I'm glad I was able to lend you some hope, Tara 
Being all-round more improved is great way of putting it.
I'm loving this community and this journey. A year ago, I was all but without hope of ever feeling well (if not without pain; life has a lot of different kinds of pain) and feeling my old, hippie self again, and not ashamed to admit it. We are what life makes us, not what "normal" people think we should be.
peace and love
I am 50 years old and want to give my wisdom. Live your life for you... look how you want... dress how you want... be who you want to be. Who the fuck cares who looks down on you, people who do that do not count in my books, I don't care what they think. Your life, your choices. If you want to have a happy life, then be yourself always. Hey, beat to a different drum if you want, if you have fun doing it then do it....
I know that you restarted your journey, but just wanted to pass on my wisdom for anything you do. Do good things and do it in your own style, beat that drum and have a blast......peace
Thank you both for encouragement and wisdom.
The weird thing is, I started again last Saturday . . . today is Monday, and I woke up looking like I've had more progress over the weekend than I did over those eight days before I gave in to the comb. (that comb is in the rubbish bin right now, btw) Probably not as much progress, but it's like my locks have a memory and the sections are forming again after just a couple of days, and the kicker is that my locs are section more on top than before I relapsed.
My locs feel spiritual to me, and I know they are blessed already. That feels really good.
