Menorrhagia, meet methionine
After a disastrous niacin self experiment made me suspect that my liver is a shadow of its former self, I experimented with a selection of OTC supplements frequently mentioned in discussion forums on liver damage.
Articles for author: Marjorie
Perfume therapy
(Updated April 2023.) After reading Alyssa Harad’s Coming to My Senses, about her discovery of perfume, I was inspired to set forth my own approach toward arming oneself against the world with scent. I rank perfume up there with recorded music and books when it comes to tools for mental health.
Epic fail with the niacinamide experiment
(Updated April 2023.) Niacinamide was the culprit behind my third self-induced toxicity incident, the first two being vitamin A and vitamin B2.
What you might not know about liver damage
(Updated April 2024.) In 2014, out of frustration at the lack of progress about some stubborn health issues, I started revisiting previously abandoned theories about their causes, including liver damage. Usually I would abandon a theory due to insufficient information on the topic, insufficient confirmation because of lack of access to decent testing facilities, or ...
Chronic illness and “nice” people
(Updated April 2024.) In 2013 I began thinking again about a phenomenon I first experienced at the nadir of my health woes in my early thirties, and several times since. I wondered briefly about it each time it happened, but was too beleaguered and distracted to dwell on it. On several occasions I developed noticeable, ...
Bright light therapy requirements changing over time
(Updated April 2024.) I’ve mentioned this in passing a few times on the site — the exposure length and timing of the bright light therapy I use to control carb cravings, insomnia, low mood, and zombie brain changes over the years. I used to need it only from October to April, for 30 minutes, and ...
Weird niacin deficiency symptom: perceptual changes
Recently I came across a discussion forum referring to the use of niacin for social anxiety at multi-gram doses. One commenter mentioned that based on her experience, either niacin has to be repleted in much larger amounts than commonly believed, or plays a much more important role in the diet. Or both. This intrigued me. ...
Seven things I’ve learned from chronic, undiagnosed illness
During the years I was figuring out the celiac-nutritional deficiencies-liver damage thang, I had a few revelations that probably otherwise wouldn’t have been visited unto me until later in life. Several of these were a result of aphasia episodes, wherein my speech became slow and halting and would occasionally just stop mid-sentence. 1. People listen ...
Look up and report Rx drug side effects online
In the past few years several consumer-driven databases have sprung up that allow you to look up and report side effects to prescription drugs. The FDA’s method of collecting and reporting side effects is slow and inefficient and relies mostly on doctors’ reports of patient complaints. Apparently doctors tend to report only “medically serious” complaints ...
Six months using a sea sponge tampon alternative
Please, Lord, don’t let me accidentally post this on my writing client’s WordPress account, or 5,000 muscle car owners in Texas will get a nasty shock. In addition to the Niagarrhagia I documented last year, I’ve also been plagued by steadily increasing pain during my periods that started to get distracting a few years ago. ...
