Leigh K, a question for you. I am not asking to provoke you but it seems that you constantly post antagonist respones to every section. This is a menopause forum. Some of us, (perhaps the unlucky ones) have genetic predisposition to poor health. I was a body builder work out vegetable eating machine, at 28 huge inner ear and jaw tumor (never did drugs, smoked or anything) chemo and four surgeries later (including hysterectomy have left me very unhealth. I am now 36, 2 years ago became so ill I couldnt walk. Auto-immune sle (3 aunts have perished from this) and hypogammaglobulenemia. Therefore, gamma globulin infusions. I have been to more doctors than I could count to the infinity number (slight exageration 'joke'). I have found that doctors are practictioners and try. I will consult a pharmacist regarding meds way before a doctor. Doctors know what the particular drug is useful for but, as I am allergic to sooo much. I fall into the 1% side effect profile. Pharmacist know the composition and such. I have personally taught many phycians about new side effects and after controversy and putting the pdr in front of them they say wow. But on the whole doctors try to do what is best for their patient. I am even sometimes glad they receive free samples from drug companies because they pass those on to us less fortunate long term ill patients that have to pay for meds directly out of our pocket. Now my question to you is. Have you ever had a serious illness for which you had no control, trust me I have now been through 9 surgeries. 2 in 2 months. I have a 13 year old son and an 11 year old. There constant worry is mommy are you going to die on us. Heart wrenching. I come to this forum for advice on what has worked for other people. As far as meds go, because unlike you. Some of us has to take them to have a better quality of life. You remind me of my mother that never had a soar throat telling me to get out of bed and run when the pain is so bad my leggs arent even working. I would do anything to not to have to take another pill but I would a least like to find some form of hrt to make my younger life a little more peaceful.... AND I don't feel guilty about that. Give me good advise instead of bashing please. We all know meds are harmful, doctors are not perfect but companies hire sellsmen to do what it takes. Its everywhere. Banking, escrow and Realtors are worse (Ive been involved in all three).

Well for those that would be offended when someone refuses to drink the tap water,remember this. I am one of those ppl...NOT because I wouldnt want it,I actually "prefer" the taste of "fresh" water,but CANNOT have it. I just went thru yet "another" 4+ months of lying on the couch,and running to the washroom up to 28+ times a day. I had salmonella in 87 and e-coli in 92,and they have left my "gut" super sensitive to water....ALL tap water. Turns out,that the main thing in tap water that affects me is the minerals. I can't even drink it if its been boiled... Bottled water,on the other hand,"may" come from a city tap,but it is processed,put thru rigorous systems,including osmosis and ultra violet lites....so the odds of there being actual medications in it are really pretty slim The bottled water I drink,which is a common plain old water,not some fancy status symbol water,HAS fluoride AND sodium.

Teri2, I think that they call it, "business", don't they? And, with many companies buying up or squeezing out the opposition, the concentration of many businesses enables them to pretty well do as they please. Considering that it costs so much to run a political campaign - and guess who pay for them? - many of them have friends in high places. But - each individual has one vote, and many citizens are getting rather fed up with the big shots' ways. One day there'll be a reckoning. Visit your politicians' meetings. Ask embarrassing questions - and have backup for your side so that the politicians' pals can't shut you down. "The price of freedom is eternal vigilance", said one of your country's founders - Patrick Henry, wasn't it? Good wishes to you all as you insist on preserving your freedom - commercial as well as political. joyful guy/Ed (Canadian - and we have corporate concentration problems, as well, plus many major businesses owned extraterritorially)

Ladytexan, you are spot-on, as usual! There is so much that needs fixing I just shudder to think of it all. So many dishonest politicians and officials that think anything's OK as long as they don't get caught. So much out-and-out fraud by those who can afford to hire slick attorneys. So much indulgence by large corporations. And our schools have become little more than 12-year babysitting programs -- I see disillusioned teachers all the time -- can't discipline, some of the kids are practically animals by the time they reach mid-high, disrupting class, making it impossible to teach, bullying the ones who are trying to get an education, in the halls and on the busses and sometimes right there in the classroom. If I had it all to do over again I'd home school. Kids graduate now knowing so little. Then they go off to college if they're lucky and so many of them party for at least the first two years. I blame the real estate problems on the realtors and loan institutions. Sorry, folks, but when you get a commission on a sale you're going to want the highest sale price, it's just basic math. And greed. I bought my first home for $30,000. Lived in it for 20 years, kept the property well cared-for, and made improvements along the way, here and there. Worked by backside off to get it paid off early. Sold it for $75,000. Good for me, right? Not really. Had to pay almost all of that for another house in a near-by town that wasn't probably worth more than $30,000 considering all the work it ended up needing. My real-estate taxes doubled and my insurance company insisted on insuring it for $125,000, which is what they say it would cost to replace it. My situation is on a small scale as compared to other places, where you can't buy even a simple little frame home for less that a couple hundred thousand dollars. What's up with that? Of course the seller wants as much as the market will bear. But really. And the LOAN COMPANIES! Young couples taking on a debt of 100,000 on an ADJUSTABLE loan? That's the biggest rip-off in all history and it ought to be illegal. Then we have these individuals who buy a house on a loan that is structured to start out with low payments, with the payments increasing gradually with time -- the thinking being that the homeowner's income will increase with time. So the homeowner gets this bright idea to live in the house while the payment is low and then when it starts to climb, sell it at an appreciated price, thus actually living there for free and getting out of the loan before the payments get too high. Then the bottom falls out of the economy and they can't sell that house for any price. Not according to plan, huh? That's when they walk off from it, leave the keys in the mailbox. Banks need to go back to the conventional way of loaning money. Now many people can't even pay off their home early without paying some kind of penalty. Paying a PENALTY for paying off your debt ahead of time? Unreal. And folks, for heaven's sake, live within your means. If you don't plan to have 8 kids, do you really need 10 bedrooms? Fifty years ago, we only needed three bedrooms regardless of how many kids we had. All the boys in one bedroom. All the girls in another. If we fought, we were disciplined. I watch that home channel and I see so many couples say, "Well, we NEED a pool. We NEED two living areas. We NEED four bathrooms. We NEED granite counter-tops." (*snort*) And the auto industry! The average car shouldn't cost as much as the average house did. It costs this much to build a car or truck because those auto workers make goooooood money and have great benefits. If we all made what those auto workers make, maybe we could afford to buy one of those vehicles every couple of years to keep them afloat. But we don't. And their company officials are paid outrageous salaries. So they want a bailout without wanting to change their ways. Wouldn't we all. If politicians, corporations (including drug companies), physicians and banks cannot govern themselves with honor and integrity (and obviously they can't) then they need to be forced to do so somehow. I agree, being regulated by the Government is like getting a fox to guard the hen-house. And that's something else that really gets my goat. When a bill is passed in the H of R, it shoudn't have other provisions tacked onto it as a way of getting enough votes. It should stand on it's own merit. If it doesn't get approved, then let those who voted against it be known and be accountable for it. It's just dirty to withhold your vote till they tack on something that will benefit you personally, or the state you come from, or some lobbyist who is paying you under the table. The founders of our country must be literally spinning in their graves.