...and have otherwise been given a bit of a bad rap over, Making me MAD as a hatter (like Alfred E Newman, whose permanent demise, as of today evidently, is pretty much 'well-nigh')? No, not at all...and neither a hyperventilatin' hypochondriac!

Indeed, after much (emotional and verbal) 'pressure' - juxtaposed over against my own simple refusal and utter unwillingness to just 'shut up and be silent', and 'accept' I'm some sort of '*raving nutter'...

...my insistence finally, ultimately 'paid off'...in a flurry of diagnostic (I believe's the word) tests and exams (over a period of weeks and months back in 2009)...

...and 'hey, presto', guess what, folks?

Yep, I did indeed have coeliac's disease...and 'osteomalacia' [osteopenia], a species of osteoporosis as a matter of fact...something only supposed to afflict 'lil ole ladies' and the like...

Yet over the interval - and all these years (a full decade even) since - has that changed in any appreciable way, shape or form, the attitude of ye ole medical establishment towards Yours Truly?

*No - again, you guessed correctly - not on yer nelly!

*As gleaned from a perusal of extensive notetaking by one particular health centre I frequented over recent years...who evidently regarded me as about as ravin' a nutter as they'd ever encountered.
*I was once even dubbed "Rave-id" by a sometime friend...

...and you weren't afraid to ask me about...

Necessary Disclaimer/Caveat:

This is not at all, in any way, shape or form, a claim to (conventional, orthodox - God forbid!) medical knowledge...and/or 'answers'/solutions to peoples' psychological/physical problems, ailments, aches, pains and/or other distresses...

...and so I accept no whit even of potential responsibility, much less liability - whether legal or 'merely' moral/ethical - for how (presumably sensible and generally well-informed) people utilize or employ any knowledge contained or provided herein...

Nonetheless I'd wager that (at least frequent and regular) users thereof will profit thereby (if not in a (necessarily) pecuniary way as such)...especially insofar as they may thereby avoid unnecessary and fruitless alternative 'measures' which at times tend to deplete one's resources (in various ways).

Though lacking in any medical background and/or training whatsoever, I submit that my diploma in lifestyle education (as a 'lifestyle educator) gained whilst studying and working (including as a nurse aide) at a private hospital cum lifestyle centre in the U S of A 25-some years ago now...does stand me in somewhat better stead, arguably, than 'ye average punter', to have an informed opinion and ability to size up and evaluate such matters as I'll see fit to include or comment upon in due course...

...I've learnt from three essential sources: the writings of Ellen G White, those of renowned nutritionist Adele Davis...and last but by no means least, the lifetime/lifelong example of my dearly beloved Granny ("Grandma Billie") - who passed away 22 years ago to this very day, and pretty well hour...

N.B. This is not '6/27/19, 11.50 PM, Pacific Daylight Time'...but 6.50 p.m., June 28th, kiwi time!
(Saturday eve, July 6th) Sure, now you've changed your tune, Bloggerville, but at the outset (and up until some fancy blogwork this evening by me, myself and I), you steadfastly persisted in characterizing the time in terms of standard (U.S.) Eastern seaboard time, as per the American states of California, Oregon and Washington...

...which might not ordinarily matter one whit, but seeing as my decision to start posting the very evening of my beloved Granny's demise 22 years earlier (and almost to the very hour, I suppose), the  mis-cited timing made/makes all the difference in the world to me, and so was/is not a mere matter of el usual (melancholic temperamental) pedantry...

Addendum (to blogpost title): ...and yes, but of course, my own (rather extensive, complex and ever fraught) lifetime experience.

(Apologies also for the italics throughout this section, but until I also master how to 'override' such - i.e. to revert (most of it, anyhow) to regular font...that is, after the fact (of already italicizing it all), I'll no doubt leave all the above as is.)