Susan, hope you'll forgive me for "pulling" this over from the other thread..........I wanted to comment and talk about some other things -- and in my "muddled" brain, it just made more sense to do it over here.

Yes, Annie, I'm on mucho migraine meds again, so I'm "talkative". So happy that you don't mind -- I think it drives my family BONKERS -- LOL!!

Anywho........Susan, I had forgotten, but, my sister, who tends to NOTICE more than anyone else -- mentioned about a year ago that she KNEW I was in an exacerbation LONG before anyone else. HOW?!?!? Because I coughed after every meal!! So, I think that this IS a clue. I don't do this with EVERY exacerbation -- just the ones that seem to attack my breathing and swallowing. For instance, my current exacerbation is eye-related -- coughing is pretty non-existent -- cause everything I eat or drink is room temp or lukewarm.

Oh, and something ELSE "weird" that I have -- that I've never heard anyone else mention.................is a nose "thing". One nostril, when I'm in exacerbation, ALWAYS feels stopped up -- or like something is IN it. When I am NOT in exacerbation, it feels "normal". This thing DOES sort of get on my nerves a little at night when I'm trying to go to sleep. I try HARD not to think about it, ya know???

I grow blueberries and blackberries. Organic, of COURSE!! Blueberry bushes are about 25 years old -- produce GALLONS. We freeze quite a few -- whole and unwashed. Of course everyone knows the benefits. We do the same with the blackberries. The variety I planted is Navajo thornless -- original canes are probably 20+ years old. We get HUGE berries about the size of unshelled pecans!! Delish!! I've noticed that THEY make me feel much better. Haven't tried the leaves. Wonder IF they would make tea?????

My baby sister was diagnosed this past year with -- are you ready.........Rheumatiod Arthritis, Hashitoxicosis, Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, and Graves Disease. (Talk about autoimmunes running in families!!) She also has chronic nasal staph infections (over 30 times in the past 12 years -- probably got it while she was in the hospital delivering my nephew), migraines, and asthma. Due to the staph, her treatment options, like mine, are VERY limited. They did "kill" her thyroid with a radioactive pill -- but, the antibodies remain. Anyway, we've had to figure out SOMETHING to give her relief!! I found the anti-inflammatory diet online, and she has been strictly adhering to it. It was working -- and then she had a staph outbreak a couple of weeks ago. WHAM -- antibodies GALORE. Overnight, her entire body swelled like a balloon and every joint was painful. Pain meds do nothing. I remembered something that my allergy doctor used to recommend -- Alka Selzer GOLD (not Cold). Apparently, when your body is under "stress" or having an allergy attack (or an antibody attack??), your system goes "acid". So, Alka Selzer GOLD, returns your system to "normal" Ph. Anyway, we thought it was worth a try. My BIL had to order it online -- HARD stuff to get ahold of. It is WORKING!! My sister has already started de-bloating and feels BETTER!! I'm wondering.........might work for us, too!!

Also, BEFORE my sister was diagnosed with all of her maladies, SHE had noticed that the blackberries made HER feel better, too.

Well, I'm zoning out with meds -- I sure hope this post has made sense. If it hasn't.................please forgive OR ask questions, ok????