and the internet nutcases are always with you

No, I'm not talking about myself. Shut up.

I don't remember if any of you remember me talking about this, but when D first started to get really sick, his senior year in high school, he developed the delusion that he smelled bad, offensive to other people. Or only to some people. Because that's how delusions work. If he smelled fine to me and fine to his therapist and fine to his doctors, it's only 'cause we lacked the right smell receptors. Or something. And because it was 2003/2004 and we were were living in the Times of the Interweb, he was able to go online and find whole forums of other people who thought they smelled bad too. And most of whom had decided it was due to rotting fecal matter stuck in their intestines or some such (wait for it...wait for it...) shit. And so it came to be that even today I am sure, tucked away down in my basement, there's a plastic tub full of x dollars worth of "colon cleanses" that my son bought in his attempt to cure himself. Hint: Zyprexa worked better than colon cleanses.

My point being that no matter what kind of nutty ideas you have, it is entirely possible by the miracle of the internet to find other people, lots and lots of other people, who will encourage and support and add to your nutty ideas. What brings this up today, Andrea? Well, kids, there's this.

On a weight loss board where I journal and mostly just talk with a few people who, like me, keep their carbs down-ish and lift their weights, there's been a prolific poster who's had a number of distressing health problems/symptoms of late. She is one of those people who tell open forums a whole lot of deeply personal and identifying information because she apparently has no one to talk to in real life outside a semi-supportive husband and a 2 year old. (And 2 year olds don't make the best conversationalists. Or listeners.) But I mean, literally, this woman *scanned in* her EKG reports and cardiology consult, so random strangers on the internet could read them. And give advice.

And, no, SHE isn't even the nutty one.

Let that sink in for a moment.

There are also, on this board, a subgroup of nutters people who are convinced that every health and weight problem known to man is due to unidentified thyroid problems and "adrenal fatigue" and doctors know nothing and all your woes can be fixed by diet and supplements. Especially, I gather, magnesium. Take your magnesium, kids, and all will be well. Well, one of them latched onto lady #1, who at first welcomed her advice. But then when all lady #1's test results showed her magnesium levels and thyroid were okay and she got a cardiac diagnosis, magnesium lady would not let go. She kept giving lady #1 advice to, basically, ignore her own doctors. At this point in the saga last Friday (and in the midst of PMS) I swore off reading any more of it, because it raised my blood pressure so much. Who the fuck is so arrogant as to, without any medical training, advise someone else, over the internet, to, oh, STOP TAKING THEIR MEDICATION? And who is so stupid as to take the advice of internet strangers?

Well, apparently, lady #1 *isn't* that stupid, because when I got brave enough to see what the hell these people were up to today, she was firmly asking magnesium lady to give it a rest, because her badgering her was only raising her stress levels. Magnesium lady then had a snit in her own journal about how some people won't take advice and freely offered help and how they are brainwashed by conventional medicine (or something) and won't take responsibility for themselves and woe is me. All her little friends patted her on the head and told her she was SO right. Lady #1 read this assassination of her character and responded. I expect a vicious flame war to break out any second, but I'll never know 'cause I.am.out. (I shoulda stayed out after last Friday, but man, curiosity killed the cat, y'know?)

Moral of the story: see above. Crackpots find each other in cyberspace. Also? Take your damn magnesium. You are welcome.

xoxo