I’m Done Being Called a Downer
Hey I’m back! I’m sitting in the kitchen with my laptop, noshing on homegrown pears as I reflect on the summer of 2022. The highs were exquisite and the lows were pretty damn dark. If you want me to photoshop this newsletter, it is not going to happen. I promised to keep it real. I struggle with the concept of fate.…
Read MoreIs It Time to Jump Ship?
Considering the circumstances, do you feel the best you could possibly be feeling? Every day while locked in hotel quarantine, an Australian government social worker called me and posed that question. I thought it was a clever way to ask and it gave me pause to really think about how I was doing. When I answered yes, I meant…
Read MoreHappy New Year 2022
What a year, right?! Thank you to my Love and Medicine readers, I am truly grateful for your support. With so much to read out there, I am glad you choose me. Continue to comment and provide feedback. All of your emails and Ask Dr. Annie K. questions are anonymous. If you haven’t already, sign…
Read MorePMDD
Ask Dr. Annie K. “I have been struggling with anxiety and depression throughout most of my life. However, the past few months I have started to notice that these feelings get a lot worse right before and during my period. During my period I feel like I am at my very lowest – depressed, hopeless…
Read MoreAge Like Nobody’s Watching
Life goes so slow. Slow, like molasses. I don’t understand why people say it goes by fast. My kids should be older than they are by now – their childhoods were long and so was mine. I have lived many lives in this one lifetime. I’m guessing I’m in the minority on this one. At…
Read MoreNow You Can Go to Turkey
~Life Without my Dad When my dad in Milwaukee was diagnosed with cancer in 1998, we were living in Israel. We built a home in the community of Maccabim, halfway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem. It was a modest townhouse with a small yard big enough to accommodate a patio, an inflatable pool and a…
Read MoreWhat do Baked Feta Pasta and Chlorophyll have in Common?
ASK DR. ANNIE K. Your intriguing post on L-theanine inspired me to ask about natural supplements for mental health. I was told that a drop of liquid chlorophyll in your water can do wonders for your mental health and clarity, skin, digestive system and more. I thought chlorophyll was for plants! Can you shed any…
Read MoreWelcome to Hotel Quarantine
Last thing I remember, I was Running for the door I had to find the passage back To the place I was before “Relax, ” said the night man, “We are programmed to receive. You can check-out any time you like, But you can never leave.” …
Read MoreGUA SHA
Hey Dr, Annie! I’ve recently read a few articles and seen a few videos about the technique of Gua Sha facial massage. I’ve read that doing this consistently can help reduce the appearance of wrinkles and puffiness, improve circulation and provide relaxation and acupressure. What do you think about Gua Sha? Is it a scam…
Read MoreMy son bought Bitcoin for $30 in 2015. Today it is worth $5400.
In 2017, when the price of one Bitcoin went up to $19,000, I texted my son: What is Bitcoin and why re-post this article? Because bitcoin is hot! I won’t be giving financial advice but I do think the world of cryptocurrency is fascinating. Think of this as Bitcoin 101. Bitcoin is the…
Read MoreL-theanine for Anxiety
Hi Dr. Annie K! I love your blog and always look forward to learning more about love, medicine and more from your intriguing posts. I’m in a bit of a pickle. I love coffee and need it to stay awake throughout the day, but I am extremely sensitive to caffeine and it tends to make…
Read MoreThe Shocking Truth about Narcissistic Personality
Spoiler alert: if you plan to see The Undoing, wait until after you’ve seen it to read this article. If you’re not planning to watch the series, read on as we explore one of the most intriguing disorders in psychology. Psychiatry and film – two of my loves – are featured again in…
Read MoreHello darkness, my old friend.
I appreciate the change of season by the end of summer. The orange, brown, maroon tones and fabrics of fall fashion make me long for their feel against my skin. Climbing on a chair to retrieve the crockpot evokes the aroma of rich umami stews and soups. Pumpkin, sweet potato and squash replace the tomatoes,…
Read MoreOut of Whack: Living in 2020
Love and Medicine is groping for words. My emotions are all over the place. I cry at the drop of a hat. Sometimes the tears are tears of joy. Other times my heart aches for those I love who are far from me. There are days I wake up hypomanic, filled with ideas, energy and…
Read MoreBidet? YES!
This is Bidet Part 2, a follow-up from the article published April 3, 2020. Read that first. Spoiler alert! I’m going to talk straight about the bidet. I’m not going to go on about how awesome it is. I’m going to tell you about the process. How my love evolved. Which means we are going…
Read MoreDo You Dare Eat a Peach?
Let’s think about the peach. The vibrant mix of fiery orange and red sweeping its surface. How sexy is that shape – with the round, fuzzy curvature and visible crack? It baits you to take a big messy bite, juice running down your chin. The sweet flesh a wake up call to recruit your sense…
Read MoreThe Covid-19 Self-Care Tip No One is Talking About
Here we are. Entering the fourth month of sheltering at home. I’m quite comfortable with it at this point. I have developed a quarantine routine that works. The two highlights of the day are waking up and getting in bed at night. I’ve been doing the quarantine shuffle – I bake bread, make jam, do…
Read MorePolio: Our Parents’ Plague
“Your mom walks funny” a friend said one day in elementary school. I had never noticed my mom walking any different than anyone else. Just like I didn’t realize my dad had a Czechoslovakian accent. That is when I found out my mom had polio 40 years earlier. The virus had attacked her gastrocnemius muscle,…
Read MoreStaying at Home
Since we are home, and being ordered to stay home, I am re-publishing an article I wrote two years ago. The first paragraph sounds like a different lifetime but still, read on.. Walking down the narrow corridor between the rows on an airplane, waiting as people delight in finding a space to hoist their large…
Read MoreBidet?
I rarely talk about products on this blog. Remember when I saved you $38 by advising you not to buy Sex Dust? The shortage of toilet paper right now is real. Keeping two houses stocked is a challenge, especially when you are limited to one pack per order. We all would rather have the companies…
Read MoreSoup
There’s a tradition in our family started by Eva, my dad’s wife, to make a big pot of soup and have it ready when someone comes home from a trip. When you are jetlagged, the last thing you want to do is go out to a restaurant or cook. After a shower, opening the refrigerator…
Read MorePandemic Pandemonium
These are unprecedented times. Every person in the world has been affected by COVID-19. How we react is generally in line with our personalties. The anxious become more anxious and the cynics deny, deny, deny until they can’t anymore. Then there are people who have responded in a completely unexpected way. Those who know them…
Read MoreFreedom from Worry
Now that we understand how dangerous it is to worry, readers are asking for answers on how to control it. Physician, Heal Thyself is an ancient proverb appearing in Luke 4:23. How can a worried psychiatrist treat worried patients? My answer? Better than a psychiatrist that doesn’t know what worry feels like. While most of…
Read MoreTHIS.
The most beautiful love song ever written. Tons of love to all of you from Loveandmedicine.com and Dr. Annie K.
Read MoreWORRY
I come from a family of worriers. My mom and her twin sister were always “fretting.” Other family members are worriers. My friends are worriers too. I am surrounded by people who worry. They may call it by other names like insomnia, back pain, or fatigue. I worry about health. I worry about my kids.…
Read MoreMOMENTUM
Momentum is everything. Most of my readers know how much I love football. During the recent playoffs, I don’t know how many times I said/texted/tweeted the word “momentum”, but it was a lot. That sense that the team with the momentum is unstoppable, fueled by the roars from the fans in the stands. With positive…
Read MoreHAPPY NEW YEAR💜
loveandmedicine.com has had a great year. In case you may have missed something, here are all of the posts from 2019. Read and reread! This year I’d love to see more comments and dialog. ASK DR. ANNIE K. is open 24/7 and is 100% anonymous. I know there is a lot of crap out there…
Read MoreGrey Weddings
I welcome all of you. Bear with me as I navigate this new platform. I am writing from the throes of symptomatic Covid rebound. Yes, it’s true. After a week of tolerable Covid symptoms (headaches, fever, body aches), I tested negative. When 1,500 steps felt like 25,000, I realized how much either 1) that I…
Read MoreThe Circle of Life
I’m in bed with a nagging cold-not-Covid. My body is exhausted but my mind is full. Grab a tea, hot water with lemon, or a hot toddy and let’s do this. A novel could be written about last weekend in New York. Like most recent visits there, it started with a family wedding. It was…
Read MoreFrom Awe to Ahh…
*this post and this week’s newsletter were written before the holy day of Yom Kippur, 10/5/22* Last night I dreamed that Mark Ruffalo was cuddled up against me naked, spooning. I’m not sure it was him exactly but it was his type – a crumpled just-got-out-of-bed sexy look. That’s all I remember. Why has it…
Read MoreDoing Only as Well as Your Least Healthy Child
You, who are on the roadMust have a code that you can live byAnd so, become yourselfBecause the past is just a goodbye Teach your children wellTheir father’s hell did slowly go byAnd feed them on your dreamsThe one they pick’s the one you’ll know by Don’t you ever ask them, “Why?”If they told you,…
Read MoreParty Like it’s 5783!
Last Sunday evening, Jews all over the world celebrated the start of the year 5783. We began the holiday meal dipping apples in honey to symbolize our wish for a sweet year. Our family went with a mix of traditional classics with a few modern twists: warm home-made bread, gefilte fish (mixed reviews), vegetable matzo ball soup,…
Read More