<<Disclaimer: Verify this information before applying it to your situation.>>

Thanks for all the responses.  Please email me with any comments or
additional information.  I think this is an interesting topic.  I won't
harrangue my mother about her cracking too much today, considering it is
Mother's Day.  My best to all of you--

Saskia

You wrote:

>Could my bone cracking (when I walk I go snap crackle POP!) be something
>else, more serious?

Mine is apparently related to the status of my cartilege -- official
diagnosis after MRI of knee is chondromalacia patella (the common term
is runners knee, although I have not done any running or other sports to
account for it).  This is a softening or breaking up of the cartilege so
that there are rough spots and bone, rubbing against bone when I walk,
accounting for the noise in my knees (but I also have it more strongly
in my hips and my shoulders).

I am taking chondroitan sulfate and glucosomine plus sharks cartilege
and extra calcium in an attempt to use over-the-counter remedies to try
and improve it.

I have an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon on May 18th, but since
I am only 55, I am very reluctant to go the surgery route.  If you want,
I will send you an update after I see him.  I am hoping, but not
optimistic, that he will be a doctor who will look to root causes
instead of just a "quick fix" surgery man.  I would really like to know
of all these joint deterioriation problems may be related to the celiac
and the malabsorption problems.

>It generally abates a bit after eating, and is pronounced in the
>morning and when I'm really tired--deficiencies perhaps?

Mine is also more pronounced in the morning but does not seem to abate
at all after eating.  When I am really over-tired, it also seems to be
louder.  The family joke around here is that Dottie can no longer sneak
up on anybody, as when I walk it sounds like I always bring my own
"marching band" composed of only a drum corps.

>Is it nutritionally sound to just eat vegetables (yuck, what to do for
>breakfast?!!

Is it just soy you can't have in the bean family?  If I could not have a
soy-based TVP product for breakfast, I think I would go for some
chickpeas. *my note* chickpeas are not recommended by the Krimmel Program,
and i have found they effect me adversely*

They do have some carbs, but since their protein is also high, the ratio
is not too tough for me as I try to watch the carb-sugar consumption
because of history of gestational diabetes and a strong family history
of regular diabetes.
?????????????!!!!!!!!!@@@@@@@@$$$$$$$$$
In response to my feeling that meat was unecessary a "Type" diet follower
aptly noted:  YOU WILL DIE IF YOU DONT START EATING MEAT.I KNOW YOU HAVE TO
PYSCHE
YOURSELF UP TO EAT MEAT.IT IS YOUR LIFE.Is not eating meat your choice to
not live.You cant complain anymore,coz you havent tried the diet.You have
nothing to lose.You can try the diet for 6months to a year and if you dont
get better then you can go back to dying and not eating meat...your choice
your decision...

(* my note*) this person also recommended a juice fast, following the "type"
diet, which I don't think would help my condition, and I wouldn't recommend
it for a hypo just getting stabilized.  It is important, when considering or
recommending a diet for yourself or someone else that not everyone's needs
and bodies are the same.  I do not mind having people tell me they improved
upon eating meat, but "what is poison for one is the cure for another"  I was
shocked and offended by this persons response
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I'm not sure what you mean by "bone's cracking"  I have always experience
very noisy joint movement.  Please share any info you have on this.  Does
it cause pain?
########################
I was a vegetarian with your symptoms, then I went to
http://www.sofdesign.com/neander
Ray Audette, the author cured his own diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis
eating meat, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seeds. The book is so good, I took
some meat out of the freezer and ate as I read! I have never felt better in
my life eating this way. There is a link to the Paleolithic Diet Pages that
contain a lot of excellent articles about nutrition and how we should eat
for optimum health.
*************************************
I just started reading "The Zone" and eating a balance of low glycemic carbs,
protein, and fat- 3 meals a day and 2 snacks.  I've never felt better and will
remain on this program forever if possible.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
This happens to me too if I get into soy or corn.  I don't eat any grains at
all.  My diet is meat including eggs, fish, most veggies, fruit, nuts and
berries.  Very plan, no processed foods.  I would wonder if dairy my be
causing the bloating.  Low carb recipes
http://www.panix.com/~paleodiet/list/
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 have read in various places suggestions that if you restrict your diet
very much and eat always the same stuff you end up developing new allergies
as the immune system reacts to the overload of this or that
protein...therefore it is suggested that one eats a varied diet, possibly
including exotic products...I am still looking into this...
*my response* yes food rotation is highly recommended, and I always try to do
it.  But I've only been restricting my diet for a few days, and eating varied
vegetables.
=================================
Saskia, when the stiffness and pain in bones is worse in the morning, it
generally indicates arthritis. Are you sure you don't have that?

If you do, you might want to lay off all caffeine, and try the Cosamine DS
pills (they're the only glucosamine/chondroitin pill that work). And there
is a new supplement out over the counter in drugstores called SAM-e.
Psychiatrists say it's the single best option they have now for depression
(not bipolar) and it is supposed to be good for arthritis.
0000000000000000000000000000000000
You might have OSTEOPOROSIS. Ask your doctor for a BONE DENSITY SCAN. It
does not hurt. (I had one myself) It only takes 15-20 minutes. If your bone
density scan shows OSTEOPOROSIS he/she might tell you to take Calcium
Supplements,or maybe a prescription rx. I take CALCATRATE  PLUS.
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
The only information I can pass on is that I must eat every two or three
hours.  I  eat fruit and fish or Nutella and celery in combination.  I
occasionally eat a handful of nuts if I'm in the car where I also keep
Genisoy soy protein bars.... but then you don't eat soy?
   Small and constant meals.  Beans and potatoes or beans and brown rice in
small amounts.  Cabbage and rice, or salads with every conceivable kind of
green or veggie that one can eat raw.  Apples, pears, cabbages [red and
green] spinach, bok choy, swisschard and so forth with a lite and flavored
dressing seems to do it for me.
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My ankles make loud cracking sounds. I don't feel a thing, but people comment
on it. They can hear me coming down the hall at work. Is that what you mean
by bone cracking? With me, it comes and goes, and I haven't noticed any
pattern. Some years it's much more noticeable than in other years. I kind of
thought it might be related to allergies.

I also feel much better on low carbs. I once went on a diet, so many years
ago, that excluded dairy because of the quick sugar boost. Lots of raw
vegetables, some animal protein, two tablespoons of milk in my morning tea,
only certain fruits (no banana, mango, avacado), and very small amounts of
complex carbohydrates. The tea and milk were strictly forbidden, by the way.
I felt so good on that diet! For some reason, I don't stay on it. It
certainly did level out my blood sugar, though. No cravings, no exhaustion,
no fuzzy brain. Just constant preparation of raw vegetables
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