My daughter has been diagnosed with an anxiety disorder (specifically "adjustment disorder" in case that matters). She is seeing a counselor, and her doctor prescribed regular exercise and good sleep habits. He said if these things don't work we can talk about an SSRI, but he wants her to try these recommendations first, and I agree. She's had a rough few months, and doesn't seem to be getting much better. She was sedentary before this happened, and she has added exercise to her daily routine. But it isn't a lot and it isn't very intense, so we have talked about some specific plans for ramping up to more vigorous activity. I'm optimistic that will help (I've read Spark by John Ratey, so I am convinced!) but I am wondering if there is anything else I can do for her. I'm not normally a big believer in herbs and alternative medicine and such, because they've never worked for me. But I'm willing to try, and even if it only helps by placebo effect, that's still something. If you or someone you know has been helped by any of these things or something else we haven't considered, I would be profoundly grateful for your advice. It's breaking my heart to see her suffering like this.

Lizzie, I am so very sorry for what you are going through, and I will absolutely be holding your precious Jenna in prayer. :grouphug:

Congrats, Sparkly, that is fantastic!

I never thought about it either until that happened to my friend, and I didn't think about the points winterbaby brought up, though they are very good ones.

I've never known anyone to be upset by the recommendation (though I don't deny the possibility). What is upsetting is judgmental busybodies who want to force the recommendation on everyone. My best friend was advised by her doctor NOT to breastfeed for specific medical reasons. And when perfect strangers in public would see her baby with a bottle, they would tell her what a lazy, selfish, terrible mother she was for not breastfeeding. Just what every insecure new mom needs to hear, not to mention none of their d--n business anyway. If a recommendation gets issued for all (hetero)sexually active women of childbearing age to abstain from alcohol, there will be plenty of people who will take it upon themselves to police the new "rule". I would imagine the objection is that women shouldn't have to explain to the waiter their sexual orientation, contraception choices, or fertility status in order to get that glass of wine. ;)

Yay! :-) I think that's a great choice. Hiking? Couch to 5K? Dance classes? Are there any good gyms near you? Yeah, it matters a lot! I would have been absolutely thrilled to go on a sleep away camp at that age! You know your kids. No guilt.

Whole 30 is a great idea! I recently finished my first W30 and I'm in the reintroduction phase right now. It's been great!

Yes, I know exactly what you mean because I'm the same way! I could see replacing one meal a day with bone broth, but I wouldn't jump into an extended fast.

Intermittent fasting can be a healthy way to lose weight, but you have to ease into it gently, one step at a time, and give your body a chance to adapt. I think jumping straight into an extended fast sounds potentially very dangerous. Perhaps you guys can spend that time establishing an exercise routine, or adopting some healthier eating habits instead?

My Mom also mentioned Grave's. She had an acquaintance whose eyes got so bad she had to have surgery. :sad:

Thank you both! I did find out several months ago that I have a Vit D deficiency. I've had one re-check since then and my levels were within normal range, but still not optimal. So I've kept supplementing with a fairly high dose. I don't eat soy, but I do eat cruciferous veggies. And I used sea salt for years, but I recently switched back to iodized salt on orders from my doctor for the sake of my daughter (but I just switched the whole family).

Thank you very much!

Oh my! Nope, I've never seen that. Well then. Okay.

Do they look like a swimsuit bottom, but they're being worn as street clothes?

Any thoughts on how to find a good one? I wouldn't know where to begin!

Thank you very much for this. Unfortunately there is not a doctor in my entire state on the list. Bummer. :-(

Sorry I was unclear. My doctor hasn't made such a referral, though I'm rather hoping that he will!

Unfortunately, they only seem to check Total T3, but I can ask for a more detailed test. Also, I typed it wrong. My Free T4 was 1.1 not 1.4. Sorry about that.

And thank you all very much for the help! I really appreciate it.

I just got a call from my doctor's office. They want me to come by the lab today to run the tests again, and I have an appointment on Thursday to see him. So hopefully I'll be getting some answers soon. The last time I was checked, from what I can tell at least, it really does seem like my numbers were normal, not just barely normal or anything, but really truly normal. TSH 0.9 Free T4 1.1 Total T3 142 Those were the only things they checked. So could this be something else entirely? A false alarm? Well, I just won't know until I get the tests done again, because all of this has happened since that last test. ETA: I typed the wrong number for Free T4.

Several weeks ago, I saw an acquaintance who happens to be a doctor (but is not my doctor) for the first time in a couple of years. He asked me if I'd had my thyroid checked recently because he said my eyes looked more "bulging" than he remembered, and he was a little concerned. I'd had a thyroid test just a couple of months prior to that, so I didn't think much of it. Wednesday night I broke my glasses, so yesterday I saw an optometrist to get a new Rx and a new pair. And guess what she said to me the moment she looked at my eyes: "Have you had your thyroid checked recently?" She said that my eyes were red and dry, and I can't remember the term she used, but something like eyelid retraction or receding eyelids, or something like that. She recommended that I see my doctor. Lately my hair has been falling out at an alarming rate, which both my husband and daughter noticed, because there are long dark brown hairs on every surface of our house! And my skin has gone from a little on the dry side to absolutely parched. I believe those things can be related to thyroid issues as well? Oh, and just for some brief background: my mother and grandmother both developed hypothyroidism with menopause. And my mom went into menopause young (early 40's), and I've been having unpleasant perimenopause symptoms since 40. I recently saw my OBGYN and she said I'm heading into menopause more quickly than she would have expected. I sent my doctor a note yesterday explaining all of this, and asked if he'd want to see me again or if he could refer me to an endocrinologist. But I'm a little worried that since my numbers were technically normal not that long ago, he's going to say that I'm fine. Or that even if he tests me again, my numbers might still be technically normal, because the normal ranges are huge. So, finally, for my actual question: is there anything you can do to improve thyroid health that doesn't involve a prescription? UPDATE in post #30, which I'm copying and pasting here: I saw my doctor late last week. He did an eye examination, and said that I show none of the tell-tale signs of Grave's disease. He ordered a Free T3 test, I think just to put my mind at ease and not because he thought there was any reason to do it, but he said there was no need for thyroid antibodies testing or for me to see an endocrinologist. Here are my most recent test results: TSH: 0.77 Free T4: 1.2 Total T3: 116 Free T3: 2.9 He said that's all perfectly normal. He insists my thyroid is fine, but he was far more concerned about my heart.... When he was asking me about symptoms, he mentioned heart palpitations, and I have been having those. I didn't think anything of it, because from what I've read that's quite common with the hormonal fluctuations of perimenopause. But that worried him a lot more than the thyroid stuff. He ordered an EKG right then and there, and is referring me to a cardiologist for a Holter monitor. While I was waiting for the EKG results, I decided that if it was normal I was going to tell him that I really don't need the Holter monitor, etc. because I'm sure this is no big deal. Well, unfortunately, the EKG did show a very slight abnormality - the QT interval was too long, if I remember correctly. He said that could be caused by my migraine medication. :sad: I'm still waiting for insurance authorization before I can get the Holter monitor. Also, he ordered some other general blood tests, and one thing got flagged: eGFR is supposed to be over 60, but was 52. Other than the fact that this has something to do with kidney function, I have no idea what this means. I'm hoping to hear from him today, because I think/hope he will let me know whether this is something to be concerned about (I can read the results online, so I didn't hear this from him directly). I am worried that it means that all of the medications that I take for my chronic migraines are hurting my kidneys. Thanks for all of the help and feedback, and if you have any further information or suggestions here, thanks in advance for that too!

1.6 miles. The middle school she would have attended is closer than that, and the elementary school closer still: right here in our neighborhood, less than half a mile.

Laurie, thank you so very much for your thoughtful reply! You've given me a lot to think about, and I will be back later to discuss it further. Again, thanks!

I'm still not exercising as much as I'd like to be. I don't know why I'm having such a hard time getting back into the swing of things. Well, part of it is that my husband stopped doing weights, so that disrupted my morning routine. He just works out at home now, and so it's harder for me to drag my carcass to the gym alone. My daughter still wants to go to the gym every day, but she only likes to stay for 20 or 30 minutes (instead of an hour) so I'm just not getting as much done. Daughter and I also go for a walk or sometimes a run at sunset, so that helps too. But I think I've lost some strength since I haven't been lifting as often or as much. I really want to turn that around this week! The Whole 30 experiment is still going well. I've tested beans (fail!) and rice (so far, so good). I'm taking it a little slower than the re-introduction schedule recommends: I didn't want to test all the non-gluten grains in one day because I wonder if some of them will affect me worse than others. So I started with rice thinking it would probably be the least likely to cause trouble. My mom had her annual checkup with her doctor, and he was concerned that her blood sugar was a little high. Not like diabetic high, but not ideal either. So he recommended that she go on Whole 30! So I've been sharing recipes with her and trying to help her get started. It's nice to help her out, and it kind of re-energized my enthusiasm for the diet too. :001_smile:

Very interesting. Thank you for sharing these. I fell in love at 18, got married at 23, had my daughter at 25. I feel the same way you do: it worked out very well for me and I am happy, but I have discouraged my daughter from dating so young. (Which was fine since she didn't want to anyway!) Edited for typo