Hi:
I've been hanging around here reading some of the posts on this list for
years now.  I had been kind of waiting until I got properly and fully into
paleo mode before I started participating in the list, but I just couldn't
get away from that cream in my coffee, and that cheese and chocolate.(Just
to name some of my worst food problems)   I decided it's finally time I
posted something since I do have at least a couple of paleo experiences to
share and I really believe there are some very important ideas going around
here.

First, about the time I found this list around the end of 1998 I think, I
quit eating wheat and finally got rid of some irritating heath problems:  I
stopped getting what had become a fairly regular mild nauseous feeling and
diarrhoea.  As well after about a month or so, I realized that the swelling
in my ankles that I had thought was a fact of life was gone! I could even
see the blood vessels in the tops of my feet sticking up a bit. That
swelling has never been so bad since, although it comes back a bit if I eat
too many sweets or other carbohydrates.  I've also felt much better; less
foggy headedness and less of that low blood sugar feeling.  Probably I've
also been helped by the fact that by almost totally avoiding wheat, I
haven't eaten any regular cakes, cookies, donuts, pancakes, pasta, etc. etc
for over 5 years now.  I haven't been fanatical about avoiding it; I expect
I often get some in soups, sauces, gravies and many other sources that are
hard to avoid.  A true celiac diet must be very difficult.

My second experience is much more recent.  I decided to try the steak lovers
diet when it was being discussed here.  Surprisingly, I lost 10 pounds in
about 3 weeks and I'm now finally back to my pre-pregnancy weight of about 2
years ago.  I found this diet easier and more effective than a regular low
carb diet - well, I was able to stick with it.  But the really significant
thing that happened is that I had had sore aching wrists - a thing called
"de Quervains Tenosynovitis", sort of like carpel tunnel syndrome for almost
a year.  After only a few days on the "steak lovers diet" it was gone!  I
was truly amazed.  I had tried several different treatments, massage,
exercise, rest, immobilization, drugs and nothing had helped for more than a
few days.  Now, its been completely gone for about 3 weeks and I've been
doing al the activates with my hands, wrists, and arms that I had been
avoiding for so long. I suspect that finally getting dairy products out of
my diet is what did it, although I haven't been able to find anything to
support this idea except the idea that an allergy to milk proteins might
cause some inflammation and "de Quervains Tenosynovitis" seems to be caused
by inflammation.

Anyway, I'm getting closer to a paleo diet and I finally got around to
introducing myself to you wonderful people.

Jane