RE: Carol

[Guest guest]

Hi Iris,

I think I'll wait until morning for the bubble bath (although they're

one of my favorite things!), but I will lie down and try to focus on a

good book. I'll be under the quilt from Tess, and I'll have your

thoughts to warm my heart.

Boy, you guys sure know how to cheer a girl up!

Love you lots!!!

Carol

Re: [ ] Carol

Dear Carol,

Just can't catch a break lately! I have had them hurt worse immediately

after an injection but

then feel better several days later. I am writing you a prescription for

a candlelit bubble bath

to last at least 1/2 hr. and I am sentencing you to the couch with a

good book for the rest of the

evening. I hope tommorrow is a better day! Hugs to you. Iris

--- Carol <carol@...> wrote:

> Quick question. Has anyone had a flare after receiving an injection

> like Kenalog in one of their joints? I can barely move. I read it

> takes a couple of days to take hold, but it's the rest of my joints

that

> are really bothering me. I just can't believe this. I'm really

> depressed by this tonight. It seems like one thing after another.

>

> Thanks,

>

> Carol

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Dear Carol,

I hope that you are safely in Atlanta now. It is so hard when our parents get

older and we worry

so much about them. Maybe since your Mom is captive in the hospital, they could

check out these

questions that you have. It would help to have the complete picture.

Take care of yourself and call if you get a chance. Hugs for you and your Mom,

Iris.

>

> I’m writing from Valdosta, on my way to Atlanta. My Mom was hospitalized

> last night, with pneumonia and emphysema (which she’s had from years ago,

> but with no symptoms). They have her on two IV antibiotics, but aren’t

> really sure if it’s viral or bacterial yet. She said her SED rate is 86

> (!). , a: Why would that be? From infection? Or from

> inflammation in her lungs? Or maybe she has inflammatory arthritis too?

> She can’t walk from what we have assumed is OA, but since she won’t see a

> Dr., who knows? Oh well. I’ll have more answers tomorrow.

>

> I appreciate all of your prayers and your friendship. It ***** really

> *******warmed my heart to read your emails tonight, here in this austere

> motel room at 2:30 in the morning. My Mom hasn’t been sick since I was 13

> years old (same thing, actually) and I’m pretty scared. I can’t imagine my

> life without her.

>

> seems to be OK (false alarm), but Stan had a fever when I left for

> Atlanta. Geez! It must be my family’s turn right now.

>

> Anyway, I’ll be on digest for the next few days. Deb, I’ve tried to call

> you a couple of times but you were either sleeping or the line was busy. I’

> ll keep trying. Iris, I’ll try to give you a call tomorrow afternoon and

> let you know what’s going on. Thanks for your concern everyone!!!

>

> Love to all,

> Carol

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

glad to hear you are finally home, don't overdo on your housework. it doesn't

have to be done all at once!!! i know, easier said than done. i am not

sitting too good, so i am now just taking a break from the dishes and

countertops and doing the garbage from the fridge and newspapers. so i sat

down, but think i'm ready for the ice pak again. kathy in il

[Guest guest]

Hi Kathy,

It's funny, it didn't take nearly as long as it looked like it would. I

didn't wash the floors yet, just swept them. But most of the mess was

the counter tops and piles of stuff to be put away. It's starting to

look like HOME again, LOL.

I hope your itching problem resolves soon, and that you heal from the

biopsy. That can't be fun!

Love and hugs,

Carol

Re: [ ] carol

glad to hear you are finally home, don't overdo on your housework. it

doesn't

have to be done all at once!!! i know, easier said than done. i am not

sitting too good, so i am now just taking a break from the dishes and

countertops and doing the garbage from the fridge and newspapers. so i

sat

down, but think i'm ready for the ice pak again. kathy in il

[Guest guest]

glad you are back at home and can relax a little with the housework done.

feeling a bit better, today took my friend shopping and out to lunch, did

some gardening (it was sunny and in the 40's, plus i go to the chiro

tomorrow.) kathy in il

[Guest guest]

Hi Carol,

Thank you for always being there for me. Have you ever experienced a

flare between meds? As you know I am starting Humira, while weaning

myself off prednisone. My joints feel like they are going to burst

from the pressure and I have swollen lymphnodes in my neck and a sore

throat. It reminds me of my Still's Disease to a point.

I left a message for my rhemy and may need to go in. I am pretty much

bedridden at the moment. Even my eye sockets hurt.

I really hope you are getting much needed relief from your pain Carol

and that you can keep the pain meds to a minimum. I know how strong

they can be.

I will definitely keep you in my thoughts and prayers. Take care of

yourself.

Love,

Alan

> > Hi Friends. I spoke with my Dr. this afternoon about the

continuing

> > pain, and he prescribed MS-Contin 15 mg. twice a day. It's a low

> > dosage, and I'm glad. He said I can use the Percocet or Lortabs

for

> > breakthrough pain (and said I can expect to still have some

> breakthrough

> > pain on this dosage). I'm also dropping out of the Remicade

study,

> and

> > I'm going to take 5 mg prednisone every other day for a trial

> period of

> > time. Lots of changes, but hopefully I'll have my RA under better

> > control now. It's time to live life! Oh , I'm also keeping

a

> pain

> > diary for the next month for him. Thanks for the great link.

> >

> > Thanks to everyone for your support and friendship.

> >

> > Love,

> >

> > Carol

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Carol: Have you heard from Iris? Is she OK? I was wondering as I

havent seen her post in ages........hope you are resting ...and I

really appreciated your article....lots of things to reflect

on.....hugs Kathi in OK

[Guest guest]

Thanks Carol...I am glad to hear she's OK...if you talk to

her...please tell her I am thinking about her and miss her

posts.....hope you are having a relaxing Sunday....loads of love and

hugs back to you......Kathi in OK

> Hi Kathi,

>

> I talked to her a couple of days ago and she was doing pretty well.

> She's having computer troubles, and is waiting for her son to come

and

> help her with it.

>

> Love you lots,

> Carol

>

> [ ] RE: Carol

>

> Carol: Have you heard from Iris? Is she OK? I was wondering as I

> havent seen her post in ages........hope you are resting ...and I

> really appreciated your article....lots of things to reflect

> on.....hugs Kathi in OK

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Carol,It sounds like you had the classic RA symptoms right from the

beginning. Not me, I guess that's a good sign : ) UCTD is not unfamiliar,

that's what my old rheumy dx me with a year and a half ago. The difference was

because he could make a differential dx, he gave up on me and didn't treat me

with more than low dose prednisone. The new guy is at least trying. Many

people long for a differential dx, but the only benefit is other people would

understand it better and the future would not be a mystery. But I think it's a

better prognosis to be UCTD than dx with Lupus or RA. I think there is something

to the naturalpathic route. I hope it helps you. I've been meaning to try the

oil of oregano myself. Have a happy Easter! Deb

Carol <carol@...> wrote:Hi Debbie! (I'm using Debbie rather than Deb to

distinguish between you

and Deb in FL, if that's OK...)

For the years before I was diagnosed, I had lots of swelling and redness

in the joints of my hands, as well as pain in my knees, feet, ankles and

shoulders. I thought I was getting the flu every few weeks, but now I

know I was flaring. I didn't mention my symptoms to any MD, but I did

go see a naturopath once during that time. He put me on stuff for a

weak adrenal gland, but it didn't do much good. I guess because I

waited until my symptoms were so bad I could no longer function, I got a

diagnosis right away.

I have never been very healthy, and I didn't feel comfortable going to a

doctor for what seemed to me to be vague symptoms. I didn't realize

that the redness and swelling were RA symptoms. Looking back I feel

stupid. Sometimes it felt like my hands would blow up like balloons,

they would swell so badly. Of course, now my RA is treatment resistant.

They recently did blood work on my mom and she is RF positive, and

they're getting her in with a rheumy. My brother has symptoms of RA,

too, and he's going to make an appointment with a doctor. He wanted my

opinion, and I told him he's better off going now rather than doing

permanent joint damage and making it that much harder to get the RA

under control.

I hope your UCTD is controlled soon. It must be frustrating to have

such indecision on the part of your doctors as to what is going on. I

know how exciting it was when you were told it was Lyme disease, and

that there was a cure. It must have been terribly disappointing to go

through treatment and not get better. The Remicade was somewhat like

that for me. I thought it would be my " miracle " and it was for a short

period of time. Unfortunately it didn't work for long. With this

natural regimen, I'm not getting my hopes up. You're right about the

oil of oregano. He's using it with the idea that there is

bacteria/fungus in the intestine that is causing permeability. The

permeability causes food particles to penetrate through, and then your

immune system is activated thinking that they are " invaders " . This is

only a theory, and I think traditional medicine disavows it for the most

part. The idea is to kill off the bacteria, then replace it with good

bacteria using the probiotics. This heals the lining of the intestine,

and food particles no longer pass through. I'll keep you and the group

apprised as to how well all this works (or doesn't).

Love and hugs,

Carol

Re: [ ] Newbies / Update on natural med foray

Hi Carol,thanks for the bittersweet welcome back : ) I hope your new

naturalpathic therapy works for you. I've heard of the oil of oregano

from the Lymies, it's a natural antiboitic I think. So many people

swear by that approach, I hope you are one of the people it benefits. Do

you mind my asking what symptoms you had in the 3 years or so prior to

your diagnosis? Did you see primary care Drs or rheumies during that

time? thanks,Deb

Carol <carol@...> wrote:I just wanted to take a minute to

welcome all of our new members. It

seems like there are certain times of the year when our group grows by

leaps and bounds. Although we love to have you, we're saddened by what

brings you to us.

If you haven't already noticed, this is a great group of friends. The

support and friendship I've found here is just incredible, and has

really helped me to cope and adjust to life with RA. The information

our moderators (a and ) offer is invaluable. If you ever have a

question they'll lead you to the best info on the internet. And the

articles they forward to us keep us informed of the latest research.

My name is Carol and I live in Orlando, FL. I was diagnosed with RA

about 16 months ago, but I had symptoms for about 4 years prior to that.

I tried many natural means to treat my symptoms, but didn't have much

luck. I'm using MTX and Plaquenil as my DMARDS. I tried Remicade but

it stopped working after about 3 months, and I had some difficult side

effects. Everyone responds differently, though, so don't let my

experience color your opinion.

My most recent " thing " is that I just got back yesterday from a week

with a homeopathic / naturopathic / acupuncturist. It sounds very " new

age " , but he's actually a conservative Texan in Amarillo. I'm on a

remedies to help detoxify, to help with leaky gut, and to desensitize my

immune system from bacteria and fungus. The detox and immune stuff is

homeopathic, and the leaky gut stuff is oil of oregano one day, and a

grape seed extract and grapefruit seed extract in a capsule the other.

I take probiotics with the leaky gut stuff daily. Right now I feel just

awful, but I was told to expect that in the beginning. The timing is

pretty crummy, since I just got home late last night and I wanted to try

to do something for my husband for Easter. It looks like we might end

up with Boston Market frozen turkey medallions with mashed potatoes,

LOL! I tried to make reservations at our local country club for Easter

brunch last week, but they were long booked solid. Does anyone have any

ideas where we could eat on Easter day? I know only is local to

Orlando, but maybe someone knows of a chain restaurant that would be

open. I'd appreciate any advice immensely!!!

Oh, I'm also cutting out dairy, beef and refined sugar completely from

my diet. I'm supposed to be aware of surges in insulin, as he believes

the sugar and the insulin surges increase inflammation. He also said

that excess animal protein will cause inflammation, but not to avoid

animal protein completely (just beef). At least I'll lose that 20 lbs

I've been trying to get rid of!

Well, my love to all and wishes for a Happy Easter! (Or a Happy

Passover to anyone who celebrates it.)

Love and hugs,

Carol

Carol

[Guest guest]

http://www.chemicalbalance.com/index002.htm

Here is the home page for the digestive stuff... there is a whole page on B12. ;-) Turns our our gut MAKES it.

I didn't know that. :-)

SCD is the Specific Carbohydrate Diet. Put simply, what you can't digest does your body harm and feeds gut bugs. So you need to eat only what is easily digested so nothing is left for the gut bugs thereby starving them out and that slowly causes the gut to start healing again.

You can read about it here : http://www.breakingtheviciouscycle.info/beginners_guide/beginners.htm

You can do this diet with out the book. Everything you need to do is on the web page and once you get on a support list, you are home free. The book is worth having and it's how Elaine is able to continue working on the diet. There are no "SCD" legal foods to buy. We ALL wish there was LOL It's all fresh, whole foods.

The only glitch to this diet is that you HAVE to follow it EXACTLY. It's not easy at first, but once you get the hang of it and remove all illegals- supplements are LOADED with additives that feed gut bugs btw-it a real easy diet to follow and you will find you need to most of those supplements anymore. ;-)

Here are some more SCD sites :

http://www.healingcrow.com/scdwisdom/scdwisdom.html

http://www.scdrecipe.com/recipes.html

http://www.scdiet.org/2recipes/indexa.html

http://www.pecanbread.com

Carol in IL doihavtasay@...Mom to 7 blessings including , 3 with DS and Grandma to Micah and Jonah.

" My problem isn't how I look, is how you see me." "Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain." Psalm 127

-----Original Message-----From: Rica [mailto:Bollin772000@...] Sent: Saturday, September 18, 2004 2:18 PMhealth Subject: Carolwhat diet is the SCD?Rica