Do a google search for "gnat bites". You'll get more information and sites than you'd believe. I see them every year but this is the year they visited me inside the cottage. Probably only a few but they had all night to work me over. I could tell it was while I was sleeping because the bites are on my arms, legs, feet and top of chest, the areas uncovered when I'm in my short nightgown. When I'm awake and either gardening or working in the cottage, I wear shoes & socks, and long pants and a T shirt AND a long-sleeved shirt over that. I'm going to spray insect repellent on the screens. Also, rubbing alcohol helps the itch a bit, for a while. One of the articles says gnats like water, muddy ground and mulch. Guess what we have: birdbaths, brackish pond, wetlands and mulch. Carol

This is a great thread. I first have to say that I had my husband look at some of this, and I will say upfront that he is totally engaged (he does most of the cooking). But I'm terrible. My family is here and rated me at a 9.5 out of 10 for being a witch the hours before a party. I remember yelling at my daughter because I had just hung up a perfect clean towerl on the hanging ring and went in, they had used it, and wadded it up over the ring. I yelled at them, and still feel bad about it today. Most importantly because I don't want them to think that entertaining is awful and never have a dinner party because they remember it being hell day. I grew up with my mother keeping a horrendous house. It was a mess, and I mean a mess. Counters piled with crap, dishes not done for days, and she didn't care. She was always having friends stop by. Even as a young child, it embarassed me to all heck. I can still remember coming home from babysitting at midnight or so when I was 12 or 13 years old (I started young), and I would clean the kitchen from top to bottom. It would take a couple of hours. I was different than her even back then. When my dad remarried, it was Martha Stewart land. She had to have it spotless. Every Saturday was crack and corner day. We quite literally had to pull the couch out and vacuum under it at least every other week, and we had to bleach the counters. Crazy the other way! So, I can't seem to have anyone over unless my house is totally cleaned! And our parties themselves are quite memorable to everyone who comes. They talk about it afterward for weeks. I do enjoy having wonderful parties but I also wish I could relax about my house. I know its wrapped up in my childhood psyche. I will even make sure the main counters are clean as guests are arriving for a dinner party. And that's while we're using the kitchen! But I'm also so proud of our kitchen and want to show it off. Now one time, we had a Chinese extravaganze where we covered our desk with Chinese ingredients, friends came over at noon and didn't leave until midnight. The men mostly cooked and it was a blast. Every inch of every counter was covered with crap. I remember walking in the kitchen, the dust was flying from someone rolling out potstickers while someone else was frying a whole fish over the wok burner, and someone else was mixing something up. I didn't care what the kitchen looked like that day. I'll never forget that party. I don't know if I'll ever change about the clean house though. It's so engrained in me. Well, my husband is making London Broil so I'm off to the kitchen!! Great stories though. I think we have more in common than we realized.

Hi Allison: Please keep us posted on Monday .. thanks for the info. of requested tests on Stop the Thyroid Madness site. In the old days, doctors went overboard in unnecessary tests & surgeries, but nowadays insurance put a restriction on that. Over a decade ago my sister wore her hair in an "onion" bun (capped with a metallic hair fastener), they took X-ray and the doc. thought it was a HUGE GOITER, or HUGE THROAT CANCER. They did CT scan & MRI & unnecessary tests just to find out that it's a bundle of hair & metallic cap. I wrote to my insurance asking for further thyroid antibody-test & neck-checking for my 12-year old daughter, and my insurance wrote back " You can submit a pre-authorization request for review. This normally includes a letter of medical necessity with medical records to substantiate the service. This review generally takes 15-20 business days and all responses are made in writing. " From StrawChicago: I will wait for the kelp snack to boost her metabolism, and if she becomes depressed again during the summer, then I will take her for further thyroid-test. When I read through the Earthclinic.com/People's pharmacy website, one person reported solving her hypothyroid just by consuming a few Brazil nuts a day (high in selenium, necessary for normal thyroid function). Another person solved her hypothyroid with Stress-Tabs (Vit. C 120 mg, Thiamin 10mg, Riboflavin 10mg, Niacin 50 mg, Vit. B6 5 mg, Folate 400 mcg, Vit. B12 100mcg, Panthothenic Acid 40 mg, Proprietary Amino Acid Blend 100 mg (Arginine, Glutamine, Taurine), Sensoril extract.). The NON-MEDICATED approach is more effective & less side-effects because it comprises of a vast array of nutrients to boost thyroid health. Plus one can adjust the dose by oneself (less Brazil nut, or less seaweed snack) ... without going through the doctor. There are side effects for Levothyroxine: Insomnia, flushing, muscle pain, fatique, mood swings. There's a long list of side-effects of Synthroid, see the link below: https://synthroidhaters.wordpress.com/synthroid-side-effects/ When I googled, "The problem with Synthroid", there are tons of info. of horrible effects either through buying less-effective generic drugs, or it doesn't work, or the dose is too high, etc. Here's one example: " Saw dr after labs and ultrasound dx cysts on thryoid and hypo put me on generic synthroid.25. On meds for approx 6 weeks became very hoarse to the point of not being able to speak, not sleeping for more than 3 hrs, terrible bloating and gas, increased racing heart and "shaking like tremors". ... Subsequently I felt so bad I stopped the med without her knowlege. Hoarseness, sleeping, hand symptoms and chest fulness, bloating have improved to what they were before starting meds." http://www.medhelp.org/posts/Thyroid-Disorders/problem-with-synthroid/show/1587399 From Stop the thyroid madness site: "Did you know that a healthy thyroid makes five hormones?? They are T4, T3, T2, T1 and calcitonin. T4, also called thyroxine, is simply a storage hormone meant to convert to T3, the active hormone. But a healthy thyroid doesn’t make you totally depend on conversion alone, and also gives you “direct” T3 plus the other hormones above ... Being on a T4-only med means you are missing out on four other hormones directly, and thus, you are being forced to live for conversion alone!" Many people complained that Armour Thyroid (dried pig thyroids) are no longer available, and the chemical Synthroid has tons of side-effects, which they can't handle. See an excerpt from below link: "I had been on Armour thyroid for several years and it worked really well. Unfortunately, my last prescription was put on hold by the manufacturer and I have not been able to get it filled. That was in July 2009. My dr. had to put me on Synthroid instead and I feel terrible now. I have insomnia and anxiety yet my blood tests look fine. I'm not sure what to do now. I've called the pharmacy several times in the last 4 months and Armour is still not available to the public. " http://www.endocrineweb.com/community/hypothyroidism/1288-armour-thyroid-vs-Synthroid "About a year ago I was prescribed Synthroid and almost immediately had a pretty severe reaction to it. Throat swelled, ankles and hands swelled, heart raced ... felt like crap. My doctor switched me to an all natural herbal product called "Innate Thyroid Response." It worked pretty well until just recently. So I'm going back for a tune-up. :o) Doctors and pharmacists are provided ve-e-ery generous "perks" by pharmaceutical reps for pushing what my doctor calls, "designer drugs." The more expensive the drug, the "more effective" it is often touted to be, when often that could not be further from the truth. I would question the motives of a doctor who "insists" that one drug is preferable to another ... especially a tried and true oldie like Armour." Tinyhandz said... 2 years 52 weeks ago "I was on Synthroid for a while and I really did not like the way it made me feel. I was shaky, nervous, couldnt sleep, and I became very anxious over the months that I was taking it." http://www.endocrineweb.com/community/hypothyroidism/1288-armour-thyroid-vs-synthroid

I just gave up the medication entirely. I was compeltely and utterly stable on one medicaiton-Symbicort (which, by the way, I LOVE!). I'd taken Advair and another inhaler, but was supporting it with Sigulair. Only 20% of the population has good success with Singulair, which it worked for me, but little did I know it was truly the cause of my two problems. Which brings me to my next thought... "allergist said it could cause those problems in high doses, but only once you are above 480 mcg or higher per day." That's all fine and good if you're "typical", but if your genetic makeup means you metabolize it at different rate (high metabolizer) you could be getting a dose that is not right for your body makeup. They could be very wrong. But only genetic testing could quantify that. Ask them if it makes sense to try something else or a lower dose for a week or two. My docs will let me do that. It's how we found out I only needed one med even though I'd been on two for years. I wanted to get off of it all. One is the least I can get by with though. Here is a link that might be useful: Short and incomplete description of high metabolizer