The only way I can keep cool in the summer is to take cold showers every couple of hours or to spend the entire time in a cold pool of water. Needless to say, I can't really manage to do either one. I used to put anti-perspirant in all kinds of places on my body, but then when I learned it has aluminum in it, I decided to confine the risk to my pits.

Hot flashes... I used to drink sage tea (white sage is best, I think) every day or every other day, and that did the trick, but drinking too much sage tea will make you sick eventually. Besides, I'm a little worried about my kidneys, so I put up with the sweating because I feel that sweating a lot gives the kidneys a break.

In short, there is very little you can do about your body's natural reaction to the summer heat.

Baby powder helps. Frequent showering helps. I drink a lot of very, very cold, lemony iced tea and lemonade. And sit around cursing about how the heat increases my already insufferable fatigue!

I found some calcium citrate on sale, though, at the Walgreen's where my husband works when he's not out on Worker's Comp! Really cheap stuff, but whatever it's got in it, this stuff eases the awful fatigue. Some folks have speculated that my fatigue is a cellular problem, and calcium works on the very delicate cellular level... so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Bitchingly yours,
Lil