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Linda's Story

First, I would like to say that I am thankful for finding this site. It has indeed given me a greater insight into the world of arthritis.

Second, I would like to say that I am a "Why?" person. Many doctors have been annoyed at me because I am always asking "Why?".

In the chat room I was accused of being an angry person. They could tell by the way I wrote. Over the next few days I gave this a lot of thought. Was I angry? Yes, I am angry!

Why am I angry? Because I feel cheated!
Why do I feel cheated? Because I was not told in the beginning that Nightshades could make a difference.
Why did the doctor that I asked tell me it was just "an old wives tale"? Because he did not believe it was true.
Why did I believe him and wait another ten years; and four more surgeries later, to finally try to see if it did work? Because I was desperate enough after having a mind blowing flare up that I decided I had to help myself.

What are Nightshades? As far as I was able to understand, they are vegetables that ripen in the dark. Potatoes that continue to grow in the cupboard, tomatoes that will ripen in the dark of the refrigerator, green peppers, eggplant, squash, etc. There are over 1500 different types of plants that are called nightshades. Search under Horticulture on the web and there is a great deal of in-depth information about them.

Who first discovered this? The only information I could find was that during World War II, the prisoners in the concentration camps who had no access to these foods noticed that their symptoms were alleviated.

And now, I have the opportunity to help others through the chat rooms. There are some there who say "It works for you". They may or may not have tried it but they give me the impression that they don't want to talk about that. At first I felt bad and I did try to join in on the chat without mentioning nightshades but I felt that I was betraying the people who did not know anything about them, the people who had never heard of nightshades.

Everyone should at least know about the possibility that by eliminating these foods from their diet that it could change their lives from one filled with pain and drugs to a nearly normal life.

I realize this will not work for everyone, but for the ones who it will work for, they should have the information so that they can make their own informed decision as to whether they wish to try it themselves.

Linda (AKA Heidi)