diff --git a/.env.backup b/.env.backup
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4bd5a5f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.env.backup
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+GO_ENV=development
+DASHBOARD_URL=http://localhost:3000
+JWT_SECRET_KEY=test-secret-key
+GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID=483085235984-jng6gvp1r4olkb6jap8sct98bgh36b9k.apps.googleusercontent.com
+GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET=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
+BACKEND_URL=http://localhost:8080
diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 4f509e5..e7c4412 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -1 +1,2 @@
-*.env
\ No newline at end of file
+*.env
+tmp/
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/db/db.go b/db/db.go
index 058446f..39435e1 100644
--- a/db/db.go
+++ b/db/db.go
@@ -8,20 +8,13 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	_ "github.com/go-sql-driver/mysql"
-	"github.com/joho/godotenv"
 )
 
 // DB is the global database connection pool
 var DB *sql.DB
 
 func InitDB() (*sql.DB, error) {
-	// Load environment variables from .env file
-	err := godotenv.Load()
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error loading .env file: %v", err)
-	}
-
-	// Get connection details from environment variables
+	// Get connection details from environment variables (loaded in main)
 	connStr := fmt.Sprintf("%s:%s@tcp(%s:%s)/%s?parseTime=true",
 		os.Getenv("DB_USER"),
 		os.Getenv("DB_PASSWORD"),
@@ -31,6 +24,7 @@ func InitDB() (*sql.DB, error) {
 	)
 
 	// Open the database connection
+	var err error
 	DB, err = sql.Open("mysql", connStr)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("error opening database: %v", err)
diff --git a/handlers/google_auth.go b/handlers/google_auth.go
index 0febf24..854bbe5 100644
--- a/handlers/google_auth.go
+++ b/handlers/google_auth.go
@@ -20,8 +20,8 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5"
-
 	"github.com/joho/godotenv"
+
 	"golang.org/x/oauth2"
 	"golang.org/x/oauth2/google"
 )
@@ -32,17 +32,33 @@ var DashboardBaseURL string
 
 // init initializes the Google OAuth2 configuration by loading environment variables
 // from a .env file. If the .env file cannot be loaded, it logs a fatal error.
+// Note: This init runs AFTER .env is loaded in main() init
+// But we need to load .env here too since init order is package-based
 func init() {
+	cwd, _ := os.Getwd()
+	log.Printf("[google_auth.init] Current working directory: %s", cwd)
+	
 	err := godotenv.Load()
 	if err != nil {
-		helper.LogError(err, "Error loading .env file")
-		log.Fatalf("Error loading .env file: %v", err)
+		log.Printf("[google_auth.init] Failed to load .env: %v, trying .env explicitly", err)
+		err = godotenv.Load(".env")
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Printf("[google_auth.init] Failed to load .env explicitly: %v", err)
+		}
 	}
+	
+	clientID := os.Getenv("GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID")
+	clientSecret := os.Getenv("GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET")
+	backendURL := os.Getenv("BACKEND_URL")
+	
+	log.Printf("[google_auth.init] GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID: '%s' (length: %d)", clientID, len(clientID))
+	log.Printf("[google_auth.init] GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET: '%s' (length: %d)", clientSecret, len(clientSecret))
+	log.Printf("[google_auth.init] BACKEND_URL: '%s'", backendURL)
 
 	googleOauthConfig = oauth2.Config{
-		ClientID:     os.Getenv("GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID"),
-		ClientSecret: os.Getenv("GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET"),
-		RedirectURL:  fmt.Sprintf("%s/v1/auth/callback", os.Getenv("BACKEND_URL")),
+		ClientID:     clientID,
+		ClientSecret: clientSecret,
+		RedirectURL:  fmt.Sprintf("%s/v1/auth/callback", backendURL),
 		Scopes: []string{
 			"https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.email",
 			"https://www.googleapis.com/auth/userinfo.profile",
@@ -51,13 +67,11 @@ func init() {
 	}
 
 	if googleOauthConfig.ClientID == "" {
-		helper.LogError(errors.New("GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID is not set"), "GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID is not set in environment variables")
-		log.Fatalf("GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID is not set in environment variables")
+		log.Fatal("GOOGLE_CLIENT_ID is not set in environment variables")
 	}
 
 	if googleOauthConfig.ClientSecret == "" {
-		helper.LogError(errors.New("GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET is not set"), "GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET is not set in environment variables")
-		log.Fatalf("GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET is not set in environment variables")
+		log.Fatal("GOOGLE_CLIENT_SECRET is not set in environment variables")
 	}
 
 	DashboardBaseURL = os.Getenv("DASHBOARD_URL")
diff --git a/handlers/jwt.go b/handlers/jwt.go
index e3803d6..91db13b 100644
--- a/handlers/jwt.go
+++ b/handlers/jwt.go
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@ import (
 	"time"
 
 	"github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5"
-	"github.com/joho/godotenv"
 )
 
 var jwtSecretKey []byte
@@ -23,15 +22,11 @@ var jwtSecretKey []byte
 // init initializes the JWT secret key by loading environment variables from a .env file.
 // If the .env file cannot be loaded, it logs an error message.
 // If the JWT_SECRET_KEY is not set in the .env file, it logs a warning message.
+// Note: .env file is loaded in main() before this init runs
 func init() {
-	err := godotenv.Load()
-	if err != nil {
-		helper.LogError(err, "Error loading .env file")
-	}
-
 	jwtSecretKey = []byte(os.Getenv("JWT_SECRET_KEY"))
 	if len(jwtSecretKey) == 0 {
-		helper.LogError(nil, "JWT_SECRET_KEY not set in .env file")
+		log.Fatal("JWT_SECRET_KEY not set in environment variables")
 	}
 }
 
@@ -814,5 +809,3 @@ func CheckEmailInDB(email string) (bool, error) {
 	}
 	return exists, nil
 }
-
-
diff --git a/main.go b/main.go
index bf969e7..e0edcb4 100644
--- a/main.go
+++ b/main.go
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/getsentry/sentry-go"
 	"github.com/gorilla/mux"
+	"github.com/joho/godotenv"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus"
 	"github.com/prometheus/client_golang/prometheus/promhttp"
 	"github.com/rs/cors"
@@ -152,8 +153,28 @@ func allowOnlyGrafana(next http.Handler, allowedIP string) http.Handler {
 }
 
 func main() {
-	// Initialize Sentry
+	// Load environment variables from .env file first
+	// Get current working directory for debugging
+	cwd, _ := os.Getwd()
+	log.Printf("Current working directory: %s", cwd)
+
+	err := godotenv.Load()
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Printf("ERROR: Failed to load .env file from default location: %v", err)
+		// Try with explicit path
+		err = godotenv.Load(".env")
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Fatalf("FATAL: Could not load .env file: %v. Tried paths: default and ./.env", err)
+		}
+		log.Println(".env file loaded successfully from ./.env")
+	} else {
+		log.Println(".env file loaded successfully")
+	}
+
+	// Verify GO_ENV is loaded
 	goEnv := os.Getenv("GO_ENV")
+	log.Printf("GO_ENV value after loading .env: '%s'", goEnv)
+
 	if goEnv == "" {
 		log.Fatal("GO_ENV is not set in main. Please set the GO_ENV environment variable.")
 	}
@@ -163,7 +184,7 @@ func main() {
 		log.Fatal("Sentry DSN is not set. Please set the DSN environment variable.")
 	}
 
-	err := sentry.Init(sentry.ClientOptions{
+	err = sentry.Init(sentry.ClientOptions{
 		Dsn:              os.Getenv("DSN"),
 		TracesSampleRate: 1.0,
 		Environment:      goEnv,
@@ -223,4 +244,3 @@ func main() {
 	}
 	log.Fatal(server.ListenAndServe())
 }
-
diff --git a/middleware/jwt.go b/middleware/jwt.go
index 2993c62..cb584ee 100644
--- a/middleware/jwt.go
+++ b/middleware/jwt.go
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ import (
 	"authentication/redisclient"
 
 	"github.com/golang-jwt/jwt/v5"
-	"github.com/joho/godotenv"
 )
 
 var (
@@ -26,13 +25,6 @@ var (
 	Mu        sync.Mutex
 )
 
-func init() {
-	err := godotenv.Load()
-	if err != nil {
-		helper.LogWarn("Warning: Could not load .env file, using system environment variables.")
-	}
-}
-
 func JWTMiddleware(next http.Handler) http.Handler {
 	return http.HandlerFunc(func(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
 		authHeader := r.Header.Get("Authorization")
diff --git a/services/access_log.go b/services/access_log.go
index 3ac7757..7e6cb70 100644
--- a/services/access_log.go
+++ b/services/access_log.go
@@ -8,14 +8,13 @@ import (
 func InsertAccessLogLogin(log models.UserAccessLog) error {
 	query := `INSERT INTO access_log (
 					user_id,
-					participant_id,
 					activity_type,
 					ip_address,
 					field_updated,
 					time)
-				VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?, ?)`
+				VALUES (?, ?, ?, ?, ?)`
 
-	_, err := db.DB.Exec(query, log.UserID, log.ParticipantID, log.ActivityType, log.IPAddress, log.FieldUpdated, log.Time)
+	_, err := db.DB.Exec(query, log.UserID, log.ActivityType, log.IPAddress, log.FieldUpdated, log.Time)
 	return err
 }
 
diff --git a/services/users.go b/services/users.go
index de85e3e..084f065 100644
--- a/services/users.go
+++ b/services/users.go
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import (
 
 func GetUser(email string) (string, *string, *string, string, error) {
 	log.Print(email)
-	query := `SELECT id, first_name, last_name, email_address FROM users WHERE email_address = ? AND is_deleted = 0 LIMIT 1;`
+	query := `SELECT user_id, first_name, last_name, email_address FROM users WHERE email_address = ? AND is_deleted = 0 LIMIT 1;`
 	var id string
 	var firstName *string
 	var lastName *string
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ func GetUser(email string) (string, *string, *string, string, error) {
 
 func GetUserID(email string) (string, error) {
 	log.Print(email)
-	query := `SELECT id, FROM users WHERE email_address = ? AND is_deleted = 0 LIMIT 1;`
+	query := `SELECT user_id, FROM users WHERE email_address = ? AND is_deleted = 0 LIMIT 1;`
 	var id string
 	err := db.DB.QueryRow(query, email).Scan(&id)
 	if err != nil {
@@ -43,9 +43,9 @@ func CheckEmailInDB(email string) (bool, error) {
 
 func GetUserIDFromEmail(email string) (string, error) {
 	log.Print(email)
-	query := `SELECT id
+	query := `SELECT user_id
 				FROM (
-					SELECT id, 1 AS priority
+					SELECT user_id, 1 AS priority
 					FROM users
 					WHERE email_address = ?
 					AND is_deleted = 0