I'm so sorry Bex. My thoughts are with you a lot of the time. I hear what you say about probiotics, but I think it is vital to take them when you are on antibiotics. The ones in yogurt aren't any great shakes when it comes to this; you would want a refrigerated culture from a health food shop. (This is the advice my naturopath gives to people when they are on antibiotics.)

Yep, I know what the food cravings are like. You and I both know how critically important a good diet is, but when biochemistry is "off," the body can start craving all kinds of things, whether they are actually good for us or not.

I got fed up with the sugar cravings lately and decided to just give in, after 2 months of a very clean diet. I rememer last winter, always feeling better when I was having sugar. I guess I was seeking the kind of unhealthy "break" that others might get from alcohol or other drugs. What I found, though, was that the sugar didn't really help me in any way, and it made a lot of things worse. My cortisol went through the roof, my gut was upset, the crashes between sugar hits were awful, I spent money on this stuff even though we're broke at the moment, and I even had spells (during the subsequent days of withdrawal) where I felt like everything is utterly hopeless and I wanted to die. Sugar is just evil.

Get this, though. I've gone several days without it and should be getting back onto an even keel. And I am -- apart from sugar cravings, how perverse is that! It's coming from my body, not my brain. My brain knows how pointless it was to eat the stuff. My body doesn't seem to care. I wish i could do something to make the cravings go away, I am sick to death of them. I've started another chelation round today after about a week's rest, and normally that would be enough for me to shut all thoughts of junk food away, but they are just such a plague right now.

I guess all we can do is just keep trying; at least we have the knowledge of what is actually healthy, and can keep striving towards that as best we can. I do hope you decide to get your thyroid tested, I'd like to think you could maybe get some help from something like Armour. As for me, I phoned my doctor's office yesterday and found that even though it's been over 5 weeks since I saw my GP, he still hasn't referred me for those mercury tests. Good lord, it's a good thing I'm not dying.

Take care Bex and let us know how you're getting on. I pray in my own way and you are there.

Linda.