A couple of things I learnt in the 80s, when I was still in high school: • Cranberry juice kills the taste of anything and everything. Bad tasting medicine, nasty herbal products, like Aloe Vera juice, I remember. Cranberry juice cocktail does too. It helps you get it down quicker too. And it makes it more likely you'll take it and take it on time that way. • My aunt said she was talking to some women from the old Soviet Union in the 80s. They were very serious about garlic there. They still are. They call it "Russian Penicillin". The best way they found in the USSR to take it, thru studies, is to press it raw into a hot beverage. Usually what they did was they make parsley tea. You can just buy a bunch of fresh parsley and dump it into some boiling water, until it gets the color and taste you want. The tea is not important, it's mainly so it won't give you bad breath. Any herbal tea would do, or just plain hot water. Chicken broth would work. Or hot cranberry juice. Cranberry juice, and cranberry juice cocktail, can be drunk hot. That's fine. (It does taste a little weird that way though.) • In Russian they used to (they told my aunt) put honey compresses on their bodies, usually chest or belly I think. They'd spread honey on a cloth or small towel and then leave it there a while. I forget why. She also told my aunt they'd would start burning and feel hot. Like an old fashioned mustard plaster, for some reason. I never even heard of that one. • Also I have read that you can use ordinary kitchen items as herbal remedies. They should be the same. My mother was using pectin supplements for my father once. I told her they sell pectin supermarkets. Usually in the canning aisle, for jams and jellies. I was also interested in Cinnamon recently for my blood sugar. One teaspoon is the correct amount, they said, for it therapeutic effect. But many Cinnamons in the US aren't real Cinnamon at all, or cassia Cinnamon. And they never even tell you on the label. I've noticed they always have good quality ingredients in the ethnic section of supermarkets. The Asian and Arab cuisine section. That would probably be authentic. And they say right on the label "premium" too. And it's very affordable too I've noticed. Also, I recently got Ziyad brand Helba, which is Fenugreek, which is also good for blood sugar.
And, one doctor told me once. If there was an herbal cure for something. Some little plant in the Amazon rainforest that cured all disease, for example. We doctors would be right on it. Because we always research all claims. No, those herbalists don't have the cures or the answers we don't. The reason why we don't use those herbal cures is BECAUSE THEY DON'T WORK.
It's a funny thing about my memory. It works in a funny way. Like I used to tell people, I'd go downstairs to the pantry to get something. And when I got there, I forgot what I went there for. It happened often and I've had that problem since I was a child. I'd tell people and they'd say it's nothing. By 1991, I thought I might have Schizotypal Personality Disorder. It might be due to that. And I didn't even know till 2011 I had Cerebral Palsy. And one doctor told me I've obviously had autism all my life too. I've known I had extreme weakness in my limbs all my life. And that last one seems to have gotten worse around age 18. But like I said, I've had these problems all my life. But that can cause problems for remembering important things. The solution to that is very simple. When I am done using the stove or oven, I turn it off right away. I think everyone should do that. I've been leaving notes for myself all my life. But that doesn't always work best. And then, strange as this sounds, I start forgetting where I put the notes. (I was telling people this at that hospital in 1987. The ladies there even teased me about that in 1988 or 9, because they told me they thought it was funny to them. Even though their job was to help and heal people.) Leaving notes, I noticed recently, works if I do it the right way. If I do it the right way. And if I leave it in strategic places. Places I will always check every day and for that reason. Also I was telling people when I have to do something important that needs to be done about every other day, I do it on even numbered days. I started that one last year I think. For example, I always cleanse my wounds before I put a bandage. I was always careful to do that all my life. But sometimes now I leave the bandages on too long. So what I do is I always remove bandages on even numbered days. In fact I do all important things, especially related to health, on even numbered days. And I take all my medicines basically twice a day. But sometimes I forget the second dose. So like I was telling one doctor about 20 years ago, I just flip over a note. In fact I've been using the same note for the past 20 years. And it has several staples in it so a gust of air doesn't blow it to the floor. And, recently I've noticed sometimes I go to bed before I take my second dose of medicine. Because I'm tired. And I sometimes forget my second dose of medicine that way. So what I do is I put a book on my bed or chair that I always sit on. And I don't take it off that bed or chair until I take my medicines. Then I can go to bed. It helps me remember, and it ensures I always take it before I go to bed. I also have had problems emptying the dry rack I have my dishes dry on. It gets to full, and then I have to dry the dishes elsewhere of towel dry them. So what I think I'll do is always empty the dry rack on days perfectly divisible by three. That more or less amounts to every three days. (It actually would be exactly everything three days if the first of the month started with zero and the month always ended in a day visible by three.)
And one of my doctors' office told me recently that I am asking too many health questions. And that that doctor won't answer them anymore and I have to wait till I them her next time. Even though when I see that doctor they never even answers all the questions I ask. And I don't think asking a doctor for general health advice over the phone is ever bad. It's actually a very good idea. More people should do that. Most health care is home care. You should never perform surgery on yourself. But when you a cold or flu, or even sometimes something more serious, you treat it at home. Don't you? And I'm not asking any of my doctors for for cookie recipes. I'm asking them for health advice. Health advice for me, their patient. Isn't that their job? And I do think that my doctors could try to accommodate me with my handicaps a little better. I'm not asking them to wait there for me all day. I think just waiting till 5 o'clock would be reasonable. That's when most people leave work anyways. And one of my doctors does actually stay there till five anyways, I recently found out. And when I got to one doctor's office recently, the office was empty. Now they do leave at five. And they told me on the phone that they would be there waiting for me at five when I got there. But when I arrived the office was empty. Everyone had gone home then. Now whose fault was that last one?
Also, not that it matters. But I think that every three days in a month would still be divisible by three even if the month didn't started with zero. I just counted it on my fingers. You know they call that rule of thumb. Something that doesn't seem very scientific, but it just works for you. Like I learn in grade school, when you fold a paper in half, squaring of the edges, the line of fold is in the middle. And it you want to center your paper in the typewriter perfectly, again square off the edges once it's in the typewriter. Then give it a little tug to remove the slack and lock it in. Or, sometimes I have found the sound something makes is a good way to measure something. Like when you pour something from a bottle, and it makes a "glug" sound, that's about 1–2 tablespoons. I thought I've been hearing that for some time. I know I read it in a book of trivia about 25 years ago. But I just read online that celebrity chef Jamie Oliver came up with the glug. But he was born in 1975. So the timeline for that doesn't sound right. Also, if I haven't already told you. You know when something in the oven is about to burn. Because whole house becomes aglow with the smell of what you are cooking in there. I've known that since I was a kid, but I don't know why. So when I am somewhere in the house and I smell that, I think. Oh, my goodness! It must be about to burn now!
Also like I've said, I have had problems with memory or attention all my life. But one neat trick I learned about 30 years ago. It's when you are keeping count on your fingers. When you have two hands free you can count to ten of course. But when you are using one hand, that would be impossible. I thought of this problem when I was a child BTW. But in the Middle Ages, I think I read it was Medieval librarians, they had a trick. You count to five with the one hand. Then every number above that you count by putting the fingers in the palm of your hand. And when look down and see, say, two fingers in the palm of your hand, you know that means seven. Like I said, I use techniques like that one above sometimes.
Sounds like you have yourself figured out pretty well! I too have a little bit of autism (Asperger syndrome) that has been with me from birth and is still undiagnosed to this day. (I’m 47) It made my childhood rather difficult because no one knew what it was yet but it helps me in certain ways. My memory capacity is unbelievable with certain things and like swiss cheese in other areas. I also have more than thirty years of type one diabetes which makes me wonder whether some of my body changes are just aging or diabetes taking its toll on me. I’m pretty healthy overall but I’m definitely noticing some of my parts are declining. There’s the typical spending much more time using the toilet each day, needing to urinate more often and needing to give myself time to relax so I can empty my bladder completely, also needing to give myself a chance to try and have a bowel movement while I’m sitting there. My intestines can be rather unpredictable and sometimes I’m just not sure if I need to pass gas which I have trouble holding in or if I need to have a bowel movement. Also the sudden urgent need to urinate when I’m outside in public places, especially when it’s very cold outside and I’m walking or waiting for the bus. I suddenly have to find a place where I can release before I leave an accident.
I was also going to add to what JmSwt said, everything in the Dollar Tree is dirt cheap. A $1.25 of course. But you do sometimes have to use more of it. Spices, toilet paper, cleaners sometimes. A lot of the stuff they have are brand names though. They have Campbell's soups I know, and Palmolive dish liquid I know. Toilet paper and toilet products are all the cheap stuff though. But you know, the other thing about Dollar Tree is you can just use it once and toss it out. Also, a word of advice that I learnt as a child. Never bring something like a glass of water into the bathroom. All the surfaces there, like on the sink and bathtub, are smooth and slanted. So stuff falls off very easily. Or, old household tip, you can place a rubber band under things to keep them from slipping. I don't know if that would work with a glass of water, because I never tried it. (I add this one, because I can't believe it when I still see people do that. Carry their glasses of water or fine china with them into the bathroom.)
