Here's the pycnogenol that I use: Healthy Origins, Pycnogenol, 100 mg, 60 Veggie Caps SRP: $84.99 iherb.com: $31.95 I also use their Grape Seed Extract For fish oil, I use..Now Ultra Omega 500 EPA/250 DHA per 1g capsule, 180 Softgels $26.98 slightly more expensive than my previous option (below) but more epa/dha per capsule which is very very valuable to me. I used to use Natural Factors Rx Omega which has, per gram capsule, 400 mg epa/ 200 mg dha 120 Softgels $16.17 The kids use one of the following: MorEPA (expensive and lowish dose but small) along with Source Naturals ArcticPure DHA (also small) OR Carlson Lemon fish oil We all also take 1000 IU D3 per 25 lbs body weight of Nature's Answer D3 K

It's absolutely beneficial to to Rewards in addition to abcdarian. I can't remember where we fit it in but at some point we had to ditch abcedarian for Wilson b/c abcedarian didn't have enough repetition and depth. Rewards came in perfectly when she was struggling mightily with multisyllable words...then we went back to Wilson. :) K

We've done all of it for years and I can say it absolutely does not help. But maybe it didn't help b/c those were all things we did from the beginning - so they weren't improving nutrition or nutrient status. It really doesn't matter though even when they don't get them - (antioxidants, Ω3's, probiotics). It matters a lot from a health perspective though. For me, there is a long list of things needed to maintain mood stability and I do get about a 50% improvement in my ADHD symptoms from orthomolecular treatment - ie vites, minerals, EFA's amino acids.... :) K

And what about a CTOPP - specifically the phonological awareness and phonological memory? K

Can you post the rest of the info? Subtest details are also important especially with such a spread. Was a TOWL or CTOPP done as well? :) K

Have her doc test her 25(OH)D levels via LabCorp (there are too many problems with Quest's test). If LabCorp isn't an option, then use ZRT. Vitamin D is critical, zinc is as well and secondarily, sufficient protein. I wouldn't worry too much about it as long as she'll eat eggs and dairy. Be sure she gets protein at each meal - egg, higher protein diary, beans. Don't let her rely heavily on processed soy/gluten meat 'substitutes' Give her a high quality, broad spectrum, high potency, inexpensive multi like Now Multi Gels. My 10yo takes one per day. They are large - like a fish oil capsule but very easy to swallow, no wierd taste or smell and have the very best forms of iron and zinc (most critical for her). Once she hits puberty, she can take two per day instead of one or could switch to something even less expensive, yet still as high quality like Natrol My Favorite Multiple Take One Other than that, I wouldn't worry. Not everyone needs even that much protein, but it's pretty critical for her....the vitamin D is more critical and could absolutely turn this around if started soon enough. I like Nature's Answer Vitamin D drops. Per the most current research and convincing information at vitamindcouncil.org, most of us will need 1000 IU per 25 lbs body weight to maintain optimal vitamin D levels. To quickly get to optimal levels from deficient levels, it's very reasonable to take 3-4x that amount for 6 or so weeks. Best, Katherine cillakat @ gmail . com

OMG I love the web surfing on my iphone. So far, the problem with hulu seems to be more of a hulu problem since I can watch other videos on my phone - like youtube. But for commited hulu users, there is a way to dowload the videos onto the computer, convert them, then put them on the phone....yeah, I know. It'll come though. On my iphone I read my email online (not on the native mail app but online via google's free app), I shop on amazon, ebay, post on makeupalley, edit my google spreadsheets (this is the *bomb*). I think it's all pretty Jettsons. :) K

And lots of dietary magnesium. Lots. Calcium is the contractor.....magnesium is the relaxer. :) K

It's really no less invasive (from your body's perspective) then a tubal or vas would be. The plastic is inserted and it becomes permanent b/c your body forms significant scar tissue around the plastic inserts. "During the 3 months following the procedure, your body and the micro-inserts work together to form a natural barrier that prevents sperm from reaching the egg." This is code for 'your body is healing and recoving from the procedure for 3 months, during which time, scar tissue is forming. that scar tissue, fully enveloping the plastic inserts will block of your fallopian tubes". Truly I'm not opposed to the procedure. However, the euphemisic language they use is a bit laughable. The trauma to your body is similar to a tubal done trans vaginally....they require similar local anesthetic and have similar downtime involved. I guess the one issue that worries me with the essure it simply leaving the implant in. Any implant, in the future, during times of decreased immune function, other illness etc, becomes a site that's at risk for various opportunistic infections. If I had to choose one, i'd probably go with a ligation....but I'm not entirely sure. More research would be required. Having said that, I'd never do either of them. Ever. Never. My husband had a vasectomy and there is *no way* on earth that after having respsonsibility for birth control, pregnancy and nursing (9 years of nursing total) *no way* that the responsibility would be mine for permanent birth control and the risks and benefits that came with it. So he had a vasectomy and thank goodness, was willing to do so. K

benzoyl peroxide kits (like acne free) are generally very initally helpful but folks tend to run their course with them in fairly short order. Longer term results will be achieved using: rx retinoids (differin, retin-a/tretinoid/retin-a micro or my favorite, tazorac/tazarotene) improving intake of zinc (diet/supps) and D3(supps) - both have immune and effects on the bacteria that are the issue. improving diet (lots more produce, less grains, less/no dairy, sufficient zinc, magnesium, legumes, some animal protein) dealing with hormonal issues (via diet and supplements or even medications if necessary. Rx retinoids are not only the gold standard in treating most kinds of acne, but also the gold standard in anti-aging.....of course, they coudln't give two hoots about the latter, but it's nice to know that unlike some acne treatments (ie benzoyl peroxide), retinoids not only don't hurt the skin, but over the long term, absolutely improve dermal thickness, cell turnover, decrease TEWL all while treating the acne. As long as the use of retinoids is 'tweaked' to make it tolerable, it's really just a long list of benefits. Tweaking means - most often - not using as directed in the package but using a variety of techniques to maximize benefits while dampening down any possible side effects. I used to have extremely sensitive, irritable, dermatitis prone skin and now can use strong rx retinoids daily. Zinc and D3 Both have immune effects and likely direct effects as anti-microbial agents and are evidence based acne treatments. For both, you want enough (which is probably alot more than they're getting) but 'too much' is not desirable. They may need 10-60 mg supplemental zinc in addition to what they're getting now. 30 mg (twinlab 30 mg zinc caps) are a good, inexpensive place to start. A product called 'Ethical Nutrients Zinc Status' is a liquid prepartion used orally to 'test taste perception of zinc in solution'. Interestingly, it's a fairly accurate way to assess zinc tissue levels - as opposed to blood tests for serum zinc which offer *no* useful information. Vitamin D deficiency is ubiquitous. Most will need 1000 IU per 25 lbs body weight to maintain optimal serum D levels (yup, i know....sounds insanely high) and it's not unreasonable to quadruple that for six or so weeks to get levels up quickly. It's important to work on diet while doing this to optimize magnesium (nuts beans seafood) and potassium (produce...tomatoes esp...celery, cukes, melon, kiwi) and to get sufficient calcium. Omitting dairy and soy can be exceptionally helpful. Eat 1-2 high dha eggs per day, 2-6 oz animal protein (dark or bright preferred over white meat), 1-2 servings (or more) legumes (ie beans/lentils....again, dark or bright are preferred over white), 10-13 servings non-starchy produce. additional winter squash, sweet potato, peas etc to make up carb cals. Be sure to keep blood sugar healthfully low, minimize or eliminate grains/starches (getting carbs instead from veg and some fruit), keep bmi healthfully low. Vitamin D testing options: vitamindcouncil.org has ZRT's home test for $65 ($10 of which goes to support the nonprofit D council......a great grassrootshealth.net makes the ZRT home D test available for $40 home D test available as part of a five year study. the test needs to be done twice a year to participate in the study. Do the breakouts seem to be at all cycle related? Jaw, chin or eyebrow/hairline? Or are they all over, all the time? Other helpful options: BHA/saliclyic acid - especially a great little cleanser called SalAc. there are also many serums, lotions, toners with BHA/Salicylic, wipes/pads. AHAs glycolic is a common and popular AHA - Serious Skincare Glycolic cleanser is one of the best and is a great formulation for really all acne prones....great to alternate with SalAc cleanser Lactic acid is also wonderful....it's not as widely used b/c of it's *terrible* smell. great for the 'marks'/brownish-reddish spots left after the active acne is gone. it's called post-inflammatory hyperpigmentation and responds very very well to a combination of rx retinoids and some kind of AHA (glycolic, lactic, mandelic or malic acids) Where would I start right now in their shoes? 1)get a 30 mg zinc supplement and take in the middle of a large meal once a day.....twice a day if tolerated for a couple of weeks (ie no stomach upset) 2)vitamin d-3...4000 IU per 25 lbs body weight for 4-6 weeks, then down to 1000 IU per 25 lbs body weight (this is appropriate dosing for the family unless you live in the tropics and get midday sun on most skin) 3)order tazorac gel (4 tubes) from alldaychemist.com 4)order SalAc (google) from wherever and order Serious Skincare glycolic cleanser from hsn or ebay.....it'll just help get faster results.....it won't be needed over the long haul. 4)increase dietary intake of nuts (raw or lightly toasted, no oil roasted), legumes and nonstarchy produce. consider tracking magnesium intake via nutritiondata.com or similar.....shoot for at 500-1000mg magnesium (the lower end if eating mostly plant based, the higher end if eating more meat) 5)track calcium intake from all foods - strongly consider ditching dairy and soy and supplementing as needed with calcium to get to 800-1200 mg calcium (the lower end if eating mostly plant based, the higher end if eating more meat) 6)and 4700 mg potassium (at least) from mostly nonstarchy veggies and fruit. bananas have a bunch, but you'd need 10 bananas to get about 3700 mg potassium...that'd displace way too many calories needed from other foods. best bets are tomato (tomato juice, veggie juice, tomato sauce, salsa at every meal?), potassium rich veggie broths, 2 svgs nonstarchy veg and 1 serving fruit at every meal and snack (5x per day) are some of the ways that folks get in sufficient potassium. 7)take a great cheap multi like natrol my favorite multiple take one....broad spectrum, high potency, cheap from iherb.com (same for D and zinc) Occasionally, it's less about the immune/bacteria/zinc/d thing and more about the d/hormone/estrogen/testosterone/androgen/blood sugar thing (in the hormone issue there are subsets of issues. without spending more time on it here, most of it will fall into place with dietary changes- more nonstarchy produce, legumes, fiber (from food not supplements). occasionally, herbs are needed (saw palmetto, spearmint can reduce the acneic issues related to androgen/testosterone).....rarely, meds (spironolactone/aldactone for androgen/testosterone or bcp for estrogen/progesterone issues) are needed but I really encourage other options Accutane is truly a great option for some people, though it tends to be for those that don't find relief from retinoids and abx and that have very oily skin. It's a pretty serious drug to consider, but it's a lifesaver for those that need it. Most of the time though, it's truly amazing what just dietary changes, sufficient D and sufficient zinc will do- even without meds. truly amazing. I happen to love retinoids though and strongly recommend them. The rx can come from any doc....they often like to recommend differin but I find it slow, less effective and frustrating in comparison to tazorac. Both are very expensive in comparison to generic tretinoin (generic retin-A). Many of us (myself included) order rx retinoids from alldaychemist.com In fact, I just ordered 8 tubes today....four for me and four for another friend in our homeschool group. Wishing them all the best in getting this cleared up asap. :) katherine

just pulled up some info: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19264720 Comparing breastfed and ff infants, only the ff infants were at an increased risk from UTI's when supplemented with additional D. A few possible issues....increased calcium excretion b/c of the decreased bioavailbility of calcium in formula v. breastmilk. I can come up with three possible mechanisms. None of which particularly indicate a D issue as much as they indicate other nutritional problems that are simply highlighted by the D. This happens with kidney stones. Higher serum D levels = increased kidney stones. But it's not a D problem. It's a diet problem. With sufficient and biologically appropriate amounts of dietary/supplemental magnesium and potassium along with the D supplementation, the risk of stones returns to that of the non supplementing population. The problem is that D is doing what it's supposed to be doing but poor diet (standard american diet....grain based, too much calcium, insufficient intake of other minerals) gets in the way and bunges up the works. :) K

I'm having a hard time coming up with a mechanism by which biologically appropriate levels of D would increase UTI risk. By virtually all measures, biologically appropriate levels of D decrease infection and improve immune function. Be sure you're taking (diet or supps) sufficient calcium and magnesium and zinc and investigate to insure you're taking enough D....too little supplementation is, in some cases, as bad as getting no additional D. It really is important to work towards getting serum levels in the middle of the reference range - which for most is about 1000 IU per 25 lbs body weight. In my teens and 20's I had chronic cystisis and frequent - FREQUENT - bladder infections. I haven't had but 1 UTI sinceI've been taking D.

no tss risk b/c they're not absorbent. to get it out just put fingers in vjayjay, grasp end of cup, bear down to push cup out while you're pulling it out. as the rim is coming out, go slowly.....you can tip is backwards direcly into the toilet to empty it. or carefully lift it up to check flow level. empty. wipe it with tp - hold it in hand with tp. get pants back on.....go to sink, wash cup, go to toilet, sit, reinsert. I so so rarely (maybe twice) have had to empty it in public. I just do it twice a day....am and pm. my flow is 'heavy'. not uber heavy but completely filling the cup twice a day for 2 of my five days. In a public restroom....wash hands. enter stall, remove cup over toilet, empty, wipe off cup with tp/paper towel - whichever - reinsert.....off you go! :) K

IME, removing the cup is much easier than snapping a snap b/c while you grab the end of it, you also bear down - your body really pushes it out with just a little help from your hand pulling/twisting it out gently. doesn't take the focused strength of closing or opening a snap. K

2nd. While many love their divas.....percentage wise, more are unhappy with diva's versus shorter cups like lunette. I've tried every single one on the market except for Mia. I like the lunette and the ladycup best. the large LC is the largest cup available volumewise. it's shorter and wider than the Diva and the silicone is the smooshiest of all of them. vv comfy. however some do have trouble inserting it b/c of the softness. and I do have some leaking with it. not enough even for a pantyliner, it's certainly not going to soak through anything....but just enough that it's there. I stick with the lunette now. K

I disagree. Why not offer it up? We help them learn to walk, talk, play catch, ride a bike..... If you act like it's no big deal and it's one of the many options (as it is), then she can choose. Why on earth would she be 'anxious' about that one option versus pads or tampons? My mom had a 'wait until they ask' policy. So I never asked. I figured out everything on my own and still do. I don't go to my parents for help - ever. The not offering information thing, to me, meant that it wasn't on the table as even a discussion option. My girls 8 and 10 know all about menstrual cups and how much i love them. I have the tiny lunette and ladycup and have told them that one day, when they're ready for it, it's the easiest most comfortable option for managing one's period. K

Since rapid flu tests have a 50-90% false negative rate, there's a good chance that it was the flu.... k

<<when he was younger I suspected dyslexia but after reading realized he was too young for even suspicions.>> 5 or 6 isn't too young.....the signs/symptoms are so specific when looked all of them are viewed in context. I was told when my dd was 6 and 7 that her symptoms were developmentally normal (NOT) and that we'd have to wait till she was eight to assess. what a crock. What a wasted opportunity. She reads fairly well now but we missed a window that we can't ever get back. K

I'd suggest it right now as well. the small lunette or the small ladycup would probably be best for a young girl. the lunette is easier imo. :) k

There is no way to tell, but what is known is that babies in breech positions are more likely to have neurological issues to start with. Certainly not all - some are in that position because of cord or placenta placement, personal preference, shape of the uterus..... but there is a dramatically higher incidence of neuro issues in breech babies. It's not the breech position that causes the problem but the other way around. K

The meds will lower your bp to 'x'. Then diet (especially sufficient potassium) and exercise will lower it even further. If you or your doc are monitoring, it'll be pretty clear. K

There are easier much much less expensive ways to lower blood pressure. Those same ways will have a broader range of positive health impacts - more bang for your 'health' buck. CoQ10 is great.....but it's incredibly expensive and really not necessary with a great diet and sufficient postassium and antioxidants from food. K

I can absolutely tell. But I can also tell what my blood sugar is by feel. I guess that's not typical. K

I too just started using Pocket Informant after a recommendation for it from someone else here. O.M.G. LifeChanging. I have something like 9 google cals (the homeschool group has three for colorcoding), my own, my moms, my dh's, both schools, US holidays, Jewish Holidays. Pocket Informant is on my phone, syncs with google cal....it's *amazing*. I also have apps for tracking illness, doc visits/growth/healthcare, milestones (with media clips), IOU items...it's *unbelievable*. k

without wi-fi, she can't connect. K