This one, that someone on here on the forums recommended: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JVYT4JE/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 When I do just one capsule a day, which is 250 mg (currently in the morning), the dry mouth is noticeable but not awful. I was trying to slowly increase the dose, but maybe I should just stick with one and see if it helps.

I generally do about 4 ounces of cranberry juice in a 16 ounce glass with the rest ice and water. I get mild UTIs so the cranberry helps.

I ordered some of this to give it a try. Thank you.

We almost did something similar. We were planning to do a complete tear-down/rebuild but if we left even a 6x6 foot section of the concrete slab, which could be covered up or be an outside patio or pretty much anything, it would count as an addition instead of a tear-down. We were going for a HUD loan and it made a HUGE difference if we kept that slab. We ended up having to nix the whole plan when dh got laid off. We always have the smallest house when these discussions come up. 🙂 We have 4 people (2 adults/2 older teens) in 750 square feet. It works mainly because everybody has their own rooms. We are all extreme introverts and besides the boy/girl part of it, my kids really really need their own space. I'm probably the one that "suffers" the most because I don't have a quiet area to get away when dh is home watching tv. We have no attic or basement and our detached garage is not included in that square footage but it's more like a dilapidated shed than an actual garage.

I have considered this. I do drink one Emergen-C a day but the rest of it is mainly water or very diluted cranberry juice. I want to avoid things like Gatorade, which are primarily sugar. Any suggestions for a good electrolyte to add to water? Thank you. I'll check it out. Thank you.

Our bedroom doesn't have air conditioning because it was just dh building walls around our bed. We have a fan in the wall to bring in air but dh can't sleep with it on so the bedroom gets really hot sometimes. And then I was getting hot flashes/night sweats for a while and it was a miserable situation. I bought this cooling blanket, at the suggestion of someone here on the forums, and it really works very well. I use it over a sheet and it works fine through that layer. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09PJ9V8MT/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

All the sugar alternatives give me headaches or make me nauseous so I generally have to avoid anything sugar free, except maybe gum. I'll check into dihydroberberine. Thank you!

I did try baby oil and it didn't work. I'll try alcohol. Thank you!

Any helpful hints to get rid of the sticky residue left after changing estrogen patches? Just soap doesn't seem to work, I've tried an exfoliating scrub but even that takes so much scratching at it I'm winding up with very irritated skin, same as just trying to scratch it off.

Any tips for helping with the dry mouth? I started taking berberine to help with blood sugar and it gives me awful dry mouth that lasts all day no matter how much I drink. It's the worse first thing in the morning so I'm wondering if taking it at a certain time of day may help? Thank you.

Morning Happy Saturday. Today is laundry day. And organizing day. And some paperwork day. I have a lot of reorganizing I want to do around the house but it would probably be easier to wait until 4th of July week when I'm off but dh will be at work. It's hard to get things big cleaning/organizing done when he's here watching tv. Both kids had their yearly physicals this past week. Both are healthy, no concerns, growing well. It's been raining, sometimes torrentially, for the past couple days. So no trips to the lake.

We have grackles. Dh turns into the old man running outside waving his hands at them when they come around. They swarm the feeders and eat all the seed and bully the smaller birds. But we have some blue jays that bully the grackles right back and refuse to leave.

You accomplished a booya.

I ended up doing paperwork and relaxing yesterday since I wasn't feeling great. We have the whole super heavy feeling air today since a bunch of rain is coming but not here yet. Nice, oppressive humidity. I did sleep in a little while. I'm heading to work soon to do some more organizing and straightening up. Then I have to run back home to pick up dd for math, then we are having our 4H end of year party. I'm trying to decide on an activity or game. It needs to be fairly unstructured since they'll be eating and socializing mostly. I want to keep it fairly simple.

I feel like the topics fore VBS lately are pretty weird. I remember when the topics were things like Noah's Ark or something like that. Now they seem really out there. Our local themes this year are Stellar, Food Truck Party (??), Rocky Railway, Concrete Cranes (??), Stompers & Chompers (dinosaurs I think?). God's Wonder Lab doesn't seem super outrageous, and Farm Fresh Faith seems okay.

I'm sorry but...WTF??? Multiple unsuccessful attempts and they keep trying???? In what world is THAT a good idea? Gee, we had a problem when we were only 100 feet deep, let's keep trying to go even deeper where more problems are likely to occur. What a great idea. I can't blame that journalist for backing out. ETA: do people not understand how dangerous the deep ocean is? With the pressure, the cold, the dark, the lack of air. It's not a place for joy-riding.

I may need second sleep. I had to get up early to take ds to his physical. All went well, he's healthy. But I didn't get to finish my tea and it's a long drive with traffic. We got back and I had a mild headache so I made some iced tea to bring to work with me hoping the caffeine would help. But the headache got worse and I felt vaguely nauseous, so I ended up leaving work without getting much done, came home and had some toast and my usual hot tea. It seems to be helping some (although the Advil may be doing more), but I'm thinking a nap might also be a good idea.

Somehow I deleted my summer camp files. One file was basically a list of activities and instructions with some pictures, the other files were all Powerpoints to be used in class. All of them, gone. I checked my home computer, my at work computer, the Recycle bins of both, all three shared drives and the Trash on each of those, I checked email in case I sent it to anybody or myself. Nothing. Gone. I was able to pick up a print-out of it from one of my teachers, but I have to recreate the document and all the PPTs. A lot of it was stuff from previous years, but still. So much work lost.

Morning. Slept in a little bit today, got up around 9:30. I'm getting ready to head to work to do some organizing, finally clean up from classes ending, and setting up for summer. I don't have to do it all today, I'll have time tomorrow afternoon and Thursday morning, plus the weekend. I just don't want to leave it all for the last minute. Did about 20 minutes on the under desk elliptical this morning.

I'm trying to cut out sugar. Not all sugar, just candy, baked goods, treats type sugar. To start. It's definitely a weakness of mine but it's been making me feel crappy lately. Dd wanted Shake Shack after math so I ordered her lunch. I didn't get anything for myself. Not even a yummy, delicious, creamy cookies & cream shake (that is 850 calories!). So far so good. I think I last had sugary treats on Thursday of last week. I even turned down french toast with syrup and powdered sugar when my class made it Friday. One strategy I'm using is chewing gum when I want something. But I have a bad habit of swallowing gum. I can't seem to not swallow it after a while. I've always been like that. I'll have to see if I can concentrate and not swallow it. ETA: A sugar free booya.

Only dd was at math. Which is fine, it's a drop-off thing and I knew a bunch of them weren't able to make it this week. I'm still going to drag her there for a dedicated hour of math. It's the one way to guarantee we actually do it.

I got my storage room all reorganized and grabbed out the stuff I need for camps. It doesn't look much better but I can get to things easier. If we end up moving to the space upstairs at work, we will get rid of the storage unit. I may have to make some decisions to get rid of some things. I'm having lunch and cooling off before hopping in a shower before math class.

I don't see a problem with input from people in other countries, except I do think it's causing some of the disconnect and controversy in the discussion. Our experiences around this topic are just not coming from the same places. I said it before that I felt like some of the academic discussion was reducing people to constructs to be analyzed, instead of looking at what they are actually experiencing. Sure, an academic discussion of the history of a movement and the origins and such can be interesting, but here in the US we are dealing with current, happening right now to people we know and love, attempts to basically wipe them out and/or pretend they don't exist. I know I was also accused of using genocidal language unnecessarily, but when doctors can refuse to treat people who are queer and/or trans for ANY health issues, not just those pertaining to their trans-ness, what else would you call it? When people can be denied prescriptions, medical care, jobs, legal protection just based on their gender presentation, what would you call it? People will die if this continues.

Mom and oldest dd came over for dinner last night for Father's day. Dh cooked his own dinner since I don't cook and he likes to. Mom is supposed to get another knee replacement and is acknowledging that the stairs in her house might actually be an issue. She mentioned she could sleep downstairs if she needs to, but the only full bathroom is upstairs, which seems like an issue to me. Especially if we're talking about weeks on crutches.

Morning, Happy Monday. I'm off this week but of course, have a ton of stuff to do. Today I'm going to try and reorganize my storage unit so I can find the stuff I need for summer camps. The kids have their annual check-ups later in the week. And I'm continuing my math workshop for the summer so I have that this afternoon and Thursday afternoon. Our first camp has pretty small enrollment (I think 6 kids right now). Partially because some schools are still in session that week and partially because it leads into the holiday weekend. I was going to let the teacher that was working with me handle it, while I stayed on site in case she needed help and so there was more than one adult around. But now an older kid that I've had in class registered and I think I may need to keep a closer eye on things.