Omg...i Might Be On To Something

[Clark Bent as Stupor-Man]

I was actually thinking today about how little people mention joint pain on this thread- then you mentioned your severe neck pain. There are days when I feel like every CELL in my body is screaming!

when I told my nutritionist that I had tested positive for lyme, her first response was surprise due to my lack of joint problems.. I guess the arthritic/joint pain symptoms may be seen as more indicative of lyme... I do have muscle pain in my legs and back pain that varies and generally isn't that bothersome as long as I don't overdo things like basketball but my primary symptoms are more the neurological symptoms...

I've had the bad neck pain/tightness for years as well, probably about the same timeline as when my headaches started... when I saw a top neuro down in philly a few months ago to rule out anything my previous neuros may have missed, the only thing she really commented on during her exam was the tightness in my neck..

[Mtndog]

OK- glad I'm not alone in my misery 9although sorry you're company).

I once had a massage therapist tell my husband after massaging me "Yeah- next stop Christopher Reeve". I was so angry I mean I know my joints are in bad shape but she should have told me- not HIM.

[Rachel--24]

She described two things that are going on. 1. the gut and neck are related/connected nerve-wise, which explains why I get pain in both. and 2. she thinks as a result of all of this, my lymph nodes are swollen (not draining)...which is apparently common with babs, also. She pinpointed the places where I have such tender points, and they are all lymph nodes. The good news is that she said the lymph nodes on my front (chest) were considerably better than last time.

Wow Laura...you've got alot coming up!! Hope you can still manage to rest a little in between all the activity.

My Dr. thinks I have Babs too. It showed up in my BioSET and ART stuff but not in my bloodwork. My Dr. thinks I have it based on my symptoms.

They can only test for 2 strains of it but there are actually 20 that they know of. Things would be so much easier if everything could just show up in the tests!!!!

I have the same lymph nodes/drainage problem as well.

My lymph nodes are always swollen to some extent but sometimes there are big flares.... its usually when I try taking new supplements or I make changes in my diet.

I think pretty much all of my lymph nodes get swollen but mainly the ones under my ears. I know I have drainage problems and its been brought to my attention lots of times at BioSET...basically my whole lymphatic system is affected.

They just told me it was due to high toxicity but never mentioned Babs specifically. I wonder if Babs could be contributing....but since I'm toxic everything might be contributing at this point. My lymph nodes swell from perfumes and chemicals too.

Does anyone know if there are lymph nodes above the ears too?? I get ALOT of swelling here as well but I dont know if its lymph nodes or muscle.

Sometimes by massaging the affected areas I'll start feeling stuff start to drain. A few years ago my boyfriend was rubbing my neck and when he pressed on one area everything just totally drained out of my head and my head felt 100 x better!!

Unfortunately it could never be repeated with such dramatic results.

Anyways...thanks for the update.

Its very encouraging that your LLMD is noticing improvement!!

Good luck with everything you've got coming up this week!!

[Clark Bent as Stupor-Man]

well, I guess I either herxed or had an adverse rxn to the minocycline I started on Saturday... I felt fine Saturday (surprisingly better than I would have thought) and was okay through most of Sunday... then Sunday evening I pretty much all of a sudden felt like I had very little balance, and I'm very slowly regaining it today... my body feels very heavy and if I lean even slightly in one direction, it feels like gravity is pulling me that way tenfold... I thought by this point that I had experienced most different types of rxns that I may have but this one was a new, mostly distinct one... different then when I took the cat's claw a month ago as well...

I called my dr and she told me it could be a herx and to stop the meds for a day until symptoms subside and then start again at half the dosage (1 per day instead of 2)... I'm hoping I do much better on half the dosage as I really don't want to miss any time for work and was only able to make it to work today since I stopped the meds today... I also hope that whatever herxing I do at first plateaus, and I can get back to playing ball again while I'm taking the meds... my fatigue and general symptoms had improved enough for me to get back on the court for the first time in nearly 2 years.. and needless to say, somehow I got myself involved in organizing (and likewise playing in) a 3 on 3 b-ball tourney with about 25 co-workers at the same time as I'm starting abx for lyme... great timing, huh?

[Rachel--24]

Ok so I had an "OMG moment" yesterday.

I had a "relevation"....

Theres a word from the R-ville dictionary that hasnt been used in ages.

So whenever I used to boil any kind of meat for soup or stew I would totally react to the broth. Because of that I had to stop eating homemade soup...I figured maybe it was from high glutamates forming while cooking?? Possible MSG reactions.

Its been more than a year since I've tried boiling any meats in water. I do eat potatoes and pretty much do ok with them...aside from them feeding candida.

Awhile back I tried boiling them in the pot so I could have mashed potatoes...and then I had a reaction!! Soooo.. I could eat the potatoes from the oven or microwave....but not after being boiled in the pot??

Since my mom is gonna get me that new ceramic cookware and after reading about all the hazards of the stuff I'm currently using....I suddenly wondered if maybe some of my reactions are coming from the metals and teflon in my pots and pans???

Could that be why I react so badly to stuff thats been sitting in the pot cooking for long periods of time??

OMG.....I am so terrified of my pots now.

Since I'm already metal toxic....how much could this stuff be contributing to my toxicity and symptoms??

I dont know if this could really be happening but I'm SUPER glad I'll be getting the new stuff soon.

I'm also wondering about my baking pans....I use the non-stick pans for my cookies. Is this teflon too?? How about aluminum??

Does it seem plausible that boiling and cooking stuff in these pots and pats can cause some of it to contaminate my food?? Do you guys think some of my reactions might be from the pots and pans??

Oh and another question about potatoes...

I do react to potatoes once they start growing those sprouty things.

Does anyone know what thats about??

I dont cook it with the sprouty things...I dig them out of the potato but I still react to the potato once those things have grown out of it. WTH?? Are those things poisonous or does this indicate the potato is old and possibly moldy??

[Rachel--24]

Bev, my neck/head/shoulder/upper back pain is a classic sign that I'm in a flare. I also have tender spots all over the rest of me that are worse during a flare...inside of my arm (near my elbow), on my butt, my lower back, places on my legs...etc. My hands get super stiff and painful too.

Yup...this pretty much describes me. Most of my pain/imflammation is in my upper body neck/head/shoulders/upper back....just like Laura. My neck and jaw get really stiff. My hands and feet used to be very affected but not so bad anymore. Lower back sometimes gets very achey.

Theres pretty much imflammation all over my body...I can feel it everywhere but my head is the WORST...followed by my neck and shoulders.

[rinne]

....

She said I am progressing much better than she thought I would, so that is wonderful news. She does a mini physical each time we are there, and she said it was much better than last time.

She started talking about something and I was confused....she said, for the babesia (no, she did not say "f. babs") I said, what are you talking about. She said that she is pretty sure that I have either babesia or bartonella, but is leaning towards babs. She said she's thought this for some time, as thats why they put me on the zithromax. I apparently looked like a deer in the headlights and she apologized that this hadn't been properly conveyed to me. She said my clinical presentation is pretty consistent with it, esp with the severe pain in my neck. We talked a lot about that, because its been so bad, for about 5 days....just so horrible. She said that although my "gut" is doing better, I am obviously still having trouble with it because of my neck pain. (which, is true...it all comes together in a flare). She described two things that are going on. 1. the gut and neck are related/connected nerve-wise, which explains why I get pain in both. and 2. she thinks as a result of all of this, my lymph nodes are swollen (not draining)...which is apparently common with babs, also. She pinpointed the places where I have such tender points, and they are all lymph nodes. The good news is that she said the lymph nodes on my front (chest) were considerably better than last time.

.................

So...thats my update. Hope all are well...sorry it took me a little bit to respond. I was overwhelmed with the app't, plus the travel.

xoxo

So glad that you are improving though I know it is hard when you still feel so badly. Please take time to take care of yourself, perhaps there are some things that you can not do.

.......

I was actually thinking today about how little people mention joint pain on this thread- then you mentioned your severe neck pain. There are days when I feel like every CELL in my body is screaming!

Pain, I am familiar with it too, I'm sorry to hear that is that bad for you. Hugs.

.....

My Dr. thinks I have Babs too. It showed up in my BioSET and ART stuff but not in my bloodwork. My Dr. thinks I have it based on my symptoms.

They can only test for 2 strains of it but there are actually 20 that they know of. Things would be so much easier if everything could just show up in the tests!!!!

I have the same lymph nodes/drainage problem as well.

My lymph nodes are always swollen to some extent but sometimes there are big flares.... its usually when I try taking new supplements or I make changes in my diet.

I think pretty much all of my lymph nodes get swollen but mainly the ones under my ears. I know I have drainage problems and its been brought to my attention lots of times at BioSET...basically my whole lymphatic system is affected.

They just told me it was due to high toxicity but never mentioned Babs specifically. I wonder if Babs could be contributing....but since I'm toxic everything might be contributing at this point. My lymph nodes swell from perfumes and chemicals too.

Does anyone know if there are lymph nodes above the ears too?? I get ALOT of swelling here as well but I dont know if its lymph nodes or muscle.

Sometimes by massaging the affected areas I'll start feeling stuff start to drain. A few years ago my boyfriend was rubbing my neck and when he pressed on one area everything just totally drained out of my head and my head felt 100 x better!!

Unfortunately it could never be repeated with such dramatic results.

.....

More excellent scientificness. I know my lymph nodes under my chin are swollen and they have been for a long time. There is a particular massage they do for the lymphatic system and bouncing, rebounders or even bouncing on an exercise ball will help to drain the lymphatic system.

.......I also hope that whatever herxing I do at first plateaus, and I can get back to playing ball again while I'm taking the meds... my fatigue and general symptoms had improved enough for me to get back on the court for the first time in nearly 2 years.. and needless to say, somehow I got myself involved in organizing (and likewise playing in) a 3 on 3 b-ball tourney with about 25 co-workers at the same time as I'm starting abx for lyme... great timing, huh?

No it is HEINOUS, simply HEINOUS.

[AndreaB]

and needless to say, somehow I got myself involved in organizing (and likewise playing in) a 3 on 3 b-ball tourney with about 25 co-workers at the same time as I'm starting abx for lyme... great timing, huh?

Not really.

Since my mom is gonna get me that new ceramic cookware and after reading about all the hazards of the stuff I'm currently using....I suddenly wondered if maybe some of my reactions are coming from the metals and teflon in my pots and pans???

Could that be why I react so badly to stuff thats been sitting in the pot cooking for long periods of time??

OMG.....I am so terrified of my pots now.

I would think the teflon would be causing the problems for you. With the meat it could be a combo of that and the glutamates. I don't have teflon, but ever since I reacted to homemade chicken broth a few months back I'm afraid to try it again. I'll stick with homemade vegetable broth if I have anything like that. Of course, the broths would have some calcium from the bones I would think so that would be a plus. I may have to try again with the good chickens......which we won't be getting anymore of until Aug/Sept. We only have 1 left now.

I don't know about the potatoes. I forget why the eyes aren't good.

[Clark Bent as Stupor-Man]

She started talking about something and I was confused....she said, for the babesia (no, she did not say "f. babs") I said, what are you talking about. She said that she is pretty sure that I have either babesia or bartonella, but is leaning towards babs. She said she's thought this for some time, as thats why they put me on the zithromax.

are there certain ABX that exclusively are used for treating specific spirochete infections or are some just more effective for certain infections than for others? from your post, it looks like the zithromax would be intended for the babs but is it not doing anything against lyme or any other possible co-infections?

I also have to read up on the salt/C treatment I've seen rinne mention and come across while looking up lyme info recently...

Does anyone know if there are lymph nodes above the ears too?? I get ALOT of swelling here as well but I dont know if its lymph nodes or muscle.

I don't think there are lymph nodes above the ears, at least not to my knowledge... I'm guessing it's probably just swelling from using your cellphone too much

[rinne]

Ok so I had an "OMG moment" yesterday.

I had a "relevation"....

Theres a word from the R-ville dictionary that hasnt been used in ages.

So whenever I used to boil any kind of meat for soup or stew I would totally react to the broth. Because of that I had to stop eating homemade soup...I figured maybe it was from high glutamates forming while cooking?? Possible MSG reactions.

Its been more than a year since I've tried boiling any meats in water. I do eat potatoes and pretty much do ok with them...aside from them feeding candida.

Awhile back I tried boiling them in the pot so I could have mashed potatoes...and then I had a reaction!! Soooo.. I could eat the potatoes from the oven or microwave....but not after being boiled in the pot??

Since my mom is gonna get me that new ceramic cookware and after reading about all the hazards of the stuff I'm currently using....I suddenly wondered if maybe some of my reactions are coming from the metals and teflon in my pots and pans???

Could that be why I react so badly to stuff thats been sitting in the pot cooking for long periods of time??

OMG.....I am so terrified of my pots now.

Since I'm already metal toxic....how much could this stuff be contributing to my toxicity and symptoms??

I dont know if this could really be happening but I'm SUPER glad I'll be getting the new stuff soon.

I'm also wondering about my baking pans....I use the non-stick pans for my cookies. Is this teflon too?? How about aluminum??

Does it seem plausible that boiling and cooking stuff in these pots and pats can cause some of it to contaminate my food?? Do you guys think some of my reactions might be from the pots and pans??

Oh and another question about potatoes...

I do react to potatoes once they start growing those sprouty things.

Does anyone know what thats about??

I dont cook it with the sprouty things...I dig them out of the potato but I still react to the potato once those things have grown out of it. WTH?? Are those things poisonous or does this indicate the potato is old and possibly moldy??

I would not use teflon or aluminum pans. You must get your new pans very soon.

Keep in mind that I think microwaves are evil too, I've read that they change protein into something toxic to the body but aside from that and purely from a food snob perspective I just don't think food tastes very good that comes out of them.

Once potatoes sprout they just aren't any good to eat anymore, they have left the food category and entered the seed category. Okay I know there is more scientific reason out there.

[Rachel--24]

I don't think there are lymph nodes above the ears, at least not to my knowledge... I'm guessing it's probably just swelling from using your cellphone too much

ROFLMAO

Charlie...I literally burst out laughing reading that!!

You could be right ....but...OH WELL.

I can give up all foods, only drink the purest water at $3 a bottle, change all my cookware, avoid using the heater, avoid all chemicals (including my favorite hair products), etc. I'll pretty much live in a bubble as long as I can have my cellphone with me.

I mean....so what if the tissue above my ears swells out 3 inches...its probably something I can live with considering the alternative.

[Rachel--24]

I knew it was your normal lunch time. Just saw a late post for you this morning on the other thread. Course if you were at your mom's by then then it wouldn't have been so late. I was thinking of the commute time.

Yeah...I was at my moms. I stop here before work because I leave my work clothes here and I also have to drop my food off. I travel with my little red cooler.

I get tempted by the computer.....I get sucked into the vortex.

and yeah...I guess people was getting mad at me on that other thread.

Thinking about you and Chloe today. Hope the appointment went/is going well. Can't wait for your update either.

Me too....me too!! I usually remind Carla to bring her laptop but this time I didnt say anything.

I hope we hear from her soon.

I kept seeing birds flying at the corners of my eyes but after I did the salt/C they went away and haven't been back since. I was also having blurriness that would come and go, as if I was seeing through glasses that had vaseline smeared on them.

Rinne...I used to see spiders alot.

But then when I looked for them they werent there.

It doesnt happen anymore but back before I made dietary changes it was happening alot where I'd see things out of the corner of my eyes.

I wish I was seeing birds or anything other than spiders. I'm scared of spiders.

A few months ago I clearly saw a spider on the bathroom floor while I was getting ready for work. I blinked and it was gone.

I searched the WHOLE bathroom several times....it was in the middle of the floor...and then totally vanished. I never saw it again and I thought I might have hallucinated it like I used to see the spiders out of the corners of my eyes....although they were never really there.

The blurriness that you describe is something I always deal with. I hate it. It feels like my eyes are sticky with whatever is causing the blurriness.

[AndreaB]

and needless to say, somehow I got myself involved in organizing (and likewise playing in) a 3 on 3 b-ball tourney with about 25 co-workers at the same time as I'm starting abx for lyme... great timing, huh?

Not really.

Since my mom is gonna get me that new ceramic cookware and after reading about all the hazards of the stuff I'm currently using....I suddenly wondered if maybe some of my reactions are coming from the metals and teflon in my pots and pans???

Could that be why I react so badly to stuff thats been sitting in the pot cooking for long periods of time??

OMG.....I am so terrified of my pots now.

I would think the teflon would be causing the problems for you. With the meat it could be a combo of that and the glutamates. I don't have teflon, but ever since I reacted to homemade chicken broth a few months back I'm afraid to try it again. I'll stick with homemade vegetable broth if I have anything like that. Of course, the broths would have some calcium from the bones I would think so that would be a plus. I may have to try again with the good chickens......which we won't be getting anymore of until Aug/Sept. We only have 1 left now.

I don't know about the potatoes. I forget why the eyes aren't good.

[Rachel--24]

Hi Rachel,

It might be wrong but, I noticed that you are consuming a lot of processed foods. Have you ever thought about cooking with plain things? such as green vegetables, turkey/fish/meat, eggs..consuming nuts instead of popcorns..I love ice cream, but since my husband has gluten intolerance, I dont eat ice cream as much as I used to...for snakcs, now I eat nuts, they much healthier, and you know what, I dont even gain wait.. people always say, oh they are high in calories - so what, they are not simple carbs, more dangerous! My husband quit eating fruits ans sugar/honey (simple carbs) and this helped him so much!

Hi Moonlight.

I actually dont eat processed foods. I strictly avoided all processed foods while on a Candida diet a couple years ago and then for a short time tried to eat a few gluten-free processed items but it didnt go over well. For the most part I avoid all the processed stuff....except for an ice cream binge that I was on for 8 months.

I cant eat nuts due to the mold content....I have alot of restrictions and the processed stuff is definately out for me.

Thanks for your suggestions. Eating whole foods over processed foods is definately the best choice.

Welcome to the board.

[NoGluGirl]

Dear Laura,

Your symptoms sound like mine! My hands get really stiff! I also have pain in my lymph nodes.

Even the ones in my breasts are sore! It feels like they are bruised. F. Babs seems to be the most likely culprit for us both.

Dear Rachel,

I get dizzy lately when I cook with the non-stick pan I have been using. It is getting old. I think the coating has been wearing off a bit. Aluminum is something I avoid due to the risk of Alzheimer's being associated with it. I think there could be a chemical change in the meat when it is cooked with these metals or coatings. That could make people have bad reactions to it.

Sincerely,

NoGluGirl

P.S. I feel a little better now that Mom brought me home a 3 Musketeers bar!

[AndreaB]

Keep in mind that I think microwaves are evil too, I've read that they change protein into something toxic to the body but aside from that and purely from a food snob perspective I just don't think food tastes very good that comes out of them.

I'm with you here. We got rid of ours I don't remember how long ago (2-4 years).

I mean....so what if the tissue above my ears swells out 3 inches...its probably something I can live with considering the alternative.

I get tempted by the computer.....I get sucked into the vortex.

and yeah...I guess people was getting mad at me on that other thread.

People are entitled to there opinion and you yours. What you said is true and makes a lot of sense.

Me too....me too!! I usually remind Carla to bring her laptop but this time I didnt say anything.

I hope we hear from her soon.

I didn't say anything since I figured she and Chloe could have some nice mother/daughter time. I don't know if Adam went this time or not. I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

I wish I was seeing birds or anything other than spiders. I'm scared of spiders.

I am afraid of spiders also. Sounds totally creepy to me.

[NoGluGirl]

Dear Rachel,

I have seen stuff out of the corner of my eye as well! I thought I saw bugs or spiders crawling!

I am terrified of spiders! I also see these sparkely blue specks. I worry I am going nuts! I also see shadows sort of on the side of my eye in my peripheral vision. It can be distracting.

Sincerely,

Jin

[Rachel--24]

P.S. I feel a little better now that Mom brought me home a 3 Musketeers bar!

That would make me feel a whole lot better too.

Well...I guess it wouldnt have the same effect once it was in my tummy.

I would settle for just smelling a 3 musketeers bar.

I have to work the candy section again at work. I got away from it for about 6 months but TheDave had to "pull a Dave" and tell my new boss that I do a really good job with this section.

So yeah....now I'm tempted by candies all over again.

HEINOUS!!

I swear....no matter what store I end up at....no matter what my job title is....NO MATTER WHAT....I always end up being the freaking spice and candy girl!! Its been more than 10 years now that I've been stuck with this section...I can only manage to get it away from it for short periods of time.

Lots of times there will be damaged or opened bags of candy...and there I am sitting on the floor smelling the bags of candies. Ummm...yeah...wonder what people must be thinking about that??!!

[AndreaB]

I have to work the candy section again at work. I got away from it for about 6 months but TheDave had to "pull a Dave" and tell my new boss that I do a really good job with this section.

I was thinking of "pull a Dave" earlier today as one of our words but I forgot what it meant.

I'm sorry you have to be tortured by all those smells though. The chocolate would get me. My favorite was always either Reeses PB Cups. But I also liked Mounds/Almond Joy, anything hershey's chocolate but loved, loved, loved the special dark. Three muskateers were pretty good too along with butterfinger. I guess I liked a lot didn't I?

One of my friends in high school asked me one time what I was upset about and then told me that whenever I bought a lot of candy I was upset. That was before a horse show so I was probably just stressed about that, don't remember.

Lots of times there will be damaged or opened bags of candy...and there I am sitting on the floor smelling the bags of candies. Ummm...yeah...wonder what people must be thinking about that??!!

[Rachel--24]

I was thinking of "pull a Dave" earlier today as one of our words but I forgot what it meant.

I dont remember exactly what it means either...I'm thinking "pulling a Dave" must mean "doing something extremely stupid".

[Rachel--24]

Holy cow...I really DO think I've been poisoning myself with my pots and pans!!!

I think this might just be my most heinous discovery of toxic exposure yet.

Cant wait to get the good stuff and see if I'm still getting reactions everytime I eat.

[AndreaB]

Holy cow...I really DO think I've been poisoning myself with my pots and pans!!!

I think this might just be my most heinous discovery of toxic exposure yet.

Cant wait to get the good stuff and see if I'm still getting reactions everytime I eat.

I think you have been. For most people it wouldn't make much of a difference (except maybe in the long run). We got rid of our nonstick pans a couple years ago I think. Still have non stick bread pans (which don't get used much) and cookie sheets etc.

[Rachel--24]

I think you have been. For most people it wouldn't make much of a difference (except maybe in the long run). We got rid of our nonstick pans a couple years ago I think. Still have non stick bread pans (which don't get used much) and cookie sheets etc.

Andrea...I really think so.

Last night before my post I cut up potatoes and put them on the baking sheet (for fries). I kind of forgot about them so they burned a little and got stuck to the pan. I took some off and got a major reaction right away. I only ate one!

Now that I'm thinking about it whenever my food gets stuck to the pan/pot I think I react more.

Do you think by getting stuck there is more exposure??

This could be part of the problems I've had with eggs too.

I made cookies last night and baked them in a pyrex instead. I didnt feel ANYTHING after eating them...no burning eyes...nothing.

I dont think its the cause of all my reactions but it really could be contributing quite a bit.

Another thing that comes to mind is last summer when I was using an ice cream maker for homemade ice cream. I kept getting the same type reactions and the inside of the maker is some kind of metal. I dont know if this could affect the ice cream at all but the ice cream does freeze against the sides of the metal.

I had actually thought about the metal possibly being the culprit back then but figured I was likely being paranoid. Now I dont know.

[Mtndog]

I swear....no matter what store I end up at....no matter what my job title is....NO MATTER WHAT....I always end up being the freaking spice and candy girl!! Its been more than 10 years now that I've been stuck with this section...I can only manage to get it away from it for short periods of time.

Lots of times there will be damaged or opened bags of candy...and there I am sitting on the floor smelling the bags of candies. Ummm...yeah...wonder what people must be thinking about that??!!

OMG- you'e the other Spice Girl!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You're Candy Spice (gosh- that sounds like a stripper name.

I get the swollen lymph nodes too. My worst ones are behind my ears and my doctor said therer are a lot of nerve endings there so that makes them even more painful. I think you have lymph nodes all over your body (in places where you don't realize they are). Jin- I get the swollen nodes in my breast too and they KILL.

Rachel- Get those new pans. I think I'm going to follow you and do the same. That stuff can't be good if we're all so sensitive. And you with the heavy metals. maybe you're Heavy Metal Spice

I wouldn't worry about that other thread- what you said made lots of sense.

I was reading a bit about Amy tan's bout with Lyme and she had hallucinations I think I have smell ones occasionally. a lot of times i smell dead fish when there are no fish within a 5 mile radius.

[jerseyangel]

Hi Laura,

Thanks for the update--I've been curious about how you were doing. You have a great doctor there, and I'm very encouraged after hearing about the treatment plan. I'm so impressed that the doctor looked beyond the box when it came to your test results.

Try and pace yourself, though, so you don't get exhausted with everything you've got going on right now.

Rachel,

I'd be willing to bet that you're reacting to something (metals/chemicals) in your cookware. I got rid of all non-stick cookware almost 2 years ago. I use stainless steel, ceramic and glass only. You could line your baking sheets with parchment paper for your cookies.

I'm thinking the potato, once it begins to sprout, is overly ripe and has more sugar--getting ready to go to seed, so to speak.

Donna,

Look at you--climbing that mountain!

Interesting about all of you and joint pain. I had terrible pain in my hip that actually went away after going gluten-free. It was so bad that it was hard to turn over in bed--the pain would wake me up. I don't get much joint pain now--my troubles are mainly in my digestive system. Except my head pressure and lightheadedness. I'm better than I was 2 years ago, but it still does not take much to set my stomach off. I think my anxiety would improve if I wasn't so scared of getting sick in public.