Illness

[CTG]

The latest opinion of the experts is food allergy (maybe a basic one, like egg, milk or flour), it will be tested soon. That would explain most of my symptoms.

According to the IgG blood tests, my sudden weight loss and stomach problems might be connected to gluten intolerance (it still has to be confirmed with repeated gastroscopy + biopsy). Other intolerances were also found: egg, soja, corn, wheat, durum wheat, rye, cashew. If they prove it, I'll have to keep a very strict diet in my whole lifetime (combined with cholecysta friendly diet without fat, spices and alcohol). If I add that sweet foods can also cause problems in my stomach... well... it will be hard to find out what to eat.

Some IgE allergy tests are still under evaluation, somehow I don't want to see their results now.

[BonzaiJoe]

Gluten allergy is becoming more and more common these days, and I know a few people who have it. There's lots of good food in the world, so it's no problem for them finding something nice to eat. The only problems are that you can't always have what the others are having when you're out, and that you can't drink beer.

[CTG]

you can't drink beer.

Estrella Damm Daura is the only gluten-free beer I know.

[Chulk]

you can't drink beer.

Estrella Damm Daura is the only gluten-free beer I know.

I'm sure it's delicious!

[CTG]

Not really. And:

I'll have to keep a very strict diet in my whole lifetime (combined with cholecysta friendly diet without fat, spices and alcohol)

Gluten allergy is becoming more and more common these days, and I know a few people who have it. There's lots of good food in the world, so it's no problem for them finding something nice to eat. The only problems are that you can't always have what the others are having when you're out, and that you can't drink beer.

The problem is that most of the gluten-free foods contain corn, soja or egg (all of them failed at the blood test)... Diet begun yesterday evening, I'll keep it for two weeks to see if it has a real effect or not.

[Usrin]

Yesterday I suffered from terrible sea sickness during most of the 12h ferry trip from Hirtshals (DEN) to Stavanger (NOR). The sandwich which I had for lunch came back very soon, but I had to go to the toilet to vomit 6 more times... I was not the only victim: once somebody desperately tried to open the toilet door while I was in, than vomited in the pissoir. The bad part was over when the ship arrived, but my appetite is still much weaker than usual.

[Usrin]

And before I forget: last week my back hurt so bad it was a big challenge to get up from the bed. Maybe too much cycling with heavy backpack and/or the effect of the strong cough which I had before... But more probably, it simply shows that I reached the age of 30. It is told that from now, each day is a gift when nothing hurts when I wake up.

[CTG]

It is told that from now, each day is a gift when nothing hurts when I wake up.

It is told that from now, each day is a gift when you wake up.

[Usrin]

It is told that from now, each day is a gift when you wake up.

Not exactly. What if I die while I'm awake? Is that day still a gift? OK, for some people it might be.  For me, it would be rather a gift if I could die while sleeping. Of course, as late as possible.

[BonzaiJoe]

It is told that from now, each day is a gift when you wake up.

Not exactly. What if I die while I'm awake? Is that day still a gift? OK, for some people it might be.  For me, it would be rather a gift if I could die while sleeping. Of course, as late as possible.

You wouldn't want to miss out on that night's dreams.

[Usrin]

You wouldn't want to miss out on that night's dreams.

Yep. 

[CTG]

What if you have a nightmare in that certain night?

[BonzaiJoe]

What if you have a nightmare in that certain night?

That could be interesting. You could die in the dream and it would be your real death.

[CTG]

What if you have a nightmare in that certain night?

That could be interesting. You could die in the dream and it would be your real death.

Like one of my latest dreams (deja vu, have I already told that in an other topic?): my life turned into a time travel, jumping always 5 years forward, bumping into serious illnesses and funerals of my relatives and at the end, to my own death. The whole dream was a strange mixture of fear and painful emptyness, showing how short our life is. Endless time compared to 70-90 years is annoying...

Probably it wasn't a good idea to bring up infinite time topic, usually it turns me in panic mode. We all have theories about afterlife or 'nihil': religious people want to sit on a cloud with God (starring: Morgan Freeman), while Bonzai Joe, Usrin and many other wise people think there is nothing after death. I'm a "1 percent" believer: BJ's opinion is probably right, but since we know so few about the world, we won't get the answer during our life. And when we will, we can't come back to share. Especially if there's nothing to share. Some of us say everybody dies, so it's a "collective" problem, why to worry about that. But if there's nothing after death, it turns into an individual emptyness. But wait... if there's nothing, we won't be there either. Shall we think on human mind and soul as a "software" of our brain which also dies with our body?

What do we mean on soul? Is it only based on the biochemical processes of our brain? If you say 'me', what do you mean on that? Your mind? Your body? The full configuration? We say: "my leg, my nose, my whatever", like "my car". Do you think body is only a ligand or frame around the "real me"?

Sorry for the pathetic questions.

[BonzaiJoe]

What do we mean on soul? Is it only based on the biochemical processes of our brain? If you say 'me', what do you mean on that? Your mind? Your body? The full configuration? We say: "my leg, my nose, my whatever", like "my car". Do you think body is only a ligand or frame around the "real me"?

Sorry for the pathetic questions.

I'm confident that there is nothing after death, and also that, as you pointed out, there is not only nothing - you are not there. With this in my mind, I know what it's like to be dead because I was dead before I was born (of course realistically, you really aren't there in either case). This thought has consoled me a lot - and in a better way than any religion could because I don't have to hide anything or take any mental mind-flips to believe this. It's what I honestly believe. But I admit that sometimes death still bothers me. What bothers me about it is the pain of being stopped short while there's so much you haven't done. Suddenly having no time left. I think to myself that I'm not ready to die now, but then, will I ever be? My grandmother was 94 when she died. Naturally she had many pains, illnesses and general physical troubles. One year before she died, she said she was getting a bit tired of living. So maybe she was ready to die? The older and more pragmatical I grow, the more I think the only thing you can do about death is to have children. The body understands that your children are a part of you, and so it might make death feel less frightening.

As to your linguistic questions above: "if you say 'me', what do you mean", that's of course a very difficult question. Like anything else, it's a question of convention and of context. If you say "I was hit by the ball", you are not referring to your mind and your dreams, and likewise if you say something like "what's wrong with me?", you are not at all referring to your left elbow. I think the most prominent instance of "I" or "me" is the deciding process in your mind, which of course by extension includes the entire universe, but which immediately seems to consist mainly of your emotions and your conscious mind.

Ultimately I think we're better off not worrying too much about these things. Transcendental realizations are as vague and transitory as coloured lights in a disco. What is is, and the most important thing is to accep that. If you don't, that's your own problem. It took mankind many decades to accept that we're just animals, but these days we have noticed it's not such a big deal. It's like that with a lot of things. We just have to adapt mentally.