Sherri

About me:

I'm very happily married and love my husband very much. He recently had a mild heart attack, which was very scary, but we were very lucky. He was put on many meds, one which gives him headaches every day - I've read that the "slow release nitroglycerin" pill gives most patients headaches for the first few weeks. It's been two weeks since he's been taking it, so hoping his headaches will ease up ASAP. We have cats that I spoil, and my husband is raises rabbits. I'm still a beginner gardener trying to grow vegetables, but we have gumbo soil, so except for a few easy-to-grow plants, I've been having better luck growing veggies in medium-large self-watering-pots. For almost five years I had pretty severe "IBS", but last year my third GI guessed I might have a food-additive intolerance. I was to eat nothing but whole foods for 1-2 weeks, then if no IBS attacks during that time, I was to "challenge" myself with a commercial food 1-2 times a week, as tolerated. Then if I had an IBS attack, I was to write down the ingredients of the offending food. Over time, I'd be able to narrow down which specific additives triggered my IBS. Carrageenan, Annatto, and Nitrates - plus something in commercial broths/bouillon. Weird about Annatto, because it's totally natural, and most people seem to tolerate it well. But carrageenan is by far the worst offender, causing me extreme inflammation and pain. The others cause me moderate pain unless there's more than one trigger. Since I started having food-additive-intolerances, I can't eat large meals without suffering a moderate IBS attack, and sometimes even just eating the same meal twice in a row will trigger a moderate IBS attack - even "safe" foods.