainfog isnt my biggest issue....the fact that I have to live my life avoiding so many things IS the biggest thing. I'm ready to do everything I can to correct that situation.

Being braindead and joyless wasn't much of a life for me.

I keep forgetting whether this was supposed to be a general discussion on the state of theories on candida die-off or what.

So yeah....I'm striving for alot more than green bell peppers.

No need to. The green ones are ok on the strict anti-candida diet.

I should've been packing & planning instead of typing.

[NoGluGirl]

Dear Rachel,

Thank you for the link to the Igenix site for tick testing! I knew I had seen that somewhere! It was the IgeniX site!

Actually, it was cheap compared to what I expected the cost to be. ROFLMAO! That is so funny about you saying you would like to send at least 20 ticks to get your money's worth! I can see where you are coming from there!

Dear Andrea,

I agree that getting bitten by so many ticks would suck! Hey, get it, suck? Getting bitten by a single tick is bad enough! The horrible diseases one of them could cause is scary! I would not even want to imagine the heiniousity of that situation!

Dear tom,

Do they really have all prisoners wear pink undies in Phoenix? Is that considered cruel and unusual punishment? Oh, and how would you know? You would not happened to have been there for any reason, have you? Let me guess, Sidekick abuse?

Sincerely,

Jin

[tom]

I had a lot of trouble playing today ... first of all, a new song during communion, so I was sight-reading (they let me not come to practice because of my health) ... and it needed to be longer so I had to play one verse as a solo ... sight reading! Did I mention there were FOUR sharps???? That's a LOT for a C instrument!

Yup four #s is a lot for any instrument.

If I was there w/ my tenor, your 4 #s (E I believe) would be SIX for me! (F#)

Way to go tho!!

I was thinking earlier how much I hate double-sharps or when they write B# or Cb. I know they gotta do it sometimes to unclutter later in the measure & keep w/ the flow of #s and bs. Like an F## instead of Gnatural so they won't have to respecify G# for that measure.

Doesn't make me hate it less.

I played a little sax today. Just runnin' thru what used to be warm-up songs.

A Charlie Parker solo transcribed and a Clifford Brown classic, "Joy Spring".

Only ~4th time I've played in 4 or 5 yrs or so.

Jaw and lips tired so quickly, but that'll come.

Hey look!! Jin bumped Bella!!

Lookin good! Now where's that smile that all those & & LOLs are supposed to signify!!!

[tom]

I was talking about NATUROPATHS who diagnose Candida as a SINGLE cause for disease SYMPTOMS.

You made an assertion which contradicted my personal experience.

I say not all candida cases have some heavy-metal cause.

Believe me, you're not the only one who didn't want to go thru all that posting.

Also your posts confuse me...the other day you felt significant improvement on day 1 of the candida diet...now today it was the worst ever, chock-full-o-heinosity etc.??

Ugh - what I wrote every time is completely consistent.

Diet day1 improvement for a week (same thing I've said several times, incl today), then came the ND appt and pills/powders and die-off.

Started diet.

1 week later started ND and die-off.

I called the die-off a "bad 3 days", followed by a paranthesized qualifier saying I'd describe it much worse (chock-full etc) had I NOT been thru so much pre-gluten-free.

It all looked so plainly stated to me.

(Far more so than the paragraph above, but it did need to be precise, considering I was just accused of . . . . . .not sure what exactly, was it lying or just blatant inconsistency?)

If not for the, minimum implied if not explicit, accusation, I wouldn't have been compelled to post again on this at all.

[tabasco32]

Hi Rachel

you awake?

[Rachel--24]

You made an assertion which contradicted my personal experience.

I say not all candida cases have some heavy-metal cause.

Ummm...I think I was actually talking about Dr. K.'s theory. In your post you commented on the theory and then wondered about the thoughts of other Dr.'s on this "theory".

I then went on to relay my own Dr.'s thoughts and the fact that Candida is BIG business for alot of Naturopaths who treat candida with supplements. I said these people do NOT look for a *root* cause....they simply diagnose the the candida infection and offer supplements.

Plain and simple.

I did not contadict your own personal experience because this WAS your own personal experience.

You dx'd yourself....went to a naturopath.....got confirmation on the candida situation and were offered supplements. No mention of looking for root causes.

This was my point...plain and simple.

Yes....I did say people arent getting better when given the chronic candidiasis diagnosis....I said it because its true. I know of *noone* that has conquered it with diet/antifungal treatment alone....not a single person with chronic candida....and I've come across ALOT of these people. My Dr.'s have TOLD me it doesnt happen w/out addressing the underlying cause.

Its only a "theory" that heavy metals is behind it....a theory backed with alot of circumstantial evidence which has yet to be scientifically proven. You can believe it or disbelieve it.....it makes no difference to me what you choose.

You came here approx. a month ago claiming to still have issues and ongoing diet restrictions due to candida....you were under the impression this was due to your Celiac.

If you have become "cured" in the last few weeks then I think thats wonderful!! Good for you.

I'm not sure I would go so far as to say that you are the first I've seen to conquer chronic candida though....at least not until you're resuming a some-what normal GLUTEN-FREE and soy free diet.....with hopefully more than a red bell pepper as a sweet.

From what I can tell.....claiming that you're "cured" of the infection is a little pre-mature.

All I know is that this discussion was about a "theory" and about how other Dr.'s may view this "theory".

Perhaps you need to go back and look at you original post re: this topic??

For some reason you then went on some rant about your own diet and the fact that you can now eat red bell peppers (but the green ones were always ok) and whatever else you were talking about that came out of left field.

You originally came into this thread throwing around accusations of people (such as myself) not getting better because of "feeding" the candida and "cheating" on the diet.

Clearly, you still feel that people can recover by severely liminiting their diet for many years....and ooooops...the candida infection is back because that red pepper was FAR too sweet and oooops....we should have known better!!

I dont agree....like I said...I have yet to see it happen.

Your posts to me have mostly been either to challenge/debate or have been totally out in left field...making no sense at all. I cant follow those types of pointless discussions. Its a waste of time and totally fruitless.

Apparantly you've been on this diet so long that now that you've "cured" yourself you have no desire to add in new foods. Thats great if thats what makes you happy.

I dont think others out there are wanting to stay on such a restricted diet indefinately....thats why they're doing all they can to "beat" it.....thats why the sales for candida "treatments" are BIG business.....thats why the Naturopaths diagnose this as a disease in itself. That was my point in the first place......I guess you missed that when you went on your little rant about your diet.

This is the end of this discussion from my end....its gone nowhere which seems to be the nature of your posts anyway.

[KAG]

Sorry for jumping in. I've tried to read many of the posts here but there just isn't enough time in the day to read all of this information.

I had candida problems for quite awhile. I went through all types of treatments and they never did work. I did have my dental fillings changed to remove amalgam (sp?). I have since had a hair analysis and heavy metal is not the problem. My candida problems started getting better when I cleaned up my diet and went gluten free. (Also when I went off of birth control pills.) I used A LOT of probiotics. I don't know if they took years to work or if they started working when I got rid of all of the food I was allergic to.

I'm thinking that birth control pills contributed to many of my problems. I think I read it somewhere that this can cause a candida overgrowth. Also, pregnancy did a lot of damage to my body, and this is when I think that gluten started causing harm, or maybe just that I started noticing.

So, did birth control start this? Was I predisposed to celiac? Can candida trigger celiac? Heavy metals were not the start of my candida, not that a hair analysis could show anyway.

I think that Rachel--24 is right though. There is a reason that candida started overgrowing. That issue needs to be addressed before you can show improvement.

[CarlaB]

are you in a lyme endemic area?

I got Lyme in an area that's no risk, so I wouldn't put much weight in that.

I guess I figure since the Babs and Lyme are stuck in my head anyway....not much is gonna be happening until I start moving the dang metals out. Thats how I rationalize it.

If your doctor was thinking this, I don't think taking the Noni would have been recommended.

Oh, and Carla--when I got bitten, it stung and itched for several minutes, and then the feeling went away. I don't think I was mistaking its crawling around for a bite.

If I had said that I'd been stung by a bee, would you tell me that I was mistaking its crawling on my arm for a sting?

I know when I've been bitten or stung by something. Why on earth would you doubt me? Don't we get enough of that from the doctors?

I have no idea why you would think I was doubting you. I was trying to help you.

Tick bites don't hurt, you don't feel them. The ONLY time I have ever FELT a tick is when it was crawling around on me ... in those cases, I got them off before I was bitten.

If it bit you, it would have been attached. The purpose of a tick biting is to feed, it's not like other insects that just bite. In fact, like Jin said, they're not insects. Count the legs.

Do they really have all prisoners wear pink undies in Phoenix? Is that considered cruel and unusual punishment?

How could making a murderer or rapist wear pink be considered cruel? Anyway, from what I've heard, a thing as simple as that has cut down on crime. I think all prisons should do it because of the good results it has had. Who would have known that cutting down on crime was so easy?

Yup four #s is a lot for any instrument.

If I was there w/ my tenor, your 4 #s (E I believe) would be SIX for me! (F#)

Way to go tho!!

I was thinking earlier how much I hate double-sharps or when they write B# or Cb. I know they gotta do it sometimes to unclutter later in the measure & keep w/ the flow of #s and bs. Like an F## instead of Gnatural so they won't have to respecify G# for that measure.

Doesn't make me hate it less.

I played a little sax today. Just runnin' thru what used to be warm-up songs.

A Charlie Parker solo transcribed and a Clifford Brown classic, "Joy Spring".

Only ~4th time I've played in 4 or 5 yrs or so.

Jaw and lips tired so quickly, but that'll come.

YAY! Adam says he'll know when I'm really feeling better because I'll start practicing again.

Yeah, all that weird notation is difficult. I don't see that very often with the flute ... even when I'm playing with strings (guitars) ... strings play with a lot of sharps all the time. I went through with a pencil and marked all the D#'s because I knew those would be the ones I'd miss. If I hit a wrong note, I made it sound like a grace note to the right note ... Just sounded like fancy flute playing.

I'm thinking that birth control pills contributed to many of my problems. I think I read it somewhere that this can cause a candida overgrowth. Also, pregnancy did a lot of damage to my body, and this is when I think that gluten started causing harm, or maybe just that I started noticing.

So, did birth control start this? Was I predisposed to celiac? Can candida trigger celiac? Heavy metals were not the start of my candida, not that a hair analysis could show anyway.

Pregnancy can trigger celiac, and birth control pills are a common cause of candida.

[tom]

YAY! Adam says he'll know when I'm really feeling better because I'll start practicing again.

Yup. No doubt about it. I lost interest sooooo long ago. Well before any physical symptoms, I remember our band playing what should be great gigs, big pool parties at some Hilton I think. Fun all around, except I'm on stage totally bored. That aint how it's 'posed-ta-Be.

But nowwwwwwwwww . . . .. .playing IS fun again. Surprised a little at how quickly so much came back. Just need the mouth to strengthen up again and I'm set!

(That Adam *knows* some things, doesn't he? !! Heheh)

. . . . I went through with a pencil and marked all the D#'s because I knew those would be the ones I'd miss. If I hit a wrong note, I made it sound like a grace note to the right note ... Just sounded like fancy flute playing.

Gotta mark it up!

And hehe the rest sounds like an experienced performer, for sure. "Fancy it UP!!"

[UR Groovy]

Good Morning.

I suppose I'm just spilling more useless data into this thread, but I wanted to come in here and tell you guys about something that occurred to me this weekend.

I haven't been following along the last couple days, so I hope I'm not hijacking or anything, but I feel a need to tell you something interesting (and a little heart-breaking for me) in regards to mercury. Last year my Mother was diagnosed with Parkinson's. She had always been very strong and healthy. I hadn't made the connection until I was talking to her on the phone Saturday. For some reason, it all came back to me at once. It was the end of the previous year that I remember ... she had a bunch of dental work - her old fillings were cracking and she had to have 4 or 5 fillings replaced all around the same time. I remember the many conversatins we had about all that dental work. Just after this (weeks), we were on vacation together and I noticed she wasn't right. She wasn't strong - I remember feeling like I had to watch her in the ocean waves to make sure she was strong enough to get out by herself (she's been a strong ocean swimmer all her life - we all were in my family). Something just seemed off to me. I noticed involuntary muscle movement in her arm. It was about 4 months later that she was hospitalized with acute pancreatitis & the tremors became very significant & couldn't be ignored. Within just a few months of this, she was full-on Parkinson's. We've been really perplexed about this, aside from broken heart syndrome (it's really difficult to watch someone who's always been a pillar of strenth to have difficulty getting out of a chair - in a matter of 10 months). I have to think that the rapid decline must have something to do with the dental work. That's when it all started.

I guess I'm telling this in part because we've been so perplexed by the whole thing. Thinking about what could have caused this.

I just wanted to share this with you because this has been such a difficult thing to adjust to, and the fact that we couldn't connect it previously to anything made it worse. She now seems to agree with me that it's likely that that could have a lot to do with this.

I feel very fortunate to have found this thread. I appreciate everything you're doing here. I think you can help a lot of people along the way to regaining your own health. I feel very fortunate. I'll be gathering information and feel confident that I'll be making more informed decisions because of you. Thank You.

[CarlaB]

Yup. No doubt about it. I lost interest sooooo long ago. Well before any physical symptoms, I remember our band playing what should be great gigs, big pool parties at some Hilton I think. Fun all around, except I'm on stage totally bored. That aint how it's 'posed-ta-Be.

But nowwwwwwwwww . . . .. .playing IS fun again. Surprised a little at how quickly so much came back. Just need the mouth to strengthen up again and I'm set!

(That Adam *knows* some things, doesn't he? !! Heheh)

Tell me about it ... I didn't play for 23 years!!!! I've only been playing again for the past few.

I'm am NOT going to admit that my husband knows anything at all.

Gotta mark it up!

And hehe the rest sounds like an experienced performer, for sure. "Fancy it UP!!"

Yeah, when you're the only wind instrument, there's no one to hide behind ... actually in any small ensemble. I played in a woodwind quintet in Bloomington ... the rest were all music majors in college (well, years ago when they were IN college! ). Two had masters in music. Then there was me, back to playing only for a year.

The oboe player was a previous professional musician. He taught me more in that year than I learned through all the rest of my playing. He said if I'd only practice long tones and scales, I'd be as good as him. Yeah, long tones and scales ... now that sounds fun.

Anyway, it IS a lot different than band, and it is fun. I have learned to play what sounds right, how to figure out where we are if they jump around, and what to do when a wrong note comes out. Playing in small groups is mostly learning to recover from mistakes without the audience knowing!

One time I played a rather difficult solo at our old church as a prelude. Totally screwed up the FIRST phrase! Worked hard not to get psyched out and finished the piece. My accompaniest didn't even notice. He let me play it again a couple weeks later so I could feel good about it.

Okay, gotta take the girls to their flute lessons.

[tom]

Does no one but me think candida's underlying cause can be celiac and celiac complications? (Leaky-gut and who knows which of the others)

Considering the severity and reach of so many other celiac complications, I can't understand how it can be seen as a stretch to think another complication (candida), in the intestestines[editdit: ooopsps!! LOOL?], was also related to the "collateral damage" of being right in the middle of the battlefield.

I don't believe I've claimed to be "cured".

But feeling 1000x better sure is a good start. (Ok maybe 250-300x better)

Anyone who measures success by the ability to eat like they could as a kid, or at age 25 (I'm old enough that 25 is a kid anyway), is IMHO, setting themselves up for disappointment.

Humans w/out chronic illnesses will still find a need to change their diets as they age.

So Rachel, regardless of the source of the assertion that candida always has some other underlying cause, and that 'conventional' treatment & diet don't work, I say it worked well enough for me!

[dlp252]

<radio voice>

So for those of you keeping score at home, it's:

Donna - 1

Multiple coats and colors of nail polish - 0 !

Yeah, stinkin fumes, take that!

Does anyone know if it would be safe to wash veggies in hydrogen peroxide to kill the outside of mold?

Hum, don't really know...don't think of HP has a mold killer though, but I know absolutely nothing about it.

I WAS BITTEN BY WHAT I THINK WAS A TICK TONIGHT.

Wow! Definitely keep a look out for rashes of any kind, but even then, not everyone gets a rash. I don't think it would hurt to take the tick to a doctor anyway (preferably someone knowledgeable about lyme).

P.S. Can a tick bite cause a rash around your waist? I was wondering, because back in 1997, I went out in the woods a lot. I thought it was poison oak or sumac. Now I wonder if it was something else. What do you think?

Well the rash can be pretty big, but I've not necessarily heard of it going around the waist (sorry though, that always makes me think of shingles )

I'll be off the computer most of the day tomorrow as T has her next LED session. Plan on booting the computer up tomorrow evening, definately after she goes to bed.

Hopefully you guys won't leave me pages and pages to catch up on.

Can't wait to hear about T's appointment when you can.

Sorry for jumping in. I've tried to read many of the posts here but there just isn't enough time in the day to read all of this information.

Hello and welcome! Jumping right in is the preferred method around here (even we don't read past pages, lol).

[dlp252]

I haven't been following along the last couple days, so I hope I'm not hijacking or anything, but I feel a need to tell you something interesting (and a little heart-breaking for me) in regards to mercury. Last year my Mother was diagnosed with Parkinson's. She had always been very strong and healthy. I hadn't made the connection until I was talking to her on the phone Saturday. For some reason, it all came back to me at once. It was the end of the previous year that I remember ... she had a bunch of dental work - her old fillings were cracking and she had to have 4 or 5 fillings replaced all around the same time. I remember the many conversatins we had about all that dental work. Just after this (weeks), we were on vacation together and I noticed she wasn't right. She wasn't strong - I remember feeling like I had to watch her in the ocean waves to make sure she was strong enough to get out by herself (she's been a strong ocean swimmer all her life - we all were in my family). Something just seemed off to me. I noticed involuntary muscle movement in her arm. It was about 4 months later that she was hospitalized with acute pancreatitis & the tremors became very significant & couldn't be ignored. Within just a few months of this, she was full-on Parkinson's. We've been really perplexed about this, aside from broken heart syndrome (it's really difficult to watch someone who's always been a pillar of strenth to have difficulty getting out of a chair - in a matter of 10 months). I have to think that the rapid decline must have something to do with the dental work. That's when it all started.

I guess I'm telling this in part because we've been so perplexed by the whole thing. Thinking about what could have caused this.

I just wanted to share this with you because this has been such a difficult thing to adjust to, and the fact that we couldn't connect it previously to anything made it worse. She now seems to agree with me that it's likely that that could have a lot to do with this.

I feel very fortunate to have found this thread. I appreciate everything you're doing here. I think you can help a lot of people along the way to regaining your own health. I feel very fortunate. I'll be gathering information and feel confident that I'll be making more informed decisions because of you. Thank You.

Wow, what a revelation (or relevation in Rachelville)! The dental work certainly sounds very likely...too much of a coincidence if you ask me! I've also heard of a connection between Parkinsons and Lyme...something else to check out at some point.

Does no one but me think candida's underlying cause can be celiac and celiac complications? (Leaky-gut and who knows which of the others)

Yeah, I do. I think Rachel's point all along (sorry Rachel, not trying to put words in your mouth), is that a candida *problem* is always caused by "something".

(Back to my own thoughts.) Everyone has some candida in their body...that is normal, but something causes it to grow out of control and become abnormal and symptomatic. Could it be celiac? I think so, but theoretically, if you are following the gluten-free diet and your gut heals and the candida is treated and brought back under control, at some point you should be able to eat some higher sugar foods without candida symptoms returning. What I can't say is how long that would take...I just really think it wouldn't take forever though. I don't know, just my thoughts on it.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

P.S. Can a tick bite cause a rash around your waist? I was wondering, because back in 1997, I went out in the woods a lot. I thought it was poison oak or sumac. Now I wonder if it was something else. What do you think?

The first thing that jumps to mind is shingles, which often appears as a painful AND itchy rash around the waist (the pain is caused by inflammation of the nerve pathway under the rash). That tends to come with other, flu-like symptoms, but I suppose it's possible to have a very mild case.

Second thing that occurs to me is that if you were wearing a metal belt of some kind, maybe that could cause the rash? Many of us with gluten problems appear to be sensitive to metal touching the skin as well, especially nickel.

[tom]

Kat - this thread is pretty un-hijackable. It's just not like other threads.

Your story didn't feel even remotely off-topic. In fact, thanks for sharing it, heart-breaking and all.

I've only been here 5 wks or so, and remember quite well when I realized how fortunate it was to have stumbled upon this thread.

While I've been lucky enough to have continued improving, I'm not taking it for granted this time and I know that what I've been learning may become invaluable if my health makes a downturn. <crossing fingers *while* knocking on wood>

*****************************

<now for something truly off-topic>

Good morning everyone,

I'm tempted to spell it mourning.

Today is the day my brother Pat left this world.

One year ago.

Pat & Pete's birthday last month wasn't tough, as it was when they came to us.

Today's gonna be tough.

I don't so much want to request that anyone visit this site w/ his obituary & much more as I'd like to simply post the url in tribute.

Open Original Shared Link

He was able to live his dream, going from Anytown USA suburbia to working and living in the U.S.'s last frontier.

(I know the obit says the 11th, but that was just the day the plugs got pulled. Pat left on the 9th)

Thanks for allowing my indulgence.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

I have no idea why you would think I was doubting you.

Um, maybe because you said that it didn't bite me, when I had already said that it did?

If it wasn't attached, it didn't bite you, I'm pretty sure of that. It would still be attached if it did.

[dlp252]

Aw Tom, I'm so sorry! Pat was a handsome guy and sounds like he had a really great life!

My dad's "anniversary" is coming up in September...it's still a hard time of year even after 11 years.