If I Die, it Was the Pills

 I have an entire upper (over the stove) cabinet space devoted to just vitamins and supplements. I don't really need all of them, but there must have been a time that I thought I did. I basically use a supplement for a while to see if I see or feel any changes, and if I don't I don't buy it again, but that's not to say that I actually get around to throwing the unused portion in the trash. I decided I needed to do that today, and yes, I have more space now for more vitamins and supplements that I really will use, and it still seems to be taking up most of the upper cabinet -- but it's all good, I'm healthy and I love gummies so there you go. You found my weakness; or rather, one of my weaknesses.

     I have three weaknesses that I know of.  Let's see if you knew what they were/are.  (1) gummies, obviously, I like them.  Big fan of adult vitamins being produced in gummie form, I remember complaining about it for years while I took two or three times the recommended youth dosage of anything gummie so I could get my adult quota and still have my gummies! Don't judge me. I'm not shooting heroine! I'm popping gummies. My (2) vice or weakness would be a stray dog. It doesn't matter where I am, what I'm doing, who I am with, what the mission may be, if a stray dog turns up the world stops and the dog is saved. Don't argue, it would be futile. OK, for number (3) do you know? Can you surmise?  (Think Naked Bearded Man coming to life and wearing a kilt) That's right!! My 3rd (and probably most powerful) vice is a handsome, round, bearded man wearing a kilt - - if he's standing there AND playing a guitar while speaking in a Scottish accent - - do not wake me. If I am awake, do not disturb me, I will thank you to step out and close the door - - I'll be OK; we will be OK.  

    Today was the supplement round up day. On this day I go through the cabinet (usually once a year) and I throw out anything I've not used or taken in about that same amount of time, and if it looks or smells weird, it warrants hitting the trash bin.  I counted 32 bottles today and they rattle off with such names as: Papaya Enzyme (gotta have it, love those), Green Tea extract (Oh yes), Probiotics are another story, there are six different bottles in the cabinet so I came to a conclusion as to which was best and chunked the others. There are bottles of Turmeric, Cinnamon capsules, Cayenne Pepper pills, which do the same thing a Cinnamon capsule does, and with less heart burn - - good bye Cayenne Pepper!  I have bottles of Biotin, B6, B12, and a B6/B12 complex - - GONE... they make GUMMIES for that!

    I found bottles of C10 for heart, Glucosamine for joints, Flaxseed pills, Blackseed pills, Elderberry, Beet Root, and another fish oil pill -- OK, this was going to be tough because yes, they make gummies for Elderberry, but not the others. I chunked the fish oil, kept the rest, and swore up and down I would rotate using the Beet Root and the Blackseed on a A/B day system. We'll see if that works.  I did today, just today, receive in the mail, my three bottles of poopy-pills which will take over my big bottle of Psyllium Husk because one of the bottles has pills in it that have Psyllium Husk as one of it's main ingredients. I'll put the other back in the back for backup...never throw out good poopy pills. Never. So the three bottles that came in today are: (1) Senna, Cascara, Psyllium Husk (2) Milk Thistle, (3) Slippery Elm (doesn't Slippery Elm just make you wanna giggle a bit? Why am I taking something that sounds like a slimy tree? God knows) Anyway - - the three pills combined are supposed to clean my whistle - - we'll see. If I die I die, but I will be one cleaned out corpse. The funeral director will say so, I know he/she will, and they'll talk about it my service.

    What else did I find in the cabinet? Oh, the standard vitamins: A, C, D, K, and Zinc. I do take all of them on a daily so there's no way they're going anywhere -- K isn't off the chart great, but it's a thang, so I keep it.  Never know when you'll need your blood to clot correctly.  So far, so good on the blood clotting, never have had an issue, so maybe the K is working.  Maybe I'll just keep that. Oh, and there is a thing (rather new to me) called Ashwagandha KSM66 that is claiming to help with anxiety and stress -- which I don't have; I just don't have either, but I'm taking the Ashwagandha KSM66 to be sure I don't ever get it - - I know that sounds completely nuts, but it seems to work well with keeping me from cussing people out to their face too; the producers of the supplement may consider adding that benefit and/or feature to their advertising - - you're welcome.

    Since I don't actually take drugs other than say 81 mg of Aspirin every day (again for the heart) I don't have many pills up in the cabinet for pain and suffering.  I do have a bottle of Ibuprofen and another one of Naproxen Sodium for when I work out and my hip decides to remind me that it's the only old part of my body - - don't know how it happened unless I count the times I've fallen from my horse, from a beam, uneven bars, the roof of a barn - - maybe from chasing boys. I do have those. I have a bottle of Blue Star ointment that probably needs to hit the bin, but I know as soon as I do I'll need it - - there's that. For the most part I'm just a supplement and vitamin taking machine. I know when to take them 3x a day, what to take, and if they actually work -- at least I think I do. I may be fooling myself and could have an empty cabinet tomorrow; but I love the Papaya Enzyme.  Gonna keep it for sure...and the Green Tea, and yeah, all the gummies are staying. There's that.

Photo credit:  Swansonsvitamins.com