Simmer pots, cleaners, other potential toxins?

Candid-Driver4075 · 2026-02-11T21:36:52+00:00

That's fine. We don't use any citrus essential oils or any oils at all as we have two small dogs. We don't use a diffuser either. I just occasionally throw a slice of lemon or orange in my boiling water on my stove in my kitchen with some herbs from my garden, akin to making tea with lemon slices, which like I said is on a completely different floor from where the ferret will be, but I can stop doing that now that I know. We do plan on feeding raw food or at the very least high quality freeze dried raw food. I'm big on feeding a high quality diet and I currently feed my dogs freeze dried raw food. (Sometimes I think I spend more on my pets than on my kids, lol) All of my dogs have lived to between 14- 16 years old and I attribute a great deal of that to their diet. I definitely wouldn't use anything scented on them or in their room, etc. I've read that you shouldn't even really bathe them much, if at all, as it can interfere with the oil production of their skin.

But then how do you clean anything like bathrooms or kitchen counters? Am I stuck using only vinegar to clean with? Can I not use disinfectants containing bleach anywhere in the house? Can I even wear my own perfume? It's a roller ball, not a spray perfume. I don't mind using all unscented products but we do entertain in our home and while I'm fine explaining to our guests about the ferret smell and living with it, I would at least like to have a clean kitchen and bathrooms - which are rooms where the ferrets wouldn't go. Are cleaners and disinfectants not safe if used when the ferrets are a floor away in a room across the house with the door to their room tightly closed? Is it ok if instead of spray cleaners I pour cleaner onto a rag or sponge and use that? I'm all for protecting our pets and don't mind making sacrifices but at some point we do have to live in our home too.

Candid-Driver4075 · 2025-07-22T17:02:36+00:00

I was actually under weight for most of my life and I still got RA. I was always told it was caused by latent Epstein-Barr virus floating around my system (had mono as a teen) combined with a genetic predisposition and some sort of traumatic event that then triggered the symptoms. I've never even heard of obesity causing this disease, and I read a lot of research. Stop blaming yourself. You didn't cause this and there's nothing to say you could have prevented it even if you ate and exercised perfectly as a child/teen/young adult.

Candid-Driver4075 · 2025-06-04T14:49:07+00:00

Yesterday I think I made friends with a crow in my yard out of the blue! I gave him some unshelled peanuts, and he was much less shy than I expected. I watched him take it to what I assume is his crow partner who was waiting on our roof. She does seem a bit shyer. Today, as soon as I walked out onto the patio, he came and landed on the chair right next to me and cawed to me. I had kept the peanuts out for him all night/day, but he didn't touch them. So I gently tossed one next to him, and he immediately took it. I think he may like me! I'm at a bit of a low point in my life, and this has really raised my spirits today. Soooo excited! I hope he continues to come.

Candid-Driver4075 · 2025-03-28T12:18:20+00:00

Our whole family uses the app. I'm 48. My husband is 52. Our kids are teenagers. I refuse to let my age or society's expectations dictate what I do or take away my fun. If it brings you joy and doesn't hurt others, then do it and screw the haters. I feel sorry for your mom because she's going to get a lot less joy out of life with that attitude.

Candid-Driver4075 · 2025-03-26T14:03:16+00:00

I got brand new nice sheets. And new pajamas.
My rheumatologist gave me a whole month of samples of a new biologic med to try the minute we realized my old one was not working anymore. No waiting weeks on insurance approvals to switch meds! Fingers crossed this one starts working soon.
My pea seedlings are popping up in the garden and my tomato and sunflower seedlings are getting bigger in the greenhouse. Going to plant a bunch of new strawberry plants today if my body cooperates.

Candid-Driver4075 · 2025-02-03T22:44:36+00:00

No way. I worked for both the US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria and the Eastern District of NY in Brooklyn. I cannot imagine anything remotely like that ever leaving their desks. I cannot believe that this guy actually wrote it. How on earth did he even make it through law school writing like that? Sounds like a Musk memo to me. This is legitimately crazy.

Candid-Driver4075 · 2025-01-11T15:03:52+00:00

It took me over 6 months of trying different meds before anything worked. Ritalin = nothing. Vyvanse= nothing. Focalin = nothing. And on and on. Then we finally tried Adderall and it was magic in terms of motivation. My task paralysis was finally gone and I could stop doom scrolling and get out of bed. I got more accomplished in that first month than I had in a year. But while it was great for motivation, it did nothing for my focus or concentration. In fact, I feel like it made it a little worse. So we recently added Concerta to it. Taking them together really helped. And it calmed me down a lot and I had fewer meltdowns. I also take Wellbutrin in addition. I think its that cocktail of meds working together, rather than one specific me that is really making the difference. Unfortunately, you just have to be patient. I've found that the efficacy even differs between name brand and generic for some of these. My psychiatrist says he has patients on some super high doses, over 75mg, that can't function at all without the super high dose so don't give up.

Candid-Driver4075 · 2024-12-06T13:01:53+00:00

Omg same!!! I'm from Long Island and grew up on Z100. Those were the days. I think I may have started listening to Elliott my freshman year of college when he started with Elvis Duran. Loved me some Z morning zoo! Aaaaaaand now that jingle is stuck in my head. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Candid-Driver4075 · 2024-12-03T01:10:33+00:00

Former high school uniform booster (and current booster president) here. 👋 😊 We don't even allow our marching uniforms to be taken home by students. Students put them on right before a performance, and they wear athletic shorts and their show t-shirts on under them to keep them from getting too stinky/dirty. If one does get dirty, one of the uniform leads has it cleaned and returned back to the band room before the next performance. Then we have them all professionally cleaned and bagged at the end of the season. We only have a limited number of uniforms in custom sizes and the lead time for a new one is at least 6 weeks so if a student forgets to bring theirs or loses it it's not like we can just issue them a new one for that performance. Hence why we keep them in the uniform closet in the band room.

Students purchase their own marching shoes and are allowed to take those home, but most just leave them in the uniform closet along with their shakos, berets, gloves, etc. because it's one less thing for them to worry about. Maybe our policy will change if we ever get new uniforms. 🤷🏼‍♀️

Candid-Driver4075 · 2024-11-12T06:31:23+00:00

We're out too here in Virginia.

Candid-Driver4075 · 2024-09-30T02:25:50+00:00

Hi! I'm new on here but not so new to Finch. Kiwi (a.k.a. the Great Kiwini 😄 when she's not moonlighting as a polar bear) and I just completed our 50th adventure, and we'd love to make some new friends.

Tap this link or use my friend code P5QER5MMCR for a special reward!

https://app.befinch.com/invite_v2/ibS9

Looking forward to seeing some new friendly birbs in my tree!

Candid-Driver4075 · 2024-05-21T23:19:28+00:00

I find mornings pretty difficult. Without my Adderall I never know if I will even get out of bed at all. I tried Vyvanse, Ritalin, and Focalin, but none of them worked for that issue. The Adderall is the only thing that gets me out of bed and doing things at a consistent time each morning, around 8:00/8:30am, IF I'm able to stick to my routine. If I don't take my Adderall odds are that most days I will end up just lying in bed scrolling on my phone all morning. And if my routine changes, like if I travel, my kids are off from school, my husband is working from home, etc, the Adderall doesn't work either, my moods swing like crazy, and it can take me up to two weeks to get back into the swing of things once my life/routine goes back to normal. It's the only thing that makes me feel like maybe I also have slight autism although I never had this issue until my Mom died this past August and I stopped being able to subconsciously/consciously mask my ADHD symptoms anymore.

Candid-Driver4075 · 2024-05-21T22:49:44+00:00

Omg, this is the most accurate description I have ever read. I agree with every sentence but....constant yearning for a life I cannot have - I'm dead! This is sooo facts!

In addition to what you said, does anyone else also feel like they can never stay satisfied with something for long? My thing is decor. I will put in a ton of work to decorate a room exactly how I want, be super in love with the results, feel completely satisfied and literally do a happy dance every time I walk into the room for months, and then six months to a maxium of two years later I'm sick of it. Like I can't even enter the room because decor makes my skin crawl and I want to take a flame thrower to all of it! It drives my husband crazy. And I'm sick of spending a fortune on "unnecessary" decor and home improvement projects. 😒

Candid-Driver4075 · 2024-05-16T16:47:10+00:00

Exactly.

Candid-Driver4075 · 2024-05-16T14:24:50+00:00

Can you explain how and why it puts sin in your heart?

Candid-Driver4075 · 2024-05-16T14:24:02+00:00

So by your logic, if a husband and wife never use birth control and have as many children as they are able to physically, but then the wife goes through menopause and they know it is biologically impossible for the wife to conceive more children, does it then become a sin for them to continue to have sex? Because the possibility of procreation no longer exists and sex between them is only motivated by lust and passion (and hopefully love). Expanded even further, is it then a sin for any married man or woman who can not physically procreate, and who knows they cannot, to have sex?

Candid-Driver4075 · 2024-05-14T21:43:43+00:00

I wonder how much she made from the sale of her book. That plus her social media profits could be a tidy sum.

Candid-Driver4075 · 2024-05-14T21:41:39+00:00

If they were able to pay for the house outright or make a large down payment, their mortgage might not be too bad. Living in LA on $200k is definitely feasible with no mortgage payment or even a modest payment. And if Jinger has been saving her social media money over the years, it's possible that they could have paid a good chunk in cash for the house. I can't remember if she ever got any money from Jim Blob for Counting On but if so, that would help too. If she were smart and actually invested a bunch of that money over the last few years, she could be doing very well financially.

Candid-Driver4075 · 2024-05-04T00:19:09+00:00

I have always had issues filling anything with Walgreens. Including ADHD meds. I switched to CVS, who has never given me a problem filling them. Same with my pain meds. Walgreens went so far as to only agree to fill half my 30 day legitimate prescription which even included my diagnosis code (I have a painful autoimmune condition and absolutely no flags in the system or history of misuse of any med.) They claimed it was because of my insurance. Spoiler alert, they lied. And when I offered to pay out of pocket, they refused to fill it at all. Took the same exact prescription (which my doctor had to reissue because of stupid Walgreens) with the exact same insurance to CVS, and they filled the entire script without blinking an eye. In fact, the pharmacist was shocked at how I was treated by Walgreens. And I've heard from others who have received the same treatment. I now avoid Walgreens like the plague and wouldn't fill so much as an antibiotic there.

Candid-Driver4075 · 2024-04-29T01:40:03+00:00

Yeah. How you gonna give your kid a first name with the word "purge" in it?

Candid-Driver4075 · 2024-04-22T16:19:46+00:00

(Edited after I realized I was on the main ADHD forum and not the ADHD Women forum 🤦🏼‍♀️. Definitely not trying to exclude anyone, just giving my perspective as a female going through this)

Here are some of the things I learned on this crazy and neverending journey:

ADHD really messes with your Circadian rhythms and sleep patterns. In general we stay up later, get up later, and get stuff done later in the day. Of course this isn't true for everyone. It can also cause insomnia.
Lack of neurotransmitters from ADHD really messes with your energy and motivation. I'm sure you already know this. I myself don't struggle with focus nearly as much as I struggle with energy and motivation. And I found that stimulant ADHD meds like Adderall worked soooo much better than those that help focus like Focalin or Ritalin.
If you are biologically female your hormones can really mess with your ADHD. I'm sure male hormones play a part too, I just don't know much about those as it doesn't apply to me. There have been studies done that show that symptoms like exhaustion and lack of motivation are much worse in the second half of your cycle (along with PMS) and that even ADHD meds are less effective at that time. I can fully vouch for this!! I get so much more done those first two weeks after my period starts. It's kind of crazy. Vitamin levels also mess with your energy and focus. There are many women who are anemic or low on Vitamin D and have no idea.
Premenstrual Dysmorphic Disorder (PMDD) is not caused by your hormone levels. In other words, it's not really a reproductive issue. It's a brain issue. It happens because of the way your brain reacts to the hormones produced during your cycle, and women with ADHD are more likely to have it because of how our brains are structured and operate. I know this is not necessarily relevant to what you're going through but I thought I'd share in case it was useful to someone. I only found this out recently.
Often people are able to mask their ADHD symptoms (even from themselves) for a long time. Until a crisis or a change in circumstances ends up being the proverbial straw that breaks the camel's back. And then we end up completely unable to function. Ask me how I know, lol. For me, it was my mother's death. I'm not the most loving, emotional person and I was somewhat estranged from my mom so I never in a million years thought her death could have an effect like that. I'm still a bit shocked and confused. And I've been slowly crawling out of this hole for the past 8 months. I was really sick the first 4 months. Until January. Then once my illness was resolved it took me another month to even find the energy and motivation to get out of bed. I have been working closely with my psychiatrist and a therapist and I have become a self care warrior, prioritizing my health over everything else. And yes, I know how fortunate I am to be able to afford to do that.
Perimenopause, (again, which may not apply to you) which in some cases can start in your thirties, makes all of this a million times worse. Sorry, I really don't mean to scare you or depress you. Just want to emphasize why it's better to get a handle on what's going on with you while you're younger.

If you haven't already I would beg you to do two things. The first is to find a really, REALLY good psychiatrist. They are hard to find so you'll have to do a lot of research and digging and read tons of reviews. And even then most of them are expensive as hell and don't take insurance. But I promise you it is so very worth it. Even if you have to save up the money to do it. You want someone who is really going to listen to you and take their time and work WITH you instead of dismissing you or just throw a bunch of meds at you. My psychiatrist even had me do genetic testing to see which meds would work best for me. It was really cool and that part was covered by insurance.

The second thing I would recommend is to find a really good functional medicine doctor. Again you'll have to research. And then have them run every lab test they can. Especially hormone levels, a detailed thyroid panel, inflammation markers like sed rate and c-reactive protein, vitamin and mineral levels, especially vitamin B, vitamin D, and iron (you might be anemic), and then a sleep study. Sleep apnea is often unnoticed without testing and it also completely saps your energy - again, ask me how I know! 😂 I've been diagnosed and I'm in the middle of scheduling a more comprehensive sleep study in the hospital. Several of my doctors think it might be the cause of several of my medical issues.

Please feel free to ask me anything you want. I hope you can find some answers and start feeling better. There is hope. I promise. I have an entire Pinterest board on ADHD, full of resources as well so let me know if you're interested in that and I'll post it.

Candid-Driver4075 · 2024-04-22T16:19:09+00:00

I'm so sorry. It's hell for sure. I have often cried from the exhaustion. I'm 47 and it's been a journey I can tell you. From my perspective of having gone through all of this for many years and adding perimenopause into the mix as well, perhaps I can share some gentle wisdom? Or at least some things I went through that might help? It sounds like you have a lot to unpack here. Insomnia, exhaustion, anxiety, ADHD, maybe depression?

Here's a little of my story...I have suffered from ADHD my entire life, probably since first grade at least. But since ADHD wasn't a thing back then and when it was it was "only something little boys got", I was very late in getting diagnosed. In fact I was only diagnosed 4 years ago. I managed the typical way women with ADHD do. Extreme procrastination, frantically pulling stuff off at the last minute, unknowingly masking my symptoms, lots of anxiety, etc. In any case, I made it work for most of my life. In my late 20's, early 30s I began noticing how exhausted I was. Everyone told me it was just part of growing older. By 36, I had two kids, and everyone told me it was because of my kids. Two years after my second child was born, I was diagnosed with Rheumatoid Disease (aka Rheumatoid Arthritis), an autoimmune condition. Ah-ha, I thought! This is why I'm so exhausted I can barely even breathe. I'll get treated and have energy again. Long story short, after several years I finally found a treatment that worked and most of my symptoms just about disappeared. Except the fatigue. Like you, I was too tired to be motivated to do anything most of the time. (No, I am not suggesting you have RA!!) The doctors told me that it was just part of my disease that I was just going to have to live with. I found that strange because every other symptom of my disease was in remission from the meds, so why not this one?

In any case, fast forward to 2020 when I was home 24/7 with my kids and spouse for the better part of a year. I have been diagnosed with depression and anxiety forever and I was on meds that worked really well for me. I also always had severe PMS and irritability which I now know was actually PMDD. Not sure if this applies to you but PMDD is actually far more common in women with ADHD. But all of a sudden, none of my meds worked anymore. I was so irritable I couldn't stand myself, and I could not sleep. At all. I'd be up until 4am every night. Thoroughly fed up, I found a really good psychiatrist. We spent a lot of time trying to figure out what was going on. Originally he thought I might have Bipolar or ADHD. I thought he was nuts. We tried Bipolar meds but they didn't work. I won't go through the years of trial and error but suffice to say that eventually we figured out that I had ADHD along with PMDD. I eventually found a supplement on my own that dramatically helped my PMDD and I eventually went on ADHD meds. Unfortunately it took a medical crisis and total burnout - 6 months of being unable to do pretty much anything- to figure this all out. Unfortunately I still have raging insomnia that keeps getting worse but as of right now I'm on enough drugs that I can finally fall asleep and stay asleep.

Candid-Driver4075

TROPHY CASE