u/Perfect-Factor-2928

There have been several great months of books from Aardvark this year! Which has been the best for you? If you've read the books, which months had the highest star rating or other things that made them enjoyable? If you haven't gotten to many, which month's picks have you the most excited?

For me, it was April. The Radiant Dark and Dear Monica Lewinsky were both 5 stars (and I'm stingy)! My book club read Japanese Gothic, and we agreed it was one of the best discussions of the year. I also read and enjoyed Love Galaxy and Love by the Book.

Which month is it for you?

So after a couple of false starts (bails), I finished Shuggie Bain. Bleak. Sad. Beautiful.

Young Mungo - I bailed twice and decided that it was just too bleak.

I’ve read reviews saying that John of John is a bit more hopeful. Lighter for Douglas Stuart.

If you’ve read or bailed, is it bleak? I can do (and usually enjoy) a sad but beautiful book with some degree of hope. But I don’t want a book with no hope this year.

Should I buy this?

Edit: I got it! Thanks folks!!

I was not diagnosed until well into adulthood, but I have memories of just eating salt packets from restaurants as a kid. I also would pour out salt in a small bowl and eat it while i cooked, especially when i was working a more physically demanding job. I’d put extra salt on my food after i had given everyone else theirs. Thinking about it now, it totally makes sense.

Can anyone relate? Did you “randomly” eat salt before you were diagnosed?

I have been using the Cromolyn eye drops through this spring and summer. I don’t use them everyday, but when certain triggers are blooming or there are pollutants making my eyes burn/itch/sting, it is a lifesaver.

I just want to throw out that they exist because I wasn’t aware for quite a while, and they’ve really helped me.

First post, but I've read many and really appreciate the community here. The tl;dr on this is the communication with my motility specialist's office is awful. I've suffered longer than necessary because of it.

I'm recently diagnosed, but I've had the symptoms for almost 5 years. In 2021, I started having vomiting, but I got the vomiting under control with intuitive dietary changes, but it was hard to eat, and I lost 50 pounds rapidly. (I haven't lost significantly more weight but have never gained this back.) I already had a primary GI from a prior celiac diagnosis, and an elevated calprotectin sent us on a multi-hospital search for IBS or refractory celiac or some other issues causing mucosal damage. (Still don't know why calprotectin is high.)

After going to many other specialist (rheumatology, endocrinology, etc.) at one major medical center, my primary GI, who is a saint for sticking with me and always believing me, sent me to another major medical system in a different city to an allergist who specialized in food. I ended up with an MCAS diagnosis from him. He's fantastic, but MCAS was only part of the puzzle of my digestive issues. So my allergist referred me to motility.

I had a gastric emptying this winter, and I was 42% at 4 hours. It was hell getting my motility specialist to read this study after I had it. I ended up having to sit outside his office (4 hours from where I live) and accost his nurse with a copy of the images and reading report. Finally heard from him and set up additional testing that I had last month. He gave me an email report of the EGD and manometry, but the microbiology report from the small intestinal fluid samples clearly indicated SIBO, and I have not been able to get any response from his office about my queries regarding that. So I am already quite frustrated that I may have to wait until my followup this fall to get any answer or plan about this part of my testing.

This week I'm having a lot of constipation and I have muscular issues with BMs. He offered me Linzess for it already, but I turned it down and told him the OTC laxatives I was using were fine. Well, now they're making me nauseated, and I need to try something different, so I started contacting them Tuesday, and when I hadn't heard anything by yesterday afternoon, I messaged again through the portal. Then today, I called and the CSR told me the doctor had approved it and they were waiting for a nurse to call it in. So I said, please make sure they call it in before they leave. CSR said they'd send an urgent message. It's after 6 PM. No call in.

I started contacting them about this problem Tuesday and used the phrase "I'm in misery" exactly, and now I'm going into the weekend without a medicine he had already okayed.

Between this, the lack of information on my microbiology/SIBO, and other communication difficulties, I'm at the end of my rope. And I'm going into the weekend constipated, miserable, nauseated, etc. for no good reason. I'm just feel angry and hopeless. I wish I felt better having a doctor and diagnosis because I know I'm lucky to have those things, but I'm beyond frustrated.