Omg...i Might Be On To Something

[CarlaB]

Am I the only one that doesn't appreciate being well endowed?

ROFL!!! I don't want to be well-endowed ... I hated that when I was pregnant and nursing!! I'd just like to fill out a B cup completely!!!! Not asking for much!!

5'4. used to have full C or D cups My "BMI" is 16.6 and the ranges are:

Underweight = <18.5

Normal weight = 18.5-24.9

Overweight = 25-29.9

Obesity = BMI of 30 or greater

(from Open Original Shared Link the NIH BMI calculator)

Thanks. I was just trying to think of what I would look like at 97 ... but for me it would be 106. For you to be my BMI you would need to weigh about 115. I'm about 5 pounds higher than my low weight ... but at that point I ate CONSTANTLY to stay at that weight. It was scary. I can only imagine how you feel now.

Oh c'mon...I can chaperone

I am trying to imagine this!!!

[happygirl]

Oh-I love my "regular" sized ones!!! Andrea, I am mourning mine! we used to joke that I was going to fall over when I got pregnant (one day) because my boobs would take over the world!

Bev, I saw on another thread that it was your birthday this weekend --- I hope you had a wonderful birthday, sweetie.

[DingoGirl]

Yes, where is Richard?

I believe our resident goof is at a conference this week.....oh my gosh, what will we do? I"ll have to pick up the slack..... but I could never come up with all those silly links and photos that he does....

Am I the only one that doesn't appreciate being well endowed?

well harumph I would REALLY like to be endowed....and I"ll tell you what, some day I AM SO getting the fake ones.....you can't talk me out of it either

Donna - your Sunday - oh my gosh. that is the best way to ruin a sunday that I've ever heard.....way too much going on, I was exhausted by it but hope you had fun.

Laura.....you are young so the thin-ness still looks good and you look gorgeous in your photo. Thin-ness is not that attractive as women age.....I looked so incredibly haggard in the last couple of years, but now am holding steady and want to be in my skinny skinny clothes again..... ha ha, never happy...anywho I hope it isn't too much torture, you eating the bad foods.....at least eat some really GOOD bad foods, and do what Donna said, good movies, etc. And we are all here, in spirit with you.

Shoot I dingo'd whatever else I was going to say, but must go, have to cram for the election tomorrow, have got to read the propositions and figure everything out.....how heinous is that? What a crashing bore but last election, for the first and only time in my life, I did not vote.... so I've really got to vote this time.

Oh c'mon...I can chaperone

well yes of course you can chaperone, many friends have offered to do this anyway and it might just as well be you, dear one, because I have made ridiculous choices in men (I do blame that on gluten contaminants in my brain).....but, um, he would have to call me first.....

let's see.....we chatted on Sat. night, so he has three days, I believe....

[CarlaB]

Laura.....you are young so the thin-ness still looks good and you look gorgeous in your photo. Thin-ness is not that attractive as women age.....I looked so incredibly haggard in the last couple of years, but now am holding steady and want to be in my skinny skinny clothes again..... ha ha, never happy...anywho I hope it isn't too much torture, you eating the bad foods.....at least eat some really GOOD bad foods, and do what Donna said, good movies, etc. And we are all here, in spirit with you.

True. When I was gluten-free for several months I stopped by to see some friends in Atlanta ... they had seen me about 8 months earlier when I was REALLY sick. They couldn't believe the difference in my face ... they said I looked less gaunt. It wasn't that I had gained much either, just that "sick" look was gone. I saw a picture of me taken then, and I looked so horrible!! My spiritual director was talking about it last time I saw him and said I had looked like I had been at Auchuwitz (sp?) ... little did he know I was only a few pounds heavier now ... I just don't look as sick anymore. (This is how I KNOW gluten is a real problem for me). I just don't like it when I can see my ribs in my back. But then again, I don't want to just gain a bunch of fat in the interest of gaining weight!!! I think I would have lost a lot more if I weren't a weight-lifter. The muscle really saved me.

[Mtndog]

Drive by catch up.....

Carla and Patti and all those who haven't been taken seriously and considered "sensitive"......poo on those that did that to you! for whatever reason.

Andrea- I am so glad you will get to see your dad

Laura- You look absolutely stunning! I actually had the same experience with the dress before my own wedding. i got engaged in March and weighed about 145 lbs. I picked the dress out in April and was a size 8. By the time the wedding rolled around in October 7 months later I had dropped to a size 2. Everyone thought it was for the wedding and referred to me as the "incredible shrinking bride". I kept telling people I wasn't trying. But I looked good apparently. Because I had lost all my fat, my muscles were defined and I looked like I had been working out.

The dress fitter ended up taking like three inches off my dress top and inserting cups three days before the wedding because my dress was falling off too. I think I was down to about 125 (20 pounds in 6 months) which is really thin for me. The worst part was that even though I felt really crappy (it got way worse after the wedding- it was like my body "held out" for the wedding and then just gave in to being sick) everryone kept telling me how great I looked. The more i shrank the more guys checked me out- I wanted to punch them all.

At my sickest I went in to buy a size 2 dress for my friend's wedding and the sales people were all oohing and ahhing and saying "Only someone with a perfect figure could carry that dress off. How do you do it?" I had HAD IT at that point so I turned to them and told them I was really sick (i knew I had celiac then and was in the middle of my gluten challenge).

Good luck with your "eating more than 8 foods" challenge. I hope it's not too hard on you.

i have a 'lack of scientificness" question. i am still waiting for the results of my blood work for Lyme, ANA, thyroid etc. i wonder if down the line I do eventually get diagnosed with Lyme, will a traditional doctor, like the one i've been referred to (a rheumatologist) want to treat me with antibiotics? Will I have to look to a naturopath for a different treatment. I DO NOT want to spend months on antibiotics. My SIL's sister did and now has a chronic, systemic yeast infection, struggling with infertility and can't eat anything due to aggressive antibiotic treatment for Lyme a few years ago.

Hugs and love to all, B

And thanks for the birthday wishes- it was a good one! Had fun (and a wee bit o' champagne!). My ultimate treat was namaste Blondies with Enjoy Life chocolate chips. I RACHELED them big time and have no regrets!

[AndreaB]

Shoot I dingo'd whatever else I was going to say, but must go, have to cram for the election tomorrow, have got to read the propositions and figure everything out.....how heinous is that? What a crashing bore but last election, for the first and only time in my life, I did not vote.... so I've really got to vote this time.

Yikes! Elections. I hate em.

let's see.....we chatted on Sat. night, so he has three days, I believe....

[CarlaB]

Bev, I find the same thing ... checked out all the time!! Even if I'm with Adam!! I get a kick out of it, actually ... can't these guys find someone closer to their age to check out????

Adam used to call me the "incredible shrinking woman", but now he doesn't think it's funny anymore.

My Igenex test came in the mail today!!!! I get tested Monday!!! Which test did those of you who used Igenex have done?

[AndreaB]

Bev,

Anxiously awaiting your results. It seems like the alternative treatment would be better. Rachel and Rinne would know more. Maybe a short round of antibiotics is necessary before/during other stuff. Sounds like not such a good thing to me though.

[DingoGirl]

Bev....I hope you get some answers soon. Feel better so you can chaperone my dates.

okay everyone, I have a thyroid question. Just had the blood work, and the T4 is low (4.8 and normal is 4.5 - 12.5), T3 uptake is 33 (normal is 22-35), Thyroxine is .87 and normal range is 0.8 - 1.8. *I* am the one who checked the boxes on the lab slip for the other tests, BTW. Okay so anywho I found this on the stop thyroid madness website, and it describes me to a T:

The theory was that T4 would convert to the T3 needed for the body. But in nearly ALL patients on T4 meds, the T4 does NOT convert into an adequate amount of T3, leaving you with symptoms that neither you OR your uninformed doctor realize are related to inadequate treatment—poor stamina compared to others, chronic low grade depression, thinning hair or outer eyebrows, feeling cold when others are warm, cholesterol problems, aches and pains, hard or small stools, easy weight gain, memory problems, foggy thinking, a diagnosis of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome or Fibromyalgia………the list is long and pathetic. In other words, healthy thyroids are NOT meant to rely SOLELY on T4-to-T3 conversion!

My eyebrows have really been thinning in the last 5 - 6 years. And my stamina....there isn't any any more. do you guys have any scientificness on this? Should I take Armour, and is that a prescription drug? I havne't even really looked into this yet, I am sure both of my doctors would totally eschew it anyway.

Thanks!

[AndreaB]

Susan,

I don't have any answers for you.

Rachel posted earlier that she takes Armour. She'll probably know the answer for you.....she's lost in posting oblivion. She was on here posting a while back.....

[CarlaB]

Susan, I don't know much about the thyroid tests, but from my NFP teaching days I learned a lot about the temperature being a more accurate measure and used it. I take glandular thyroid, enough to get my temp. to a normal range. If you take your waking temp. during the first two weeks of your cycle (day one is the first day of menstuation), it should be 97.6 or above. Mine was lower than that when I started taking the thyroid, and now it's above and until recently I felt much better for it (I've taken thyroid for years).

What I like about the temperature method is that it doesn't rely on a doctor's test. I can do it myself so I know whether it's working and whether to take more or less.

I'm sure someone else will have some better scientificness ...

[rinne]

Carla, Dr. Hoffman ordered the Western Blot IgG & IgM for me.

From the IgeneX site:

WHAT TEST(S) TO ORDER:

Based on our tracking, as well as input from our client physicians and our clinical consultant, the initial Panel to order for Lyme disease is the IGeneX Panel 6050. This panel includes the IFA, IgM and IgG Western Blots and PCRs for Borrelia burgdorferi. The IFA is a general Lyme disease screen. The Western Blots are to determine which antibodies the patient is making. The Western Blot is 96% specific. Since some patients do not make antibodies, the Lyme Whole Blood PCR for DNA (#463) and the Lyme Serum PCR for DNA (#453) is included.

He did not order the IFA which it says is the general screen for Lyme, I am assuming he didn't because my clinical symptoms are sufficient for a diagnosis.

[CarlaB]

Carla, Dr. Hoffman ordered the Western Blot IgG & IgM for me.

From the IgeneX site:

He did not order the IFA which it says is the general screen for Lyme, I am assuming he didn't because my clinical symptoms are sufficient for a diagnosis.

Thank you. I'll have to look it over again in the morning. I don't want to do this twice, so maybe I should get the same as you did ... but I'll have to look it over better.

[rinne]

well yes of course you can chaperone, many friends have offered to do this anyway and it might just as well be you, dear one, because I have made ridiculous choices in men (I do blame that on gluten contaminants in my brain).....but, um, he would have to call me first.....

let's see.....we chatted on Sat. night, so he has three days, I believe....

And what rulebook is that written in?

Dingo this, he might love to be called by a woman as fascinating as you and he might be hesitant to believe someone as stunning as you would be really interested in him. Did you flip your hair at him?

I don't know anything about thyroids but I do know that salt, Himalayan salt, has given me my life back. A good friend of mine, who is not ill, has been taking a quarter teaspoon a day and told me recently that she is going to up it to a half teaspoon because she is noticing an improvement in her energy. She has always been my model for health, doesn't smoke, eats healthy, works out, so I think if she is noticing something there is something to be noticed. I think we are starved for minerals, when I started drinking the salt I felt like my body was saying, "thank you, thank you, thank you".

[CarlaB]

I don't know anything about thyroids but I do know that salt, Himalayan salt, has given me my life back. A good friend of mine, who is not ill, has been taking a quarter teaspoon a day and told me recently that she is going to up it to a half teaspoon because she is noticing an improvement in her energy. She has always been my model for health, doesn't smoke, eats healthy, works out, so I think if she is noticing something there is something to be noticed. I think we are starved for minerals, when I started drinking the salt I felt like my body was saying, "thank you, thank you, thank you".

Same here. Even if I don't test positive for the Lyme, the salt is staying!! I have had more energy the past few days than I have in months.

[rinne]

Thank you. I'll have to look it over again in the morning. I don't want to do this twice, so maybe I should get the same as you did ... but I'll have to look it over better.

I wonder what Rachel had done, yooooo hooooo Rachel.

Looking at it now, if I were you I would go for the full panel. I am glad that Hoffman was comfortable giving me a clinical diagnosis of Lyme and I trust his decision to order just the tests that he did but without his diagnosis I think I might feel uneasy about just having the ones that I have. On the other hand, as convinced as I was that I had Lyme, if I had to make a choice based on finances I would go with the tests I am having done.

I want you to know that I am very glad you are having the testing done and I genuinely hope that you don't have Lyme. It touches my heart that you are being tested, that you are trusting Rachel's experience, my experience and most importantly, your own experience.

It takes courage to really look at "Lyme Alive" territory, truthfully I feel like I have met my death thread and I have been set free by it. I keep returning to a yoga posture, a restorative pose - you lay on your back on top of a bolster so that your hips are open and your chest is elevated, the bolster is placed so that when you lay back it fits just to your lower back and it needs to be about 10 inches or so, you cross your legs in whatever way is comfortable and under your knees you have pillows, you stretch your arms out and down at your sides, never above your shoulders, and you breathe. It is paradoxical to me that in that position that is so vulnerable we are restored, how is it that we are restored by vulnerability? Well, that's my picture of Lyme Alive territory today.

[Rachel--24]

Everyone in Rachelville is always in my prayers....but tonight Evie and Laura will get extra prayers. I'm gonna pray that the bad foods dont cause you too much discomfort Laura....and that the whole thing will bring you some answers. Did you say that Evie is at home?? Does this mean she wasnt admitted to the hospital? Is this good news? I am really worried about Evie because C.Diff is mean.

Donna, Wow....hectic day....I was exhausted just reading about it. HN called me tonight....they wanna see me again....I guess I have test results there they never went over with me. I told her I got diagnosed with Lyme Disease.

I forgot all the other stuff I wanted to reply too. Will have to go back.

I had my Dr. appt. and I didnt leave there too happy. Dave wasnt too happy either.

The Dr. is just very serious and sort of makes me feel as if I'm REALLY bad off. Well.....I know I'm pretty sick but sometimes a little positivity might be nice.

Anyways he had my report from the Bioset lady.

With regards to Bioset he said he didnt used to use "people like her" (remember he is an M.D.)...he said he used to treat chemical sensitivities with supplements and people got better. Nowadays he said he cant do this because people are actually reacting to supplements now and therefore he is unable to treat them with anything. He said he needs the Bioset lady now...he needs her to clear the detox pathways so that he can provide treatment.

I asked if her treatments worked.....what was his opinion?? He said as far as treating chemical sensitivities she is the best in this country....basically one of a kind. Well....I dont think I can ask for more than that now can I??

He said he wants me to go to about 10 treatment sessions and to get all the detox pathways cleared and then he can start treating me. Apparantly ALL of my pathways are blocked.

He said NOTHING is getting through ANY of the pathways. I thought it was just sulfur and methionine....but NO...its all of them....those are just the two most important.

Sooo....this is why I have chemical senstivities.

He seems to only be concerned with the pathways. He said it wouldnt necessarily help me to see her after that because of the fact that I have Lyme disease. He said she might not be able to keep de-sensitizing me because of the Lyme....that the Lyme is still gonna keep my body toxic and get in the way of her treatments.

I'm just gonna see how things go and if the bioset seems to be helping I'll continue to go. His feeling is that she wont be able to eliminate my chemical sensitivities as long as I have active Lyme and co-infections. I guess I can always go back to her later once I'm getting the infections treated and under control. I'm gonna ask her about it tomorrow.

He said her test showed that I have 19 bugs associated with Lyme.

He also said that her test is very sensitive.....meaning sometimes it picks up things that arent there.

I asked him if 19 is alot??? He said "Ummm...well other people have come back with up to 4." WTF??? I HAVE 19!!!!!

So now I have to go back on Wednesday to get the full Igenix panel for ALL co-infections. He needs to find out which ones show up in the blood. Let me tell you....this test is NOT cheap.

I know that its necessary though....so I'll be there on Wed. for the blood draw.

He doesnt seem willing to treat anything that doesnt come back positive in the bloodtest....or maybe he's only willing to use antibiotics if something specific is shown in the bloodtest?? He said if certain things come back....like Babesia (parasite)....he wants to use antibiotics. If nothing comes back positive then he will discuss other treatments with me. He seems to want to use antibiotics as front-line treatment though.

I asked him about Samento....he said yes, we will discuss all of the possible treatments and will likely try different things.

My next appt. is Dec. 4th (I think). He said he will have the results from Igenix and depending on if the Bioset lady gives him the greenlight (as far as my pathways being cleared) we will go from there.

I asked him about antibiotics....how some people dont get better on them. He said "Some people dont do well with antibiotics and some people dont do well with anything.....lets hope you're not one of those people."

Do you see what I mean about him not making me feel very reassured???

Anyways, he said that since I'm young and havent had Lyme for very long (apparantly 4 or 5 years is not long ) he wants to try antibiotics but not now....not until my detox pathways are cleared and I'm able to take supplements to support my immune system.

I asked him about mercury...how much of a role does it play if any??

He said that once a person has Lyme they become toxic. He said Lyme spits out toxins all over the body and depending on how well a person detoxes the burden can be worse for some than for others. A person with Lyme will accumulate heavy metals because they get backed up....they dont get detoxed.....they build up in the body and eventually the heavy metals reach toxic levels as well. Also the co-infections....parasites such as Babesia create their own toxins. In my case everything has backed up inside me....nothing toxic gets out very easily at all. The rise in toxicity results in chemical sensitivities.

He said mercury and Lyme are both intacellular and mainly cause the same kind of disruptions of cells and other stuff that is undetectable in any kind of test....even though they are causing plenty of damage. He said mercury and Lyme are basically buddies...they are connected at the hip. He said for a person dealing with both it gets extremely difficult. Lyme is harder to get rid of when there is mercury and mercury is harder to get rid of when there is Lyme.

Again...not very promising.

He said someone who has mercury toxicity is more sucseptible to Lyme....meaning the Lyme will have a greater advantage than it would in someone who doesnt have mercury toxicity. Also a person with Lyme is more suscepible to mercury toxicity because of the body being in a toxic state....the mercury and other heavy metals wont be going anywhere.

I asked him why so much controversy surrounding Lyme??? He said it all comes down to politics. Half of the medical community is still saying that "chronic Lyme" does not exsist....the other half (who he likes to call the more "intelligent" half ) are aware of the fact that Lyme Disease is a long term disease that requires more than 2-3 weeks of antibiotics. He said that unfortuately people like me are suffering and going undiagnosed and untreated for years. He said if the whole medical community were to acknowlege Lyme Disease for what it truelly is...the insurance companies would not be able to cope. If every person were diagnosed and able to recieve antibiotic treatment the numbers would be staggering and the costs for longterm treatment for all Lyme patients would exceed what the insurance companies can handle. So instead....they bury their heads in the sand and ignore Lyme Disease.

Even worse....he said that just last week they have made it law...that no Dr. shall treat a Lyme patient for more than 3 weeks with antibiotics.

This cannot be good for the future of those who have Lyme.

I know that this is something that has been going on for quite some time now....the controversy of Lyme Disease. I've noticed that on the Lyme boards they DO NOT post the names of their Dr.'s....to protect them...because these Dr.'s are treating Lyme Disease as a chronic illness and can suffer the scrutiny of the medical profession if they are "found out".

How scary is that??

So I dont know what will happen now.....with this new law. I dont know if my Dr. is only going to treat me with 3 weeks antibiotics or if he will go beyond that. He said as of right now it is not a felony to do so.....but it is VERY VERY frowned upon.

I dont know if antibiotics will help me once I've detoxed and am able to take them?? It would really suck to have them be working and then be refused further treatment. Will have to wait and see....at least there are other methods of treatment available....I dont know if something like Samento will work for all Lyme and co-infections too???

I asked him if its even possible for me to get better....seeing as he was pretty much gloom and doom the entire time.

He said "Yes...its definately possible."

He told me I need to be a fighter and to not give up. Seeee...I dont think he knows me because I AM A FIGHTER.

Also...I told him about the documentary and its focus on the people suffering because of a broken medical system. He seemed really pleased about this. He said we need all the publicity we can get...the word needs to get out about this disease.

So it wont be until 4 more weeks that I find out about the co-infections and what exactly I have going on as far as that goes. More waiting. <sigh>

Lyme Disease is complicated and it sucks.

He told me about 4 times that I mainly need to avoid wheat, sugar and dairy.

He's not pleased about the ice cream....I told him my diet consists of only 5 foods for the past several weeks. I listed them and he said "Hmmmmm.... Great diet....at least you have all of the food groups."

Am I the only one that doesn't appreciate being well endowed?

Andrea....I was "well-endowed" for about 5 months. I appreciated it very much.

[Rachel--24]

do you guys have any scientificness on this? Should I take Armour, and is that a prescription drug? I havne't even really looked into this yet, I am sure both of my doctors would totally eschew it anyway.

Thanks!

Yup...I know about this stuff.

Mainly because for the first year and a half I thought all my health problems were due to my thyroid problems. I tried everything imaginable as far as doses, meds etc. My Endocrinologist just decided rather than argue with me...he'd just let me do whatever I wanted...as long as I didnt go too under or over. I think he just wanted to shut me up.

I didnt know you took thyroid meds?? I finally settled on Armour (been taking it for quite some time now) but obviously thyroid was never my problem so I dont actually feel any different on it. I basically take it...not because of the T3 benefit....but because the synthetic pills have dyes and other synthetic stuff that I react to and dont really wanna put into my highly-reactive body.

[rinne]

Wow Rachel, that is a lot. When you can, read the Samento information, I think it may make you feel more helpful.

Some great scientificness, thank you. I didn't realize that they were going to limit doctors ability to prescribe antibiotics. I am grateful that I am not going that route.

Okay Sugar, sugar is evil. Lyme loves sugar. Everything good they are doing for you, you are undoing with sugar and even if it is organic it is evil organic sugar. I'm sorry to have to say this, I have restrained myself thus far but all that you have just written tells me that you don't have time to tease the Lyme with sugar. Please stop. I will never say another word about it, I will not nag.

Your doctor does sound dour, do you trust him? I'm understanding transference for the first time with mine.

[Rachel--24]

Laura,

I can so relate to your weight loss woes.

I got down to 94 lbs last summer. I felt self-conscious wherever I went...like people would think I was anorexic. I HATED it.....and yes, I lost my boobs completely.

Like you, the Dr.s and some other people were not concerned at all....thinking I was just small and what was the big deal?? They would say..."You are an attractive girl...there is nothing wrong with you. If you are concerned about your weight just eat more bread and ice cream."

Bev....like you I wanted to punch them all in the face!!!!!

I'm stable at 110 now so dont give up hope....things can turn around. I still want about 10 more pounds though. Unlike Carla I'd rather be heavier than stick-thin. My mom was always saying she wished she could weigh what I was weighing.

I think I was looking alot like Nicole Richie looks now....you could see my bones sometimes. I dont think I was quite as bad as her but pretty darn close....my clothes were hanging on me. I was buying my shorts from the little girls dept.

I've never been well-endowed....just normal size. I was always happy with that....probably because I'm a tomboy and didnt really want anything getting in my way.

Anyways, when I first got sick and started puffing up everywhere (I got up to 130)....all of a sudden I was well-endowed. Just like that.....there they were. It was short lived but it was kind of nice and I did go into mourning.....especially since I shrunk to nothing.... literally. What kind of cruel and unusual punishment is that???

[AndreaB]

Wow Rachel!

I just caught up and am off the get the baby to bed........

[Rachel--24]

Your doctor does sound dour, do you trust him? I'm understanding transference for the first time with mine.

I cant say I trust him 100%.....its too early in the game. Lets just say I'm giving him a chance...will have to wait and see. I may schedule an appt. with the Lyme Dr. who comes to our area every 3 months. I'm gonna ask the Bioset lady tomorrow. The next visit will be in Dec. This Dr. is an LLMD....supposedly very good. The Bioset lady highly recommends this Dr.....so I think it might be beneficial for me to get an appt.

As far as the sugar. Its been about 2 months now of constant ice cream.....yet no worsening of symptoms. I dont think it could be doing too much damage since I actually have improved in some ways.

The thing is that my reactions to OTHER foods is so much worse I think the ice cream just *seems* like its better. I know it cant truelly be *helping* me but I have to eat something. My thoughts are that my reactions mainly come from toxicity. Toxicty from molds in grains, fruits, nut butters, etc. Then we have the Auxigro in a huge portion of organic foods....then we have pesticides in all the conventional foods. Then there are all the sulfur foods which are off limits such as eggs, cabbage, onions, brocolli and other healthy foods. There is nothing much left.

If I ate something like a potato that contained 30% glutamic acid (msg) that would cause me some problems. Then if I'm eating all these other foods...a liitle sulfur here, a little more MSG there, throw in some mold....next thing you know....in one day I've severely poisoned myself eating all "healthy" foods!!

Thats what kept happening to me before.

The only time I get reactions now is when I get a bad batch of potatoes that must have been grown with Auxigro. Its kind of a crapshoot. Potatoes are one of the 5 foods I'm eating. Most of the time I'm having good luck with potatoes but then I'll buy a few and I'll react to every one of them.....indicating they came from a diferent grower. Its just the luck of the draw....but at least I'm only gambling with potatoes now and not my entire diet.

I told my Dr. tonight. Once the lady clears my pathways and allows for more food choices....then I will give up the ice cream for healthier foods. He seemed to understand. I have no choice right now. I need to keep weight on also. I think there is simply nothing toxic in this one particular brand of ice cream. I'm thinking Lyme would fare better in a body which is highly toxic due to chemicals than it would with a chemical free diet with some sugar in it. I'm just listening to my body for now.

[rinne]

Of course you have to trust your body Rachel I just wonder about maple syrup as a substitute. I know sugar came up as a big NO for me but maple syrup is okay, not that I should be indulging too much.

Here is more information on Samento:

Open Original Shared Link

After reading all the good things it says I want to "rachel it". I can't though, I am on the increase drop by drop protocol.

[AndreaB]

Rachel,

Sounds like you are doing the right thing for you, especially until you get your pathways cleared. I must have heard you wrong yesterday.....I thought you said you ate brocolli.... I think it was one of the times one of the kids came into my room.

Now I'm curious whether this doctor is trying to keep you from getting your hopes way up there or if he thinks you won't get much better. I think you will. Positivity is a part of the battle. You are a fighter, that's another big part. It would be nice if he could be a bit positive anyway.

I'll be waiting to here what the bioset lady says about the other doctor.

I will also be waiting for your new test results along with you.

Laura,

Thinking of you and you diet challenge for the week. Hope your body is stronger and this doesn't bring you down. We'll be here for you when you post. Hugs and love.

[rinne]

If this information from the site above is accurate then it is tragic to think of how many are ill and do not know and may never know that they have Lyme disease.

Who Is at Risk for Lyme Disease?

Everyone is at risk for Lyme disease, including newborns. "Of the 5,000 children I've treated, 240 have been born with the disease," says the world's leading Lyme pediatric specialist Charles Ray Jones, M.D., medical director of the Pediatric/Adolescent Medicine and Lyme Disease clinic in New Haven, Connecticut.

Two years ago, another Lyme disease expert, Dan Kinderleher, M.D., stated on the Today Show that the then existing 1.8 million cases cited by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCP) in Atlanta, Georgia had been under-reported by at least ten times. In the United States, therefore, in actuality over 18 million Lyme disease patients now exist.

"The CDCP criteria was developed only for surveillance; it was never meant for diagnosis," explains Dr. Jones. "Lyme is a clinical diagnosis.The test evidence may be used to support a clinical diagnosis, but it doesn't prove one has Lyme. About 50 percent of patients I've seen have been seronegative for Lyme but meet all the clinical criteria."1

A renowned authority in the field of integrative medicine, W. Lee Cowden, M.D., of Ft. Worth, Texas, says, "There are very few symptoms where you shouldn't consider Lyme, especially given that a quarter of the U.S. population may be affected. More than 50 percent of ill people may have Lyme contributing to their condition."2 (Please see our interview with Dr. Cowden which appears later in this Medical Journalist Report of Innovative Biologics.)

Marcus A. Cohen, New York Observer columnist for the Townsend Letter for Doctors & Patients, writes: ". . . for every case [of Lyme disease] reported, ten meeting the CDCP case definition aren't recorded. An unknown number of cases not meeting the CDCP surveilance criteria go unreported. Probable bottom line on the number of Americans who actually contract Lyme: 250,000 to 300,000 per year. "3

Suffering from Lyme disease herself, Jo Anne Whitaker, M.D., F.A.A.P., President and Director of Research at Bowen Research & Training Institute, Inc. in Palm Harbor, Florida, has developed a blood test useful in evaluating treatment by comparing pre and post serial dilution results. Dr. Whitaker affirms: "We have now tested over 3,500 [blood] specimens, with 500 of these [specimens] from very sick children. They come from a wide geographical distribution and all are positive for cell-wall-deficient Lyme disease.

"The primary question is 'why are there no negatives?'" Dr. Whitaker goes on to ask, "Does everyone have it?.....Since 1999, all blood cultures have been positive with Bb, there were no negatives. We believe this indicates the magnitude of the problem. We believe the problem is not only endemic but may also be reaching epidemic proportions. Early diagnosis is mandatory so that treatment can begin immediately to provide opportunity for cure and prevent chronic Lyme disease."4