Omg...i Might Be On To Something

[AndreaB]

So guess what!!

This morning when my Assistant Manager got there he came up to me and said "Happy Employee Appreciation Week" and handed me a $25 gift certificate for Whole Foods!!

How cool is that!!!

That's fantastic!!!! I'm glad your workplace is so understanding. That must make things a lot easier for you.

Dear AndreaB,

Actually, Stachybotrys tends to be greenish black. This mold is notorious for causing illness. Penicillium I am not sure about, but I think it is black. Mold is something that gets into everything. There was a family not far from here who had it in their trailor. They ended up having to move out. The mold grew from a very slow leak behind their toilet, and it grew inside the walls. Bleach can kill it in a number of cases, but only if it has not penetrated certain areas. If it gets inside books and things, moving may be the best option. A good way to tell if toxic mold is a problem in your home is if you feel better if you stay at someone else's house for a few days.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

Hm, well this looks green and I've only seen it in a couple spots. I had washed on spot and it hasn't come back.

The thing is we don't feel sick. It's just intolerances seem to be growing. Maybe it's something totally different. We'll probably find out whenever we are able to go to bioset.

I've been debated having all of us go through the initial testing and then determining who needs to be treated first based on that. Of course, the downside of that is that the others may develop more problems before they can be treated.

What do you guys think?

[happygirl]

I see you Mia

Rachel, that is a really sweet gesture on the part of your work. Having that support makes all the difference. A few weeks ago, I completely broke down in my boss' office....poor thing, I think I traumatized him. But, it means a lot to me that I have co-workers who do their best to help me.

I am not sure if I am having a normal 'flare/reaction,' a herx, a reaction to the meds, or something unrelated, but I had a 'flare' this afternoon, got nauseous, thought I was going to throw up at work, brain fog, out of it, hot flashes, etc. Came home, slept, woke up, felt horrible, tried to throw up again, etc. I feel really weak, hands/neck hurts, etc. This is just hard---no matter what the reason. Its hard physically and emotionally. I told my mom I hate not ever knowing how I'm going to feel. I started off having a really good day...and then crashed horribly.

Hanging out on the couch, under a blanket, with Eric. xoxo

[Judyin Philly]

HI ALL

RACHEL THAT WAS A TERRIFIC POST AND SO HAPPY FOR YOU

ANDREA, DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT YOUR TEST..SORRY

LAURA. POOR DEAR, YOUR TRYING SO HARD.. IT'S SUCH A KICK IN THE BUTT TO NEVER KNOW HOW WERE'RE GONG TO FEEL. HAVE TICKETS TO PHIL FLOWER SHOW AND DON'T THINK I CAN GET WELL ENOUGH BY SUNDAY.

HANG IN EVERYONE ONE.

OH, AND THANKS DEB FOR THE POST.

JUDY

[AndreaB]

Hanging out on the couch, under a blanket, with Eric. xoxo

Laura,

So sorry you're feeling crummy and not knowing which issue it's dealing with....herx, sick etc.

Hanging out on the couch, under a blanket, with hubby doesn't sound too bad though. What's hubby time?

[Rachel--24]

The thing is we don't feel sick. It's just intolerances seem to be growing. Maybe it's something totally different.

Andrea,

Are you sure the intolerances are growing? I would think with alot of intolerances there would be alot of symptoms. Everybody seems to be in good health and not really feeling sick.....which is good.

The intolerances seem to be the biggest issue with T?? If she's not being honest every time or if shes wanting extra attention it might be habit for her to say her tummy hurts...because she knows her mommy is really concerned about the food intolerances.

I dont know if this is the case or not but I do think if she had growing intolerances she would be more symptomatic.

Since I am not always cooperative (by nature).....I'm very certain that at her age I would have definately used the food intolerance to my advantage. In my house my mom was focused on cleaning...everything needed to be spic-and-span and tidy. Of course I left the biggest messes in my room and pretty much every where I went in the house.

She actually took pictures of my "messes" and will gladly pull them out to show me (or anyone else) how I "tortured" her in my youth.

This continued the entire time I lived at home...lo and behold as soon as I moved out my room and my home were spotless. I never left messes! I really wasnt a slob but since my mom put alot of focus on cleaning.....I left messes everywhere. I didnt plan out this behavior....I wasnt trying to be evil....I just did it.

I've been debated having all of us go through the initial testing and then determining who needs to be treated first based on that. Of course, the downside of that is that the others may develop more problems before they can be treated.

I think if you all went through testing you shouldnt base who needs treatment on that alone....I think you should treat the one whos got symptoms or is feeling bad since you are limited finacially.

I wouldnt worry too much about the others getting more problems since they arent symptomatic right now.

I think BioSET can be helpful but it might also confuse you since it picks up on alot of things....some of which might not actually be causing problems. I could be wrong but I dont think there is a person alive who could do BioSET and show up perfectly fine. All of you will test positive for metals because you've all been exposed to them....it wont necessarily mean that this is a critical issue.

I think you could start with T since she has the most intolerances and see if there is any benefit.

I wouldnt stress too much about BioSET in the meantime. If T is anything like me she will pick up on it and her list of intolerances might get worse. Hopefully she is being honest with you about this but even if shes not....it might not be "intentional".

I guess if I was in your shoes I would try to not talk about the food too much in front of the kids....maybe you and Mitch could discuss everything when the kids are playing or sleeping. Then just really observe for symptoms or behavior changes after meals. Start a food journal for all the kids and make notes of foods that appear to cause problems....then see if its a pattern with that particular food. Dont make a fuss about it.....just kind of quietly sit back and observe.

If you get a pattern and kind of know which foods are bad....it will be helpful when you start BioSET...you will have some idea if the test is accurate. I would not trust any test over what the body itself says.

I obviously dont have 3 kids to look after so its all easy for me to say....probably not so easy in "real-life" though.

I think if I was a mom this is the approach I would take.

[Rachel--24]

I am not sure if I am having a normal 'flare/reaction,' a herx, a reaction to the meds, or something unrelated, but I had a 'flare' this afternoon, got nauseous, thought I was going to throw up at work, brain fog, out of it, hot flashes, etc. Came home, slept, woke up, felt horrible, tried to throw up again, etc. I feel really weak, hands/neck hurts, etc.

Laura,

This is exactly the type of symptoms I get when I have a "flare". It doesnt happen too often these days....I'm not on antiobiotics or alot of other things....and I pretty much eat the same foods. When it happens its sort of easy for me to identify the problem before I get too sick.

I've come to the conclusion it happens when my body gets too toxic. It could be from something I'm eating and not metabolizing...or something I'm taking. I am certain antibiotics would cause this type of reaction for me.....I wouldnt know if its because of a "herx"....or if its a candida flare-up...or my liver struggling with the antibiotic.....or something else entirely.

Its frusterating....I totally know how you feel....hating that you dont know how you will feel one day to the next....or even one hour from the next.

If you havent eaten or done anything different I would totally suspect its a Herx.....it sounds like it and you just started the antibiotics right?? They are classic herx symptoms and basically a herx is from too many toxins in the body. It could be a strong indicator that the antibiotics are working.

I hope you feel better soon and have a peaceful nights sleep.

[Rachel--24]

A few weeks ago, I completely broke down in my boss' office....poor thing, I think I traumatized him.

Awww....I'm sure you didnt traumatize him (too much).

I am assuming your boss must be a pretty understanding guy or I doubt you would feel comfortable enough to even let things out. Anyone who was going through something like this would break down now and then....its perfectly understandable and I think it also helps to just let it out sometimes.....I'm sure your boss knows this.

Its not a reflection of who you are as a person...it doesnt take away from who you are under "normal" circumstances. We're still strong people....even the strongest person alive would be taken down by this type of illness. Its ok if we have weak moments....even better that we have caring people to lean on during those times.

[AndreaB]

The intolerances seem to be the biggest issue with T?? If she's not being honest every time or if shes wanting extra attention it might be habit for her to say her tummy hurts...because she knows her mommy is really concerned about the food intolerances.

This could be the case in some cases. Don't think so with the nuts though as she loved almond butter and mac and cashew cheese was her favorite meal. We also don't give her chocolate anymore when we have it because she didn't do well with it. Now if she starts developing a problem with all the healthy foods, I'll start questioning. She had tested intolerant to almonds and we had her on cashew butter for awhile. Not many nuts are tested for on the IgG testing.

I do need to try and get a food journal started. S is another challenge and he can't talk to me. I never know if his rough nights are food or teeth related. I had noticed he had a bit of an ezcema rash starting back up and I stopped taking the probiotics. The rash has almost gone away. I'll try again when the rash is totally gone to try to pinpoint if it is truly the probiotic.

M is the one I can't really listen to as far as whether food bothers him because he copies his sister so much. He only tested positive for 3 foods I think it was in the IgG test.

[AndreaB]

Rachel!!!

I hope you see this since you are posting.

Are you still computerless this weekend?

How'd bioset go......maybe that is what you are posting about.

[Rachel--24]

I'm up to 3 drops of NDF now. Two days on 3 drops and no reactions from it.

I decided to increase to twice daily. I took 3 more drops earlier tonight. It didnt hit me till later that it was a pretty big increase...I just went up to 6 drops a day now.

I still feel ok though.

[AndreaB]

It didnt hit me till later that it was a pretty big increase...I just went up to 6 drops a day now.

Now I'm wondering if we should wait for the floor to drop out from underneath you.

What did bioset say you could take? Didn't your doctor say no more than 2 drops a day?

[Rachel--24]

Rachel!!!

I hope you see this since you are posting.

Are you still computerless this weekend?

How'd bioset go......maybe that is what you are posting about.

Nope...I wasn't posting about BioSET this time.

I'm tired so I'll probably post tomorrow. I dont have alot to share about my appt. though...nothing really fascinating anyways.

I did get my test results back from my Aspergillus bloodtest...it was all negative. I guess this means that I'm just highly sensitive to it but dont actually have antibodies...so no infection. They test for "bands" too....I think maybe its similar to Lyme testing that way. There were no positive bands at all. A positive band might indicate a "fungal ball".

Only one week till I see Dr. Derksen.

[AndreaB]

A positive band might indicate a "fungal ball".

I don't know if I want to know about those.......they sound scary.

Can't wait until next weekend......for you anyway.

[Rachel--24]

Now I'm wondering if we should wait for the floor to drop out from underneath you.

Do you think that could happen??

I hope not.

My Dr. said up to 3 drops twice a day....he said to increase over weeks though....I kind of sped up the process I think.

BioSET said the max I could take was 6 drops a day...so thats where I'm at right now. I'm gonna try to increase after like a week of this though. As long as I feel ok I'll keep increasing.

Oh...my computer is fixed.

My mom took it to that guy and he fixed it that night...everything should be working fine. I just gotta get it all hooked up again.

My mom is telling me this is the way things should get done. I brought my computer and she took care of it right away....she said "How would you like it if I just let it sit there and said "I'll get to it when I get to it....OK"??"

She was talking with her hands.....imitating me. It was pretty funny.

Its not my fault...mercury has turned me into the worlds biggest procrastinator.

I'm not kidding....you can see it on the symptom list.

Lack of motivation / extreme procrastination

yup...that pretty well sums it up for me.....I'm pretty much a slug.

Anyways....heres a page with all the symptoms (including procrastination).

Open Original Shared Link

[AndreaB]

Do you think that could happen??

I hope not.

My Dr. said up to 3 drops twice a day....he said to increase over weeks though....I kind of sped up the process I think.

Lack of motivation / extreme procrastination

yup...that pretty well sums it up for me.....I'm pretty much a slug.

I hope nothing happens to overload you with the increase either.

Doesn't surprise me that you sped up the process. It'd be kinda hard to take things slow when you want to get better yesterday.

Lack of motivation.......can we blame children's lack of motivation on getting anything done on mercury.

Your mom....

Ok, off to read your link.

[dlp252]

Well folks, I had my evaluation for the prolotherapy (trigger point injections) and also had my first treatment. I think I got somewhere between 8-15 injections. Didn't feel most of them until she started moving the needle around in a few places. I DID feel like I was getting the flu though...sore achy muscles. I put heat (which they recommend) on my neck and today it feels pretty good, but my shoulder and arm are still very sore. I'll put heat on them later. They say no ice because they WANT the area to be inflammed and the ice slows down that process. I've taken some Tylenol (to sleep last night) and some this morning to take the achiness down a notch.

BioSET is later today...3:30, so won't have anything to report til much later.

So guess what!!

This morning when my Assistant Manager got there he came up to me and said "Happy Employee Appreciation Week" and handed me a $25 gift certificate for Whole Foods!!

How cool is that!!!

Very cool!! I know at my office there are 4-5 other people with gluten intolerance so they are always trying to accomodate us and it feels very nice even though I never take them up on it.

Hanging out on the couch, under a blanket, with Eric. xoxo

Sorry you had such a bad day, but this part sounds pretty heavenly!

Its not a reflection of who you are as a person...it doesnt take away from who you are under "normal" circumstances. We're still strong people....even the strongest person alive would be taken down by this type of illness. Its ok if we have weak moments....even better that we have caring people to lean on during those times.

Exactly!!! Well said.

I'm up to 3 drops of NDF now. Two days on 3 drops and no reactions from it.

I decided to increase to twice daily. I took 3 more drops earlier tonight. It didnt hit me till later that it was a pretty big increase...I just went up to 6 drops a day now.

I still feel ok though.

Rachel!

Only one week till I see Dr. Derksen.

I'm excited too....can't wait to hear all about it.

BioSET said the max I could take was 6 drops a day...so thats where I'm at right now. I'm gonna try to increase after like a week of this though. As long as I feel ok I'll keep increasing.

...

Its not my fault...mercury has turned me into the worlds biggest procrastinator.

I'm not kidding....you can see it on the symptom list.

Lack of motivation / extreme procrastination

yup...that pretty well sums it up for me.....I'm pretty much a slug.

Anyways....heres a page with all the symptoms (including procrastination).

Open Original Shared Link

Just a note about the BioSET limit. I did the same thing with the vitamin C...BioSET said I should only have two capsules of the brand I have, but I was taking EIGHT a day while I was sick. I mentioned that to Susan one day and she said that I needed to be careful NOT to take more than my body could handle...so even though I felt fine taking that many she was concerned that my pathways and such couldn't handle that large amount.

Procrastination! I thought I invented the word. It's got to be the mercury, lol. I definitely have the lack of motivation thing happening!

[Judyin Philly]

lAURABO.

WHAT IS SIBO.

[jerseyangel]

lAURABO.

WHAT IS SIBO.

Small intestinal bacterial overgrowth

[CarlaB]

Hanging out on the couch, under a blanket

This is how I spend most days. It is hard. I think it's harder mentally than physically, at least it is for me.

Are you eating enough with the meds? The only time I get nauseous is when I don't eat enough. But then again, except for the gluten thing, I've always had a stomach of steel!

Hope you get some good days mixed in there once in a while ...

under a blanket, with Eric

Some things feel good no matter how sick you are!!

[CarlaB]

The thing is we don't feel sick. It's just intolerances seem to be growing. Maybe it's something totally different. We'll probably find out whenever we are able to go to bioset.

What do you guys think?

I think Rachel had some good advice.

I think the financial stress doesn't help you any at all. I would concentrate on paying off your debts, then worry about the Bioset if you think you need it. If you don't feel sick, I'd wait.

I also agree that T is probably taking advantage of the situation. Watch how she reacts instead of asking her. If she feels bad, she will lay around instead of playing. Don't disclose your methods to her, or she'll adjust her behavior!!

You had the allergy testing, just stick to that for the time being. Maybe by the time you've paid off your debts you'll all be feeling significantly better. Plus, if your home is a problem, if your debts are paid for, then you'll be able to consider moving.

[CarlaB]

I've come to the conclusion it happens when my body gets too toxic.

If you havent eaten or done anything different I would totally suspect its a Herx.....it sounds like it and you just started the antibiotics right?? They are classic herx symptoms and basically a herx is from too many toxins in the body. It could be a strong indicator that the antibiotics are working.

I have found that drinking raw apple cider vinegar in water throughout the day has been a huge help in how I feel. It doens't take the herx away, but I feel a lot better ... mainly just tired with a few aches.

My LLMD suggested lemon water, but I think the vinegar helps more. They both do the same thing -- alkalinize the body.

I also take charcoal -- but it has to be taken at least two hours away from anything else -- so I take it when I wake up in the middle of the night!

[CarlaB]

I'm up to 3 drops of NDF now. Two days on 3 drops and no reactions from it.

I decided to increase to twice daily. I took 3 more drops earlier tonight. It didnt hit me till later that it was a pretty big increase...I just went up to 6 drops a day now.

I still feel ok though.

YAY!!!

[AndreaB]

I think the financial stress doesn't help you any at all. I would concentrate on paying off your debts, then worry about the Bioset if you think you need it. If you don't feel sick, I'd wait.

More good advice...the whole thing (just didn't want to copy it all).

I'll try and start logging everything the we have to eat and see if we can develop a pattern from that.

I have been stressed out about finance and I'd rather wait if things don't get worse.

Thanks guys for helping me to think rationally. Much easier with someone else than your own family. Must be why doctors aren't supposed to treat their own families.

[CarlaB]

Thanks guys for helping me to think rationally. Much easier with someone else than your own family. Must be why doctors aren't supposed to treat their own families.

I think that you have spent a lot of time thinking about and worrying about it all. If you took some distance from it for a while, that might help, too. Do the log, but don't talk to the kids about it or think about it all the time. Maybe there is a problem, but maybe it's not as bad as it seems right now.

When I spoke to my LLMD about having the kids tested, I was mainly concerned about Chloe because of her learning difficulties. He said if she didn't have other symptoms, maybe give her an allergy test and a candida test. He didn't seem to think it was important to test the kids at all at this point.

I think we worry so much about our kids that we actually end up doing more than they really need!

Now, my teenage son is sleeping all the time and totally lacks motivation to do anything at all. If this doesn't clear up soon, I will have to look into testing him. None of them have amalgams, but I had them when I was pregnant with the oldest two. Fatigue in high school was my first symptom.

Anyway, the lesson I took from the LLMD is to leave well-enough alone. Don't over-analyze it all.

[NoGluGirl]

Dear Laura,

I am so sorry you feel like that! That is exactly what happens to me when I get glutened! Thank God for Promethazine! Rachel thinks I may have been having a herx when I went on Flagyl some months back. I reacted the same way to it! I hope you feel better!

Dear Rachel,

Thanks for the mercury link. I visited the site. I have a ton of those symptoms! That is scary. I put this in my favorites.

Dear Carla,

I have a question about the lemon water. How much lemon do you put in? Is it like 1/3 cup of lemon juice to water, or what? Aren't you supposed to drink it hot? I heard Ashley Judd does this to combat bloating. I sure have my share of that. Thanks.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl