Omg...i Might Be On To Something

[dlp252]

Okay people, I'm going out to dinner tonight (the friends are taking me out for my birthday ). We're going to Outback, and I've just printed out the gluten-free menu...here's the plan. 9 or 12 oz sirloin steak and fresh green beans...maybe also a side of sweet potato (they aren't huge servings).

[Mtndog]

Pooping in (oh how I wish I was just pooping )

Tom- Sorry about your brother. He sounds like he was a wonderful man.

Jin- I was thinking shingles too.

Allison- Take that evil insect to the doctor! Just to make sure. We need a devil icon or evil icon for ticks and bacteria. A LLMD if you can.

Fajitas (Gosh- I'm sorry but I can't keep track of everyone's forst name)- That is so sad about your mom. It really is hard to watch someone deteriorate in 10 months. I would definitely find a way to find out about the mercury- it may be the key to everything- especially since it happened so suddenly. I've read similar stories about Lyme (people being diagnosed with MS, lupus, etc) doing treatment and fully recovering.

I am Grumpy Girl today...sitting on the couch with a castor oil pack watching mountain climbing movies trying to cheer up!

[UR Groovy]

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>

***********

Today is the day my brother Pat left this world.

One year ago.

Tom, I can't imagine what losing a sibling must be like. I hope that you feel at peace with good memories of your brother today.

***********

Continued improving and good health to you, sir.

I've also heard of a connection between Parkinsons and Lyme...something else to check out at some point.

Right, Donna. From what I've been reading here, Lyme is also likely. She grew up in a wooded area of Connecticut. I don't know if I can convince her that it would be worth looking into, but I'm going to keep planting seeds. Who knows? I got her off MSG.

I'm only thinking I'd like her symptoms to not progress rapidly.

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

EDIT: Beverly, I just saw your post. I'd like to see improvement in her - but, gosh - if I can just get her to not do it again (the teeth), that would be great.

[dlp252]

I am Grumpy Girl today...sitting on the couch with a castor oil pack watching mountain climbing movies trying to cheer up!

Wish I could do something to cheer you up! I was Grumpy Girl extreme last week! I don't know what was up, but it wasn't fun...even I didn't like me.

Right, Donna. From what I've been reading here, Lyme is also likely. She grew up in a wooded area of Connecticut. I don't know if I can convince her that it would be worth looking into, but I'm going to keep planting seeds. Who knows? I got her off MSG.

I'm only thinking I'd like her symptoms to not progress rapidly.

And having one doesn't rule out the other in this case...the dental work alone could have caused lyme symptoms to manifest in parkinsons...but baby steps with moms, lol. I'm impressed that she agreed that the dental work might have done it! Congratulations on getting her off MSG!!!

And definitely, taking care of the mercury would take a load of burden off her body.

[UR Groovy]

Mtndog,

I just realized that I called you Beverly. I think my brain just translated automatically.

Shall I call you Mtndog?

[CarlaB]

-

[Mtndog]

Mtndog,

I just realized that I called you Beverly. I think my brain just translated automatically.

Shall I call you Mtndog?

No no no...you can call me anything you like (with a few exceptions ) but Bev, Beverly is fine.

[Fiddle-Faddle]

Carla, even the best, warmest, and fuzziest of people can have lousy days.

I spoke with the nurse at my doctor's office, who told me not to worry about it unless I get joint pain. (Really!)

Next, I spoke with the county health department's entymologist (they have one!), who gave me an address to send it to, though I don't think they'll test it for anything, they'll just confirm that it's a tick. But he said that the only thing he could think of that was similar-but-not-a-tick was the bluegrass billbug, and I looked that up, and it definitely isn't one. My bug doesn't have a snout, and the billbug does. So he said he was pretty sure it was a deer tick just from my description and from where it bit me (?!), and that the area I was in has a ton of deer ticks (great).

As for my feeling the bite--maybe that depends on the sensitivity of the area being bitten? Or maybe it varies from person to person? Yes, I know they say that most people don't feel the bite--but I did feel it, and I can't help it that I felt it.

[Rachel--24]

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.

Hi KAG....welcome!

Thanks for jumping in and sharing your story.

There is some research that suggests that Candida can trigger Celiac. I started a thread on this topic last year. Personally, I do believe that Candida is a trigger for Celiac.

Open Original Shared Link

I've seen people get small bouts of candida that they quickly recover from....kind of like taking a round of antibiotics and developing some thrush or a "traditional" yeast infection....which is then easily corrected.

I think even in these instances when someone has a temporary overgrowth....the Celiac can be triggered and obviously even if the candida situation corrects itself...the Celiac would be permanant.

One of the articles in my thread says that those who are genetically susceptible to Celiac should be extra careful about developing overgrowths while on antibiotics, etc.

Like you said...when it overgrows and is a chronic situation...something is causing it and needs to be addressed. Once the underlying issue is resolved Candida should be easy to get rid of and it should not come back.

I also wanted to add that even though I have severe metal toxicity.....my hair analysis was not showing it. My mercury was very low in the hair analysis. Mercury will only show up in the hair analysis when its being detoxed...in my case it wasnt coming out.

This is an explanation.

Mercury gets into the hair follicle via the blood stream, then binds to the keratin protein.

Methyl-Mercury becomes up to 250 times more concentrated then in the blood where it came from. It is therefore a great test for acute Hg toxicity, which is by definition the stage in which Hg is present in the blood stream.

After acute exposure to Hg - such as placement of a dental amalgam filling - most Hg is disappeared from the blood within 3 weeks and none is present in 3 months.

After 3 months most the Hg that has left the filling is oxidized and now firmly bound to proteins and proteoglycans (ie enzymes, matrix-structure in connective tissue) or as metallic Hg stored in fatty tissue.

None of it is in the blood and the hair analysis is negative or low for Hg ( even though the brain may be dying from Hg-toxicity).

This is pretty much what happened with me....my mercury levels were probably the lowest levels on the hair analysis. However, even though the metals didnt look like a problem....half of my good minerals were out of balance and the calcium was elevated...this is a good indicator for mercury toxicity.

None of the current challenge tests available can make the diagnosis if the mercury is stored somewhere and not coming out. This makes it especially difficult to determine mercury toxicity.

I was on birth control as a teenager and it didnt affect me at all...I never had problems with antibiotics....but I dont think I took many either.

A few months after I got toxic from my dental work I was complaining of burning on my face...got a misdiagnosis of Rosacea and was given antibiotics...once I got on the antibiotics candida seemed to explode in my body. I think the candida was already there but just not as severe....the antibiotics created a much bigger problem.

I do think antibiotics contribute in this way but I still believe in the underlying cause as being the problem....and the antibiotics would furthur weaken an already vulnerable system.

Even before I knew what my underlying cause was I never felt that it could be blamed on the antibiotics alone....it just didnt feel right to me. I think in a healthy body with a healthy immune system people can tolerate things like birth control or antibiotics. If theres some underlying issue these things can really make the situation far worse.

That was my experience anyway.

[dlp252]

I spoke with the nurse at my doctor's office, who told me not to worry about it unless I get joint pain. (Really!)

So what are you thinking you'll do? If you start feeling flu-ish, go right away to a doctor knowledgeable about lyme...don't wait for the joint pain...just my thoughts on it.

Okay, here's a really weird sounding suggestion...do you have a digital camera? Take a picture of that darned bug so you'll have it to refer to later if you don't happen to get anywhere with sending it off.

On lymenet there was a thread with lots of pictures of known ticks. I'll see if I can find it and post a link for you.

[dlp252]

Ha, sorry, went back to reread your original post...you already know what a deer tick looks like...

But for anyone else wondering (and please note, these little bugs are very gross looking):

An actual website with pictures:

Open Original Shared Link

The thread at LN that also has some pictures embedded in the thread:

Open Original Shared Link

Pictures of deer tick:

Open Original Shared Link

[Rachel--24]

Holy Cow, Fiddle-Faddle, I didn't say you didn't get a bug bite, I merely asked if you were sure it bit you. That is because you do not feel tick bites ... plus, ticks bite hosts three times in their life to feed, then they drop off. What you described was not at all what a tick bite feels like. I did not know what your bug bite felt like until you told me. I've been bitten by ticks about 30 times in my life ... I thought you'd benefit from my experience.

I thought I was trying to help. I guess, like they say, "no good deed goes unpunished."

Between this and the reaction I get for not agreeing that heavy metals is behind every chronic illness, this place just doesn't give me the warm fuzzies anymore.

I always feel like I'm in trouble! All I'm doing is trying to participate in conversation, help someone, and tell what my thoughts are on what Rachel's posting.

I think everyone would test positive for heavy metals unless they chelated recently. That's the nature of our world. Everyone with heavy metals does not get sick. Just because heavy metals are found in every sick person, doesn't mean they're causing the illness because every healthy person is likely to have them, too.

I tried to say that about dentists ... every dentist is NOT sick, many (all the ones I know) are quite healthy, and yes, I'm sure they have mercury in their bodies.

ILADS does not seem to think that heavy metals is a huge issue with Lyme and that they are the reason Lyme hits a person so hard or that they cause a herx. That's not to say that ILADS thinks they don't need to be treated, they just don't give them the same emphasis as Dr. K does. Dr. K is the only one I've ever heard say that a herx is caused by the release of heavy metals.

Though I respect Dr. K and his research, I think it's unbalanced.

I guess Tom and I can both be called Contrarian Spice now.

Wow...I didnt realize you were so upset by my posts.

Alot of people dont think they have Lyme when they first hear of it as well.....including you....if I'm remembering it correctly.

If the info. hadnt been posted here would you have been diagnosed??

I dont think its fair to others that you are now getting terribly upset about the link with mercury.

Some people *are* interested and some people *do* want the information made avavilable to them...and some people *do* believe that it makes alot of sense.

I think if people dont agree with this there is no reason to be so defensive.....especially when there are alot of people here that ARE dealing with heavy metal issues.

I think maybe a couple of you are taking the info.....apllying it directly to your own situation....and then getting very upset with it....for whatever reason.

Take a step back and remember why we're all here. Just because you feel the info. doesnt apply to yourself....dont get all upset about it. Skip over those posts and go about your day...with a smile.

Someone else may read the post and find the info. to be very valuable. Just because you feel as if your puzzle has been solved....dont get upset when others here would like to continue to learn and expand their knowledge.

You dont have to agree....but is it really necessary to get on the defensive about it? Both you and Mr. Contrarion Spice seemed to have it all figured out for yourselves.....but I dont think every one of us feels the same. Theres nothing wrong with broadening the horizons and learning more.

I'm not posting for one person...I'm posting for alot of people....people who we dont even hear from....and people who will stumble upon this thread maybe long after I'm gone.

And No....Dr. K. isnt the only Dr. who believes that a herx is a release of metals...there's a looooooooong list of Dr.'s all over the world who believe this as well.

Correct me if I'm wrong but alot of people are still struggling....and correct me if I'm wrong but there are ALOT of people with Lyme who are also dealing with heavy metals.

So do you really think its fair that because *you* dont feel you have this problem others here should not be made aware of the link...of the research..... or of the Dr.'s who are successfully treating both these conditions??

Some people here are trying to learn....and then there are a couple who just want to jump in and get on the defensive because they dont agree....making this place...as you say...less than warm and fuzzy.

What if we werent allowed to talk about Lyme here Carla??

Scott named this thread "The Lyme Disease Thread" I asked him to change that because its not accurate....this thread is about a whole bunch of things that are intertwined and we've come to learn all of this by SHARING and RESEARCHING and POSTING....that info. for all to see.

I dont know why you are so upset about the talk about heavy metals.....if you go over to LymeNET....guess what...they're talking about the same things.

All of a sudden it *feels* like LymeNET over here because some people are not liking the subject matter....if it helps someone else....why should it bother you?? If it helps ME....why should it bother you??

And....no.....yesterday you took my posts very personal....as if they were directed at you or something. They werent....they were for the people here who are INTERESTED.

You asked me questions and I answered them with the info. I have available to me....sorry if you didnt like what you were seeing.

I'm not posting things off the top of my head....these are things which have been studied and researched and many Dr.'s have spoken out about these issues.

Again...I dont think its necessary to get on the defensive, take things personal or try to minimize things that dont apply to you. All of these things are serious issues and all of us have gained something from this thread...some of us are still trying to do that.

If you've got all the answers...thats great....let other people continue to learn.

[CarlaB]

-

[miamia]

ok i haven't posted in a long time. I ahve alot going on and have been so overwhelmed- but alas an update will ahve to wait till later I just wanted to chime in........

I think everyone here is here becasue we care about eachother and not only want to get better ourselves but to see everyone else get better as well. Thats why we share what ever info we find even when it dosen't apply to ourselves because you never know who it can help.

There is so much out there in terms of theorys about celiac, candida lyme, etc. And I don't think anyone here is claiming to know" the answer" to any of it. I think what we are all doing is sharing what we find and seeing what other people in similar situations think of it. (or at least thats it for me) I think of this thread as my own personal research team at some times- !!!

All i can say is i think we are all very passionate people- very passionate and very determined to better and i think sometimes "passion" can be misconstrued as defensivness or something negative. Thats the problem with typing you can't type in inflection or tone so everyone reads it there own way.

I love all you guys and i care about all of you and i respect all of you and how hard each of us struggles dayly to sort through the enormous mass of information out there in hopes of finding the one or more things that finally get us well!!!!

Miamia

[miamia]

ok i haven't posted in a long time. I ahve alot going on and have been so overwhelmed- but alas an update will ahve to wait till later I just wanted to chime in........

I think everyone here is here becasue we care about eachother and not only want to get better ourselves but to see everyone else get better as well. Thats why we share what ever info we find even when it dosen't apply to ourselves because you never know who it can help.

There is so much out there in terms of theorys about celiac, candida lyme, etc. And I don't think anyone here is claiming to know" the answer" to any of it. I think what we are all doing is sharing what we find and seeing what other people in similar situations think of it. (or at least thats it for me) I think of this thread as my own personal research team at some times- !!!

All i can say is i think we are all very passionate people- very passionate and very determined to better and i think sometimes "passion" can be misconstrued as defensivness or something negative. Thats the problem with typing you can't type in inflection or tone so everyone reads it there own way.

I love all you guys and i care about all of you and i respect all of you and how hard each of us struggles dayly to sort through the enormous mass of information out there in hopes of finding the one or more things that finally get us well!!!!

Miamia

[Fiddle-Faddle]

So what are you thinking you'll do? If you start feeling flu-ish, go right away to a doctor knowledgeable about lyme...don't wait for the joint pain...just my thoughts on it.

Okay, here's a really weird sounding suggestion...do you have a digital camera? Take a picture of that darned bug so you'll have it to refer to later if you don't happen to get anywhere with sending it off.

On lymenet there was a thread with lots of pictures of known ticks. I'll see if I can find it and post a link for you.

Thanks for the links.

I think it's ridiculous to wait for joint pain. Tomorrow I'm gonna send the pervertabug to Igenex, and have it tested for Lyme and Babesia.

It's still in the ziploc bag--and still crawlng around.

Miamia--nice point about everyone being passionate. I think you hit the nail on the head.

Is there a full moon or something? Is that why we're all on edge?

Tom- so sorry about your brother. I read his CaringBridge website--sounded like a great guy. You guys grew up in Mt. Prospect? I grew up not far from you--in Glencoe, before it was so posh. I couldn't afford to buy a doghouse there now, but when I grew up, it was fairly rural.

[dlp252]

I don't know about the full moon, but I was sure on edge last week...seems to be a tiny bit better this week so far...although I may YET walk into my office managers office and tell her what I think of a couple of things...haven't decided yet.

Mia - what you wrote is lovely and so very true. We are passionate, and many of us are struggling with one thing or another.

[AndreaB]

Still have 3 pages to catch up on but thought I'd update everyone.

We got up to Bellevue around 11:00, walked in the office and were told that Dr. E had called in sick. A 5+ hour round trip (about $40 of gas) and no appointment.

Rescheduled for the 19th now.

They left a message at 10:10.......IF I'd still been home then I wouldn't have made it to the appointment in time.

We did get to follow Mitch about 50 miles though. I left the house a little later than I wanted and was wondering if I'd catch up to him. He had guessed if everything went well with his load this morning that he'd hit the freeway about 10 miles north of us around 8:30. I caught up to him an hour later.

No, we don't have cell phones so I was just hoping he was ahead of me and not behind.

[dlp252]

Aw Andrea, how disappointing and frustrating!!! I hate when they don't call early! I've had that happen, but fortunately not kind of travel time!

Oh, I was going to say even if you had cell phones you couldn't use them, but I guess that would have been AFTER T's appointment not before.

[tabasco32]

Hi everone

Happy B day donna, have fun tonight. Wish I was going but I will eat my steak at home.

I believe that I am losing weight because I am not digesting my fats. Does anyone know what to do about this?

Also I have a doctors visit tomorrow I want her to get all the mineral supplements like magnesia, copper, zinc etc. I need. Do I then take all the the supplements at one time tommorow or do I have to space out taking the supplement everyother day too.

I will print out Dr. K's report and take with me to show my doctor so they can learn a thing or two.

I get sad when people start to argue. To much stress on me. So stop!

LIsa

[jerseyangel]

Oh gosh, Andrea all that driving for nothing. What a shame.

It's really something that you met up with Mitch on the road

[AndreaB]

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.

I'm sorry about your mother Kat. Hope you can gradually get some more info into her and she will be willing to go in for testing.

Today is the day my brother Pat left this world.

One year ago.

Hugs Tom. Thanks for sharing your brother with us.

I am Grumpy Girl today...sitting on the couch with a castor oil pack watching mountain climbing movies trying to cheer up!

I'm not too cheerful today either. Tomorrow will be a better day, right?

Though I respect Dr. K and his research, I think it's unbalanced.

I guess another way to look at it is that Dr. K treats a lot of chronically ill people. If it's just what he's seen then he can't report on anything else.

The ONLY reason I am here posting this is because I care about this thread and the people on it.

I do hope you'll stick around........we already lost Julie.

I like Mia's post too. We are all more passionate about some things then others and when it's our health or our families then we sometimes are put in a position of having feelers hurt or toes stepped on.

Everyone's thoughts, links, opinions.....whatever, are important.

[AndreaB]

donna, have fun tonight.

I get sad when people start to argue. To much stress on me. So stop!

LIsa

Yes Donna, have fun tonight.

I also agree about the added stress Lisa. Looking forward to your update tomorrow.

For your supplements, with as sensitive as you are I'd try one every 3 days so you can see if you have a reaction to one of them or not.

[Rachel--24]

Rachel, your response illustrates perfectly what I was saying ... Tom has said it, too. If someone else posts something that differs from the conclusions you have drawn, then you shoot it down, breaking up their post telling them why each point is wrong. It doesn't encourage discussion and new ideas. It makes people hesitate to say anything.

Carla....I think you need to go back and review the posts. I was posting quoted information and Tom came back and broke down MY posts......as he has a habit of doing.

So no....if you look at the posts what you're saying is not true....he broke it down and went off about a bunch of stuff which didnt even make any sense to me.

I do not break down Toms posts because I rarely even READ his posts...and as I've stated....they dont make a whole lot of sense to me....and are usually totally off topic.

I only respond to him when he's addressing me specifically.

So go back and review it before making false statements. In your posts to me yesterday YOU broke down the info. and asked me a bunch of questions.....which I answered. When I answer seperate questions...I break up the posts...or when I'm responding to different things...I break up the posts.

But yeah....I didnt break up anything you guys came up with because the fact is that you guys werent posting anything offering up any info. to begin with. So what the heck could I possibly be breaking up and shooting down??

I think it was ME who was posting info...and YOU two were getting on the defensive and shooting down what I was saying. Would you like me to pull up your post Carla??

I told you I'm open to *everything*.....if you post it I will read it. If you have some scientificness to share....then share it.

I dont recall you putting anything up here for me to shoot down??

You posted that article about the glutathione....the same exact one that I myself posted weeks ago. I guess if you were reading you would have seen it.

[dlp252]

Hi everone

Happy B day donna, have fun tonight. Wish I was going but I will eat my steak at home.

I believe that I am losing weight because I am not digesting my fats. Does anyone know what to do about this?

Also I have a doctors visit tomorrow I want her to get all the mineral supplements like magnesia, copper, zinc etc. I need. Do I then take all the the supplements at one time tommorow or do I have to space out taking the supplement everyother day too.

I will print out Dr. K's report and take with me to show my doctor so they can learn a thing or two.

I get sad when people start to argue. To much stress on me. So stop!

Thanks! My birthday was actually last week, but we all couldn't get together then. I'm all for spreading out the celebration at times.

Definitely DON'T take all the supplements at one time! My LLMD gave me a list of 8 supplements he wanted me to take but he said to NOT take them all at the same time. I was to try 1 then 3 days later start another one. If you take them all at the same time there is no way to know what you're reacting to if you react.

Not digesting fats...know it can be celiac related, but I know there are other causes too...but other than that, don't know much more. Fortunatley for me, I can digest them just fine, in fact, that's the only thing I can eat that keeps me full.