Question:

::Homemade stuffing or Stovetop? I prefer homemade but everyone else in this house loves Stovetop. Jackie ~*~You think you know who you are. You have no idea~*~    ~~ Crash (2004) — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – 11/20/07: Today’s question is being brought to you by our very own mystery poster :) Homemade stuffing or Stovetop? Homemade!  I’ve already made my cornbread for my stuffing for tomorrow.  I need to cook up the celery & onions, add sage and poultry seasoning and I’m there.  Stovetop is WAY too salty for me. (And it tastes like chemicals.) kili Homemade for me too. Stovetop tastes like I imagine a salt-lick would taste like.  Since reducing the salt in my diet, most processed food tastes like it has far too much salt in it. — Yep, I agree.  Those canned soups are the worst, don’t you think? kili

For sure canned soups can be dreadful for salt content and they taste like it.  If you have never gone on a salt reduced diet, you really can’t appreciate just how salty processed food is.  In processing, the companies use far more salt than anyone would use at home in their own cooking. — Ron P Member of the ignored generation — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – I got carried away and wrote a short novel but didn’t know what to cut so here it is unedited. Potatoes and rice are my 2 staple foods.  I go through times of eating a lot of fruit also.  I’ll sometimes get a double cheeseburger (plain) at McDonald’s and eat the burgers and toss the bun.  I like Chefs Salads or salad with grilled chicken, no crutons of course. Last winter I was new to this and to satisfy my intense carbohydrate cravings I started making banana bread using rice flour.  Now I eat rice flour crepes almost every morning.  Sometimes I play with the recipe a bit and add natural Demerara sugar and eat them plain. Sometimes with real maple syrup or fruit jelly/jam.  Not that it’s connected, but I’ve really learned to hate the taste of plain white sugar.  It has no taste, it’s just sweet.  It’s processed to purify it and that takes out all the natural flavors like molasses and other good stuff. The worst part is that the more I avoid wheat, the more sensitive I get to it.  My sister made some really good stir fry type stuff with rice noodles and I ate it for days.  I felt myself getting sicker and sicker not knowing what the problem was.  Turned out to be the soy and teriyaki sauces.  They have wheat.  :-(  I’ll have to order some special wheat free soy sauce if I want to eat that again. It’s amazing how many american foods contain wheat.  And so many people don’t understand it.  At work someone got some KFC chicken that wasn’t breaded and said I could eat it.  I said no I can’t because it’s batter dipped and she wouldn’t believe me that there is flour in it.  I don’t know if KFC sells plain chicken?  I didn’t have pasta in years and then I finally found rice pasta.  It’s not bad at all if I buy the right kind, and with me the sauce is the most important part anyway. Eating wheat/gluten will give me the symptoms of the flu with a migraine headache.  Every part of my body hurt.  Most of my life I thought I got the flu 12 or more times a year.  Then when sick I’d eat a comfort food like saltine crackers and didn’t realize I was making myself worse with more wheat.  I’ll never know how many times someone would tease me saying that I’m a big baby when I get a cold. Hell, I felt like dieing. At times it hurt like hell just to touch my hair trying to wash it. To top it off, if I don’t want to feel ill I must avoid preservatives and without a doubt I can’t eat MSG.  In general I have many chemical sensitivities and lot’s of mens and womans perfume will give me an instant migraine. Tony

I’m a mess, too, but my allergies are with iron and colitis.  I’m not supposed to eat red meat, dark leafy green veggies, beets, turkey, soy, oily fish like salmon, raw fish, and chicken – especially if it’s cooked in cast iron.  I also have the digestion issue so I’ve been told to avoid caffeine, dairy, alcohol, chocolate, rice, spices, peppers, garlic, citrus, most fruit, nuts, and anything with high fructose corn syrup in it.  As a result, I don’t eat much of anything!  In fact, yesterday for Thanksgiving holiday, I only ate about 2 bites of stuffing and maybe 3 bites of mashed potatoes – all day.  I wanted to avoid an "episode".  My husband wonders how I stay alive because our pet rats eat more than I do, but I manage.  I’ve known about my colitis since I was about 14, so I’ve gotten used to that and started to eat lots of salads, soups, raw fish, salmon, pasta, etc. not knowing that it was killing my liver.  I thought I was eating healthy!  I went through a 10 year phase of being vegan, too.  Oops!  Now, I need a liver transplant or I’ll be dead within 5 years.  Oh, the irony of it all. Because I’ve been given less than 5 years and I have chest wall cancer for the 3rd time in less than a year and a half I eat mostly what I want iron-wise, but avoid the foods the colitis brings on because the stomach cramping associated with my "episodes" are too painful to deal with. For you, it’s got to be tough to have a wheat allergy.  You really can’t go out to eat, can you or eat at a friend’s house?  Fortunately, though, there are lots of different rice pastas out there.  I love rice noodles in a good stir-fry and if you make the stir-fry sauce yourself, you can avoid wheat. I have a friend who makes a rice flour pizza crust, too.  She’s got a wheat problem as well.  I don’t think her symptoms are as bad as yours, though. Anyway, thanks for sharing your story with me.  I don’t feel so alone with my food allergies, now.  :~) kili — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – 11/20/07: Today’s question is being brought to you by our very own mystery poster :) Homemade stuffing or Stovetop? Homemade!  I’ve already made my cornbread for my stuffing for tomorrow.  I need to cook up the celery & onions, add sage and poultry seasoning and I’m there.  Stovetop is WAY too salty for me. (And it tastes like chemicals.) kili Homemade for me too. Stovetop tastes like I imagine a salt-lick would taste like.  Since reducing the salt in my diet, most processed food tastes like it has far too much salt in it. —

Yep, I agree.  Those canned soups are the worst, don’t you think? kili — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – 11/20/07: Today’s question is being brought to you by our very own mystery poster :) Homemade stuffing or Stovetop? I’d love to have either but I’d be sick for days.  Maybe someday I’ll have come far enough to make stuffing that is wheat and gluten free. Not the year, I’m too tired. Tony I didn’t know you had a gluten intolerance, Tony.  I would hate that.  How do you deal with it?  What do you eat?

I got carried away and wrote a short novel but didn’t know what to cut so here it is unedited. Potatoes and rice are my 2 staple foods.  I go through times of eating a lot of fruit also.  I’ll sometimes get a double cheeseburger (plain) at McDonald’s and eat the burgers and toss the bun.  I like Chefs Salads or salad with grilled chicken, no crutons of course. Last winter I was new to this and to satisfy my intense carbohydrate cravings I started making banana bread using rice flour.  Now I eat rice flour crepes almost every morning.  Sometimes I play with the recipe a bit and add natural Demerara sugar and eat them plain.  Sometimes with real maple syrup or fruit jelly/jam.  Not that it’s connected, but I’ve really learned to hate the taste of plain white sugar.  It has no taste, it’s just sweet.  It’s processed to purify it and that takes out all the natural flavors like molasses and other good stuff. The worst part is that the more I avoid wheat, the more sensitive I get to it.  My sister made some really good stir fry type stuff with rice noodles and I ate it for days.  I felt myself getting sicker and sicker not knowing what the problem was.  Turned out to be the soy and teriyaki sauces.  They have wheat.  :-(  I’ll have to order some special wheat free soy sauce if I want to eat that again. It’s amazing how many american foods contain wheat.  And so many people don’t understand it.  At work someone got some KFC chicken that wasn’t breaded and said I could eat it.  I said no I can’t because it’s batter dipped and she wouldn’t believe me that there is flour in it.  I don’t know if KFC sells plain chicken?  I didn’t have pasta in years and then I finally found rice pasta.  It’s not bad at all if I buy the right kind, and with me the sauce is the most important part anyway. Eating wheat/gluten will give me the symptoms of the flu with a migraine headache.  Every part of my body hurt.  Most of my life I thought I got the flu 12 or more times a year.  Then when sick I’d eat a comfort food like saltine crackers and didn’t realize I was making myself worse with more wheat.  I’ll never know how many times someone would tease me saying that I’m a big baby when I get a cold.  Hell, I felt like dieing.   At times it hurt like hell just to touch my hair trying to wash it. To top it off, if I don’t want to feel ill I must avoid preservatives and without a doubt I can’t eat MSG.  In general I have many chemical sensitivities and lot’s of mens and womans perfume will give me an instant migraine. Tony — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

11/20/07: Today’s question is being brought to you by our very own mystery poster :) Homemade stuffing or Stovetop? Homemade!  I’ve already made my cornbread for my stuffing for tomorrow.  I need to cook up the celery & onions, add sage and poultry seasoning and I’m there.  Stovetop is WAY too salty for me.  (And it tastes like chemicals.) kili

Homemade for me too. Stovetop tastes like I imagine a salt-lick would taste like.  Since reducing the salt in my diet, most processed food tastes like it has far too much salt in it. — Ron P Member of the ignored generation — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

11/20/07: Today’s question is being brought to you by our very own mystery poster :) Homemade stuffing or Stovetop? I’d love to have either but I’d be sick for days.  Maybe someday I’ll have come far enough to make stuffing that is wheat and gluten free. Not the year, I’m too tired. Tony

I didn’t know you had a gluten intolerance, Tony.  I would hate that.  How do you deal with it?  What do you eat? kili — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

11/20/07: Today’s question is being brought to you by our very own mystery poster :) Homemade stuffing or Stovetop?

Homemade!  I’ve already made my cornbread for my stuffing for tomorrow.  I need to cook up the celery & onions, add sage and poultry seasoning and I’m there.  Stovetop is WAY too salty for me.  (And it tastes like chemicals.) kili — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

11/20/07: Today’s question is being brought to you by our very own mystery poster :)   Homemade stuffing or Stovetop?

I’d love to have either but I’d be sick for days.  Maybe someday I’ll have come far enough to make stuffing that is wheat and gluten free. Not the year, I’m too tired. Tony — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

ONLY homemade smiles, Elise

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – 11/20/07: Today’s question is being brought to you by our very own mystery poster :) Homemade stuffing or Stovetop? Jackie ~*~You think you know who you are. You have no idea~*~   ~~ Crash (2004) — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

– The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

Got to be homemade stuffing. Di

11/20/07: Today’s question is being brought to you by our very own mystery poster :) Homemade stuffing or Stovetop? Jackie

– The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

11/20/07: Today’s question is being brought to you by our very own mystery poster :) Homemade stuffing or Stovetop? Jackie

 Whatever the cook is making!  If I made it- I’d burn it into charcoal anyhow.  I’m the worst cook on earth.             Rob — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

11/20/07: Today’s question is being brought to you by our very own mystery poster :)   Homemade stuffing or Stovetop? Jackie ~*~You think you know who you are. You have no idea~*~    ~~ Crash (2004) — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

Categories: Food Allergies

Question:

Some figures show that SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors), the best selling and most often used forms on antidepressant works for 6 people out of 20, their efficacy is comparable to a behavioural psicotherapy or to just simply let time pass.

I must be one of those 6 out of 20. My depression strongly centers around my menstrual cycle, with the two days prior to the cycle and the three days after the period ends the worst of all. That’s when I figured that I was not undergoing a reactive depression, but a hormonal change for the worse. There were also two food allergies that added to the depression. A not very well know fact is that the average lasting of a non-treated depression is 6 months….

Or until menopause, which for me will be about 17 years from now.

Response:

I hear that Lithium in low dosages can be somewhat useful in treating anxiety / depression…

That is definitely one of those areas where there is no published corroborative data for that, yet the idea seems to have some strength, especially on the "fringe" part of the internet. Way back when, when they first tested lithium salts, they settled on lithium carbonate, and occasionally, lithium chloride, as the preferred prescription formula(e). Other salts were tested, including lithium orotate, but they were discarded. More on the orotate in a moment. For whatever reason(s) the scientists had at the time, they settled on lithium carbonate as the salt of lithium to prefer (the chloride to be used when the carbonate was not tolerated), and they also settled on certain blood concentrations as being the "therapeutic concentration" ranges. A lot of the detail is lost from the historical record, as these experiments were done at the dawn of the modern scientific age. I never have found the arguments for the selections made from among the salts of lithium. There is a large market for non-prescription psychoactive medication, as you well know. Lithium orotate is available at non-prescription lithium dose levels, but it also is a different salt, the orotate. I have no idea why they settled on the lithium salt of orotic acid as the formula to sell, either, except that perhaps it gave them an opportunity to provide a plausible, but false, argument that the orotate was better than the carbonate. So much better, they claim, that you can take lithium orotate at such small doses that even an amount undetectable in the blood has beneficial effect. There are many people who swear by it, though, so it is hard to simply dismiss the idea. I don’t dismiss the idea out of hand, I simply have not yet excluded it, based on evidence. I don’t have the evidence to exclude it, either, you see. I own some lithium orotate. In fact, it is the precise formula sworn to by Dr. Hans Niepper, of Germany, if that makes any difference. It was important enough, though, that they put it on the label. I’ve never found any trace of the guy, except when related to lithium orotate, so I don’t know if I should be impressed, or not. Unfortunately, I haven’t had a period of relative calm in my life for some years now, and I have not yet been able to do the experiment, myself. Then I might have been able to provide you with personal anecdote, to back up weak science. <wink Are there any issues with a doc prescribing even a low dose? For instance, do you need lithium blood levels etc checked? Is it addictive / controlled drug?

You must always have your bloodwork done. Some people’s kidneys are not genetically programmed to manage high concentrations of lithium ions properly. The dose people take varies considerably, but each individual achieves a similar blood concentration, one controlled by both intake *and* excretion. You can’t assume anything about the excretion part. The narrow therapeutic index demands that all patients be thoroughly managed during the dose titration period. Just so you know, people on lithium must "standardize", to their best possible ability, all of the variables which affect blood ion density, the electrolytes. Water intake, exercise level, sun exposure, etc. You can achieve near-toxic lithium concentrations merely by becoming dehydrated. It’s a commitment. Some people don’t bother so much with those details, but my scientific background in toxicology strongly suggests that it is better to make the effort. It is not addictive, and the concentration of lithium salt tablets that you can purchase over the counter is restricted by law. Very low doses, per tablet. Certainly, there is nothing stopping somebody from taking thirty tablets, instead of three. I don’t recommend it, though. You’d then have to deal with the toxicology of orotate, as well as that of lithium ions. Is your average GP likely to give this out?

Sub-clinical levels of prescription-formulated lithium? No. It is quite "outside the box" of standard medical practise. That said, doctors are people, and if you can provide convincing arguments, who knows? Lar

Response:

I hear that Lithium in low dosages can be somewhat useful in treating anxiety / depression… Are there any issues with a doc prescribing even a low dose? For instance, do you need lithium blood levels etc checked? Is it addictive / controlled drug? Is your average GP likely to give this out?

Response:

Hi, I do not know if your GP is likely to give you Lithiium or not. They usually pay a close attetion to your liver functioning via some analysis. My question is: have you just decided to take lithium and are you simply searching for a doc to prescribe it? That is not what I call a good choice. Think about it twice. For serious info about lithium look here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium Personally, I refused to take it when my pschiatrist would prescribe it to me. I know people on lithium and they surely don’t look OK. Anyway you might have some condition susceptible to be treated with it, but that’s for your doctor and not you to decide (if it is so). Personally, as well, I will not get obssesed into the chemical way of ’salvation’ from mild to moderate anxiety or depresseion (which are always concurrent). After all, if the chem arsenal to treat these so called ‘illness’ is so broad, wide and varied, why people just won’t come off and happy after using them? The answer is that they are just aids, and they are not fit for everyone. Some figures show that SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors), the best selling and most often used forms on antidepressant works for 6 people out of 20, their efficacy is comparable to a behavioural psicotherapy or to just simply let time pass. A not very well know fact is that the average lasting of a non-treated depression is 6 months, while once started, you usually have to be on antidep for a year, plus withdrawing if neccessary (assuming that they hit the target in their first prescription attempt). There is as well some recent buzz, wich I have no authority to confer it any truth, about SSRI not really acting as pharmacological companies market. Conclussion, if you already are on some chems, give them a time, unless they are giving you much more pain than rellief. Anyway, do not stop them aburptously. Take it from me, I did it several times and it only makes things worsen. Be patient and cope with your symptoms the nest way you can. Consult a second oppinion if you’re not happy with your doc, but finally stick to one, even if yoou doubt from the treatment with the passing of time. That is always better than test everything available in the market and end up spaced out. If you are not on chems yet, GOOD. Try to go from mild remedies you can get up from the counter (St. John’s Wort, SAM-e, valerian root, etc.) to  prescribed chemicals (the mildest ones, whenever possible) if the others don’t work for you.

Response:

Hi, I do not know if your GP is likely to give you Lithiium or not. They usually pay a close attetion to your liver functioning via some analysis. My question is: have you just decided to take lithium and are you simply searching for a doc to prescribe it? That is not what I call a good choice. Think about it twice. For serious info about lithium look here; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithium

Lithium=potential kidney problems Depakote= potential Liver problems

Response:

I hear that Lithium in low dosages can be somewhat useful in treating anxiety / depression… Are there any issues with a doc prescribing even a low dose? For instance, do you need lithium blood levels etc checked? Is it addictive / controlled drug? Is your average GP likely to give this out?

Psych drugs really should be prescribed by a psychiatrist – they know all the side effects, all the drug interactions, and which other drugs to try if the first AD doesn’t work. Are you on an Antidepressant?  Are you seeing a therapist (psychologist or social worker?  These are both things to try before Lithium. Lithium is only used after AD’s are tried, and then just in small doses (300mg or so) to help the AD work better.  Note: This does not apply to Bipolar Disorder (manic depression), where lithium can be used first if the patient is in a serious manic episode.  Lithium is still one of the best drugs for mania, but it does have worse potential side effects  – blood work has to be done to be sure your liver and kidneys can handle this drug OK. But counseling for mild depression or anxiety is really the best first approach,  If after seeing you for a while, your therapist feels medication will help too, see a MD psychiatrist. NOTE:  This recommendation is for mild/moderate depression or anxiety disorders. If you are feeling suicidal, can’t get out of bed to go to work for several days, want to hurt others physically, can’t take care of yourself – sleeping all the time or very very little —- THEN SEE A PSYCIATRIST NOW!!! You have a serious illness which can be helped.  Meds are the firstline treatment for serious depression, then once they start working talk therapy will also help. — maryjane

Response:

Categories: Food Allergies

Question:

::Generic for me so Xanax xr is out.  :-( Tranxene is another longer acting benzo that you don`t hear much about anymore. I do recall some posters from way back when that had success with it. Something you could ask your doctor about. ::That makes no sense to me?  If I’m taking the equivalent of 24 mg of ::Ativan, then why does taking just one or two additional make a world of ::difference?  Shit, if I took 24mg of Ativan a day I’d be lost in space! ::(more than I am) It doesn`t make sense but that`s how it is with meds sometimes :)  This may explain some…. ~*~A while ago people were interested in relative doses of benzodiazepines. This is a table which I find useful. It is difficult to compare them on the same scale since they _differ in their anxiolytic, sedative, and antipanic effects,_ but this table provides a rough comparison useful for managing benzodiazepine taper or withdrawal. Thus, oxazepam 15 mg is roughly similar to diazepam 5 mg.~*~ http://www.dr-bob.org/tips/bzd.html Jackie ~*~….

Categories: Food Allergy

Question:

<gently snipped ::Ouch, I hurt from head to toe.  Where is the magic cure?  Hurry, the ::migraine is coming. Dear Tono, Sorry you feel so bad! There will be other sunny days for you to go out and play and frolic with the wild boars :) Today, you take care of "you"! Feel better soon! (((((Tono))))) Jackie ~*~It was not . . . that she was unaware of the frayed and ragged edges of life. She would merely iron them out with a firm hand and neatly hem them down~*~ — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Along with the wheat allergy is corn also.  The store was all out of plain rice cakes and I got a bag of the caramel corn flavor.  I knew I shouldn’t because once I start, I can’t stop eating them, I loose all control.  Also it has CORN as it’s second ingredient.  I ate half the bag Sunday night and the other half last night.  No wonder I was in a brain fog for the interview.  Now the pain has come and I feel like sleeping all day until it’s gone.  It’s beautiful outside (from inside the window) but too bright.  The temp is going over 50F.  I want to be outside, but I also want to crawl in a hole and die (not literally). It’s too cold to go out in this condition.  Why would I eat something that I know will hurt me? Oh, now I remember why, it’s typical alcoholic behavior. Ouch, I hurt from head to toe.  Where is the magic cure?  Hurry, the migraine is coming. Tono —

Ouch–sorry Tono!  Don’t beat yourself up too much–I always do things I know are bad for me and regret it later (not to mention the fact that beating yourself will increase your pain :-P ). I hope you feel better soon! ((((((((((((((Tono))))))))))))))) Love, Dawn — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

Hi, Tono, I hope you are feeling better by now. smiles, Elise

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Along with the wheat allergy is corn also.  The store was all out of plain rice cakes and I got a bag of the caramel corn flavor.  I knew I shouldn’t because once I start, I can’t stop eating them, I loose all control.  Also it has CORN as it’s second ingredient.  I ate half the bag Sunday night and the other half last night.  No wonder I was in a brain fog for the interview.  Now the pain has come and I feel like sleeping all day until it’s gone.  It’s beautiful outside (from inside the window) but too bright.  The temp is going over 50F.  I want to be outside, but I also want to crawl in a hole and die (not literally). It’s too cold to go out in this condition.  Why would I eat something that I know will hurt me?  Oh, now I remember why, it’s typical alcoholic behavior. Ouch, I hurt from head to toe.  Where is the magic cure?  Hurry, the migraine is coming. Tono — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

– The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Along with the wheat allergy is corn also.  The store was all out of plain rice cakes and I got a bag of the caramel corn flavor.  I knew I shouldn’t because once I start, I can’t stop eating them, I loose all control.  Also it has CORN as it’s second ingredient.  I ate half the bag Sunday night and the other half last night.  No wonder I was in a brain fog for the interview.  Now the pain has come and I feel like sleeping all day until it’s gone.  It’s beautiful outside (from inside the window) but too bright.  The temp is going over 50F.  I want to be outside, but I also want to crawl in a hole and die (not literally). It’s too cold to go out in this condition.  Why would I eat something that I know will hurt me?  Oh, now I remember why, it’s typical alcoholic behavior. Ouch, I hurt from head to toe.  Where is the magic cure?  Hurry, the migraine is coming. Tono

Sorry about this happening to you, Tono. Sometimes we’re our own worst enemies. You don’t have to be an alcoholic for that. I think we all do it occasionally. I know I do. Philip — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

Hope you’re feeling better Tony. I’ve never heard of caramel corn flavored rice cakes before. They must taste pretty good. They must be pretty low-cal too right? — Doug

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Along with the wheat allergy is corn also.  The store was all out of plain rice cakes and I got a bag of the caramel corn flavor.  I knew I shouldn’t because once I start, I can’t stop eating them, I loose all control.  Also it has CORN as it’s second ingredient.  I ate half the bag Sunday night and the other half last night.  No wonder I was in a brain fog for the interview.  Now the pain has come and I feel like sleeping all day until it’s gone.  It’s beautiful outside (from inside the window) but too bright.  The temp is going over 50F.  I want to be outside, but I also want to crawl in a hole and die (not literally). It’s too cold to go out in this condition.  Why would I eat something that I know will hurt me? Oh, now I remember why, it’s typical alcoholic behavior. Ouch, I hurt from head to toe.  Where is the magic cure?  Hurry, the migraine is coming. Tono — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

– The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

<FWAAAAAAP There ya go, bro Tono! Your sis just gave you the old fwap in the head! Doncha do it ever again, OK? Love, Sis Gigz p.s.  I’m tellin’ ma!

LOL, thanks… I think? I’m going cross eyed while typing so I’m going to bed.  Thanks everyone, I am feeling better today except for  my back and neck, but that isn’t from the corn cakes.  I got outside, oh, I also had my first appointment with a therapist.  That was so-so. Tono — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Along with the wheat allergy is corn also.  The store was all out of plain rice cakes and I got a bag of the caramel corn flavor.  I knew I shouldn’t because once I start, I can’t stop eating them, I loose all control.  Also it has CORN as it’s second ingredient.  I ate half the bag Sunday night and the other half last night.  No wonder I was in a brain fog for the interview.  Now the pain has come and I feel like sleeping all day until it’s gone.  It’s beautiful outside (from inside the window) but too bright.  The temp is going over 50F.  I want to be outside, but I also want to crawl in a hole and die (not literally). It’s too cold to go out in this condition.  Why would I eat something that I know will hurt me?  Oh, now I remember why, it’s typical alcoholic behavior. Ouch, I hurt from head to toe.  Where is the magic cure?  Hurry, the migraine is coming. Tono

Whew!  I have only one food allergy and it is VERY severe. Brazil nuts.  I can die if I come in contact with those.  It’s a serious condition. The good news about that is.. I LOVE nuts.. but I HATE Brazil nuts.  No problem with me going out and buying a bag of them.  I wouldn’t take a free bag of them if I weren’t allergic! I hate em.  I always thought that was convienient of me, to have an allergy to a food I can’t stand, and I’ve wondered what I would do ..if I was allergic to say, avacados.  I bet I’d eat em anyway. Bet I would. And yeah. Sounds like alcoholic behavior to me, too.  You might discuss this in a meeting, or with some AA people.  I never could understand why the medical community would lump addiction in with mental illness — that is, until I got sober, and I saw why. Now if I could just quit smoking. Well, I’m not doing THAT until I at least move. Sally — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

Along with the wheat allergy is corn also.  The store was all out of plain rice cakes and I got a bag of the caramel corn flavor.  I knew I shouldn’t because once I start, I can’t stop eating them, I loose all control.  Also it has CORN as it’s second ingredient.  I ate half the bag Sunday night and the other half last night.  No wonder I was in a brain fog for the interview.  Now the pain has come and I feel like sleeping all day until it’s gone.  It’s beautiful outside (from inside the window) but too bright.  The temp is going over 50F.  I want to be outside, but I also want to crawl in a hole and die (not literally). It’s too cold to go out in this condition.  Why would I eat something that I know will hurt me?  Oh, now I remember why, it’s typical alcoholic behavior. Ouch, I hurt from head to toe.  Where is the magic cure?  Hurry, the migraine is coming. Tono — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

{{{{{{{Tono}}}}}}}  We all do it on occasion.  I get migraines from chocolate, but do I stop eating it?  NOOOOO!  :-)  Hope you feel better soon.  Now you know why you had brain fog during the interview.  Don’t DO that again.  :-) Di

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Along with the wheat allergy is corn also.  The store was all out of plain rice cakes and I got a bag of the caramel corn flavor.  I knew I shouldn’t because once I start, I can’t stop eating them, I loose all control.  Also it has CORN as it’s second ingredient.  I ate half the bag Sunday night and the other half last night.  No wonder I was in a brain fog for the interview.  Now the pain has come and I feel like sleeping all day until it’s gone.  It’s beautiful outside (from inside the window) but too bright.  The temp is going over 50F.  I want to be outside, but I also want to crawl in a hole and die (not literally). It’s too cold to go out in this condition.  Why would I eat something that I know will hurt me?  Oh, now I remember why, it’s typical alcoholic behavior. Ouch, I hurt from head to toe.  Where is the magic cure?  Hurry, the migraine is coming. Tono

– The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

Categories: Common Food Allergies

Question:

I know a lot of posters here suffer from depression as well as an anxiety disorder. I found this article very interesting. Food Allergies and Depression from Ron Hoggan M.A. & James Braly M.D. How Modern Eating Habits May Contribute to Depression The causes of depression may vary as much as our individuality, yet we often fail to consider our eating habits as possible culprits. With each passing year’s increased understanding of the biological complexities of the human animal, more data suggesting dietary factors are unveiled. The use of drugs such as SSRIs (selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors) and herbal extracts such as St. John’s Wort (1, 2, 3) and 5-hydroxytryptophan (4) to manipulate quantities of serotonin at the synapses within the brain has demonstrated that available serotonin beyond the blood brain barrier (BBB) is an important factor in alleviating depression for many people. The brand name of one such drug, Prozac, has become a household word in our North American culture. Protein, if consumed in excessive quantity, suppresses CNS serotonin levels. Carbohydrate intake, as well as alcohol and cocaine abuse increase levels initially, but if use is chronic, such use dramatically lowers CNS serotonin, resulting in depression, carbohydrate cravings, sleep disturbances, and proneness to argumentativeness, irritability. Violence can also be used to manipulate serotonin levels. Additionally, the morphine-like substances derived from the incomplete digests of dairy and cereal grain proteins are other dietary factors which may alter mood by depressing CNS serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine levels (5). The reduced number of platelet receptors for serotonin found in patients with celiac disease, which is also caused, at least in part, by dietary factors, again points to food as a factor in some cases of depression. Such a propensity for depression, as is now seen in our modern world, seems to run counter to the process of natural selection. It is of more than passing interest that many of the foods which seem to be implicated in depression are also foods which Humanity has had only a relatively short time, on the evolutionary calendar, to adapt to (6). And we have been consuming more and more of these new foods during this century. Regardless of the causes of the high frequency of depression in our contemporary world, we now have fairly effective drugs to treat this condition. One such group of drugs, SSRIs, act to reduce the rate of re-uptake of serotonin at the synapses, working to conserve serotonin and increase its synaptic concentration for longer periods of time. Serotonin is an important neurotransmitter which is needed for sleep onset, mood regulation, carbohydrate craving and consumption, and a host of other functions (7). But there are other means to manipulate its presence in the brain. If we have recently digested protein, resulting in an increased level of large neutral amino acids (LNAA) in the blood stream, and we subsequently eat enough carbohydrate to induce a significant rise of circulating insulin, most of these amino acids will be transported across cell walls, for storage or energy. Due to tryptophan’s resistance to insulin, this will result in an increase of circulating tryptophan. Since LNAAs compete for transport across the BBB, and since its competitors have been reduced, the relative increase in tryptophan leads to increased quantities of tryptophan being moved into the brain. Since the BBB is the primary limiting factor in conversion of tryptophan to serotonin, this results in increased levels of serotonin within the brain (8). Since such manipulations of serotonin are difficult to regulate, and unlikely to have long-lasting effects (although some of the mystery of obesity may be revealed in this dynamic) a much more important dietary factor in depression may be the morphine-like substances which derive from the incomplete digests of proteins in cereal grains and dairy products. These were first reported by Christine Zioudrou et al. who dubbed such peptides "exorphins" (9). Further elucidation of this issue has been provided through the extensive work of Fukudome and Yoshikawa, published over the last decade (10,11) who have identified and characterized five distinct exorphins in the pepsin digests of gluten. Eight distinct exorphins have also been identified in the pepsin digests of milk (12). This work has given us a clearer sense of the morphine-like psychoactive nature of the peptides which result from the incomplete digests of these dietary proteins, as well as offering a possible explanation for some of the reported psychiatric reactions to these proteins (13,14,15) including the sense of "brain fog" that often accompanies immune reactions to these foods. http://depression.about.com/cs/diet/a/foodallergies.htm The field of serology has also provided us with some very clear evidence that such peptides, and the proteins from which they derive, can be absorbed through the intestinal mucosa, and into the circulation of a significant minority of apparently healthy members of the general population (16). Investigations of abnormal electrical activity in more than two thirds of untreated children with celiac disease has indicated that most of them normalize following dietary restriction (17, 18). These findings suggest that caseomorphin and gluten-derived exorphins are at the root of such abnormal electrical activity in the brain. Since such substances act as depressants, slowing neurotransmission, it should not be surprising if the intestinal permeability, and digestive enzyme deficiencies found in celiac disease were also found in many folks suffering depression. Please don’t misunderstand us. We do not mean to suggest that all, or even most people suffering from depression have celiac disease. Quite the contrary, we suspect that only a small minority will demonstrate celiac disease when tested (although screening this population for celiac disease makes good sense). It is my suspicion that many folks suffering from depression may have underlying intestinal permeability combined with digestive enzyme deficiencies. To have celiac disease, they would also need to have some degree of damage to, or lymphocyte infiltration of, their intestinal mucosa. So celiac disease would probably be found in a relatively small, but significant percentage, of those afflicted. The prior two conditions of enzyme deficiency and intestinal permeability are abundantly found when sought, and it is these features which, we suspect, dominate the segment of the population which is chronically depressed. Humans have spent millions of years being naturally selected, in part, on the basis of a diet that included vegetables, seeds, fruit, insects, and subsequently, meat. Yet, at most, we have had only 12,000 years to adapt to consumption of significant quantities of problematic cereal grains, with cultivation originating in southeastern Europe, and spreading to the northwest very slowly. The Romans spread it throughout their empire, reaching far flung parts of Europe, but places they never conquered, such as Ireland, Scotland, and Finland, have been consuming significant quantities of grains for less than 2,000 years. A Danish friend told me that prior to the end of World War II, many Danes considered wheaten bread to be a special treat, because wheat does not grow well in Denmark. North American natives have had a similarly limited exposure to gluten. Humanity has also had a relatively short time to adapt to post-infancy consumption of significant quantities of milk from other species. This dietary practice probably arose out of animal husbandry. For a more extensive discussion of this topic, go to: http://www.PaleoDiet.com and http://www.gluten-free.org/hoggan/. Our frequent difficulty with these recent foods seems congruent with the evolutionary data. Many of us simply have not had sufficient time to adapt to these recent additions to the human food supply. We would likely fare much better on foods to which our ancestors have adapted. The dramatic increase in our consumption of these recent foods during this century may have a very ominous element. Such dietary habits may well have been paving the way for Prozac. The treatment for many cases of depression should begin with serological testing, and be followed by approximately the same treatment as that in celiac disease and milk protein intolerance. Dietary exclusion of the offending proteins will often mean exclusion of gluten-containing grains and/or dairy proteins. Such a diet would, in some cases, result in a few days of withdrawal symptoms, followed by a substantial improvement in mood. While we only know of anecdotal reports of such improvements, we find the above data, in combination with these anecdotal reports, to be quite compelling. For more information on changing diet see: The Gluten-Free Page: http://www.gluten-free.org/hoggan/ The No Milk Page: http://www.NoMilk.com/ The Paleolithic Diet Page: http://www.PaleoDiet.com/ PaleoFood Recipe Collection: http://www.PaleoFood.com/ http://depression.about.com/cs/diet/a/foodallergies_2.htm Jackie ~*~Do unto others as though you were the others~*~ — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

When a person has a food allergy, the body reacts as though that particular food product is harmful. As a result, the body’s immune system (which fights infection and disease) creates antibodies to fight the food allergen, the substance in the food that triggers the allergy. The next time a person comes in contact with that food by touching or eating it or inhaling its particles, the body releases chemicals, including one called histamine, to "protect" itself. According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, up to 6% of children in the United States under age 3 have food allergies. Food allergies are less common in adults, but overall, food allergies affect nearly 4 million people. Some Common Food Allergens milk eggs peanuts tree nuts (such as walnuts and cashews) fish Signs and symptoms of a severe allergic reaction include: feeling of warmth, flushing, or tickling in the mouth red, itchy rash hives feeling of lightheadedness shortness of breath u can get more information about Food allergies by visiting this site: http://www.medical-health-care-information.com/Health-living/nutritio… — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Food Allergies and Depression from Ron Hoggan M.A. & James Braly M.D. Food allergies made me *suicidally* depressed for one month. I just stayed home and cried all day long and thought about killing myself. I didn’t know why these thoughts were coming, and I never had them before. Turned out that casein and gluten were the culprits. Within three days the suicidal thoughts left. It was a bizarre experience.

Most of my life (I’m 44 now) I assumed my body had a crappy immune system, and as a result I had the flu 10 or more times a year. I think it’s less than a year ago I tried eliminating wheat.  What a difference!  I try to stay away from other foods with gluten.  Too many corn chips will have me in bed and either to tired to get up, or too much pain to move.  Last time I had a bad reaction every part of my body hurt… BAD!  While showering it hurt like hell to touch my scalp to wash my hair.  Just the slightest touch hurt so bad?  Headaches bordering on migraine, the only thing missing is the upset stomach. Since then I’ve found that dairy products are another cause.  Too much and "it’s back".  I’m trying to cut back but it’s more difficult than the wheat.  Dammit!  I like yogurt!  And I love ice cream!  And my pineapple with cottage cheese! Now it seems too many eggs will take a toll on me. :-(  What is left to eat?  Seaweed?  Yuck! Tono — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

::Food allergies made me *suicidally* depressed for one month. I just ::stayed home and cried all day long and thought about killing myself. I ::didn’t know why these thoughts were coming, and I never had them ::before. There is a poster at group I lurk at that was recently diagnosed with quite a few food allergies. After eliminating them, she started too feel better, her blood sugar improved….. and she even lost some weight without trying. I wonder how many doctor even think about food allergies when trying to figure what is going on with their patient? I suspect not that many. I`m glad you are doing better Marie :) Jackie ~*~I got in touch with my inner child and now my imaginary friend is jealous~*~ — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

Food Allergies and Depression from Ron Hoggan M.A. & James Braly M.D.

Food allergies made me *suicidally* depressed for one month. I just stayed home and cried all day long and thought about killing myself. I didn’t know why these thoughts were coming, and I never had them before. Turned out that casein and gluten were the culprits. Within three days the suicidal thoughts left. It was a bizarre experience. These findings suggest that caseomorphin and gluten-derived exorphins are at the root of such abnormal electrical activity in the brain. Since such substances act as depressants, slowing neurotransmission, it should not be surprising if the intestinal permeability, and digestive enzyme deficiencies found in celiac disease were also found in many folks suffering depression.

Yes. How true. It is my suspicion that many folks suffering from depression may have underlying intestinal permeability combined with digestive enzyme deficiencies. To have celiac disease, they would also need to have some degree of damage to, or lymphocyte infiltration of, their intestinal mucosa. So celiac disease would probably be found in a relatively small, but significant percentage, of those afflicted. The prior two conditions of enzyme deficiency and intestinal permeability are abundantly found when sought, and it is these features which, we suspect, dominate the segment of the population which is chronically depressed.

Hence the need for food intolerance testing. The treatment for many cases of depression should begin with serological testing, and be followed by approximately the same treatment as that in celiac disease and milk protein intolerance. Dietary exclusion of the offending proteins will often mean exclusion of gluten-containing grains and/or dairy proteins.

Did that two months ago. Made a huge difference. — The charter is available at: http://readystump.algebra.com/~asapm

Response:

Categories: Common Food Allergies

Question:

On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 22:07:06 -0700, "augustwestern" <augustwest…@zerospam.com> wrote: >I do have the more common airborne allergies but I also have food allergies, >with the allergy to bread being the worst. The reaction takes only a few >minutes to manifest and is very predictable. >I remember getting popped by my father at the dinner table when I was a kid >because when I would eat bread my nose would immediately plug up – and being >a kid I would start blowing my nose at the table. My father has since >apologized. >Now I either avoid or limit my bread intake. It may also have something to >do with yeast, as certain types of bread are much worse than others in >producing the allergic reaction. Sour dough really plugs me up.

By the way have you checked for Celiac disease?   >I’m just glad I’m not really allergic to nuts or shellfish, although >shellfish will sometimes make me feel odd if my histamine levels are already >high. I usually take a benadryl before going out to eat shellfish.    AW

Interesting.  I never eat shellfish much but have never noticed a reaction. But I know that it is a common food allergy…..

Response:

Hi again, Thanks for the replies. I’ve tried to eliminate different foods without much success. Cereal and milk causes it. Bread and jam causes it. Crisps and water cause it. Fruit (alone) causes it. But in very small amounts I am ok, so after half a bag of crisps or a small banana I’m ok. But a full bag of crisps or a larger helping of fruit and it comes back. I can’t say I’ve ever noticed it with just a glass of water. Also the time of day affecting it puzzles me, cereal and milk in the morning will cause it much more severely than cereal and milk in the evening. I wondered if it might be a dust/bed mite allergy that I spend the day recovering from, with symptoms getting less severe throughout the day. But I’ve also tired clean sheets with allergy covers underneath and it made no difference.

Response:

On 14 Aug 2005 08:45:55 -0700, "Lumo" <duncan…@gmail.com> wrote: – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->I’ve tried to eliminate different foods without much success. >Cereal and milk causes it. >Bread and jam causes it. >Crisps and water cause it. >Fruit (alone) causes it. >But in very small amounts I am ok, so after half a bag of crisps or a >small banana I’m ok. But a full bag of crisps or a larger helping of >fruit and it comes back. >I can’t say I’ve ever noticed it with just a glass of water. >Also the time of day affecting it puzzles me, cereal and milk in the >morning will cause it much more severely than cereal and milk in the >evening. I wondered if it might be a dust/bed mite allergy that I spend >the day recovering from, with symptoms getting less severe throughout >the day.

I think so. > But I’ve also tired clean sheets with allergy covers >underneath and it made no difference.

I think that your sinuses are full of gunk from airborne allergies and it is just dumping when you eat a lot and the juices start flowing.   That is actually good that it still dumps one way or another. Eventually everything is so inflamed in there that it does not respond to short-term changes in air quality.. You can see a sinus specialist for confirmation or try irrigation…..

Response:

On 13 Aug 2005 07:08:48 -0700, "Lumo" <duncan…@gmail.com> wrote: >For many years now I’ve been getting a blocked nose together with a >runny nose after eating. >It always starts 10 minutes or so after I eat, it doesn’t seem to >matter what I eat. I’ve tried cutting out diary, wheat and so on but >it doesn’t seem to affect it at all. >The only thing that I have noticed is that the time of day affects it. >I always get it worse with breakfast in the morning, by with my evening >meal it is not nearly as bad.

You have enlarged turbinates due to allergies (in all liklihood). >I went to the doctor last month about it, he gave me an X-Ray and said >I had sinusitis.

You probably have sinusitis too, for the same reason. Unforunately, they are mutually reinforcing (swollen turbinates and sinusitsi( and  often occur together. >Hr prescribed cetirizine and Nasacort nasal spray. >With the spray to be taken morning and night. I’ve noticed very >little, if any improvement on these. >Is this sinusitis, I don’t seem to fit the description that well? And >if so is there anything else I could be taking or doing to help?

You need to try to eliminate dust and mold.

Response:

On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 13:09:57 -0700, "augustwestern" <augustwest…@zerospam.com> wrote: >Try a rotation diet to find out what is causing the stuffiness, then don’t >eat whatever causes the stuffiness. I’d start with bread or milk products >for your first 2 suspects. The offending food is probably something you eat >regularly. For me, antihistamines didn’t help much for my bread allergies >and this might be why the medicines aren’t helping your symptoms. >As a last resort, see an allergist who treats food allergies (not all >allergists treat food allergies) and then get desensitized from whatever is >causing the allergic reaction.             best,  AW

Most people here have found that allergies allergies to airborne irritants are far more common in causing sinusitsi than food allergies. I do notount that you have food allergies but I do not think that they are that common.

Response:

Try not eating bread or cereal made from wheat or wheat products. For a day or a couple of days and see if you feel a little better. shirley

Response:

For many years now I’ve been getting a blocked nose together with a runny nose after eating. It always starts 10 minutes or so after I eat, it doesn’t seem to matter what I eat. I’ve tried cutting out diary, wheat and so on but it doesn’t seem to affect it at all. The only thing that I have noticed is that the time of day affects it. I always get it worse with breakfast in the morning, by with my evening meal it is not nearly as bad. I went to the doctor last month about it, he gave me an X-Ray and said I had sinusitis. Hr prescribed cetirizine and Nasacort nasal spray. With the spray to be taken morning and night. I’ve noticed very little, if any improvement on these. Is this sinusitis, I don’t seem to fit the description that well? And if so is there anything else I could be taking or doing to help?

Response:

"Lumo" <duncan…@gmail.com> wrote in message

news:1123942128.605010.60070@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> For many years now I’ve been getting a blocked nose together with a > runny nose after eating. > It always starts 10 minutes or so after I eat, it doesn’t seem to > matter what I eat. I’ve tried cutting out diary, wheat and so on but > it doesn’t seem to affect it at all. > The only thing that I have noticed is that the time of day affects it. > I always get it worse with breakfast in the morning, by with my evening > meal it is not nearly as bad. > I went to the doctor last month about it, he gave me an X-Ray and said > I had sinusitis. Hr prescribed cetirizine and Nasacort nasal spray. > With the spray to be taken morning and night. I’ve noticed very > little, if any improvement on these. > Is this sinusitis, I don’t seem to fit the description that well? And > if so is there anything else I could be taking or doing to help?

Sounds like allergies and not sinusitis. Bread or dinner rolls eaten at mealtime immediately stops up my nose. Try a rotation diet to find out what is causing the stuffiness, then don’t eat whatever causes the stuffiness. I’d start with bread or milk products for your first 2 suspects. The offending food is probably something you eat regularly. For me, antihistamines didn’t help much for my bread allergies and this might be why the medicines aren’t helping your symptoms. As a last resort, see an allergist who treats food allergies (not all allergists treat food allergies) and then get desensitized from whatever is causing the allergic reaction.             best,  AW

Response:

"Don Brady" <dbr…@pobox.com> wrote in message

news:n8osf1dum211hr0uigdiq657bdrevb18pr@4ax.com… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> On Sat, 13 Aug 2005 13:09:57 -0700, "augustwestern" > <augustwest…@zerospam.com> wrote: > >Try a rotation diet to find out what is causing the stuffiness, then don’t > >eat whatever causes the stuffiness. I’d start with bread or milk products > >for your first 2 suspects. The offending food is probably something you eat > >regularly. For me, antihistamines didn’t help much for my bread allergies > >and this might be why the medicines aren’t helping your symptoms. > >As a last resort, see an allergist who treats food allergies (not all > >allergists treat food allergies) and then get desensitized from whatever is > >causing the allergic reaction.             best,  AW > Most people here have found that allergies allergies to airborne irritants are > far more common in causing sinusitsi than food allergies. > I do not doubt that you have food allergies but I do not think that they are that > common.

I do have the more common airborne allergies but I also have food allergies, with the allergy to bread being the worst. The reaction takes only a few minutes to manifest and is very predictable. I remember getting popped by my father at the dinner table when I was a kid because when I would eat bread my nose would immediately plug up – and being a kid I would start blowing my nose at the table. My father has since apologized. Now I either avoid or limit my bread intake. It may also have something to do with yeast, as certain types of bread are much worse than others in producing the allergic reaction. Sour dough really plugs me up. I’m just glad I’m not really allergic to nuts or shellfish, although shellfish will sometimes make me feel odd if my histamine levels are already high. I usually take a benadryl before going out to eat shellfish.    AW

Response:

>I dunno… when I eat some finfish, I get so congested I can’t breathe >through my nose.

Ok but how much overall contribution is that making to the inflammation. Is it is just transient ?    Th problem about dust and mold is that they are there all the time. I have not observed that reaction in myself.  I am not doubting that it happens to you,   >Fish has very high histamine levels, maybe some other >foods do, too.

Salmon seem to help me……

Response:

>It lasts quite a while, hours probably.  Yes, dust and mold are my >biggest issues, but if you add in the OP’s problem getting congested >whenever he eats, nothing is draining, so unless he starves, it’s there >all the time, virtually.

Oh I see what  you are saying that it occurs when he eats. I guess it depends on whether it occurs with particular foods or with all foods. If the former, then it could possibly be food allergies (alhough I wonder if a somwhat delayed reaction would not be more typical of food allergies). If the latter, then his sinuses may just be full of junk and when he eats it drains and irritates the turbinates into expanding.  That does happen to a degree with me.  In that case, he needs to get his sinuses opened up one wya or another. If it also occurs if, say, he drinks a glass of water, then the latter is more likely I think. >It doesn’t happen to me as much as it used to.  I also no longer get >giant hives on my inner arms from eating shellfish (which I also kept >eating).

I would agree that you are very clearly allergic to that since you get/got hives…….

Response:

Categories: Baby Food Allergy

Question:

take charge of your own life by,,. staying on the renal pills that you think are helping your psychotic episodes. get meds for your OCD thinking , gambing…obsessive thoughts, anxiety. don’t go to your mother for help, do this all yourself. see the renal docs and the shrinks for meds and take them.   then  once your meds are all working well, get a pt job, keep it, stay stable on meds and behave yourself. stop breaking the law, stay away from your mother, leave her shit alone, leave her house alone, pay her for breaking the window…stuff like that. basically, prove you can take care of yourself, take resposibility for your actions and then u can apply to be your own payee and they’ll give you the money. my honest opinion. good luck.

Response:

I read as much of your post as i could, i can give you a few tips, 1. Ignore the bad qualities of your mom, she aint perfect 2. Your Aunt said you can die from masturbating, well a famous writer called shakespear used the word die but in meaning an orgasm 3. Always take your medication 4. Don’t gamble 5. Be a little more open minded about the existance of God, I heard you call someone a jesus freak, well i’m not expecting you to go around preaching about jesus, just to avoid people who use the term jesus freak, trust me, you’ve learnt that from somewhere and that place aint good.

Response:

I think you cross posted. Which means I will never answer you again under those conditions. Don’t cross post.

Response:

Sounds to me like you’re screwed up. NO WAY am I reading a gian long post without paragraphs. Fuck you. Make it so I can read it. No big run on ramble. I’ve been cured a hundred times myself. Isn’t it grand? I’ve always enjoyed being cured. Happenens lot. Hang in there. Learn to use paragraphs and maybe I’ll read your next post. Blah blah blah its all there fault. Maybe so, Maybe so. Damodara

Response:

Its time to see a Dr who understands your condition. If its . Schizophrenia is a very complex illness. The best thing you can do is understand it. I wish you much luck in that goal and try not to ever hurt anyone because society may have a need to put you away for good. I know someone who has this condition and its a very complex condition ( I said that twice :LOL) sorry. I will say the following again: The best thing you can do is understand how your condition is different then other people and accept what you can and change what you can also but do it in safe way. Good luck "charles" <char…@charles.com> wrote in message

news:lMnDe.1658$fx4.1487@newssvr17.news.prodigy.com… – Hide quoted text — Show quoted text -> i am 23 years old. 8 months ago i was ‘cured’ of > ’schizophrenia’ by cured i mean i felt amazingly better. what happened was i > took some renal pills which supposedly helped my kidney rid my body (and > brain) of toxins. however my mom > didnt believe me.  she had me on different alternative treaments, since > about > november of 2003. first was the pfeiffer treatment center which was a > vitamin regimen. i dont believe i followed this very closely. anyhow in > december 2003 i became psychotic when we took a trip to las vegas around > christmas time, with my aunt, my cousin, my mom and another aunt. i wasnt > really psychotic when we went, but i felt compelled to talk to them which is > what happened. the day we were to leave i became severely psychotic, and the > whole ride home i was psychotic, and then we drove back home where i went > into the hospital. after this hospitalization i was still psychotic, but i > stayed at home. after i recovered from this psychosis she ordered food > allergy tests, and for a while i was on this strict food detoxification > diet, where one day i had to eat this and another day that for a week, then > the second week a different food, more toxic or whatever. after this started > i became severely psychotic again. her explanation afterward was that i was > cleansing my body of toxins and it was manifesting itself in psychosis. so i > had to get worse before i got better. meanwhile she still wanted me to take > vitamins. but i never saw a doctor, just stuff she read about on the > internet, like Sam-E, vitamin C, all megadoses. well in april 2004 i took > all my abilify maybe 400 mg? and actually the night i took it i think she > suspected something because she asked me "you eat something bad ?" but i > didnt really say anything and went to sleep. well the next morning i started > vomiting heavily and she took me to the hospital, didnt want to call an > ambulance i guess, where i actually became more psychotic up until the time > i left, by that time i was severely psychotic. she was still giving the > hospital vitamins and sam-e and stuff for me to take. i recall the doctor > asking me if wanted to take them and i guess i said ok. a couple days later > or the next day we are in the car to LA for i have no idea what reason. > turned out she took me to her dental convention in anaheim. so at the > convention in anaheim i am 100% crazy, my aunt was there too and basically > she held my arm the whole time to make sure i wouldnt stray and we walked > around. after the convention was over we went to this house which turned out > to be the house of an acupuncturist. i had no idea why i was there until i > was laying down with my shirt up on the massage table. the acupuncturist > which was the most painful experience i have ever experienced in my life. i > was psychotic when we first went to see him. i never cried like that since i > was a baby for sure. this went on for 60 days. probably around the 30th day > i was out of my psychosis and said i didnt want to do it anymore, but they > made me, my aunt and my mom. my aunt was receiving treament for her own > disorder as well, my mom though, wouldnt do it. the acupuncturist said he > could cure my schizophrenia, and that the vitamins were useless. anyway i > was supposed to do this for 90 days, but for some reason my mom quit this. > it seemed like this was just when i was almost becoming willing to go to him > every day. we stayed at my other aunts house this whole time. eventually i > go home and shortly afterwards we return to LA to see this other doctor, a > friend of my mom’s recommended, he takes a look at some tests and says Boron > is my problem. that i am toxic in boron, which has seeped into my brain, and > that only my kidney can get rid of the excess, so he prescribes the kidney > pills. i take these for 2 weeks and believe, it was like a cloud that had > hung over me since 10 years old had lifted. i start to notice this and i > make a mistake by telling my mom. this was a mistake because i felt i > couldnt enjoy it now. well i do feel much better still and i talk about > moving out again, but she doesnt want me to. she actually doesnt even > believe the renal pills helped me at all, attributing my improvement to the > vitamins and acupuncture, and food allergy diet. this stresses me out big > time. she takes me to see this psychiatrist, the same psychiatrist who > diagnosed me as paranoid schizophrenic in mar 2003 after i had run away from > this program, which was a probation requirement for a burglary i had > commited in jan 2002. i was on celexa at that time. i hadnt been convicted > until october 2002 when we were trying to plead not guilty by reason of > insanity and the psychs who evaluated me said i wasnt, so i called them up > and left derogatory messages, calling them ‘kikes’ they were both jewish, i > didnt really know the meanings of the words, but just used them because i > had seen someone use them on the internet the other day. well a couple > detectives get me and put me in jail for a month, so i get out to go to this > $5000 a month program for young adults. i feel they are ripping my mom off, > the money came from grandparents, who were rich. so i left, and break in to > my other aunts house, whom doesnt live there, but somehow > they find out im there, so my aunt and my mom go there and take me back to > the program. another guy, my mom’s > handyman is there, to fix stuff i broke in the house. i was planning to take > some of the things and auction them. i believe i was trying to quit the > celexa which the program "school" wouldnt let me so i left and i quit cold > turkey which probably had an effect on my brain. the handyman gives me some > money, but my mom finds out and the school takes it away. eventaully i leave > a second time, this time i go back home to my moms house, eventually i steal > her car and take a trip to phoenix arizona. some stuff happened there which > i wont mention but it is some of the most free times of my life. probelm is > i have no money or anything and i park in front of this guys house who asks > me what im doing etc, then eventually i break down and cry and he calls my > mom who flies over the next day. the guy pays for a hotel room for me. the > car is broken down and she buys another car, with money from my uncle. we > drive back to san diego. at some point in time i ask her for the lump of the > SSI money she has saved up while i’m at the program, which is like $5,000. i > try to find an apartment but because my credit is bad from not paying > student loans (mom’s choice) i can’t get one and she won’t cosign for me so > i’m stuck at her house. i buy locks on my door and i start this gambling > run, where i won $18,000, but i make a probation hearing myself with regard > to the probation requirements, i tell her the date and my mom threatens to > go to the judge on that date to tell him i’ve been bad or something, i had > broken some of her mirrors earlier. so i panic and i lose all my money, and > there are some credit cards with my name on them but which are linked to her > account, and i lose $9,000 more on those. but i still have $3500 of my own > money i never used or gambled with. at this time she makes appointment this > this psychiatrist who evaluates me as paranoid schizophrenic and recommends > me to the hospital. i found out later she paid $1,000 for this. after the > hospital i go this other $5,000/mo program this time they are all chronic > mental patients. i fear that i have to be in a program to satisfy probation > so i stay there. eventually i break my pinky and my wrist after tripping on > this scooter. which have never healed to this date. upset i want to leave > and i go to the hospital to try to leave. after this she sends me to another > place, which is better but still i just cant fit in, as i dont have my > glasses, and i what i really want to do is move out on my own. i actually > sleep well the first night there but the next day she comes with this big > wooden board and installs in into my bed, because that is what my aunt > sleeps on, the acupuncture aunt, who is 61 years old. from this point i cant > sleep at this place and finally i break into my moms house and stay there. > and thats when the vitamin stuff starts. > so the psychiatrist who evaluated me in 2003 as paranoid > schizophrenic. this time he says i am ‘much much better’ i am very good, > etc. but he says i need a job to move out. but i feel like i need to move > out first, in order to get some peace of mind in order to get a job.  i > actually find this apartment > that is $595 and has everything included, perfect for someone on SSI, but i > still dont konw about payee programs and what not so i ask my mom for > approval and she says it’s terrible. another issue is the gambling. i tell > her my gambling intentions, and so this is the reason she doesnt want me to > move out. but the truth is i just want to move out, gambling is an escapism > thing the main thing is to move out. she claims i will lose my money and she > tells me shes called all her credit card companies to tell them a family > member is gambling. i dont understand how this works because the only time i > used her credit cards before to

… read more »

Response:

Caprinardo Delirio wrote: > sheesh damo.. got a bug up your butt? > :) > Kim

Damo is a puss-nutted bastard!:-( <alphacat hisses and bristles>

Response:

sheesh damo.. got a bug up your butt? :) Kim

Response:

(Caprinardo

Categories: Food Allergy Testing

Question:

        Since Little Miss came into my life last October, she has had her share of vet visits. She first had to get over her URI, and eye-gunk infection. As soon as she got well from that, the next thing I know she started have bleeding sores on her back, right between her shoulder blades.  So off to the vet we go. At first they thought it was ringworm, but the culture was clear. So then, the vet says that it is a vaccine-related problem, and he has me put on this anti-itch cream for six weeks. After six weeks of that treatment, she is still itching and scratching and itching and scratching. Luckily, by this time I’ve discovered that she prefers wearing doggie shirts to the e-collar, so the damage to her back is minimal. By the time this whole ordeal is over, she will have a much better wardrobe than I do. But, I digress         So, she’s been itching and scratching for over six weeks and the vet is now worried. He says we need to have a biopsy cause there are kitties who get vaccine associated saromas (VAS) and we need to be sure she does not have cancer. He says that if she is still itching by the time he does her spay surgery, he’ll just do the biopsy at the same time, that way it won’t traumatize her so much.         But wouldn’t you know it? By the time of her spay, she’s looking much better. There are no lumps, and she hasn’t scratched for a day or so.  That means he doesn’t do the biopsy. Of course, as soon as she gets over that surgery, she starts itching and scratching again. So, three weeks after her spay surgery, she’s back at the vets and this time, they shave her upper back and do major surgery. I stopped counting the stitches at 20. This will stop her scratching, the vet scratching.         Well, by this time and about $1000 poorer, I think I need a second opinion and I need a vet who specializes in cats. So off we go to the next vet. The surgery was necessary, they say, but she needs special kitty topical cortisone. So, we try that for a while. No such luck. She’s still itching and scratching and bleeding. So back to the vet we go. This time they say, go to a cat dermatologist. She may be allergic to something, and she needs allergy tests. By the way, they say she may have a food allergy, so here’s some food to start her on.         But then I don’t think she has a food allergy. It’s only one spot, right between her shoulder blades that she scratches until she bleeds, but we try the food for a week or so until I can get her to the vet. So this vet says that it’s probably vaccine-related. They don’t know for sure, but he’s seen lots of kitties that have this sort of thing, and he knows just what to do. He does not put her through the allergy testing, but gives us Altopica, an anti-inflammatory drug. I end up spending far less than I thought I would have to and am amazed at the conservative approach and wish that I had come to this vet first. It’s the first vet who has seemed to know what the problem was right away, at least this is a start.         The hitch.  I have to give her a pill a day for 30 days.  Luckily, if she doesn’t take it from me, I can cut it open and squeeze out the gell and put it in her food. Of course, wouldn’t you know she was a doll for the vet tech. She opened her mouth, not peep as she obediently swallowed the pill. I laughed to myself knowing that I would have no such luck. When I try the next morning, she simply sits there, closes her jaw tight as can be and simply refuses to open up. So, *sigh* every morning I cut open this little tiny pill and squeeze out this precious little medicine and then coax her into taking it.  Smart cat! She knows she’s got me and plays this little power trick every single morning. "No, I’m not going to open my mouth, or no, I don’t like that food."  *sigh* I never knew a 7 pound little cat could make me go through such contortions, just to get her to take a pill she needs.         But, this pill seems to have done the trick. I’ll know the results in a couple of weeks after I take off her shirt and see whether or not she goes after that spot. In the last two weeks, her scratching has decreased a lot and I’m hopeful for the first time since this saga began that she can become a cat again, instead of a dressed-up cat, although I have to admit she is rather striking in her red and yellow shirt, or her faux fur sweater.         She is a dear, though. If I had to spend the money to take care of her again, I would gladly do so, and the upside is that I have become an expert at cutting open little pills and squeezing out the middle. Have a great day! –JayJay, Cat Mom to the ever endearing Little Miss

Response:

Oops! The drug she’s taking is Atopica, or cyclosporine for those who know about these things.   -JayJay, nursemaid to Little Miss

Response:

Oops! The drug she’s taking is Atopica, or cyclosporine for those who know about these things. -JayJay, nursemaid to Little Miss

Thanks.  I was just going to ask that.  Now I have to find out if they make that for humans, and if my doctor will prescribe it.  I’ve had an itch in the area of my right shoulder blade for months.  The topical salve that was prescribed doesn’t do a thing for it. Joy

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Oops! The drug she’s taking is Atopica, or cyclosporine for those who know about these things. -JayJay, nursemaid to Little Miss Thanks.  I was just going to ask that.  Now I have to find out if they make that for humans, and if my doctor will prescribe it.  I’ve had an itch in the area of my right shoulder blade for months.  The topical salve that was prescribed doesn’t do a thing for it. Joy

Have you tried an ointment called elocom (mometasone furoate) for your shoulder, my doctor prescribes it for ecsema on my palms, it takes the itch out very fast

Response:

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Oops! The drug she’s taking is Atopica, or cyclosporine for those who know about these things. -JayJay, nursemaid to Little Miss Thanks.  I was just going to ask that.  Now I have to find out if they make that for humans, and if my doctor will prescribe it.  I’ve had an itch in the area of my right shoulder blade for months.  The topical salve that was prescribed doesn’t do a thing for it. Joy Have you tried an ointment called elocom (mometasone furoate) for your shoulder, my doctor prescribes it for ecsema on my palms, it takes the itch out very fast

I’ve never heard about it.  I’ll ask my doctor about it, too.  Of course I have to get Lindy’s teeth taken care of before I go to a doctor about my itching. Joy

Response:

- Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – Oops! The drug she’s taking is Atopica, or cyclosporine for those who know about these things. -JayJay, nursemaid to Little Miss Thanks.  I was just going to ask that.  Now I have to find out if they make that for humans, and if my doctor will prescribe it. I’ve had an itch in the area of my right shoulder blade for months. The topical salve that was prescribed doesn’t do a thing for it. Joy Have you tried an ointment called elocom (mometasone furoate) for your shoulder, my doctor prescribes it for ecsema on my palms, it takes the itch out very fast I’ve never heard about it.  I’ll ask my doctor about it, too.  Of course I have to get Lindy’s teeth taken care of before I go to a doctor about my itching. Joy

I’m glad you’ve got your priorities right. ;-) — Adrian (Owned by Snoopy & Bagheera) A house is not a home, without a cat.

Response:

Great story, but we need pics of this amazing kitty. Suz&Spicey

Response:

Categories: Food Allergies

Question:

A person in the alt.pets.cats newsgroup has a cat that is loosing fur. Vet suggested it might be food allergies. What are some of the premium or super-premium brands available in the UK? — Victor M. Martinez Owned and operated by the Fantastic Seven (TM)

Response:

 What are some of the premium or super-premium brands available in the UK?

Royal Canin Sensible is a good start – it’s available at Pets at Home. Also, James Wellbeloved is a good one. Some UK based pet supply websites also supply Nutro. HTH Helen M — Posted via Mailgate.ORG Server – http://www.Mailgate.ORG

Response:

Question:

I’ve heard good things about Stanford. I may try there in a few months. Thanks for everyones replies to my post. David Sacramento, CA

Response:

On 3/11/05 11:01 AM, in article 1110567684.948737.139…@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com, "Dball63" <dbal…@yahoo.com> wrote: > I’ve tried everything that I know of. Prick tests and bloodworkup for > allergies twice. Food allergies looked for as well. Nothing!

As a rule, addiction to steroid nasal sprays is rare. Some persons however continue to use it because of the relief it give them, but that’s not the same as rebound addiciton you get with Afrin.

Response:

Dball63 wrote: > I feel like I have some sort of thing living in my sinuses. Either > bacterial or fungal, that is what I feel. I’ve been to the best doctors > in my area and as well out of the area too. Do I just keep searching to > find a doctor that will correctly diagnose me? Is it not enough for my > local docs to search further when I keep coming back complaining of the > same syptoms?

No.  You wouldn’t keep arguing and cajoling your auto mechanic if he repeatedly failed to fix your car properly.  You would just take your business elsewhere, right? The magazine U.S. News & World Report does an annual list of the best hospitals in each department.  Here’s ENT: http://www.usnews.com/usnews/health/hosptl/rankings/specihqotol.htm Depending on where you live, I would try one of those. — Steven D. Litvintchouk Email:  sdlit…@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.

Response:

On 10 Mar 2005 14:46:51 -0800, "Dball63" <dbal…@yahoo.com> wrote: >I’ve been to every doctor in town. Now I’ve even been to Mayo and still >they say my sinuses look normal and there is nothing that can be done. >Yet I feel horrible. My sinuses are constantly draining crap all day or >closed up

You do not breathe through your sinuses.  You are confused about anatomy. >so I can’t breath at all and sometimes both if you can >believe that.

That means your turbinates are swollen and has nothing to do with your sinuses. An allergist can help you. >How the hell can this be normal. I feel like a sinus >monster of some sort. I just don’t understand??? How can my sinuses be >normal with all this trouble??

I would get a second opinion elsewhere.   You would be well advised to go to another place of similar high reputation to Mayo.  Otherwise you will find yourself assuming that Mayo’s would be the better opinion. Mayo is very conservative about diagnosing sinusitis  -sometimes that’s good but not always..

Response:

Have you been checked by an Allergist MD? I have those symptoms if I do not take my allergy meds to dry some of the fluid up. I’ve had days that I felt like a shower was running in my head.( head filled with water)  My eyes and nose had water running down my cheeks.   The sneezing – 10 times at a time and could not stop them. The mornings are the worst in the Spring and Summer. shirley

Response:

I’ve tried everything that I know of. Prick tests and bloodworkup for allergies twice. Food allergies looked for as well. Nothing!

Response:

On 11 Mar 2005 11:01:24 -0800, "Dball63" <dbal…@yahoo.com> wrote: >I’ve tried everything that I know of. Prick tests and bloodworkup for >allergies twice. Food allergies looked for as well. Nothing!

Try eliminating dust and mold anyway as mich as possible, Many many people are sensitive to those even if not strictly speaking allergic.

Response:

Dball63 wrote: > I’ve tried everything that I know of. Prick tests and bloodworkup for > allergies twice. Food allergies looked for as well. Nothing!

Your symptoms are so similar to mine that I keep coming back to the fact that chronic sinusitis is hard to diagnose.  There are no 100% reliable tests for it–not even CT scans. I had three ENTs swear that I didn’t have chronic sinusitis because the CT scans and nasal endoscopies showed nothing. The only real way to know for sure what is going on in your sinuses is to have the ENT push his endoscope all the way thru your sinus ducts into your sinus cavities.  And that is usually done only as part of a surgical procedure. — Steven D. Litvintchouk Email:  sdlit…@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.

Response:

I feel like I have some sort of thing living in my sinuses. Either bacterial or fungal, that is what I feel. I’ve been to the best doctors in my area and as well out of the area too. Do I just keep searching to find a doctor that will correctly diagnose me? Is it not enough for my local docs to search further when I keep coming back complaining of the same syptoms? I just understand their thinking! I keep coming back and telling them that I am miserable and they tell me I’m normal! What the hell? I know I’m not normal, my poor wife knows I’m no where near normal. She has to listen to me constantly blowing my nose, sniffing, snorting, spiting in the sink and all the stuff that goes along with it and she never complains but she also knows and sees that what is coming out of my sinuses is nowhere near normal.

Response:

On 11 Mar 2005 23:37:52 -0800, "Dball63" <dbal…@yahoo.com> wrote: >I feel like I have some sort of thing living in my sinuses.

Very unlikely in your case.  More likely you are just sensitive to irritants. So are a lot of us. Also you need to *experiment* to see if the previous hypthesis is correct.   Does your nose ever feel better and open up wide and stop draining?  E.g if you are sitting by a wide-open window in the right  weather?   Mine sure as heck does and I have vastly improved my condition by greatly inreasing air exchange with outside air. >Either >bacterial or fungal, that is what I feel. >I’ve been to the best doctors >in my area and as well out of the area too. Do I just keep searching to >find a doctor that will correctly diagnose me? Is it not enough for my >local docs to search further when I keep coming back complaining of the >same syptoms? I just understand their thinking! I keep coming back and >telling them that I am miserable and they tell me I’m normal! What the >hell? I know I’m not normal, my poor wife knows I’m no where near >normal. She has to listen to me constantly blowing my nose, sniffing, >snorting, spiting in the sink and all the stuff that goes along with it >and she never complains but she also knows and sees that what is coming >out of my sinuses is nowhere near normal.

Steroid sprays, and possibly irrigation should largely eliminate those symptoms. Also have a good *internist* check for low thyroid (try to get the actual TSH numeric value and post it here, not just a conclusion),  anemia, white blood cell morphology, and fasting B12 level.   The internist will know why you want those. Also get enough sleep.   This affects your natural corisone level cycle and will reduce inflammation significantly.

Response:

I’ve been to every doctor in town. Now I’ve even been to Mayo and still they say my sinuses look normal and there is nothing that can be done. Yet I feel horrible. My sinuses are constantly draining crap all day or closed up so I can’t breath at all and sometimes both if you can believe that. How the hell can this be normal. I feel like a sinus monster of some sort. I just don’t understand??? How can my sinuses be normal with all this trouble?? David Sacramento, CA

Response:

Dball63 wrote: > I’ve been to every doctor in town. Now I’ve even been to Mayo and still > they say my sinuses look normal and there is nothing that can be done. > Yet I feel horrible. My sinuses are constantly draining crap all day or > closed up so I can’t breath at all and sometimes both if you can > believe that. How the hell can this be normal. I feel like a sinus > monster of some sort. I just don’t understand??? How can my sinuses be > normal with all this trouble??

Listen to Mayo carefully.  They said your sinuses *looked* normal on whatever CT scan or endoscopic examination they did of you.  That doesn’t mean they *are* normal. I have had two surgeries thus far and each time my CT scan looked normal.  I had to find a surgeon who was willing to trust my symptoms and medical history over what the CT scan and other tests showed.  And when he did the surgery, he found problems in my sinuses that hadn’t shown up well on the CT scan.  That was true in BOTH of the surgeries I had thus far.  Each time, my surgeon was surprised to find things in my sinuses were worse than the CT scan had indicated. So I suggest you do the same.  Keep looking for doctors who are aware that even CT scans have about a 5% rate of false negatives and are willing to disregard the CT scan in order to help you. — Steven D. Litvintchouk Email:  sdlit…@earthlinkNOSPAM.net Remove the NOSPAM before replying to me.

Response: