Articles for author: Marjorie

Ancient Egyptian painting of women dancing and playing instruments.

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.

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 ...

An annoyed woman under dark stormclouds.

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, ...

Marjorie

Two people shine a searchlight up into Godzilla's face.

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 ...

Marjorie

19th-century-style apothecary shelves full of bottles.

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 ...

Marjorie

A series of pink waterfalls cascade down a mountain.

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. ...

Marjorie

Three brass bells.

GABA, GABA, GABA, hey the ringing’s not so bad anymore

In this post about tinnitus I referred to a report linking low GABA levels and tinnitus, and then forgot about until I tried it for sleep. I used GABA supplements for nine months or so, in two different formulations, for sleep issues. The first time I tried plain old GABA, in maybe a 1,000 mg ...