Pet Peeve

Why do grown women refer to themselves as "Mommy" or "Mommies" while addressing other adults?

Wouldn't parent or mom do? Are they going to stick out their finger and tickle me under the chin while saying "kootchie koo" next????

Finally some answers

I have been going to the doctor to find out if there is a physical reason for my anxiety and tiredness, amonth all of the other symptoms and I found out I am allergic to milk. Imagine that. My thyroid is fine, no viruses. Just milk. I have literally been pouring the stuff down my throat in the form of shakes and protein drinks trying to be healthy. I copied an article from the internet, it is long, but worth the read if you have undiagnosed symptoms.

10: STIRRING UP THE HORNETS' NEST http://niazi.com/Neurons/stirring.htm

Allergies are the body's responses in fighting off the "foreign invasions" of the living bacteria, viruses and chemicals. The allergic responses range from a mild rash to choking and death.
Milk causes more allergies than any other food. The body assumes some milk proteins to be living entities, such as a bacteria, and starts fighting them off by creating antibodies, the specific chemicals that neutralizes these proteins. The same principle applies when we receive vaccination. Stomach and intestine to which milk-proteins first come in contact is our first defense line. Intestines neutralize these proteins by absorbing them into our lymph system. It is only when the exposure is extensive that these proteins escape into our body to elicit an allergic response.
An allergic response is a defensive response. Once sensitized, the antibodies to milk-proteins circulate in the blood for years waiting to attack and destroy the offending antigens. The problem arises when we drink milk repeatedly. Repeated exposure results in an extremely violent war between the antibodies and the milk-proteins. This war leaves our body innundated with chemicals which cause skin reactions, asthma, arthritis, lupus, psoriasis, multiple sclerosis, diabetes, and many other diseases.
The frequent exposure of the body to foreign proteins irritates our immune system and at times it gets so active that it starts fighting its own cells. The diseases of the immune system are, therefore, truly of their own accord. There really is no way to prevent these diseases; their treatment is only symptomatic with antihistamines or, in severe cases, with steroids.
Allergies to cow's milk are by no means recent discover-ies. Hippocrates (460 BC) recorded that milk could cause stomach upset and blood disorders. Charles Edward Stuart, the Pretender to the English throne (1745), is reputed to have had a "blood flux" due to milk.
However, significant increases in allergies to milk occurred after the marketing of cow's milk-based formulas, around the turn of the century. The use of these formulas resulted in a precipitous drop in the number of mothers nursing. For example, over a period of 25 years starting in 1945, the percentage of mothers nursing one-week-old infants reduced by half, from 65 percent to about 32 percent. And with this decrease came an increase in the incidence of allergic reaction.
The scientific reports on milk allergy began appearing at the beginning of the 20th century with the earliest American report appearing in 1916. In Europe it was only during the World War II that milk allergies were recognized.
Today, the incidence of allergies to cow's milk is one in 300 in adults to eight in 100 in infants. It is highest in infants who have not been breast-fed and lowest in those who are breast-fed the longest. Cow's milk contains over 25 different types of pro-teins, all of which can cause allergies. Beta-lactoglobulin, casein and albumin are the most allergy-causing proteins in the cow's milk. The high concentration of casein in cow's milk, twice that of human milk, is responsible for higher allergies of cow's milk. The whey proteins, three times higher in human milk, are better tolerated in human milk than cow's milk. The proteins found in human milk often have similar structure, but are less allergy causing than the proteins in the cow's milk.
Allergies to milk are not easily recognized because most people consider milk to be the ultimate health drink and the thought of it causing discomfort doesn't cross their minds. Health professionals are similarly "tuned out" to the consideration of milk as the culprit. In many instances suggestions come from parents, despite denials by physicians that the child may be allergic to milk. Dr. H. Morrow Brown, consulting physician emeritus at Derby Hospital in England, states: "..cow's milk was meant for baby cows, not baby humans, it should be no surprise that hypersensitivity can occur to the relatively enormous quantities of milk protein given to babies, and the large amounts of milk products consumed by us all."
Since human milk proteins are less allergenic, the incidence of symptoms due to allergy to cow's milk have risen as the popularity of breast-feeding declined over the past 40 years. It is only in recent years that breast-feeding has begun to gain favor again but the incidence of allergies has not declined proportionally. This is due to added chemicals to milk from our environment, which can also produce allergic reactions.
Pediatrics textbooks often avoid mentioning allergy to cow's milk and some clinicians don't believe that a condition like this even exists. On the other hand, there is a class of clinicians who immediately suspect milk as the cause whenever confronted with gastrointestinal upset, respiratory disease or even a skin rash. The reasons for such discord is the lack of an objective laboratory test method to confirm the cause of this allergy. Allergic reactions to cow's milk appear within the first three months of life and are more common in males than in females. With age this difference disappears.Symptoms of milk allergy are diversified, affecting most parts of our body, but related to the response of our body's immune system (appendix 10.1).
Allergies to milk can develop even after several years of symptom-free use of milk. Besides most common allergic reactions affecting skin or lungs, milk allergies also alter the emotional state of children. Many children with unacceptable behavior, hyperactivi-ty, moodiness, etc., are often magically cured upon terminat-ing use of milk. Few parents would believe this connection, however.
Dr. Brown describes the following incidents:
Jonathan, aged nine, was 9 lb 12 oz at birth in 1973. His mother was advised by the midwife that he was too big to breast feed, but Ostermilk formula was repeatedly vomited. Evaporated milk was not rejected, possibly because of the heat treatment, but he seldom slept and screamed frequently. The family doctor thought this was hunger, so cereal was introduced on the sixth day. All was well until the thirteenth day, when incessant screaming and banging his head on the cot began. Temper tantrums became worse to the extent that he was uncontrollable, along with constant coughing and sniffling. When aged two he also tended to wander off and get lost, the tantrums would last for hours at any time of day or night and he was very clumsy and uncoordinated. He became destructive and would inflict pain on himself by pinching his arms and legs to produce large bruises. His mother felt that he had become a"manipulating destructive monster" who made family life a nightmare and threatened to break up the marriage. To preserve her sanity she placed him with a registered child minder and went back to teaching. The next event was a cut head which required stitching at the local hospital and when he was found to be covered in bruises his mother was accused of battering him, but the paediatrician finally had to retract and apologize. At nursery and infant school he was unsocial, aggressive and had frequent episodes of "respiratory infection," finally diagnosed as being due to asthma when aged seven. His behaviour and asthma deteriorated, with rudeness, aggressiveness and often violence. He would run or jump on the spot and make silly noises for long periods, and would repeatedly throw himself down the stairs to hurt himself. His behaviour was destructive and vindictive, and he continued to pinch and even cut himself, his clothes and the furniture. He even kicked holes in his bedroom wall. A new family doctor referred him to a child psychiatrist who blamed his condition on parental mismanagement and their inability to communicate. It was suggested that he was being provoked by his sister who had been considered very good by the parents. His asthma got worse, finally causing admission to hospital followed by referral for allergy investigation. He was found to be very sensitive to the cats, which were then removed, but his behaviour became normal within a week of removing milk products from his diet. Deliberate or accidental ingestion of milk products resulted in dramatic relapses of behaviour, and the teachers began to recognize when he had been cheating and taking milk chocolate or ice cream. A boy of 12 was referred to a child psychiatrist because of seasonal misbehaviour for the past five summers when he was uncontrollable, disruptive and aggressive, and could not concentrate. In winter he behaved normally and could catch up on his studies easily. He had positive skin tests for summer moulds, and single-blind nasal provocation tests in winter could produce misbehaviour resembling that of the summer. In addition, there was an infant feeding history of severe vomiting and diarrhoea suggesting milk sensitivity. It was decided not to attempt immunotherapy against the summer moulds, but instead to stop his milk products in the summer. The result was that he had no problems at all in that summer, nor in subsequent summers, as long as he did not take milk products. In fact, mother and teachers always knew when he had been cheating because of his behaviour. This boy is now head of the class and has become a totally different personality. The probable explanation is that he had a hidden milk intolerance which caused no trouble unless the extra load of seasonal allergans tipped him over the threshold of reaction. Without milk, seasonal allergans could not push him over the threshold of reaction.
Another case of milk-allergy involving a 35-yr old woman who had a life-long history of asthma was also reported by Dr. Brown:
She never liked milk but used it frequently. After she was diagnosed as having a duodenal ulcer (intestinal ulcer), she was put on a milk-diet which made her asthma worse. Avoidance of milk products not only cured her asthma but also her ulcer.
Another interesting story from the doctor's clinical experience is that of a women whose arthritis was always worse on the morning after intercourse the night before. This connection was discovered after she noted that when her journeyman salesman husband was away she felt a lot better. Tests carried out showed that if her husband drank milk, then had intercourse, his wife's arthritis flared up. Finally, the milkman was sacked. Not only did the wife's arthritis improved, the husband recoverd from an eczema of the ear. Both of them improved their sex-life and lived happily ever after.Several studies report that eczema and asthma of breast-fed infants is alleviated if the mothers stop taking milk or eggs. In one instance these symptoms disappeared when the mother switched to soy milk from her daily stape of cow's milk.
Infants are in great danger of developing serious reactions, anaphylaxis or respiratory collapse, if exposed to foods to which they have received antibodies from their mothers through breast milk. Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is probably caused by a similar reaction.
Allergic reactions to cow's milk also appear as excessive sleeplessness in infants. Similarly, emotional disturbances in children may also realted to food allergies. Food allergies occur in about 10 percent of all children. Early feeding choices do not effect the occurrrence of allergy as much as believed earlier.
Unusual as allergies are, in 1981, a case report in 1981 mentions of a child who developed skin rash every time he contacting with milk but without any other systemic symptoms.An unusual aspect of milk allergies is that some individuals show a reaction only after consuming a large quantity of milk, others show symptoms after the first sip. In most instances, the allergic reactions are of the delayed type and this is another reason why milk allergies go unnoticed. For example, about one-third of the cases of allergy develop in the first three days, about half develop within a week and some may even take longer. It is easy to understand why parents, doctors and patients find it difficult to connect milk use with allergic reaction symptoms.
The severity of allergic reactions to milk depends on the age at which the cow's milk is first given, the mode of feeding--whether combined with mother's milk or not, the concentration and activity of allergans and their inactivation by heating or other methods. Children in whom allergies are noted at later age do not "outgrow" it as easily as in those developing it at an early age.Genetic factors also play an important role. Children of allergic mothers have sensitization developed already at birth. The hypersensitivity reactions to cow's milk are in general much more common among infants than among older children or adults because the gastrointestinal tract of infants is immature and more permeable to the absorption of antigen proteins in cow's milk. This is analogous to allergies to eggs in young infants who later tolerate them quite well.Colic is excessive crying in young infants caused by feedings, psychosocial environment or other problems in infant. Other causes include family stress, aerophagia (air swallowing) andthe ingestion of iron supplements and cow's milk. Often elimination of cow's milk from infants or mother's diet or from diet of both relieves colic quickly. Dietary proteins are probably not involved in colic pains.
A 1985 study reports that the milk of mothers of colicky children was richer in bovine beta-globulin. When the mothers stop taking cow's milk, the levels of bovine beta-globulin levels diminsh and with that disappears the colic problem.Milk allergies are of three types depending on how quickly an allergic response appears:
. Immediate response: occurs within a few minutes to a few hours and lasts for a few minutes to a few hours, with symptoms such as respiratory collapse, severe skin reactions, asthma, vomiting and diarrhea. . Medium response: occurs within four to 12 hours and lasts for a few hours to a few days with symptoms of gastroinestinal bleeding, malabsorption, loss of proteins, pulmonary disorders, and severe skin reactions. . Delayed response: occurs in 24 to 72 hours and lasts for several days. The symptoms include contact dermatitis, tension-fatigue syndrome and skin reactions.
The most predictive test for allergy to milk is an empirical one: if a child, or an adult repeatedly shows the same symptoms after drinking milk, there is no need for any further testing. Otherwise, skin or blood tests are needed. To date, no reliable and convenient test for milk allergies exist, possibly because they were not considered important enough. Nothing could be farther from the truth. Milk allergies are serious and can cause many disabilities. The secondary effects of allergies such as dehydration after intestinal irritation and diarrhea on a chronic basis, can cause severe depletion of electrolytes from the body and may lead to death. Diagnosing milk allergies is a three-step process.
Step I:
Suggestive Evidence: History of association between allergy symptoms and use of milk; family history of allergy to milk and when allergy symptoms are not caused by other obvious reasons. Many factors complicate the use of suggestive evidence in suspecting milk allergy. For example, parents do not initially suspect milk. The quantity of milk taken is also important: at times, allergy symptoms appear only when consuming a large quantity of milk; at others, minute quantitites of milk trigger these symptoms. The general perception that if a child refuses a food, he may be allergic to it is not always true; in fact, in some instances children develop an excessive appetite or craving for foods to which they may be allergic. The best way to assist your physician indiagnosing milk allergy is to maintain a "food diary" for a few weeks where you record the type of food consumed and symptoms observed every day. It will surprise you how this system "improves" your memory. History of allergy in parents and siblings is another important guidepost. It is not unusual to find many successive generations allergic to cow's milk.
Step II:
Milk elimination Test: Eliminating milk and milk products from the diet is the most convincing test. Reintroduction of milk if followed by the appearance of original symptoms confirms the diagnosis. Care is in order when "challenging" a patient with milk; the physician must make appropriate measures in the event of a strong reaction. Also, the extracts of suspected food allergans are given either sublingually or by subcutaneous injection or by simply applying to the skin to observe patient's reaction.
Step III:
Objective Tests: Laboratory tests which confirm milk allergy can be conducted. For example, eisonophils, a type of blood cells, are present in very small number in the blood. If a patient is allergic, the count rises to above 400/cu mm; discontinuing the use of milk lowers these counts. This test has drawbacks since many other diseases also change the eisonophil count. Another direct test is to measure the reacting antibodies in the blood, immunoglobulins and leukocytes. The most convincing test is a biopsy of the intestine but it is not very practical. A direct chemical link to allergy-induced symptoms is through a higher concentration of prostaglandins in the bodies of subjects allergic to milk.
Conclusive evidence of milk allergy is only provided when cross allergies to other foods are also analyzed. Milk allergy can be easily confused with many other diseases due to:
.Other allergans: Egg, chocolate, grains, fruits, meat, fish and several drugs are some of the examples of
compounds which can cause similar allergy symptoms. At times the allergic symptoms from cow's milk are caused by chemical contaminants in the milk. For example, if a cow has been eating white snakeroot, the milk from these cows often causes severe symptoms of headache, fatigue, tremor and collapse. Drugs like penicillin are also frequently found, though in trace amounts, in milk and can trigger an allergic response in those who are allergic to penicillin. Many patients who are allergic to penicillin should stay off milk to avoid precipitating penicillin and other allergies.
. Gastrointestinal disorders: resulting from over feeding and introduction of solid foods at an early age or food additives, lactose intolerance, celiac diseases cystic fibrosis, galactosemia (inability to digest galactose, derived from breakdown of lactose), sucrose intolerance, congenital chloridorrhea, ulcerative colitis, gastroenteritis, intestinal obstruction, intestinal parasites, urologic problems, abdominal epilepsy, lead poisoning, etc.
. Respiratory disorders: nonallergic rhinitis, wheezing aspiration, pulmonary hemosiderosis.
. Skin disorders: rashes, seborrheic dermatitis, ichthyosis, insect bites, etc.
It is essential to rule out these other factors in order to identify correctly a milk allergy.Mostly, infants who are breast-fed experience fewer allergies to milk at later ages. However, recent studies have disputed this observation. The consensus is that breast-feeding prevents only some specific allergic symptoms such as eczema or asthma.
In some instances breast-feeding may itself cause allergic symptoms if breast milk contains those allergans, coming from the mother's diet. The allergans in the mother's body easily cross into her milk. The eighth century Jewish Talmud teaches that mothers should avoid hops, herbs, little fishes, pumpkin, quince and green dates. Western civilization tends to accept the Talmudic view and lactating women avoid some specific foods customarily.Upon heating, the milk proteins unfold, or break down, reducing their allergenic properties. However, not all milk-proteins are sensitive to heat. Casein is most stable while immunoglobulins are most readily destroyed. Since casein makes the majority of proteins in the milk and is also highly allergenic, heating milk produces variable effects. Depending on length and degree of heating, different characterstics of milk allergies remain. It is worth noting that a small quantity of protein molecules is all that is needed to elicit an allergic response. Though heating milk destroys most lactalbumins, immunoglobulins and serum albumins, milk can still be highly allergenic since some lactoglobulins and casein, the proteins making up more than 90 percent of all proteins in milk, are still left.
In some instances heating milk increases the allergenicity of its proteins. This is because heating produces a complex between lactose and proteins, more potent than proteins in causing allergies. So while the quantity of proteins decreases upon heating milk, the remaining proteins may be more harmful.
Heated milk proteins are also more damaging to the heart and blood vessels is a theory proposed by Dr. J. C. Anand.
Heating milk also causes loss of essential nutrients and changes in its taste. Heating causes inactivation of natural enzymes such as lipase and phosphatase and loss of vitamin C and B complex up to 20 percent. Vitamins A, D, E, K, and some B vitamins are fairly heat-stable. Heated milk has less curding and decreases the load on kidneys.
Upon heating the soluble calcium in milk decreases. This is reversed by adding some acid to the milk.
Heating milk above 80oC causes caramalization or browning of milk with distinct flavor change which may not be acceptable to infants. However, some cultures consider slightly caramlized milk better tasting. For example, in the streets of Karachi, Pakistan, one finds milk-hawkers who keep simmering for hours an open wok full of milk, to which sugar and flour has been added to improve consistency and taste. Pedestrians enjoy drinking the warm liquid from clay pots around the clock. Drinking heated or boiled milk is a common practice in parts of the world where pasteurization and refrigeration are not easily available.Milk also becomes less allergenic upon exposure to ultraviolet radiation or gamma radiation but both of these techniques are much less effective and more expensive than heating.Hypoallergenic formulas, hydrolyzed (chemically or thermally broken) forms of cow's milk, reduce the sensitivity. Feeding milk of a low sensitizing nature early in an infant's life improves his chances of developing resistance to allergies at a later age. The most effective solution for milk or other food allergies is to avoid exposure to them. For those who show allergic reaction only when taking large quanti-ties, reducing consumption would suffice. Testing and eliminating various components one by one as culprits is called the elimination-diet program. This makes it possible to find out which specific ingredient in the food is causing the allergy. Many drugs such as antihistamines, epinephrine, aminophylline, etc., provide temporary relief from symptoms of allergies. Another drug of interest is cromolyn used by inhalation in asthma attacks. Severe symptoms of allergy require steroid therapy. However, all of these therapies are of limited value.Preventive measures, taking anti-allergy drugs, before exposure to milk reduce risk of a strong response. Recently, a new approach has been tried using inhibitors of prostaglandins. Prostaglandins are the chemical messengers which produce the symptoms of allergy. Many drugs and other chemicals inhibit prostaglandins and thus the symptoms of allergy. Some examples of prostaglandin inhibitors include aspirin, indomethacin and other antiarthritic drugs and fish oil rich in omega-3 fatty acids. The last category of dietary measures can be most effective as discussed in "The Omega Connection," another book by the author.Analogous to the treatment of hay fever allergies, gradual exposure to milk proteins desensitizes individuals. The procedure involves giving diluted milk in drop quantites in the beginning and then increasing the concentration and quantity of milk until substantial tolerance and immunity develops. Injections and subingual (under tongue) routes are also possible means of reducing sensitivity to milk but these are still in early experimental stages and for use under competent medical care only.More often than not, children allergic to milk are also allergic to other foods. Surprisingly, the most common food for cross allergy with milk is not eggs but oranges, to which almost 20 percent of milk-allergic infants show sensitivty. Sensitivity to soybeans is about same as oranges followed by eggs to which about 12 percent show sensitivity. Other foods to which many are sensitive are wheat, rice, barley and other cereals, tomatoes, pork, lamb, fish, nuts, etc. In most instances, with age, these aller-gies subside and it may be of help to keep challenging the patients on and off to get over this phase as quickly as possible. It is not uncommon, however, to experience allergy symptoms even two years after the last exposure to milk.
If a person is allergic to cow's milk, chances are he will also be allergic to goat's milk, which has recently been touted as the "health food." (Another problem with goat's milk is that the goat is not classified as a dairy animal so production of goat's milk is not subject to the restrictions imposed on the cow's milk and may therefore be dirtier and more contaminated with chemicals.) Stirring up the hornest's nest is what milk does best. We would well staying aways from its hidden stings.
APPENDIX 10.1
SYMPTOMS OF MILK ALLERGIESGASTROINTESTINAL SYMPTOMS:
Vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, steatorrhea, malabsorption, intestinal bleeding, protein loss, colitis, constipation, proctalgia, stomatitis, edema of lips.
RESPIRATORY SYMPTOMS:
Rhinitis, chronic cough, bronchitis, asthma, recurrent pneumonia, upper airway obstruction, otitis media, pulmonary hemosiderosis.
SKIN SYMPTOMS:
Eczema, urticaria, angiodema, seborrhic rashes, contact rash, perianal rash, purpura, dermatitis herpetiformis, alopecia.
BLOOD REACTIONS
Anemia, hypoproteinemia, thrombocytopenia, eisonophilia.
CNS REACTIONS:
Tension-fatigue syndrome: tension, anxiety, fatigue, head aches, abdominal discomfort, pale face, migraine.
URINARY REACTIONS
Enuresis, cystitis, orthostatic albuminuria, nephrotic syndrome.
CARDIOVASCULAR REACTIONS
Anaphylactic shock, coronary heart disease, cor pulmonale, cardiac arrhythmias.
MISCELLANEOUS REACTIONS
Failure to thrive, sudden infant death syndrome, infantile cortical hyperostosis, occular allergy, leukorrhea, hearing difficulty/deafness, hyperactivity, loss of appetite.

Burnout of another kind

Is it possible to have family and friends burnout as well as job burnout. I've been finding myself lately getting anxiety over my e-mails and phone calls. I can't seem to get myself to read my messages or return calls. The thought of either makes my heat beat at an astounding rate.

I guess with all the stress at work and a hectic home schedule I just want to get home and relax and enjoy myself. Take each day at a time. After all the birthday parties and holidays during the first part of the year, I just want this to be "My Time".

I'm where I want to be in my personal life (meaning outside of work) and I just want to be able to enjoy it. No trips back to the subs to visit anyone to chat about what's going on in everyone's lives. Frankly, nobody seems to have much going on since the last time I talked to them, so why do we need to update on nothing once a week??? A vacation from the real world is what I'm talking about. Just lose my number for one month and we'll have a nice visit after that.

I suppose I need to get a few phone calls out of the way and make two visits next week then I'm off the calendar for a few weeks.

Another Day, Another Dollar

The zoloft seems to have helped somewhat, but I'm beginning to think there isn't anything in the world but a frontal lobotomy to cure me of the stress I feel at work.

It's 90 degrees, sunny and breezy outside. I am sitting at my desk staring at cinderblock walls painted about 15 years ago (meaning they are dripping with 15 years of goo and dust) painted robin's egg blue. The vent above my head is blowing a fake cold breeze down my back, the fluorescent lights are beating down on my face and the drop ceiling is crumbling into my hair. If I do walk across the building to get a glimpse of outside, my view is of the barbed wire fence surrounding the parking lot with 6 inch weeds growing up through the cracks. Eight hours a day, everyday, this is my reality. Not to mention the suppliers screaming at me day in and day out.

Its hard to work, I have visions of being at home on the boat in my head. I actually have gotten away with doing almost nothing today. I can't; the minute I got in my car this morning my mind went blank. I drove to work like the car was on auto pilot.

What really makes it tough is.... if I were home right now, I would be sitting my the pool having rum runners delivered to my lounger, I would hear the seagulls and the boats going by in the background and it would be sheer heaven! How can I work under these conditions.

Most people try and tell me what a charmed life I have. Sure it may look like that to the average observer, but I know I go through 8 hours of hell a day, I have to have a place as wonderful as that to go home to!! To be honest, living on the boat is the only thing that can erase what I go through each and every day at work.