If there was one thing you could banish from your life, what would it be?

[Twisterdog]

Assuming we are only speaking of physical ailments here, I'd banish my lifelong problem with overeating. I would LOVE to just think of and react to food like a "normal" person, for once ... eat only when I'm hungry, only enough to make me not hungry, and decently healthy choices. I would LOVE to be rid of the addiction to carbs, sugars and fats that has consumed my life since I was old enough to feed myself.

[pomtzu]

Kirsten.......
rg girlca made a very good point, and I really should have thought about it too, since my ex has celiac - also known as sprue. He was diagnosed as a child and never outgrew it, tho a lot children do. There are so many gluten-free foods now, that it is much easier to prepare meals than when we were together, and I was trying to feed him. It was quite a challenge, since he couldn't have anything with wheat, rye, oats, barley, or buckwheat, or any by-products of those. I had to read labels on everything! He couldn't even have so much as a beer, and of course most other liquors too since they are made from grain. The times he decided to go off the diet, he paid dearly, and ended up in the hospital on more than one occasion!
Has your doctor ruled celiac out?

[cassiesmom]

Clutter! and stuff I have kept far too long.
Half my weight.
My tendency to over-analyze everything and miss opportunities.
My great ability to underestimate the amount of time it takes to get from point A to point B and always arrive late.

[Alysser]

-My self-consciousness about weight, I'd love to be able to pass a mirror without looking at myself from a side view. Despite the fact that I've lost weight, I'll probably always do this. Always.
-Double Shifts at work!
-Traffic

[Kirsten]

I think it's interesting that most of us would love to get rid of health problems or at least health-related things. And yet it's only logical because it's such an essential thing. I was also wondering if I wouldn't rather ban poverty, or loneliness from my life, but then again, I could probably easily change these circumstances if I was healthier. In other words, I wouldn't be poor and lonely if I wasn't ill.


Karen, rg_girlca and pomtzu: I was tested for celiac disease/sprue a while ago and the test was negative, so I assume there's no gluten intolerance. Of course this could have changed over the last years, but I hope not. The gluten-free products over here are only available in health food shops and they are expensive, and I'm really poor now, I could never affort to buy those.

I've tried to find out which kinds of food I don't tolerate, but it's difficult - and confusing. There are days I can eat almost everything without any problems (even dairy products), but on other days, the same things are causing severe troubles. It's really frustrating. I assume (and my doctor thinks the same) that my autoimmune disease has messed up my system so badly that it became unpredictable.

[pomtzu]

Well Kirsten - as my doctors tell me - I'm their "problem child".

I'm sorry, but I've run out of ideas. I certainly do hope you can get to feeling better tho. Like I'm always saying - "I'm sick and tired of feeling sick and tired"...

[Queen of Poop]

Kirsten, I too have tested negative for celiac disease. But I do have gluten intolerance. I feel a whole lot better if I avoid anything with gluten in it. Try going gluten free for a while (at least 3 days) and see if you feel better.

[cassiesmom]

Clutter! and stuff I have kept far too long.
Half my weight.
My tendency to over-analyze everything and miss opportunities.
My great ability to underestimate the amount of time it takes to get from point A to point B and always arrive late.

Work!
Bad hair days.
Junk mail
Coffee that's been in the pot too long.

[davidpizzica]

Two more illnesses I'd like to banish from my life: My atrial fibrillation and my essential tremors. The a-fib is an irregular heartbeat and the essential tremors is (I think) an offshoot of Parkinson's. I'd like to get rid of them BOTH!

[kokopup]

The Combination of Chemo/Radiation treatment for throat cancer have left me with a myriad of side effects. The one that I would banish if it was possible, would be the inability to swallow. Because of this one, It creates a whole new group of problems. I have to recieve all food (Nutren) and water by way of a feeding tube. Without the ability to swallow the speech processes of phonation, resonation, articulation are all lost so I isolate myself avoiding the strange looks when I am unable, most of te time, to be understood. Without the ability to swallow the normal mucus that is produced in the mouth/sinuses all accumulates in the back of my mouth, which adds to the speech problems. Without normal swallowing you end up with a retro effect so every thing going into the stomach refluxes to the mouth. This sets up a constant cycle of having to clear my throat/mouth, which can only be accomplished by rinsing. Swallowing thats the ONE.