I was having terrible mac problems for unknown reasons, b...

I was having terrible mac problems for unknown reasons, but finally tried uninsatalling creative cloud, and so far things are working way better. The first clue that CC was causing problems was that after I uninstalled it, a problem I had with images not loading in Safari on one specific platform (Canvas Learning Management System)...that problem immediately resolved once CC was removed.

What's tricky is figuring out how to keep Adobe programs without having CC, since if you download PS, you will find you have also downloaded CC without asking to (presumably it works that way whatever Adobe program you donwload). But Adobe does provide a way. After using CC to install all the programs you need, go to https://helpx.adobe.com/creative-cloud/help/uninstall-creative-cloud-desktop-app.html

and follow instructions to download and run the CC uninstaller. The uninstaller you already have that came with CC (found in applications or utilities folder) will not work because it will force you to uninstall all Adobe programs before you can uninstall CC. But the other method, linked to above, will let you get rid of CC without touching other programs.

Even after running that alternate uninstaller, I found some stuff in my applications or utilities folder with the CC logo. ("Core sync" and "ccx process"). Trashed those. Started the mac in recovery mode and reinstalled OS. Much improvement since.