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

  My  12  steps - continued.
   
  5. Exercise                6. Meditation                        7. Keeping things in context.                    8. Regulating my expectations.
  9. Censoring my ‘self talk’                                     10. Conserve my ‘worry’ energy.

  1. Herbal remedies     2. Nutritional supplements    3. Careful diet  incl. lots of fruit & vegies    4. Chiropractic
  11. Be thankful for what I have – rather than complain about what I have not 12. Time-out + cuppa when stressed  {My mum's remedy for everything!!}

  Disclaimer: Professional ethics, legal restraints and practical reality all prohibit me from giving any professional, medical  or health advice in this forum. So I'll not do that. I am another human being with similar health - related experiences to all of you. What I write is not to be taken as a professional opinion, simply MY EXPERIENCE, what has worked for me. Where necessary you should seek your own professional or specific advice.

  <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > celiac is not an allergy or an intolerance, but an autoimmune disease
  Barry of GA wrote: '..............Gluten "intolerance" and celiac disease are two entirely different things........"

  Pls understand:  I am not disputing any of these views. NOR am i suggesting that you can entirely eradicate such conditions.
  YES, i actively avoid gluten products.  YES, I have, with time & effort, become slightly more tolerant of small amounts.

  My original hypothesis:  Can i become less intolerant - more tolerant?

  ADD chemical sensitivity:

  Late 70's I, and others, were exposed to very high, toxic concentrations of Formaldehyde {a preservative & neuro-toxin} in a lab. Three of my colleagues later developed terminal cancer. I consider myself very lucky to have reacted so "vigorously" so early. It probably saved my life. On top of the health problems i already had, now i had constant headacahes, joint pain, disturbed sleep etc. Rather similar to the affects of agent orange. 

  Now i was acutely sensitive to a vast array of chemical irritants:
  paint, new carpet, new cars & computers, printing ink, perfume, cigarrette smoke.........................................another endless list.

  I spoke to, and visited people who had moved to remote areas to avoid chemical irritants - "allergic to the 21st century". 
  They had become hermits, enslaved 24 / 7 / 52, apparently for LIFE, to the process of avoiding minute chemical exposure.

  I resolved:  Whatever I do - I'll NOT do that. 

  I embarked on the long, difficult and, often,  confusing journey to recover my health - my '12 Steps'.  
   
  I learned to meditate. I learned that my "self talk", what I thought about, what I talked about, my expectations / worry levels all affected my physical health. I learned that our nervous system and senses have "volume" controls by which we can, literally,  turn pain and other sensations UP or DOWN. I read absolutely everything i could find about mind - body control. I attended courses in stress management, meditation and yoga.

  I especially learned that: "Stress" doesn't cause anything {directly} :  but aggravates everything. 

  Check it out for yourself.The info is now readily available. Read & learn about your 'mind-body' connection. You can, powerfully influence, for better or worse, how your body copes with, responds and reacts to, your environment.

  TO FOLLOW: 4. Chiropractic     3. Careful diet   1. Herbal remedies     2. Nutritional supplements    
   
  A little more about my personal story might be of interest to some:

  I was, what we call in Oz, a 'mature - age' student. At age 30, married with 5 kids, we packed up our meagre belongings & relocated to Melbourne. Back to school for this boy. The previous 16 years I had been dairyfarming - we lost everything in floods and rural recession in the early 70's. High stress. By this time  I had learned a few fundamental facts of life:

  - The many drugs that had been prescribed for me were NOT helping me have better health
  - I would need to learn new & better stress management strategies. 
  - I had discovered that alcohol was certainly not effective!!
   
   I hadn NOT, at that point, realised:
   
  - the damage that I had sustained from chemical exposures e.g. pesticides - incl DDT and predecessors of 2,4,5,T
  - the true origins of my poor health, esp the diet connection.

  To give you a perspective on the extent of impact of the chemical exposure:
  Delay to my academic prgress:    3 YEARS.
  Legal processes involved:            5 YEARS
  Time to recover finacially:           13 YEARS

  A clinical toxicologist told me that the best I could do would be:  AVOID - FOR LIFE.

  BUT HOW? Should i abandon my studies, move back to the country.............................??  NO gaurantees.
  I spoke to, and vsited people who had moved to remote areas to avoid chemical irritanst - "allergic to the 21st century". 

  I resolved:  Whatever I do - I'll NOT do that.

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