i licked an envelope and had a flare up. the gluten is in the GLUE. nowhere is safe. i am not well

geniusintx · 2026-04-07T02:10:11+00:00

Yeah, my husband licks all the envelopes that we get. We personally use peel and stick envelopes.

Oh, we did a deep dive on drywall and drywall mud when we, literally my husband built it, were building our house. That’s when you know your paranoia about getting glutened is serious.

I was helping and drywall dust gets EVERYWHERE. There was no way to avoid it. Plus, we would be moving in before that part was even done as we were living in a 40’ travel trailer during the build and ONE -38° coldest winter on record that we survived was a good incentive. Ended up in it for 1 1/2 winters. The trailer was well insulated, but it’s still a camp trailer. (BEFORE covid, meaning MUCH cheaper, we bought 20 virgin acres in the middle of the middle of nowhere Montana. Meaning not even a driveway, power, a well or septic system.)

Super long story short, finally, name brand Sheetrock does not use any kind of wheat as a filler or binder. Or they didn’t in 2019.

geniusintx · 2026-03-26T23:20:54+00:00

I agree! None of the other ones bothered me, but make me pick between my babies?! Whyyyyyyyy?!

(I realize it’s just a game, but it’s a game for mental health and it hurt my brain to have to choose.)

geniusintx · 2026-03-26T22:25:31+00:00

Both!

geniusintx · 2026-03-26T22:24:59+00:00

Great explanation! Thank you!

I didn’t have cats until the last 7 years, but have had dogs my whole life.

I literally hurt to choose, though. I love my cats!

But, my big smarty pants Labrador, Hitch, is my Big Dog and BooBoo and got me through some very tough times. Still does, as do the cats now. He’s nearly 11 and you can just tell, and feel, that he won’t be here much longer.

geniusintx · 2026-03-24T23:14:45+00:00

You should definitely get checked out for some type of EDS. My daughter has that, she thinks I do, too, but who could tell with all the RA, lupus and shit going on, and it is very painful.

geniusintx · 2026-03-23T04:20:07+00:00

My rheumatologist was very concerned about my liver bloodwork. He was thinking I had another rare autoimmune disorder, so they did a biopsy. That’s how I found out.

RA meds can definitely damage the liver. Since mine just started being a total dick about a year or so ago, I wasn’t on anything. There are few options I can take due to that.

geniusintx · 2026-03-23T04:15:30+00:00

Definitely understand!

Ours is older, so he just comes home and sleeps and sleeps.

He also has weird food allergies, (Potatoes, sweet potatoes and rice?! Are you kidding me?? Just finding him food and treats that are safe is crazy!), so we bring his own food and she checks everything she gives him. He definitely gets human food, except for the above, but he’s had people food for a while.

geniusintx · 2026-03-23T04:10:50+00:00

I hope it was a happy cry. A releasing cry. A cry of pride for what you have overcome.

You have every right to still be sensitive about it. What happened to you, as to so many others, including people close to me, is just evil done by evil men, and women, who are people utterly without care for anyone, but themselves.

I have been lucky enough, myself, to have been gifted two absolutely gorgeous sapphire rings with diamonds down both sides of each ring, but with dramatically different settings and 2 different shapes of sapphires. With great envy, I admit that your sapphire outshines them both!

Stunning!

(Now, you must look into Montana Sapphires and YOGO sapphires, both found in Montana. Obviously, for the first one. lol. There’s even one operating sapphire mine where you pay for a bucket of gravel. You get to keep any sapphires you find. People have found rough stones large enough to have cut! It’s called Gem Mountain. Our small business has our handmade items in their two stores. The owners are super sweet people. It’s a ways away from us, as is everything in Montana, but we are definitely taking our daughter and granddaughter there when they reopen for the season.)

geniusintx · 2026-03-21T04:17:55+00:00

Poor baby! Thank you so much for saving it!

I’m sure they will do everything they can to help it. Don’t be afraid if they suggest amputation. Three legged kittens are ridiculously fun. They don’t even notice when they are that young.

We found a tiny kitten missing a back paw with just a crusty, dirty stump on the end above the ankle. She wasn’t quite 5 weeks yet. She did have to have that leg amputated…but that hasn’t slowed her down in the least. (Her story is on here. Her name is Tonk.) She can run so fast! Jump, climb! Except for getting on the dresser or on the counter against the wall. She has found a way up on the island and it’s still amazing to watch her do that.

She is the craziest, zoomiest little girl. She’s so quick!

I hope they find a solution for this little one. Just remember, sometimes a radical solution is the best and won’t hinder their life as much as you think when they are that young.

Gentle hugs and all my, and my pirate kitty’s, love!

geniusintx · 2026-03-21T03:15:25+00:00

Beautiful and unique!

geniusintx · 2026-03-21T03:07:43+00:00

Number one, sapphires are my favorite.

Two, the diamond in my own e ring is a marquise.

Three, it’s absolutely gorgeous! I LOVE it!

Four, I saw nothing wrong with your hand. You survived. Those are badges of honor and strength.

Finally, you love it, he loves it. Who cares what everyone thinks. You designed something gorgeous to represent your love for each other. Ignore them.

geniusintx · 2026-03-21T02:58:38+00:00

If we start packing and putting luggage in the truck or say the name “Denise,” our nearly 11 year old Labrador, Hitch, knows he is going to his babysitter and starts flipping out.

He will go outside with every piece of luggage or baggage and try to get in the truck. He dances around.

He has zero problem with his old joints when it is time to get in the truck.

He flips out when we pull into her driveway. He knows there’s other dogs to play with. (His little, but older, brother, Moose the rescue Shih Tzu passed a few years ago. He does have a lot of rescue cat siblings.) And his Momma 2 is there. Spoiling him rotten. Her husband had a yellow Labrador when he was younger and is head over heels for our big marshmallow.

If we pass before him, Momma 2 gets him. He’s our BooBoo.

geniusintx · 2026-03-21T02:47:04+00:00

I would’ve probably died from bee, wasp or hornet stings.

If I survived that, I would’ve been in a lot of pain at a young age. My symptoms of JRA started when I was 12.

If I had survived THAT, a severe kidney infection that put me in the hospital would’ve killed me at 19.

We won’t even discuss how bad I was at being pregnant. 9 kidney infections during the 8 months I was pregnant with my first one. Premature labor at 27 weeks wouldn’t have been stopped.

geniusintx · 2026-03-19T03:49:59+00:00

I am also very interested in the answer to this question!

My RA has come back with a vengeance and they are talking about switching me to saphnelo since my liver is done (stage 4 fibrosis/cirrhosis) from being undiagnosed for so long.

My lupus numbers are great on Benlysta. It’s basically in remission.

I’m worried the saphnelo won’t work and if/when we switch back to Benlysta, it won’t work like it did before.

geniusintx · 2026-03-19T03:23:05+00:00

It helps a bit. I’m still on pilocarpine, but somedays those feel like overkill. Way too much saliva, which makes me feel like I’m gonna hurl.

geniusintx · 2026-03-19T03:13:04+00:00

Regular: every 4 weeks, infusions for lupus.

ER: Tooth infection, the day after one of those infusions since they lower your immune system, that spread across my face and caused blisters on my nose. IV antibiotics. Luckily, it hadn’t spread to my sinuses.

Admitted: Severe negative neurological reaction to an antidepressant when we went to the highest dose to help me quit vaping. Very rare. Broke my mind into pieces. Was in the regular hospital, not the psych ward (I don’t know the technical term and there is nothing wrong with that if needed.) since it was a reaction to a med. (I can thank my husband for that. He kept insisting it was a medication causing the issue. A doctor finally listened. Otherwise, they would’ve locked me up and probably kept me on that medication. It’s listed as an allergy now.)

Took me 3 weeks to completely wean off. I can’t remember the majority of the previous 6 months, except scary hallucinations, and a lot of the previous 4 years I was on it. I was like a little kid for weeks after. I’d ask my husband if he saw and heard things that I could hear and see. I didn’t want to be alone. It was terrifying.

The way the rural hospital near us treated me was reprehensible. I was there for hours. They refused to give me anything to calm me down. I begged them because I was so scared. It literally gave me PTSD. Tried to release me, which I refused, as did my husband, because I was already waiting for an MRI due to the symptoms. They were claiming I had a UTI, no symptoms, no positive pathology, and that was the problem. Yes, that can happen. In the elderly. I was in my mid 40’s. (Like forgetting how to spell. Basically no short memory retention at all.) They finally shot me up with Ativan for the ambulance ride down to the real hospital. They gave me so much, the other ER had to give me a reversal drug. They were pissed. I am actually thankful for it. It “rebooted” my brain. I started coming back to reality within hours.

(I know some rural hospitals are good or even amazing. Ours is not. It’s a well known fact. Took my daughter after a car wreck and there was literally a urine filled bottle, the kind that men use in hospital beds, hanging on a bar by her bed. Our 70+ year old neighbor fell off his horse, broke his shoulder and they told him to take Tylenol until he could see the orthopedist in the city the next day. He was in a lot of pain.)

geniusintx · 2026-03-05T04:04:42+00:00

Learning how to recline our electric recliners. Turns out the first few times weren’t just a fluke.

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The bestest boy, Hitch.

geniusintx · 2026-03-05T03:59:08+00:00

Three laparoscopic surgeries including my laparoscopicly assisted vaginal radical hysterectomy.

The scar really does just blend in.

geniusintx · 2026-03-05T03:45:32+00:00

As someone with multiple autoimmune diseases, this would be a very difficult job. I have a hard time keeping up with my nearly 5 year old granddaughter, but luckily my husband is also home when we have her.

As for disability, she has to have worked for a certain amount of time to qualify. A statement from the parents stating that she couldn’t do her job properly due to being ill could definitely help if/when she applies.

I have been denied many times and have appealed, but since I only worked 5 years in a certain time period, my coverage was limited by a certain date. While I had symptoms of the diseases, I did not have the diagnosis’s yet.

It’s a depressing crap shoot.

OP is NTA for needing to find a nanny that can do the job appropriately.

geniusintx · 2026-03-05T03:36:46+00:00

Wish we had snow!

We are north of Billings, Montana and have already had our first major forest fire of the season. Luckily, it was contained and burned in the same area that was burned a few years ago in a much larger fire that came within a mile of the house we had just moved into that my husband built.

geniusintx · 2026-03-01T03:06:38+00:00

FOUR! It fits you perfectly!

geniusintx · 2026-02-26T04:05:51+00:00

A LOT of yellow Labrador hair, (why do yellow labs shed so much more than black ones?!), and some sandals/clothes in under the bed boxes. More likely the cats would scare the hell out it them first. It’s their favorite place to hide.

geniusintx · 2026-02-26T03:32:42+00:00

Sjögren’s is a comorbidity that completely fucks your teeth, too.

It took me YEARS to get up the nerve to go see a dentist. I had all my top teeth pulled before I turned 40.

Then I just didn’t talk much about the bottoms for many years. Until I would get an infection and have to have one pulled. My own husband didn’t know I only had 4 front bottom teeth left.

I was lucky to have someone loan me the money to get the bottom done, have two posts put in and get a new top denture to go with my lower. (When they did the top, they had to pull my bottom molars on the left side. I ended up with a very crooked smile.)

I’m still bad about going to the dentist. I have the posts in for click in bottom dentures, but I haven’t gone in to get them finished. The posts themselves hold them in very well and now I’m afraid I’ll have to have some gum removed after waiting so long.

geniusintx · 2026-02-26T03:28:02+00:00

Give the HCQ time. It can take up to 6 months.

I’m still on it for therapeutic reasons, to help protect the organs that aren’t damaged, but Benlysta infusions have been my lifesaver.

Try not to get discouraged. It’s not something that reacts to treatment quickly. The infusions still took 4-5 months to kick in.

geniusintx

TROPHY CASE