Thanks for all this advice. I do seem allergic to pesticides but only a few perfumes. I don't wear perfume. I guess that is a good thing after reading some of your suggested links. However maybe you have more advice.

These past two weeks have been bad for me. I found out I have gum disease. I had some dental surgery and I will have to have gum surgery or risk losing more teeth. I went to the doctors and had some tests done. I found out I have arthritis in both of my knees (pretty bad) and I have been put on medication for both of these ailments, and need to wear knee braces and go to a physical therapists on a regular basis.

Because of Sally Field's campaign I had myself tested last week for osteoperosis, a silent disease. I found out today it seems I have a small case of this. I will know tomorrow more, but it seems another perscription is involved. I have never gone to a doctor except when I was pregnant. I have been pretty healthy all my life. Now suddenly I seem to be a pill popper and falling apart. I suspected the arthritis for several years. In this warm weather I actually can feel okay as long as I am not in air conditioning, but when it is about to rain or it is cold I feel almost like a cripple. This past winter it became both knees. I love to walk and I noticed on somedays I could not do this. I find the hardest thing is stairs. I live in a two story house and it is hard for me to keep going up and down. When I do my family's laundry I found I started placing folded clothes at the bottom of the stairs because I didn't have the energy to go up the stairs and put them away in my kid's rooms. I started asking my husband to drop me off at the door if we went to visit someone or went out to eat restaurant before he parked the car to avoid walking and to get the car to pick me up at the end of the evening. He teased me for being so lazy but now it makes sense. This summer it has rained alot and my knees are really shot. I plan to do some research on this to see what choices I have. I do love to swim and it seems this is not a harmful exercise for my knees.
I think I may also have them in my elbows. My arms feel so heavy. I feel like the tin man in Wizard of Oz who needs to be oiled. My doctor said in 2 weeks he will xray my elbows. Since I play the piano and love to type e-mails and journals I am concerned about my arms. I feel like suddenly I am an old person with all these ailments and complaints. My son cheered me up. He got me speakers for my computer (he had stolen mine when he got his new computer in April) I forgot how nice it is to hear music while I work. It is improving my mood. I have quite a collection thanks to my friends, the cd's I check out of the library and my daughter who works in New England Conservatory library in Boston.

Next week I plan to go to gynecologists. This is another things I have postponed for too long. Hopefully it won't be as bad as the dentist. Ouch!