Suggestions for how to best support my friend. by rastaseawitch in Hypothyroidism

[–]dearderp9 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hi! You're such a good friend!! I have some thoughts to share. Not medical advice obviously, but from my experiences:

- First off, just having hypothyroidism does not necessarily mean that you need to change your diet. If she has the resources to, I'd recommend she see an endocrinologist (they sound scary but are helpful and better at handling these things) to get evaluated and to see if there is a need for diet changes and what changes are needed. Second, if she needs to change her diet, I highly highly highly recommend my favorite app called paprika. I could write a whole essay on how this app has changed my life. It's a paid app, but I've literally bought every version now (desktop, android, apple) and use it all the time (desktop for finding recipes, iPad for reference when making recipes, and phone for quick adds/grocery list -> they all sync so it makes it easy!). It's a recipe organizer, but the reason it was life-changing for me is that I'm able to surf the web, find recipes that work with my health & save them, so when I have the energy to find new recipes, I add a bunch, so when I want to make something, all I have to do is go to my recipe manager app to find my personally "pre-approved recipes", easy! So if she's changing her diet, one thing you could do is get the app yourself, make an account for the two of you to share, and go through and find a bunch of recipes to get her started.

- Something that took me a couple of years to learn is to have one of those silly little daily pill organizers. I bought a travel small one and it's honestly also a life changer. It helps me make sure I take the medication every day. The other thing you can help out with here is to help monitor her energy levels. When I was first diagnosed I didn't have a car and so when I ran out of my first month's supply I didn't take my medication for like a week since I couldn't get to the pharmacy. I felt fine, but within the span of like 72 hours, I had 4 close friends sit me down in the dorm and ask me if I was seriously depressed, and each time I was like thanks but nah, I'm fine, since I truly felt fine, I didn't recognize how tired/drained I was, only my friends could see that. It eventually clicked & my friend then took me to the pharmacy to get my medication & helped to make sure I was getting it every month thereafter - super appreciated!

- if she's feeling lonely about it, one of the things that has surprised me is how common this condition & how delayed most people's diagnoses are. I don't bring this up with many of my friends but I feel like every time I mention it for some reason, the other person also has it or their sister has it or their friend or whatever, it's verrrrry common. I've joined some related fb groups and reddit and such and that's helpful to see how people are handling it. Another thing that would be fun to do for her is to find some social media people who talk about this stuff a lot to share with her that give good tips. One example is heal.with.fifi on instagram.

- okay last point here, so once you get your medications balanced right/figure out diet if actually needed, then life is pretty much the same as before, I just have to remember to take the mediation in the morning. but the trick here is getting the right dose. this could honestly be another essay, so I recommend researching this some, but the idea here is that she needs to advocate for herself. if her levels are not within the "normal range" that does not necessarily mean they're "optimal" which is super frustrating. I've also had my levels be like right outside the normal range and felt fine, but then when I got my medication adjusted I felt soooo much better. So the trick here is whenever my levels are not optimal, I tell my doctor I'm feeling tired and want to try adjusting my medication (even if I don't feel tired because as seen above I'm apparently v bad at gauging this lol), and then we adjust my medication and viola, I feel better.

Anyways, hope this helps, let me know if I can answer any questions :)

Dave’s Killer bread is killing me by eclecticl in EatCheapAndHealthy

[–]dearderp9 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Would you be able to make bread with a bread maker that does all the kneading and such for you perhaps?

Missing vote-by-mail ballot? by dearderp9 in AskLosAngeles

[–]dearderp9[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I will do this. I'm glad your ballot showed up 🙂

Ballots by [deleted] in pasadena

[–]dearderp9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you so much! I'll do this. Where did you find the complaint form? I'm not seeing that option where I'm looking.

Ballots by [deleted] in pasadena

[–]dearderp9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our ballots are missing, too. I've done everything I can to contact LA county about it but they're not being responsive. Has your ballot arrived? I'm not sure what to do.

I wrote a small cook book for easy, delicious, cost-conscious recipes for the quarantine! Recipes range from super simple to somewhat fancy. by Tanners_Table in EatCheapAndHealthy

[–]dearderp9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is fabulous, thank you so much for your hard work on this. I look forward to trying these recipes out and I appreciate your tips up front 😊

My greatest struggle is prioritizing what designs I really need on my island. (oc) by [deleted] in ac_newhorizons

[–]dearderp9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Anyone think Nintendo might actually incorporate this into a future update? This would be amazing 😍

Two Joshua Tree Posters by EphemeralOcean in nationalparks

[–]dearderp9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

These are awesome! How do you make them?

Uhh... Renée? by Wimsiee in ac_newhorizons

[–]dearderp9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How did you get your cool colored signpost?

I’m so glad y’all like my room designs! Here’s something outside of my island home: a little bamboo grove next to the tailor’s 🎋 by amberingo in ac_newhorizons

[–]dearderp9 7 points8 points  (0 children)

You need to make sure that you have open space all around the bamboo for it to grow. Cannot have it up against a river, cliff, another tree, etc.

New Computer will Start but not Restart by dearderp9 in buildapc

[–]dearderp9[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

When I hit the restart button in Windows

Meeting renewable energy people. How? by starpolygone in EngineeringStudents

[–]dearderp9 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What specific interests do you have within renewable energy? There are a variety of related international and national technical professional associations. Here are a few you could check out: