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View Full Version : Can we have Old Style Forum back please.!!!. . . . This one sucks.!!



JAZZCNC
15-07-2013, 09:58 PM
With Not being around much these days I'd just not realised just how shite this new forum layout was.!

SO LEE . . Please please put it back to how it used to be, this new layout is absolute rubbish. . . Just over this last week or so I've been around more I've noticed the amount of post's and replies is nothing like it was before so You must have noticed a decline in new threads and post's surely.?

It's Crap Crap crap.!!

John S
15-07-2013, 10:44 PM
AT LAST,
Someone else who agrees with me that the layout sucks.

Been saying it since the changes came in but falling on deaf ears.

Web Goblin
16-07-2013, 07:06 AM
I agree totally. Thats why I hardly use it anymore. Also cant stand the google ads that try to keep you on the same page, press the back button on the browser and nothing happens, click the down arrow to find a google ad link keeping the page open. Pain in the arse. The red cross button does work well though.

Mad Professor
16-07-2013, 07:30 AM
I also will say that I am not keen on the new system.
e-mails stop and start working when it feels like.

Jonathan
16-07-2013, 08:36 AM
Just over this last week or so I've been around more I've noticed the amount of post's and replies is nothing like it was before so You must have noticed a decline in new threads and post's surely.?

Correlation doesn't imply causation, e.g decline in activity could just be due to the weather!

Having said that, I do think this layout is less convenient than the old one.

m_c
16-07-2013, 10:02 AM
I just wish he'd set the default home page to http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/forum.php instead of the stupid activity stream.

John S
16-07-2013, 10:23 AM
e.g decline in activity could just be due to the weather!

.


Wot like it was cold in winter when it was crap and now its hot in summer its still crap.?

Lee Roberts
16-07-2013, 11:05 AM
Just over this last week or so I've been around more I've noticed the amount of post's and replies is nothing like it was before so You must have noticed a decline in new threads and post's surely.?

"Correlation doesn't imply causation", agreed!. I've observed over the years that the forum activity slows down at certain times of the year, this is one of those periods, looking at the stats for new threads and posts it would seem all is well, though i would say things are a little slower at the momment and i think this is more to do with the time of year and to do with people making the most of the sun we have been getting in the UK recently.

Seems a little far fetched i know but for a site (forum) that is driven by user activity, such things like extra sun shine can have the said effect. It works both ways though as days of holiday can see more user activity, our slowest days of the week have been saturday and sunday mostly and the newsletter that used to go out helped with this.

What dont you like about the current layout?


layout sucks.

Been saying it since the changes came in but falling on deaf ears.

I cant agree that is true John, i've taken your feedback onboard in the past and made changes to accommodate that feedback.

What dont you like about the current layout?


I agree totally. Thats why I hardly use it anymore. Also cant stand the google ads that try to keep you on the same page, press the back button on the browser and nothing happens, click the down arrow to find a google ad link keeping the page open. Pain in the arse. The red cross button does work well though.

Humm, not sure this is an issue with the ads being shown from this site. It sounds more to me like your browser is being hijacked by something else.

What dont you like about the current layout?


I also will say that I am not keen on the new system.
e-mails stop and start working when it feels like.

Hi Professor, the design/layout of the site is cosmetic the forum software is the same system we have always used. I'm not sure what the issue maybe with regards to your email problem, we did have a problem with email and the server back in June, you can read about it here: Unscheduled Email Services Downtime 08th June @ 10:50 (http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/announcements-maintenance-notice/6171-unscheduled-email-services-downtime-08th-june-%40-10-50-a.html) everything looks to be working just fine at this end.

Sorry i cant be of any more help.


I just wish he'd set the default home page to http://www.mycncuk.com/forums/forum.php instead of the stupid activity stream.

I dont think the activity stream is stupid, it seems illogical to me that you would rather goto the forum home page and navigate though the various sub forums to look for updated/new threads and or posts when the activity stream shows you a complete summary of everything that is activity sitewide. I do understand though that it is still a desire at times to use this page to find somthing you are looking for, this is why the main navigation links for the site take you to the category location on this page, giving you the option to scroll to others if you need to.

To All:
The changes made to the design have been that of condensing the smaller banners above into 1 location on the right, this has brought the main content above what is called "the page fold" so this should mean a little less scrolling to get to what you want to see (small ideal i know).

The other change from above the posts has been to remove the "Reply To Thread" button and to the right of that the pagination links for when a thread runs into more than one page, so again bringing the content above the fold a little more and decluttering the page at the same time, because both of those page features are also still present at the bottom of the thread (typically where a user ends up).

Ads have also been removed and condensed from the first and last post of a thread, they now also live in the sidebar in 1 location. So less distraction, clutter, real estate and a better user experience while reading.

Overall one of the bigger changes is that the page now fits closer to the left and right of the browser window and so more screen real estate is now used by the main content of intrest, or is that the point i'm missing here and actually users prefered the fixed centered layout over the fluid/elastic layout?

There is still things i need to add/change and all feedback is much appreciated and being considered for the final design currently being worked, obviously you understand i cant always act on single user preferences but i do try and build a happy medium as best i can.

.Me

John S
16-07-2013, 11:21 AM
OK Lee said this loads of times so this time I'll write slowly so you can read it.

W E H A V E T H E S A M E I N F O A T T H E T O P O F T H E P A G E A S A T T H E S I D E R E S U L T I N G I N O N L Y 3 / 4 O F A P A G E S H O W I N G W H E N Y O U A R E P A S T T H E T O P S I D E B I T

W H Y D O W E N E E D T H E S A M E I N F O T W I C E , T O P O N I T 'S O W N I S F I N E

http://www.stevenson-engineers.co.uk/files/mycnc%20screen.jpg

Robin Hewitt
16-07-2013, 11:31 AM
I stopped posting when people stopped doing interesting innovative stuff.

I am reminded of American colonisation. The first people to go West were the pioneers, it was all jolly exciting and everyone who survived had great stories of daring-do to tell.

After a while a huge industry grew up on the East coast, the new arrivals were equipped with wagons, horses, cheap "Davy Crocket" rifles, vitals, drug bats etc. and sent on their way.

It became boring because everybody's story was the same as everybody else's.

Fivetide
16-07-2013, 02:51 PM
Also picking up on Robins post, a lot of subjects have been thrashed to death ! Same subject subtle variants . For example I have been spending a lot of time on DIY audio looking for help on designing my CMOY , I don’t do any posts , most of the answers are in the search button. And besides, the subject has been thrashed into the ground. I expect now that a lot of members – lurkers – readers simply syphon off the required information because let’s face it, in most cases it’s complete. I have posted more off the topic threads than about CNC’s tbh. Mainly because I trust what people say on here. But in fact they do relate to my CNC work eventually.
So the difference between posts and threads and actual forum hits would be interesting to see as the “hits” are a measure of the quality of information, returning visitors , how long people spend on the forum are much bigger indicators of weather it’s doing its job as a repository for information and ideas.
As for the layout, I just bookmarked the forum start page.

Lee Roberts
16-07-2013, 03:14 PM
OK Lee said this loads of times so this time I'll write slowly so you can read it.

W E H A V E T H E S A M E I N F O A T T H E T O P O F T H E P A G E A S A T T H E S I D E R E S U L T I N G I N O N L Y 3 / 4 O F A P A G E S H O W I N G W H E N Y O U A R E P A S T T H E T O P S I D E B I T

W H Y D O W E N E E D T H E S A M E I N F O T W I C E , T O P O N I T 'S O W N I S F I N E

I've already explained why John in the other thread:

Because eventually the TOPSTATS on the forum home page that myself, you and a few others i know of like is going on the new design, so rather than remove it, first i have replicated what we get from it on the side bar, the idea was it would give people time to find what is in the side bar and adjust to using it.

The TOTSTATS is a 3rd party addon for vB and i dont want to support it anymore, it gives us nothing that isnt already here and the sidebar now has the same content, so its just extra queries and conflict for the new design for no reason.

Other than being a little over the 50 word optimal line length for reading print, i cant see anything wrong ?

.Me

When I said in the quote above "is going on the new design" I should have said "is being removed", with regards to vegetables I also said:

Sorry about that, I haven't had the time to build any custom modules for the side bar yet. Which would obviously extend the sidebar down the page more and add more feature to the overall page.

This is still true, I’ve been though quite a rough time over the last 8 months going from 17st down to 14st mostly fat loss but I’ve also got some muscle loss in my arms, I’ve now been diagnosed with an underactive active thyroid this can affect people differently with some putting weight on and others losing weight, there is quite a few other symptoms that go with it as well but to sum up (http://www.yourhormones.info/glands/thyroid_gland.aspx) "The thyroid gland produces hormones which regulate the body’s metabolic rate as well as heart and digestive function, muscle control, brain development and bone maintenance."

For me I’ve had major problems with my joints/bones (some would argue the brain as well lol), if I do any kind of physical work the next day I’m in allot of pain and have massive swelling/fluid on my joints, this is mainly on my wrists with it taking me 10 mins to get out of bed in the morning depending on me having a good day or not, some days even if I haven’t a good day the day before as soon as I put any weight on my skeleton it hurts.

This is quite difficult for me mentally because I’m naturally a very active and physical person with lots of things that need doing, one day I could be doing a job laying 2x2 slabs/flags for someone, another day I may be fitting a new stair case, you get the picture - I’m very handy with my hands or have been :(. Most of the problem seems to be with my wrists to the point where it hurts to brush my teeth let alone open a can of beans for the kid’s dinner. I'm saying this here because one day someone may read this and notice my symptoms as being the same as theirs, for me this has been a long progression so allot of it while quite bad now has been going on for some time but because it’s been over a long time I’ve got used to living with it rather than noticing something is wrong.

There are a couple of other ones that stand out more like depression and so on but I’m not going into that, though that one dose get me quite a bit, fed by things like not being able to allow my kids to jump on me and play because they can hurt me really easily. Anyway I’ve got another blood test next week to see if my thyroid has picked back up, I don’t think has because come 4pm I’m shafted and need to rest for a couple of hours while my dinner kicks in, I’m on 50mg at the moment and that has made me feel better in a few ways but like I say come 4 I’m no good to anyone and I’ve clearly still got a problem with my bones, I recon I need 150mg but who am I to say.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, today I’m having quite a good day, I could get out of bed this morning and the only really problem today is my right knee, my wrists are still goosed but they always are so far, when it was just my right wrist it wasn’t to bad but now it’s both. Bummer!

So yea with all this sun we've been having I’ve managed to catch up on a few jobs around my own house that need doing, this week has seen new accommodation for the hens being built, doing an hour or two in the evening.

Hoping to get the last bit done later today (the top bit that’s missing), the framing is just roofing battens with the two top bits being hinged to allow for access. The rest is from some pallets I got off the local wood yard, at the bottom you can see the base is now finally finished for what will be my 24x12ft home workshop/shed (2 ton of type one, 5 ton of sand and 100+ slabs later), not much to show I know but it’s an achievement for me at the moment and I've been doing other smaller jobs as well when I can.

The last school run is approaching so I need to wrap this up, in September my youngest starts school full time so I will have my days back to myself, I’m hoping after putting food on the table I can crack on with the work I have planned for the forum and the other sites, with a bit of luck they can give my wrists back (the rest I can live with) and so I will also be able to get the workshop built and then enjoy having my own cnc machine up and running (4ftx2ft cutting area) finally!

Until then you will just have to be patient with me because as I’ve said above, life is a bit of a struggle at the moment for me and mostly I’m just getting by doing what I need to everyday to keep things going for the house and family.

Sorry for going on for so long but I couldn’t see any other way of putting out there that would give you an idea, I’m not looking for sympathy I’m not that type of person, it’s also been nice to get it off my chest as well, so if you read all of this, thanks and sorry for the delay in going forward.

.Me

JAZZCNC
16-07-2013, 09:06 PM
Correlation doesn't imply causation, e.g decline in activity could just be due to the weather!

Having said that, I do think this layout is less convenient than the old one.

YES NUMBNUTS I've been around long enough to know this and was taken into consideration.!! . I've also been around enough forums to now a good layout that works compared to one that sucks.:thumbdown:


Sorry for going on for so long but I couldn’t see any other way of putting out there that would give you an idea, I’m not looking for sympathy I’m not that type of person, it’s also been nice to get it off my chest as well, so if you read all of this, thanks and sorry for the delay in going forward.

Very Sorry to hear this Lee and believe me having gone/going thru 2yrs of hell and heartache I fully understand and thou not seeking you have my deepest sympathy.
Now my dislikes are similar to John's.!! .. What's the point of that silly Bar done the side.? Adds or serves very little to viewing experience and takes 1/4 the screen and most of it is blank.
I don't need or want to see Active threads twice or who's online twice then a great big blank space all the way to bottom of page.
(On personal note some times I wish it didn't show I was Online has it can mean I get PM's/emails or phone calls from folks I've offered help seeing me online when all I've done is nipped on for a quick nosey.!! . . Little thing I know and my choice to offer/give details so not going to complain too much but still would be nice to be invisible at times.!! (Without having to LOG off.!!))

Adverts don't bother me too much and realise rent has to paid but it would be better if they could be located lower down not taking a good portion of the top of page. End of the day the point of these forums is to inform and let others communicate with like mined folks. . . . If we need a shopping channel we all know the place.! If we need to find something we all know the search engine to use.!

Now for me the best layout is the one with a large Recent activity or latest post's across top of first page with nothing but the MYCNC header and all activity for sizeable period of time not just 10 lines.
The silly side bar with active threads would be ok if it started at top of page was slightly wider and showed all active threads for long period, 10 is neither use nor ornament.!!
When I come on the forum I want to see whats happening and go to it quickly.! . . . If I have to go looking chances are I'm not going to bother and find another site that gives me what I want.
If I want a specific bit of information or find something relating to something I'm doing or planning then I'll happily go searching for it or use the relative category in the lower down portions of the forum to find it. . . . But the first contact should show me at glance all that's happened in any thread category, Lathe,mill, router etc for a good amount of time else other wise I'm bored and away to wind-up our American cousins on CNCzone. (Which by the way is far more cocked up than this site but yank bating is good fun when bored. . Lol)

So that's my take I just want to see what's happened or happening and see it quickly not search for it. The adds I can live with if kept sensible (Which compared to the Zone this sites fantastic for:applause: ) and from spoiling my first viewing experience IE Lower down.

That's it Rant over, best wishes and hope you get well soon.

John S
16-07-2013, 10:54 PM
Ditto with the best regards, sorry that's the best i can do. I don't do PC, H&S or sympathy :beer:

In your post you say you are strapped for time to develop the side bar.
So OK no one will think any worse of you to just drop it, it's duplicated after all and give the full screen over to the relevant posts.

Surely that will help short and long term ?

Web Goblin
17-07-2013, 06:10 AM
I agree mostly with Jazz and John on the layout and the sidebar, it just seems like a waste of space.
As for the googleads thing it only seems to happen on this site and from different computers, one is a works one and very secure.
Happened on the first page I viewed this morning.

9299

m.marino
17-07-2013, 08:59 AM
Lee, have you looked at Bing ads system instead of Google? It is your site and I respect that. When coming on the site I post past the front page with the thread stream and go straight to the forum home page which is basically the old front page plus side bar.

The reason that I suggest Bing Ads over Google is due to a few issues. There is a large group of folks that are leaving google ads due many different issues with not only the ads but also Google's logarithm for site information. No Bing is not perfect and has issues as well just not as bad as Google at present.

The blank side bar which I am looking at as I type this reply is lost space. Either a floating/scrolling ad space to use it better might be worth looking into. Yes I understand that web site design is very time intensive we run a few ourselves and keeping up with the law and information current and accurate is a PITA. My wife and I knew that it was going to be PITA and still swear at it daily when things go wrong. So good luck and I use the forum to help as able and when I need info I will ask. I will say that the older forum set up was easier to get to information and find out what folks where looking for and IF I could be of help.

Michael

Fivetide
17-07-2013, 12:58 PM
Lee , really sorry to hear about the illness, I do, do sympathy, as deep down I can empathize with your problem. Plus I think I’m still human. However I have to agree in part to some of the suggestions. I still adhere to the KISS methodology, Keep It Sodding Simple, for Simple Sodding People. There’s an information overload and space wastage, in my opinion people want to land on the forum not some vastly over populated informational sink.

craigrobbo
18-07-2013, 11:37 AM
I again would have to agree, I am not super active on here but much much less so now the changes have been implemented.
I will check back periodically to see when/if the original or better more useful forum is in place, but I will continue to have a reduced presence in the current state.

Craig

HankMcSpank
18-07-2013, 11:50 AM
In an age where everyone is worn out with folks not listening to them (especially governments who always seem to go against the populist view once voted in!), it'd be a brave forum owner that doesn't listen to his membership!

Now I realise that the ideals of owning & running a forum are not always in synchronicity with the ideals of the membership (few people actually run forums for love, but rather have an end goal - dosh), but without members, there is no forum, with no forum, there is no revenue... so I guess it's always going to be a case of push & see what you can get away with (just like taxes!), but clearly the recent changes are beginning to alienate folks.

John S
18-07-2013, 05:50 PM
I don't know about recent but I posted about the changes when these were first made

Lee has stated he's under pressure but the changes are all more work
Less work / pressure would have been to leave well alone

phill05
18-07-2013, 06:49 PM
I’ve been though quite a rough time over the last 8 months going from 17st down to 14st mostly fat loss but I’ve also got some muscle loss in my arms, I’ve now been diagnosed with an underactive active thyroid this can affect people differently with some putting weight on and others losing weight, there is quite a few other symptoms that go with it as well but to sum up (http://www.yourhormones.info/glands/thyroid_gland.aspx) "The thyroid gland produces hormones which regulate the body’s metabolic rate as well as heart and digestive function, muscle control, brain development and bone maintenance."

For me I’ve had major problems with my joints/bones (some would argue the brain as well lol), if I do any kind of physical work the next day I’m in allot of pain and have massive swelling/fluid on my joints, this is mainly on my wrists with it taking me 10 mins to get out of bed in the morning depending on me having a good day or not, some days even if I haven’t a good day the day before as soon as I put any weight on my skeleton it hurts.

This is quite difficult for me mentally because I’m naturally a very active and physical person with lots of things that need doing, one day I could be doing a job laying 2x2 slabs/flags for someone, another day I may be fitting a new stair case, you get the picture - I’m very handy with my hands or have been :(. Most of the problem seems to be with my wrists to the point where it hurts to brush my teeth let alone open a can of beans for the kid’s dinner. I'm saying this here because one day someone may read this and notice my symptoms as being the same as theirs, for me this has been a long progression so allot of it while quite bad now has been going on for some time but because it’s been over a long time I’ve got used to living with it rather than noticing something is wrong.

There are a couple of other ones that stand out more like depression and so on but I’m not going into that, though that one dose get me quite a bit, fed by things like not being able to allow my kids to jump on me and play because they can hurt me really easily. Anyway I’ve got another blood test next week to see if my thyroid has picked back up, I don’t think has because come 4pm I’m shafted and need to rest for a couple of hours while my dinner kicks in, I’m on 50mg at the moment and that has made me feel better in a few ways but like I say come 4 I’m no good to anyone and I’ve clearly still got a problem with my bones, I recon I need 150mg but who am I to say.

It’s not all doom and gloom though, today I’m having quite a good day, I could get out of bed this morning and the only really problem today is my right knee, my wrists are still goosed but they always are so far, when it was just my right wrist it wasn’t to bad but now it’s both. Bummer!

So yea with all this sun we've been having I’ve managed to catch up on a few jobs around my own house that need doing, this week has seen new accommodation for the hens being built, doing an hour or two in the evening.

Hoping to get the last bit done later today (the top bit that’s missing), the framing is just roofing battens with the two top bits being hinged to allow for access. The rest is from some pallets I got off the local wood yard, at the bottom you can see the base is now finally finished for what will be my 24x12ft home workshop/shed (2 ton of type one, 5 ton of sand and 100+ slabs later), not much to show I know but it’s an achievement for me at the moment and I've been doing other smaller jobs as well when I can.

The last school run is approaching so I need to wrap this up, in September my youngest starts school full time so I will have my days back to myself, I’m hoping after putting food on the table I can crack on with the work I have planned for the forum and the other sites, with a bit of luck they can give my wrists back (the rest I can live with) and so I will also be able to get the workshop built and then enjoy having my own cnc machine up and running (4ftx2ft cutting area) finally!

Until then you will just have to be patient with me because as I’ve said above, life is a bit of a struggle at the moment for me and mostly I’m just getting by doing what I need to everyday to keep things going for the house and family.

Sorry for going on for so long but I couldn’t see any other way of putting out there that would give you an idea, I’m not looking for sympathy I’m not that type of person, it’s also been nice to get it off my chest as well, so if you read all of this, thanks and sorry for the delay in going forward.

.Me

Oh dear, It makes me so sad to hear anyone pour their heart out on such an emotive subject as a reason for not getting work done.

Being disabled myself 20+ years I know what it's like and I'm still working and I don't moan about it.
Sorry Lee you hit a sore spot.

me2

Rogue
31-07-2013, 08:05 PM
Oh dear, It makes me so sad to hear anyone pour their heart out on such an emotive subject as a reason for not getting work done.

Being disabled myself 20+ years I know what it's like and I'm still working and I don't moan about it.
Sorry Lee you hit a sore spot.

me2

In fairness, you've had 20 years experience of adjusting. The transition phase can be physically, mentally and emotionally draining on anyone. I've dealt with plenty of people in that situation; some bounce back into a positive mindset and approach more quickly than others.

I've always had a lot of respect for Irving2008 since joining the board, but the way he posts about facing current challenges is both pretty inspirational and pretty rare. Everyone deals with things in their own way, don't complain when someone doesn't act like a superhero.

Back on topic, though, the change still doesn't sit well with me though I couldn't exactly describe why. The activity stream is fairly redundant considering the active thread list in the right hand bar.

Lee Roberts
22-01-2014, 11:14 PM
Re: My Health

Thank you to those of you who have shown concern towards the things I talked about in my last post here, as promised you can find an update below. If I have offended any one by talking about myself, then I apologise as it was not intentional.

So I’ve been for all the tests they want to do, been bounced around the system and finally have some of the answers as to "what’s up" with me.

Turns out I have psoriasis; this triggered the next revelation "psoriatic arthritis". While all this has been going on it turns out I’ve also had an underactive thyroid, we knew this when I last posted on this thread but things have become clearer now, I think I’ve had this since I was about 18 as I’ve always been 5ft 11 and 17 1/2 stone with no real explanation for it. They say I should be between 9 1/2 to 12 1/2 stone, what they are saying is that because my thyroid has been under active I’ve put all that weight on but now that the med’s are bringing my thyroid back into balance its reversing the effect and accounts for the weight loss. So that is a positive thing to happen at least, though there is more on the weight loss, continued below.

The thyroid thing is great I’ve never felt better lol; I’m currently 13 stone 7, gone down from a 38" waste to a 34. The sad news is though, I’ve got allot of upper body muscle loss mostly in my arms and shoulders. My knee is still quite bad and shot at, I’ve got quite a bit of muscle loss in my upper right leg as well, I think allot of the loss has come from not being able to use parts of my body because of the pain. I’ve always been a lump don’t get me wrong but I’ve always been a strong lump and a very able person when it has come to physical things. You know when you see that guy? who grabs a washing machine out the back of a transit?, chucks it up onto his shoulder and “boy’s-it-off” till he gets to the front door, well that used to me.

Let’s talk about pain.
I tried to live with it as much as I could, however it got to the point where I couldn’t even turn over in bed without extreme pain in my upper body, shoulders, my collar bone more than anything, it was like being hit with a hammer, right on the end of my collar bone. I did a little test with pain killers and it turned out that pain was right in my shoulder but had an echoing effect on my collar bone that made it feel like it was in my collar bone.

Anyway I had to give in, everything was shutting down and I was really starting to struggle. It’s weird because what I noticed was, say like I needed to go and drain the “bishop”, one part of my brain was saying “go on then, off you go” while another part was actually overriding those thoughts and telling me not to get up because it was going to hurt, I would find myself sat there, talking to myself mentally, I can see the funny side of it now but my Mrs came in a few times and asked me what I was doing, lol, I would have a slight rocking motion about me and would be staring at nothing.

After a few times I noticed myself what was going on, what I was doing, I was building up the courage to actually just get up and face the music, so then I just started overriding those thoughts and said no, get up, you’ve got to. Mind Games!

It’s a bit crazy really when you look at it, things like going to the loo or getting up to walk across the living room to the table at dinner time, are normally just spontaneous actions that you do without even thinking about it. It’s a real eye opener to what we sometimes take for granted and what others go through, day in, day out.

So anyway, much to my disliking I went to the doctors and started taking pain killers 3 times a day, 1200mg a day, this helped no end and I’ve been able to relax a little since.

My current situation.
Since the 4th I’ve now started my medication for the arthritis, they said that it will take a good 3 months for these meds to start working as although they are very powerful they take this long to start showing signs of working. Overall I’ve received a decent service, I did need to make two phone calls to get the ball rolling with regards to the arthritis meds, I was waiting for the specialist nurse to send me an appointment, however 5 weeks past the original quote of 8 weeks max, I felt it was time to give them a push, two weeks later I had my appointment and was starting the meds.

Basically the things I have wrong with me are all classed under the same umbrella; they are Autoimmune Diseases, from the wiki: “are the result from an abnormal immune response of the body against substances and tissues normally present in the body (autoimmunity). The treatment of autoimmune diseases is typically with immunosuppression—medication that decreases the immune response”.

There are a little over 100 different types of autoimmune disease, since finding out what is wrong with me I’ve been doing allot of reading up, I’m currently working my way through a book called “The Immune System Recovery Plan (http://www.immuneprogram.com/)”, it’s by a lady doctor in the USA called Susan Blum. Susan has also suffered from autoimmune diseases herself, is lucky enough to be in a position to make a difference and also practises something called Functional Medicine.

If your remotely interested then get the book (I won’t spoil it for you here) because it is worth the read, even if you don’t have anything wrong with you at the moment, that you know of, it points out some interesting things about the food we eat and the body’s reaction to that information.

One short explanation to allot of the autoimmune diseases we know about is something called “leaky gut syndrome”, what Susan explains in the books is that many symptoms and diseases are caused by the immune system reacting to germs, toxins or other molecules that have been absorbed into the bloodstream via a porous bowel. In her book she gives many examples of how Functional Medicine helped to fix a wide array of problems in different people, she also talks about the current medical system and medicine. Something that I can say is true, is that, out of the handful of people I’ve been to see (doctors and so on) NOT ONE of them has asked the question WHAT IS THE CAUSE of the problems I have, true to what she talks about in the book, they have all diagnosed my SYMTOMS and true to form prescribed medication to deal with those symptoms, the problem with such medicines is that they don’t fix the REAL problem.

So coming back to my arthritis problem (as it’s the biggest for me at the moment), the med’s they have put me on for this are actually going to start suppressing my immune system. Hang on a minute! how can suppressing my immune system fix the CAUSE of my problem? How is it right that you would shut down a MAJOR function in the body, more concerning the one of the single most important assets the body has for defence...

The answer is, it WON’T “fix” my problem of psoriatic arthritis. When you think about it, above they told us that, it will take about 3 months for the effects of the meds to really show signs of “working?”, is that because shutting down/suppressing the immune system is actually quite an extreme thing to do?.

I’m taking the meds they have given me; however I am also getting ready to start an elimination diet. This diet will see me removing the different types of food categories from my diet, then after 3 weeks I will slowly be introducing them back in, one at a time. This will allow me to monitor my reaction to things like dairy, I will be looking at how my body reacts, how some food information makes me feel and so on.

If we pop back to my thyroid problem for a second or two, as you probably know, food contains protein, unfortunately for my thyroid and when the immune system is over active, the immune system can also start attacking the body and one of the things it can attack, is the thyroid. It does this because your thyroid also contains protein, it’s not quite the same protein but when the immune system is on such “high alert”, those proteins look the same, the result can be that it starts to attack the thyroid because it “thinks” it is a foreign object in the body.

We can’t blame it, that is the purpose of the immune system, what we can do though, is reduce the amount of nasty’s sneaking through the gut wall, giving the immune system a chance to calm down and relax.

From most of the above, you should now be able to see how my problems may be connected to the same cause, eventually the hope is that I will identify what food is no good for me and remove it from my diet and begin repairing my leaky gut problem. I am hoping that I can use the meds to suppress my immune system enough that life is better for me in the short term but also while I do the “self discovery” thing regarding the food and elimination diet. Eventually I hope that my body will be able to cope with my conditions on its own and that I won’t need to spend the rest of my life on pain killers and suppressive medicines developed in the 19th century.

At this moment in time, I feel better than I have for awhile now. Although they said the meds for the arthritis won’t act as a pain killer, since I started taking them on the 4th, I’ve only needed to take one 500mg tablet of pain killer since then, clearly this medicine has started to help me already even though I’m not at the full dosage yet (slow build up each week, for 4 weeks). This great because I really didn’t want to be on painkillers, there is somewhat of a match between when things started to go “wrong” for me and a time in my life when I was taking pain killers for something else, for many weeks. I don’t know for sure but I think taking the pain killers at that time may have been the cause of my leaky gut, as pain killers are known to strip the lining of your stomach and so on.

So I am in a better place now, true, my journey has only just begun, however it will be one that changes my life for good and forever.

Thanks,
Lee

EddyCurrent
23-01-2014, 10:08 AM
Lee,
I'm being absolutely serious here, watch this video then live Paleo. I've been on this route for over a year now and will continue with it for as long as I live. My blood has come better and I'm not in constant joint pain any more. Wheat is the biggest cause for joint pain and many athletes now avoid it.

Unfortunately when people see the word 'diet' they think 'weight loss' but in this case it means 'the stuff you eat'


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52A3ayfxfTs

Lee Roberts
03-02-2014, 11:46 PM
Hi Eddy, thought i had replied to this one...

O i know all about Wheat, Gluten being the real one we should all know about!

I watched the video shortly after you posted, all the way through, the same day me and the Mrs said ok no more Milk, since then we've been on almond and coconut milk. Its handy because the kids love it as well so that was no trouble, I also ordered his book as well, not started that one yet as i'm currently working my way through another 4 books at the same time (I alternate), but i do look forward to reading it and trying some of the recipes.

It was intresting to hear about the fat + sugar detail as well, generally I thought the whole thing was intresting, so thanks for sharing.

Been busy the last few days playing catch-up on all the smaller jobs i've let slip over the last few months, it's been nice to actually get my tools out and do some stuff, infact i've also had all the bits for my cnc machine out in the kitchen today, maybe one day this summer they will become "a machine of production" lol.

Been on these meds 4 weeks now, so will hopfully start seeing some noticeable differences.

:beer:

.Me

EddyCurrent
04-02-2014, 11:26 AM
Lee, I'm very pleased you have seen something that might be beneficial, if you keep to the foods he says for a month you will definitely see and feel a difference. I started on cocounut milk but now I don't bother with any kind of milk whatsoever.

This is my main book
The Primal Blueprint: Reprogramme your genes for effortless weight loss, vibrant health and boundless energy: Amazon.co.uk: Mark Sisson: Books (http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Primal-Blueprint-Reprogramme-effortless/dp/0091947839/ref=sr_1_1/275-0979060-0301468?ie=UTF8&qid=1391509222&sr=8-1&keywords=the+primal+blueprint)

And this is his website, if you need Paleo advice on any food type this is one of the best places to search for it.
Mark's Daily Apple (http://www.marksdailyapple.com)