So along these lines, I just tried taking some melatonin to help me sleep. I'm really paranoid of prescription sleeping meds though I have tried them and they work wonderfully with no apparent side effects. I'm still concerned about becoming dependent on them. In any case in spite of doing all the other recommended practices to sleep - exercise but not too late, quiet, dark, etc. sometimes I get very little sleep - maybe 3-4 hours. I then have to go to work at a very demanding job for 10 or more hours and I simply cannot function like that. So now I'm avoiding prescription meds and taking something that could be just as dangerous. I've done some reading of what I consider to be fairly reputable sources - lots of potential side effects and possible drug interactions with other meds (none of which I take from what I can tell). It seems to have become more effective after using it for a few days - works great. Interestingly my mother tried taking it years back and she thought it did nothing. Maybe I'm experiencing the placebo effect. It's an interesting dilemma....whether or not to take anything at all to treat a "problem" and if so what. I've also taken Zicam which considers itself to be homeopathic. I find it works really well at heading off cold symptoms - unlike anything else I've ever found. If I didn't have to go to work every day I'd probably be more inclined to just suffer with my ailments but I need to be able to go to work and be functional.

I don't mess around ~ I go to the doctor for antibiotics immediately! With diabetes it could turn bad very quickly. I had to have my right kidney removed 3 years ago. When I was 66 I started getting many UTIs, bladder,kidney infections. Twice I passed out and fell and broke my left wrist and them 6 months later passed out and broke my right wrist! The last time I had fever, dizziness, confusion and diarrhea. I awoke about4 am and knew I was going to have diarrhea but I couldn't even stand up straight. I passed out and fell breaking my wrist. I woke up wondering why my my face was on the carpet and knew my wrist was broken when I couldn't push myself up. My left wrist was still too weak and painful to push myself up either. And the diarrhea was starting. I'm praying, help me Lord, to get up! After a long time I struggled to my knees and got to the bedroom door. Hallelujah! Here comes my DH to go to the bathroom. (he has his own room because he goes to work at 2 am) and I ask him to help me up, my wrist is broken and I have diarrhea. He pulls me up and puts me in the bathroom and shuts the door! He goes downstairs to the bathroom and back to bed. He hadn't even realized what I was saying. I'm a mess, I can't clean up, I'm exhausted so I finally get the door open and just go back to my bed and laid my arm gently down and fall asleep. A couple of hours later my DD comes in after seeing the mess on the rug and toilet and says, "What happened?!' Why didn't you wake me? Why didn't Dad wake me?" All I could say was I broke my wrist and I was too tired go do anything but lie down. She had to get me in the shower and clean me and the bathroom up and take me to the ER. She asked my DH why he hadn't woken her. He was just What? What happened? Another surgery with another plate and screws. Then they started sending me to specialists and doing tests and scans and find out that my ureter (between the kidney and bladder) is UNDER my aorta instead of on top. It is being crushed and calcified and my right kidney is enlarged and has ruffles all around the edges. I have had diabetes since I was 12 so It's not like I didn't go to the doctor ALL the time and have all kinds of tests. But who knew I had a birth defect like that?! And no one found it until I was 66 years old. So I say don't mess around with any kind of infection. Get on antibiotics right away. Infections can spread to other parts of you body, you can get sepsis, loose body parts and who know what all can happen. The worse the infection is the longer you'll have to be on antibiotics which is not good because then you develop and immunity o the antibiotics. Sorry this is long. LOL It wasn't fun when it happened.

As much as people hate to believe this, Cranberry juice is NOT the save all when it comes to Bladder, UTI or kidney infections. I think if one doctor or ten doctors tells us as much we should take them at their word. Why wouldn't we trust them to know something so basic? Obviously they have the education and literature to back up their opinions or do they just make this stuff up as they go? Quite a few years ago I had a very severe kidney infection and on the advise of a friend who told me it was the cure all, I was drinking cranberry juice like crazy. This went on for several weeks and because I was no longer feeling the symptoms I thought I had managed to fight it off on my own. The next time I had to visit my practitioner for something unrelated, he noticed a slight fever and routine tests I need to have done reflected a severe infection in both kidneys. He was livid with me and told me that cranberry juice is good for a lot of things but fighting infections is not one of them. Quite the contrary as it masks the symptoms while the infection continues to fester. He made me promise right then and there to never rely on it again for UT, bladder or kidney infections and to seek medical help instead. Secsteve, After this new round of testing, I hope you are finally able to find out what the problem is. At least it's a step in a new direction.

Oh gosh, I'm always up for a good debate so I'm honestly not riled. However you do have a very passive aggressive way of expressing yourself and even though you don't point anyone out by name it's often clear where the comment is directed to. Don't assume my suggestions are offered without personal experience and/or an ample amount of research because it couldn't be farther from the truth. Maybe I don't always articulate myself in a way that makes easy for some to understand, but I guarantee you, I've done my homework and can provide documentation to support it. I may not always agree with you but I would never post some of the commentary you do. I also like to link to articles that educate about the subject matter so how my thoughts could be on the "fringe" and "unsubstantiated material" is beyond me. In regards to the food issue though, the bottom line is that maybe you are voicing a different side and the opinion of a majority of Vets, but If Vets don't want to understand what their patients are being fed, how can they (or you for that matter) offer an educated opinion? How do you know food allergies barely exist so the idea is not right Especially when so many people complain that they are spending a fortune in vet bills yet no matter what the vet does it isn't helping their pet. BTW, allergy testing for food is not a conclusive test, but yeast allergies are actually found during testing for environmental allergens and according to my Vet, who I guess is outside of the majority, they are becoming more and more common.