BRUMI1968

I don't use plastic at all - I use glass. It does not stain, hold odors, or cause any health problems (which there is some evidence that plastic does). Other than the fact that it's heavy and can break, it's the best way to go.

Not curative, but interesting:

I read that if you eat honey from your local bees, you can diminish pollen allergies. I don't know if it's true - honey gives me a belly ache and I don't think I have pollen allergies other than cottonwood. Buggery little puffs!

A few things come to mind:

1. what are the meds? Often they have side effects of insomnia, and even your GP can't keep track of all the side effects of all the meds s/he prescribes.

2. are you drinking liquids past 7pm? are any of them caffeinated? do you drink caffeine at all? do you eat late?

3. in "eastern" medicine, WHEN you cant' sleep is as important in determining WHY you can't sleep. In other words, folks who wake up between 1 and 3 might have liver troubles, whereas someone who can't fall asleep well may have spleen troubles. It might be worth looking into.

4. weird noises. weird light.

5. can you breath well through your nose - or do you get stuff in the night.

actually, biking isn't weight bearing either. But it is fun!

turmeric is a blood thinner as well, and has other great properties. You can get it via pills at the health food store. It takes while to build up, so it is not for acute issues; but it is good for taking for ongoing blood thinning.

One of the unfortunate things with the timing of all of this is that, when I first started to go gluten-free I had all this new and growing energy which came out in anger and frustration (still healing, still dealing with residual anxiety) -- I'd been repressing a lot of that over time as I dealt with my stuff. I started to be really direct in my communication to him about the partying just at the time when he most needed me to lay off (before his dissertation defense). I was trying to tell him that I was feeling pulled down by his habits -- and that was my main issue.

My man and I are in therapy -- our therapist has celiac in fact -- and an interesting thing came up the other day. I said that I was feeling more comfortable expressing anger now that I was eating meat - I thought maybe the chickens were mad and they were passing it onto me. I was being slightly tongue in cheek of course. But he said that maybe now that my gut is finally feeling better, I'm no longer metabolizing my anger that way, but am able to express it. I'm sure Joe doesn't necessarily think this is a good thing, at least not at the time I'm expressing it, but it is so important for our relationship and for me.

Also, perhaps, finally finding actions that can help us and then committing to doing them is empowering - when we are empowered, we feel better about stating aloud our needs - more legitimate in doing so.

I saw my complaining friend yesterday after a few days off. He only complained about his seasonal allergies, so that was a good day. I'm trying just to not respond to his complaining at all, but just to sing a song in my head or something while he is doing it. Maybe it'll be unfun for him to do, and then he just won't. We'll see. Maybe ... he's an alcoholic, I don't remember if I said that ... his issues with his health overall and his deserving to be in top shape are somehow connected to his addictive personality. I'm not sure. Anyway, if the part of it that really fries me is that he NEVER takes my (or his own) advice, I should probably just not give it repeatedly. Once/twice/thrice...but not constantly. It ends up with me sounding like a nag anyway.

Thanks all for your posts.

I am not at all grossed out or irritated with people who are unhealthy in some way and are trying to make themselves better. What gets me hot under the collar is someone who will list their litany of problems, either tell you why or actually believe you in why, but then ignore what you say, live the same way, and CONTINUE TO COMPLAIN ABOUT IT. Sometimes you can throw on top of that, saying to you something to the effect that you want to live forever, that's why you eat so healthily. No, I don't want to live forever. I want to be walking around when I'm 80 years old, not in a wheelchair or in a hospital bed fighting cancer of some kind. I want to be experiencing life right now without a gut the size of a basketball pressing against all my pain nerves. I want to be able to go to sleep at night and wake up in the morning without a stomach ache. All of these things allow me to live life to the fullest, not live forever. I especially don't want to live forever if I have to listen to you complain. ARG.

On the note about health and weight, I had a sort of epiphany the other day. My sister is medically obese - I think she is about 5'10 and weighs about 300 pounds. She diets sometimes, went to weight watchers for a while, etc. etc., but nothing seems to stick for any length of time. But two things struck me when she visited me the other day.

1) she does not believe she has enough money to eat well...and she may be right. The highest caloric foods are the cheapest in the grocery store - the highest nutrient foods tend to be the cheapest too - but have very little calories. In other words, she can't go buy a bag of carrots and feel full. But she could drive through Burger King and get a full stomach for hours on about five or six bucks. This is a HUGE problem with our society - the capitalization of food, which should be a human right and not a commodity.

2) she does not have a healthy philosophical view about her body and her body's role in her life experience. Her body is not part of her "tool" of life. You know how you hae a hierarchy of things you pay for - probably rent or mortgage first, then utilities, then food, then assundries. You can go without deoderant until your next paycheck better than you can go without a shower at all. Your body should be at the level of mortgage/rent. How can you possibly do anything in your life without a highly functioning body. So I tell her that if she has celiac and doesn't get tested/treated, she won't lose weight, get off depression meds, avoid diabetes, etc. etc. She is so negative...but how do you turn a philosophy around. Here I think someone has to experience a great physical change. I morbidly hope she tests positively for Celiac so that she might decide she HAS to change (she might not change regardless).

Anyway, I've blathered again.

Just to clarify, I was not getting the amazingly weak/sore leg/back muscles until I had quit all grains for about two weeks, and then quit sugar/fruit/starchy veggies as well, on a quest to kill any bacteria/yeast living inside me.

So it sounds like I probably was having a yeast die-off or something. The other possibility is that I was not getting enough CALORIES, rather than specific type of calories. (I was losing about .5-.75 pounds every day or two.)

I did buy some Ph strips to pee on to check my Ph since I'm eating way more protein than I used to...and I turned up fine by my morning pee.

Thanks to you all. I'm actually feeling so much better now that I'm going to add in my bowflex, and get back to walking. No danger of me overdoing it cardiovascularly - I'm not one for that type of exercise. But I want to make sure that don't lose muscle mass, and I need to build bone, so walking and weight lifting is where I'm going to start, along with Pilates. thanks.

Hi all! I'm having this new attitude problem of sorts: I can't stand unhealthy people. I look at them and they drive me nuts. I mean people who have unhealthy lifestyles, not actually sick people, so let me rephrase that.

For example, I have a friend who whenever he opens his mouth to make a face or laugh or something, I am grossed out by his tongue. It is obviously coated with something since all he eats is sour cream and meat. He also complains about allergies all the time, but won't quit smoking even though smoke is one of the things he's highly allergic to. Or on and on about how tired he is, but he smokes dope all the time - "why can't I sleep?" he says. "Booze and pot" I reply, but he just continues to complain about it. ARG!

Does anyone else get frustrated with people who complain all the time but who won't do anything to change? If so, what do you do to handle it and not end up trying to distance yourself from your friends?

Does anyone know if someone's muscles might have to relearn where to get their food. For example, if one were to quit all grains/beans/dairy/sugar, and upped their intake of protein and nonstarchy veggies, would one get muscle weakness and aches during an adjustment period?

I think I am finally getting enough energy to add back some decent exercise (was in yeast die-off hell a week or two ago) - but want to make sure I don't lose any more weight and am feeding my muscles well. Thanks.

I was getting bad pains in my wrist, forearms, hands, etc., especially as they got cold or as I used the mouse on the computer. I finally realized that four momths earlier, I'd had my arm practically pulled out of the socket by a drunken friend of mine who insisted I swing dance with her. (Why do drunk people weigh ten times more than sober people.) I finally figured out I had pinched a nerve...but for me it was only on one side. You might consider something like that if there is something lurking in the recent past that might've started it for you. Any drunken friend swing dancing?

I just got a massage as well. I was having yeast die-off symptoms and thought it might speed up my recovery. My gal said that the majority of the pain I felt and the stuff she felt was a slow lymph system. She suggested the Epsom salts. I don't know if you're massage person was old school or new school - but there could be other reasons your feet were trouble - Reflexology type stuff. Usually, my feet hurt worst around the heels, which represent the intestines. This time, it was my lungs/chest area - that was odd for me, but I have been coughing and stuff too.

Anyway, I hope she didn't make you feel too negative...that is not supposed to be part of massage. You might consider a more supportive and positive person - even if you do have things you need to work on, those should be brought to your attention in a way that makes you feel powerful, not sick.

Anyway, I hope the massage at least made you feel better. I plan to go back. Mine hurt, but I do think that it might help release toxins I"m storing up in my muscles. I've been getting leg aches where I didn't used to - and I really think I am just releasing junk (though, I have had to double check I'm getting enough calories/carbs too).

Wow, I'm a blabber mouth today. Sorry to rattle on. Hope all is well. Drink lots of water.

Actually, a lot of tortilla chips are either cross contaminated or contain gluten. If you search for a threat recently on tortilla chips, you'll see lots of brands that are gluten free. Mission is one of them. I ate those for a spell before quitting all grains. Boohoo...I miss chips.

I ate some of the top ramen type stuff, and didn't feel too well afterward...but I'm not one who can be sure she was "glutened", or if she just didn't feel well, you know. So I'm not sure.

Here's a link to the specific carbohydrate diet:

Open Original Shared Link

It is from some information source - like wikipedia but different. Anyway, one thing about the specific carb diet is that dairy is allowed and even pushed a bit, in the form of cheeses and dry curd cottage cheese. If you don't do dairy or are caseine (sp?) intolerant, this would not work well.

The diet that I tried (and am still to some extent on), is called the Body Ecology Diet. It is based on the same idea that the body is overun by bacteria and yeast, and that getting the body's ecology back on track will help alleviate symptoms of colitis, celiacs, crohns, ibs, etc. There is no dairy at all on this diet except, and she wants you to wait for a couple months to try it, kefir, which is like liquid yoghurt and has lots of probiotics in it. Another thing she pushes is raw fermented veggies - in other words, raw sauerkraut. I've been doing this whenever I eat meat, and what folks say about it making your skin nice seems to be true. I've always had pretty good skin, but I think it looks even better now.

Challenges: not enough stuff to eat on the diet, at least at first. You're allowed ZERO fruit, no sweet veggies at all, no dairy, grains, legumes (already cut out for me), no sugar of any kind ... she says no caffeine but I still drink my green tea. I ran into what they call "yeast die-off"...it has some official name "somebody or else syndrome". It was really tough. Basically, my back and leg muscles hurt really badly, I had ZERO energy, and had to drag myself from here to there. I tallied up how many carbs I was eating and it was really practically nothing, so I ate a rice shake with 35 g of carbs and I felt like someone really filled up my tank.

Anyway, I think the diet has a lot of merit in a lot of ways: she empahsizes food combining (not eating proteins with starches), fermented veggies, expansive/contractive, acid/alkaline, the idea that everyone is different, the 80/20 rule (80% full leaves 20% room for digestion; 80% veggies 20% protein on your plate), etc.

I think it is worth checking out from the library if you've got it, and if you feel like your healing process is slow. I will tell you that by the end of the first day, my bloating was gone. And it stayed gone until I ate some sugar, too...suspicious.

Like I said, I don't know enough about the Specific Carb diet, and don't like the fact that it includes legumes and cheese. But there is an old post that has currently been rekindled and is up right now if you hit View New Posts. I think it's on page 3 of the new posts. It's mostly old, but you can read it and see what challenges folks had with that diet. I briefly looked up "miracle diet", but what I found was about weight loss, and not about handling digestive disorders and being more health in general - but I did not search extensively.

I read through this a bit - looks like it would take 2000 mg (that's 2 grams, right?) to get toxic affects. However, B vitamins all work together, so hopefully whoever formulated your complex knew what they were doing. Getting back on track and then getting it from foods is probably the best way. the Same site has food sources...I think I couldn't copy and paste it because it was a table. Check out worlds healthiest foods - google it - it's an awesome site!

from worlds healthiest foods website:

What is vitamin B6?

First researched in the mid-1930's, vitamin B6 is one of the best-studied of all B vitamins and has one of the greatest varieties of chemical forms. The forms of this vitamin all begin with the letters "pyr," and include pyridoxine, pyridoxal, pyridoxamine, pyridoxine phosphate, pyridoxal phosphate, and pyridoxamine phosphate.

The vitamin was not originally given this name, however, but was referred to as "antidermatitis factor." This term pointed to the skin (dermis) because skin inflammation (dermatitis) seemed to increase when foods with B6 were eliminated from the diet. Topical B6 creams are used to this day in treatment of skin inflammation, particularly in relationship to symptoms of seborrheic dermatitis.

How it Functions

What is the function of vitamin B6?

Much of the body's chemistry depends upon enzymes. Enzymes are proteins that help chemical reactions take place. Because vitamin B6 is involved with more than 100 enzymatic reactions, its function in the body is diverse and far-reaching.

Synthesis of essential molecules

It is difficult to find a chemical category of molecules in the body that do not depend in some way on vitamin B6 for their production. Many of the building blocks of protein, called amino acids, require adequate supplies of B6 for synthesis. Nucleic acids used in the creation of DNA in our genes also require this vitamin.

Because amino acids and nucleic acids are such critical parts of new cell formation, vitamin B6 can be regarded as an essential part of the formation of virtually all new cells in the body. Heme (the protein center of our red blood cells) and phospholipids (our cell membrane components that allow messaging between cells) also depend on vitamin B6 for their creation.

Processing of carbohydrate

The processing of carbohydrate (sugar and starch) in our body depends on availability of vitamin B6. This vitamin is particularly important in facilitating the breakdown of glycogen (a special form of starch) stored in our muscle cells and to a lesser extent in our liver. Because carbohydrate processing plays such a key role in certain types of athletic events, researchers have looked closely at the role vitamin B6 plays in carbohydrate processing during physical performance.

Support of nervous system activity

The role of vitamin B6 in our nervous system is very broad, and involves many aspects of neurological activity. One aspect focuses on the creation of an important group of messaging molecules called amines. The nervous system relies on formation of these molecules for transmission of messages from one nerve to the next. (The molecules can be classified as "neurotransmitters" for this reason.) Amines are one type of neurotransmitter in the nervous system. They are often made from parts of protein called amino acids, and the key nutrient for making this process happen is vitamin B6. Some of the amine-derived neurotransmitters that require vitamin B6 for their production include serotonin, melatonin, epinephrine, norepinephrine, and GABA.

Support of sulfur and methyl metabolism

The movement of sulfur-containing molecules around the body is especially important for hormonal balance and elimination of toxic substances through the liver. Because vitamin B6 is able to remove sulfur groups from other molecules, it helps the body maintain flexibility in handling sufur-containing compounds.

Vitamin B6 plays a similar role with respect to methyl-containing molecules. The term "methyl group" refers to a chemical structure that has only one carbon atom and three hydrogen atoms. Many important chemical events in the body are made possible by the transfer of methyl groups from one place to another. For example, genes in the body can be switched on and turned off in this way, and cells can use the process to send messages back and forth.

The attachment of methyl groups to toxic substances is one way of making them less toxic and encouraging their elimination from the body. It is also a way of ensuring that substances like homocysteine, which can build up excessively in the blood and lead to risk of cardiovascular disease, are kept within a healthy range.

Deficiency Symptoms

What are deficiency symptoms for vitamin B6?

Because of its key role in the formation of new cells, vitamin B6 is especially important for healthy function of body tissue that regenerates itself quickly. The skin is exactly this type of tissue, and it is one of the first to show problems when B6 is deficient. Many skin disorders have been associated with B6 deficiency, and they include eczema and seborrheic dermatitis.

The key role of vitamin B6 in the nervous system also results in many nerve-related symptoms when B6 is deficient. These symptoms can include convulsions and seizures in the case of severe deficiency. The critical role of vitamin B6 in the formation of red blood cells means that B6 deficiency can also result in symptoms of anemia, malaise, and fatigue. When anemia is exclusively related to B6 deficiency, it is usually classified as hypochromic, microcytic (pernicious) anemia.

Toxicity Symptoms

What are toxicity symptoms for vitamin B6?

Imbalances in nervous system activity have been shown to result from high levels of supplemental vitamin B6 intake. These imbalances do not seem to occur until supplementation exceeds 2 grams per day. The National Academy of Sciences has set a Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for vitamin B6 of 100 milligrams for adults 19 years and older, largely based on the issue of imbalanced nervous system activity described above.

Impact of Cooking, Storage and Processing

How do cooking, storage, or processing affect vitamin B6?

Although historically described as one of the most stable of the B vitamins, large amounts of vitamin B6 are lost during most forms of cooking and processing. Loss of B6 from canning of vegetables is approximately 60-80%; from canning of fruits, about 38%; from freezing of fruits, about 15%; from conversion of grains to grain products, between 50-95%; and from conversion of fresh meat to meat by-products, 50-75%.

When food is heated in the context of simple home cooking, the acidity of the food often determines how much B6 is lost or retained. In general, the more acidic the food, the poorer the B6 retention. Also, in the context of the home kitchen, the freezing of foods high in B6 can result in the loss of approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of the total B6 content. Because foods high in B6 are typically not eaten raw, a good solution to these processing problems is to consume plentiful amounts of foods high in B6.

Factors that Affect Function

What factors might contribute to a deficiency of vitamin B6?

In addition to dietary insufficiency, smoking and the use of many prescription medications can contribute to vitamin B6 deficiency. Medications that deplete the body's supply of B6 are listed in the medications section of this nutrient profile.

Drug-Nutrient Interactions

What medications affect vitamin B6?

A long list of prescription medications has been linked to depletion of the body's B6. These medications include birth control pills and oral estrogens; diuretics, including furosemide; barbiturates, including phenobarbitol and phenytoin; anti-epileptic drugs, including carbamazepine; asthma-related drugs, including theophylline; aminoglycosides, including gentamicin used for bacterial infection; tuberculosis drugs, including isoniazid and rifampin; and anti-fibrotic drugs, including beta-aminopropionitrile.

Nutrient Interactions

How do other nutrients interact with vitamin B6?

As a member of the B vitamin family, B6 has key interactions with many of its family members. B6 is essential for making vitamin B3 (niacin) from the amino acid tryptophan. In Down's syndrome, for example, some of the problems related to vitamin B3 deficiency appear to be lessened by intake of vitamin B6. Vitamins B2 and B3 are both needed to convert vitamin B6 into its various chemical forms, and imbalances in vitamin B1 metabolism create imbalances in vitamin B6 metabolism. B6 deficiency can also reduce the body's absorption of vitamin B12.

Health Conditions

What health conditions require special emphasis on vitamin B6?

Vitamin B6 may play a role in the prevention and/or treatment of the following health conditions::

* Cardiovascular system conditions, including atherosclerosis, hyperhomocysteinemia, and hypertension

* Nervous system conditions, including carpal tunnel syndrome, depression, diabetic neuropathy, autism and epilepsy

* Skin conditions, including acne, eczema, and seborrheic dermatitis

* Also linked to B6 status are alcoholism, adrenal function, asthma, HIV/AIDS, kidney stones, PMS, and vaginitis.

Form in Dietary Supplements

What forms of vitamin B6 are found in dietary supplements?

Vitamin B6 is most commonly sold in the form of pyridoxine hydrochloride (pyridoxine HCl). However, alternative forms of the vitamin, for example, pyridoxal-5-phophate, are also widely available and often preferred by healthcare practitioners since they constitute the biologically active forms of the vitamin.

Individuals who are not experiencing health benefits from supplementation with pyridoxine hydrochloride, or who have a history of liver problems that might prevent activation of pyridoxine, should consider supplementation with pyridoxal-5-phosphate.

Food Sources

Introduction to Nutrient Rating System Chart

The following chart shows the World's Healthiest Foods that are either excellent, very good or good sources of this nutrient. Next to each food name you will find the following information: the serving size of the food; the number of calories in one serving; DV% (percent daily value) of the nutrient contained in one serving (similar to other information presented in the website, this DV is calculated for 25-50 year old healthy woman); the nutrient density rating; and the food's World's Healthiest Foods Rating. Underneath the chart is a table that summarizes how the ratings were devised. Read detailed information on our Nutrient Rating System.

If no one said, sesame seeds, sea vegetables, and dark leafy greens are usually BETTER sources of calcium than dairy...dairy has the wrong ratio of calcium to phosphorous, leaving unabsorbed calcium in the system that has to go someplace (stones, acne, cysts, etc.?)

Good luck!

I burp a lot anyway...but I have noticed that before I got dx'd, my new stomach issue was that my STOMACH would stay full of air (I was used to intestines full of air and being inflamed). I would try to burp, but that wouldn't help. Now I burp constantly...well, I mean, after eating.

p.s. kissing makes me burp. I must be doing it wrong.

I am a great quitter. I have quit just about everything you can think of from booze and coffee, from animals to grains, from sucking my thumb to laughing nervously at the end of all my sentences. the one thing I haven't quit yet is quitting...but hopefully someday I'll manage that one. I'll tell you that quitting coffee was physically much harder than quitting cigarettes...at least pain wise.

I think it's possible that it's better to wean - I went cold turkey and the headaches are over the top bad. You might try green tea, if you like the taste of it (genmaicha is good - has toasted rice in it) ... it has a small amount of caffeine, has a lot of good antioxidants, and will help kill the headache pain.

Anyway, good luck to you. I still drink green tea - my goal was to quit coffee not caffeine, and it made a big difference in my digeestion (and my breath, probably -- I hate coffee breath!) black tea has less caffeine than coffee, but more than green tea, so you could go from coffee to black tea, and then to green tea, and then to herbal tea (but watch for gluten).

they're probably talking about the S.C.D. or specific carbohydrate diet which was made for folks with Crohns and Celiac and the like. I have done a similar diet, called the Body Ecology Diet...but I'm doing it in a modified way right now because I had no energy, probably from yeast die-off.

I'm going to look more into the specific carb diet...but if that is it, do a search in this discussion board and you'll get results; I've read stuff on it before. I think a few folks were doing it at the same time and sharing their experiences.

Good luck. Let me know what you find out at the meeting.

What do you mean by Crohn's diet: the specific carb diet?

One dishwashing soap that does contain gluten is Ecover aloe and lemon. I used it - then thought to call the company. All their other 'flavors' are gluten-free. I use BioKleen - all their products are gluten-free.

(the gluten in the handsoap is probably wheat protein to help keep our hands looking lovely, or something like that.)

Which dish soap brand were you using that had gluten in it? Is there a way to tell on the bottle? (I'm assuming "Evil Gluten" is not marked as an ingredient) I am a newly diagnosed Celiac who is just changing his way of life, I am committing to banishing the stuff from my home entirely... never even thought of dish soap!

Thanks!

It was Ecover - the only product they have with gluten - the aloe and something. I just get BioKleen now - they carry no products with gluten. I use their laundry soap too. We're the eco-household. Good luck.

I've thought about doing this as well. I wish I had the names of every doctor who told me in my twenties that I had IBS and handed me a sample of metamucil. Arg! My old internist I would no doubt be nicer to, though. I would want doctors to ALWAYS give a celiac panel whenever they're going to diagnose IBS. I mean, these things cost $35 each -- compared to how much that person is going to have to spend in their lifetime with doctors bills...not even to mention misery.

Anyway, I might look up Dr. Newell and send a nice letter to her, checking in, telling her how I am, and mentioning the celiac - something to watch for in her patients.

Thanks, that is good to know. LL

I would like to get that salt. Where do you get yours? I have been using sea salt. LL

I use The Raw Choice Himalayan Crystal Salt. (www.therawchoice.com). Be forewarned this stuff is $9.00 a small bottle. There are other brands of Himalayan crystal salt as well - if you google it, you'll find some. It's pretty interesting - the structural comparison between table salt, sea salt, and crystal salt. Who knows....but it's good. If you do get the Raw Choice kind, watch out - it comes out fast. You can feel the money falling out of your pocket with every shake. I got mine at the food co-op.