Kirstie and Sophie, two autoimmune warriors and AIP bloggers, talk about Hashimoto’s and anxiety. They are sharing their story of recovery so that hopefully you may find ways to relieve your stress, anxiety, and panic attacks.
Sophie is an autoimmune warrior, foodie, and recipe developer. She blogs at A Squirrel in the Kitchen, where her mission is to demonstrate that you can eat gourmet meals on the autoimmune protocol (AIP)! Her French heritage shines through in her simple, yet creative cooking style and her recipes are doable even for beginning cooks. She lives in Colorado with her husband and their three teenage girls. Diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease in 2009, she experienced severe anxiety, insomnia, and panic attacks. She is sharing today her story of recovery. You can find her on Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.
Kirstie is an AIP newbie, fashion industry survivor and nutritionist in training! Kirstie was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s in 2013 and after initially just taking her pills and still not feeling that great, she realized that there must be a reason why her body had started attacking itself. And so the journey began! Quitting sugar, cutting out gluten and a career change were the first steps for her journey back to good health. The siren call of the Autoimmune Protocol elimination diet soon beckoned, and her education in delicious and nutrient dense home cooking got started! Living in Sydney with Mr Nutritionista, Kirstie can usually be found at her local farmers market, on her bike or, of course, in the kitchen. Kirstie blogs at www.thenutritionista.com and can also be found on Facebook and Instagram (usually stalking other AIPers!).
1 – When and how did you experience anxiety and panic attacks for the first time? What was happening in your life at the time that you can identify as the initial trigger?
Sophie – My first experience with anxiety was rather sudden and brutal. Up until my first panic attack, stress and anxiety had never been a problem for me. My life was spent running left and right, full to the brim with a never ending to-do list, with little time for relaxation and exercise. I had an endless reserve of energy and no task was too big for me. I have to mention also that I was eating a standard american diet. My only concern was my constant battle with my weight! Does all this raises a red flag for you?
Then early 2009, after a minor outpatient surgery, I crashed. I woke up in the middle of the night fully alert, my heart racing in my chest. I was lying down and yet my head was spinning and I had tingling sensations in my limbs. My breathing was shallow, labored, and my throat was closing up. I thought I was having a heart attack and that it was the end of the road for me.
I just had my first panic attack. Of course, I was never able to go back to sleep that night!
When I reflect on those hard times, trying to figure out what went wrong, I realize that the stress of the surgery was only the final straw on the camel’s back. The storm had been brewing inside my body for years. Bad nutrition, lack of exercise, excess of weight, and unmanaged stress, raised the inflammation inside of me to the point where disease had become ineluctable.
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Kirstie – I experienced my first panic attack in the flagship Topshop store. Anyone that has been there may not be surprised at this (it’s huge and packed full of people and clothes with loud music and bright lights) – but for me, Topshop was my spiritual home (!) and the panic attack came pretty much out of the blue. I started sweating, my skin became clammy, I was shaking, I felt light headed, my vision was blurred, my heart was beating fast and I just wanted to run away, but I couldn’t, I felt like if I moved I would collapse.
At this time, I was at university in London and living away from Mr Nutritionista for most of the week. I had minimal money to spend on food, so I ate minimal food and regularly experienced low blood sugar and considered the cold sweats and trembling that this induced to be a sign that I needed to eat, rather than realizing this was a sign I’d left it way too long between meals. Looking back, these symptoms could also have been the first signs of Hashimoto’s. Like most students, alcohol was pretty much a constant (despite the limited budget!) and I’d definitely say I was a binge drinker. My family was also going through a very emotional and stressful time during this period. I feel the combination of all these factors brought on my anxiety and panic attacks, and could well have been the trigger for Hashimoto’s, but at the time that wasn’t something I recognized or addressed.
2 – Do you feel the anxiety and panic attacks are related to your autoimmune disease?
Sophie – At the beginning, absolutely! Each time I experienced a flare up, antibodies would attack and destroy the thyroid tissue, thus releasing a large amount of thyroid hormones into the bloodstream. (Datis Kharrazian) This triggered a domino effect: the metabolism speeds up, causing the heart rate to increase, closely followed by anxiety and panic attacks. The bigger the flare, the more anxiety and panic I would experience.
This kept going on for weeks and months, until I was finally diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease and I started my treatment with a functional medicine practitioner. My antibody levels slowly diminished and the flares became less frequents and less intense. The panic attacks stopped happening, but I was left with a crippling anxiety.
Somehow the anxiety, initially triggered by Hashimoto’s disease, had developed a life of its own.
Now I can’t say for sure that every single person suffering from Hashimoto’s disease will have anxiety and panic attacks. The list of symptoms for Hashimoto’s is quite long and different people will experience it differently. It is a little bit like an “à la carte” menu where you don’t get to choose!
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Kirstie – Looking back, I do feel that this was the start of the manifestation of Hashimoto’s for me. From what I understand, Hashi’s can often swing between hyper and hypo symptoms and as Sophie mentioned, what I called “low blood sugar” could also have been “flare ups” causing my metabolism to speed up, resulting in the feelings I associated with panic attacks and anxiety – sweating, trembling, light-headedness and clammy skin, etc.
3 – How did the anxiety affect your everyday life?
Sophie – After the first episode of panic, I lived in a constant state of fear and anxiety, experiencing further panic attacks on a daily basis, especially during the night. My heart was racing constantly, sometimes erratically, and I was unable to relax enough to fall asleep. I developed severe insomnia (I was sleeping only 2-3 hours per night) and post traumatic stress disorder. I was utterly exhausted and yet unable to sleep.
I could no longer take care of my family and accomplish menial tasks like preparing meals, driving the kids to school, grocery shopping.
My cognitive capabilities were also greatly reduced not only due to sleep depravation, but also because of brain fog. It feels like I had lost my ability to focus and concentrate. Reading and understanding a simple text was arduous and I couldn’t make sense of it.
All the energy I had left was dedicated to seeing doctors, trying to understand what was happening to me and how to get better.
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Kirstie – University tutorials and work meetings were a nightmare. I was in a position both at university and work where I should have been pushing myself forward and making contacts but the panic attacks and anxiety made this almost impossible. I either avoided social situations, or felt very uncomfortable in them or I drank alcohol to make myself feel more comfortable which, long term, probably made the situation worse. I am lucky in that I still did well at university in an academic sense, and I was able to progress at work to some degree, but that whole period of time was very uncomfortable for me.
I didn’t tell anyone around me about what I was going through, as if drawing attention to my situation would make it worse. With hindsight, although it seemed impossible at the time, I wish I had told someone about what was happening.
4 – Have you sought medical or professional help and has that helped?
Sophie – Shortly after the onset of my anxiety disorder, I went several times to the emergency room because my panic attacks were so severe. I was finally prescribed anti-anxiety medication. While medication helped to get the panic attacks under control, the anxiety was still there and the insomnia persisted.
After seeing several conventional doctors whose only answer was to prescribe more and more medication, I finally started working with a functional medicine practitioner in town. We devised a “recovery plan” together and I decided to stop taking the anti-anxiety pills. I also started working with a behavioral therapist specialized in anxiety disorders and post traumatic stress disorders.
That was the turning point for me. Within a month, I started feeling better. I could feel my anxiety slowly going away and I started sleeping better. It took me months to be able to spend a good night sleep, but I was hopeful because I could see the end of the tunnel.
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Kirstie – When all this first started, I was scared to get help. Mental illness runs in my family and I thought my panic attacks were a manifestation of that. I felt that if I went to a doctor that would in someway make the anxiety more of a permanent fixture in my life, as if acknowledging it made it more real. I also thought the doctor would try to prescribe me drugs, which wasn’t a path I wanted to take. I was in my late teens / early twenties when all this was going on and the only way I could think to cope with it was to pretend it wasn’t happening. As the years passed, my feelings of anxiety did very slowly decrease and panic attacks would be shorter and less intense but I felt that it was just part of me and something I had to live with. Hearing Sophie’s story, I wish I had asked for help at the time. Although my episodes weren’t as bad as Sophie’s they definitely affected my life.
Are you suffering from anxiety and panic attacks? Please share your story with us in the comments so that others may benefit from your past experience and find relief!
Don’t miss our post on Hashimoto’s and anxiety part 2!
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Your stories resonated with me so much! Thank you for sharing! The year leading up to my Hashimoto’s diagnosis was filled with incredible stress – Scott and I got engaged, I graduated college and started my career, dealt with huge family drama in both my and Scott’s family, bought a house and moved, planned a wedding of 300+ people in less than six months, and our city just happened to suffer the worst flood on record and about half the population was evacuated the weekend of our wedding. The anxiety started a few months before the wedding. It began with me getting gradually more edgy but got to the point where I was afraid to go to sleep at night. Any time I saw a phone call, text message or email from family members (those involved in the drama), my stress went through the roof, my heart started pounding and I got this adrenaline surge that reminded me of the whole “fight or flight” thing in animals. I had my first (and thankfully only) panic attack about three weeks before the wedding. It just came out of nowhere as I was just about to fall asleep one night. It terrified me. Scott stayed up with me the whole night, praying me through it. After that, I started taking GABA and tryptophan and managed to get through the wedding. A month later, I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s. I worked with a counsellor over the summer to deal with the drama and trama (I was exhibiting signs of PTSD), and I went AIP shortly thereafter. I noticed dramatic improvement in my symptoms after a couple months, but the anxiety just would not go away. My major turning point in that department was when I started going for acupuncture. After just one session, it made a world of difference. I could almost feel my body breathe this big sigh of relief that it didn’t have to be “on” constantly anymore. I slept for almost two days straight and much more soundly than I had in months. I’ve been going regularly now for about four months and it has helped so much! I even have little ear buds for when things sneak up on me between appointments. I have very few anxiety symptoms anymore, but I’m still a work in progress 🙂
Thank you for sharing your story Rheagan <3 Glad to read that your symptoms of anxiety went away. What do you mean by "ear buds" that you use between your acupuncture appointments?
I feel like I have had intermittent thyroid issues my whole life. Panic attacks during my 20’s, pituitary abnormalities that made my doctors think I had a brain tumor. However, it was after the birth of my son via c-section (early due to a large fibroid) that I realized something was wrong. I couldn’t sleep & started having auditory and visual hallucinations. Because the c section was early and unexpected (but necessary as the fibroid caused the umbilical cord to be wrapped around my baby’s neck), so 8 was later, they went back in. I was able to lose all the baby weight within a few months, then suddenly I went from 130lbs (5’6) to 200 lbs in a matter of months. I tried alchohol to sleep which made things much worse. After a misdiagnosis for bipolar, someone finally checked my thyroid. I had been bed bound for 4 yrs and it ruined my 1st marriage. After finally being put on synthroid I was able to go back to school and did really good for several years. It was during my last year of graduate school that the fibroids came back. I had a botched hysterectomy that almost killed me and then the symptoms started again. I saw my mom get symptomatic and beg me to take her to a psych ward and later found out she had it too. I also found out my grandmother had her thyroid removed and my uncle has it which is rare. After nearly a year on synthroid with new allergies I was tested for hashimoto’s autoimmune disease which was devastating. It’s hard for people to understand but the agoraphobia, depression and anxiety are paralyzing. I was recently switched to a cleaner form of synthroid tirosint but this is day 2. I am just glad I’m not alone in this battle.
I think the technical term for them are ear seeds. They are the little beads that acupuncturists place in your ear. The theory is that the ear is a mirror of the body, so for every acupuncture point in the body, there is a corresponding one in the ear. Practitioners place these seeds in your ear to use as a kind of maintenance tool as needed between appointments. If I feel myself start to get a little wound up or tense, I rub the seed a bit and I can feel that anxiety just melt away 🙂
Oh all right! Thanks for giving us more info on this 🙂 But how do you know exactly where to place them? Is it something you can do by yourself? Would you recommend to do this only if someone is already seeing an acupuncturist?
You can’t place them by yourself. It must be done by the acupuncturist. I would think an acupuncturist would only do it if he or she is already seeing you as a client. How else will they know what’s going on with you? They are meant to work as a support to treatment, not as the main form of treatment, so I don’t think you would get the same level of results if you just used the ear seeds by themselves. When I go for an appointment, I’ll have over 20 needles sometimes, whereas I only have two ear seeds.
There are a few different mechanisms to treat anxiety with acupuncture so each practitioner will have a slightly personalized approach and area of focus when it comes to creating a treatment plan, in addition to the individual needs of each client/patient. So where one practitioner might place them on one client may not be the same as where another practitioner will place them on a different client.
My accupuncturist uses a little gizmo that measures how electricity travels through the body, and he uses this tell exactly where the seeds need to go.
Thanks Rheagan for giving us all this info! I hope to see you next week for the second part of this series 🙂
Looking forward to it!
Interesting you brought these up, Rheagan! My husband actually has had these put in many times when he visited his old acupuncturist. I need to find a new one and make an appointment for both him and myself. 🙂
Thank you for this post. Been reading you for almost a year, since my autoimmune crash in May, but have never commented. Lately there has been a level of honesty in AIP blogging that is SO much appreciated by me. I started having panic attacks shortly after a HUGE crash that involved severe brain fog. Shortly thereafter I found AIP–my anxiety and depression have been much improved by nutritional changes as by mindfulness-based meditation & lifestyle changes too. I believe my anxiety levels are mirrors of my disease process and the “canary in the gold-mine” that indicates I need to change something! Best to you!
Hello Katie!
Thank you so much for stepping up and telling us your story! Anxiety and panic attacks are such a common symptoms of Hashimoto’s disease and many people suffer from it. In the next post, I will be talking about my “toolbox” and the techniques I am using to reduce the anxiety and panic attacks.
I stumbled across this and am so glad I did. I was diagnosed with hasimotos in 2013 after I had a near fainting episode. I was sitting and all the sudden I got warm and flush, the room when black, I felt light headed and dizzy, my heart was racing. I went to a naturopath who diagnosed me with hasimotos and treated it with diet, exercise and medication. After several years I was able to go off the meds and managed my hasimotos fairly well with diet and exercise. Then came a season of high stress. I felt like I exhausted my adrenals. I was using supplements, diet and exercise. Shortly after my life returned to normal I got covid. I navigated through that fine but I was continually sick. One day I was driving down the road and all the sudden I had the same exact experience I did in 2013 when I was sitting on the couch. This of course terrified me. I went to the er and they ran every test imaginable except testing my thyroid. I followed up with a doctor to have my thyroid tested, specifically the antibodies. My TSH was high but in the normal range and the antibodies were significantly elevated. I was prescribed synthroid which began a roller coaster of issues. The lightheadedness subsided but I was having several other issues. She switched me to NP thyroid and the lightheadedness has returned. I’m terrified to drive.
I struggled with anxiety for much of my early adulthood. I remember countless times I felt as though I wasn’t breathing, then a wave of heat would rush over me and I’d panic all over again. Eventually I began dating who would become my husband, he was able to calm me down much quicker than anyone {or myself}. Some time between my father’s death and my wedding day those panic attacks/anxiety attacks stopped. I’ve felt anxiety creep up only a few times in the past nearly eight years and have been able to work my way through those feelings and not have it escalate to a full blown attack. I’m so glad you both are talking about this, Sophie and Kirstie. Anxiety is such a crippling thing.
Thanks so much for your comment Erin! I had no idea you have been dealing with this as well. I am starting to think that it is much more widespread that I initially thought! Do you have any idea as to what made your anxiety go away?
I was diagnosed with Hashimotos about a year ago. It was found by accident when I was at an ENT appointment to evaluate my Tinnitus. The doctor thought my thyroid was enlarged. He sent to for an ultrasound and blood tests. I am on the hypothyroid side of things and he put me on 50 mcg of Synthroid.. I had never heard of Hoshimotos and had attributed the weight fluctuations, stomach issues, weird allergy issues, anxiety, sleeplessness /exhaustion….. to the fact I was going into menopause.
Initially the Synthroid seemed to help. I had more energy and with some diet changes felt better. and lost a little weight. Recently, however, I am finding myself ridiculously tired again. I am still exercising, but not as much. I have dark under eye circles. I am not sure if the tiredness is causing the lack of energy or if less exercise is making me tire more easily. My anxiety has increased tremendously. I really don’t want to take anxiety meds if there is a natural way of warding this off.
Thank you for sharing your story. My husband is so patient and understanding, but he can’t completely understand this out of whack feeling I’m having. as he doesn’t live it. So many odd symptoms . Thanks again!
Hello Sue,
Thank you so much for your feedback! Indeed it is hard for others around us to understand the full scope of dealing with an autoimmune disease, even when they are as understanding as your husband 🙂 Autoimmune diseases are often called “invisible illnesses” for this reason. Please stop by again in the future and good luck!
I know this is a few months old, but have you had your T3/T4 levels checked? Synthroid is straight T4 and the default prescription of choice by doctors to treat hypothyroidism. Many people have a hard time converting T4 into the active T3 that the body uses. As a result, TSH levels will be normal, but because the T4 supplement isn’t getting converted into what the body needs, you may still show symptoms of hypothyroidism. Hope you feel better!
Thank you Rheagan for your helpful comment. My anxiety is under control now, but I am sure your comment will benefit many others!
Hi girls! Thanks for the great post. I think we should speak openly about our struggles due to Hashimoto’s. This way we can help others to be diagnosed earlier. Your stories are similar to mine! The first time I felt my heart beating strangely was my last week at work where I was working for more than 2 years and a month before a big move. It was a stressful time for me. A week after my irregular heart beat I had a dental energency where a wisdom tooth and the one next to it had to be taken out. It wasn’t a big deal but still a minor surgery just before Xmas, before the big move with all the packing, planning, arranging pet travel etc. A few days after my teeth were pulled out I had my first panic attack in the middle of a very pleasant family dinner! This was the night where all my problems had started. I started feeling tired, shaky, anxious most of the time and panic attacks had become an almost daily “ritual”. It took the doctors 5 years to diagnose my Hashimoto. A month after the diagnosis I’ve started AIP. I’m still not in perfect shape but since January 2015 when I started the Aip I’ve been panic attack free!
Hello Rady,
Thank you so much for your feedback! I am glad to read that you are doing better now 🙂 Good luck.
I blamed anxiety,severe insomnia,feeling like I was going insane and hair loss on menopause. Before that I blamed my symptoms on peri menopause. Before that I suffered years of chronic constipation.I went to a gastroenterologist who told me everything looked fine and that I should eat more fiber,drink more water and exercise more. I was already obsessed with all three.Laxative tea was my daily routine, colon cleanses were a regular ritual, my colema board was my best friend. Through all of this I always suspected my thyroid but tests through my general practitioner were always negative. I went to an endocrinologist in hopes of someone finally being able to help me, That was a big disappointment. When anxiety and severe insomnia struck hard I got myself to a naturopath. A Full thyroid panel was among the tests ordered on my first visit. Within a few weeks I had a diagnosis of Hashimotos. adrenal fatigue,estrogen dominance and high night time cortisol. I felt no change going gluten free and a few months later plunged happily head first into AIP.Those first three months were tough. I have alway been a from scratch cook so the food prep was not the hard part. It was the total exhaustion,insomnia,and basically feeling I was losing it. (I don’t know what I would have done without the emotional and physical support of my husband) At the three month mark I began to feel a change for the better with my new diet and increase in Armour med. I am just four and a half months in and expect to feel better and better. Looking back I would say I could have been much more assertive in those first Dr. appointments. I asked what I knew to ask at the time. Anyone just beginning the diet, stay with it. You may have the impression that many people get relief from symptoms within a short amount of time. It was three months before I could say I felt any change but it did come and it will for you too. The AIP community has been a huge support and I have learned so much. On those low days I would hang on every word of symptoms falling away and a future of remission. Now that I have more energy, the morning light and a walk in nature soothe me, I have recorded my own voice with gentle messages of self love, affirming deep and healing sleep and a reminder that I am not separated from God. I listen to this each night as I am ready for sleep. This has helped my sleep and anxiety. When I sleep the anxiety is lessoned.
Thank you so much for your testimonial Gale. Your story looks very much like mine has been. And you are so right to encourage people to stick with the diet. I haven’t yet heard of someone going on AIP and not seeing improvements in their health and symptoms. This anti-inflammatory diet is very powerful. I am also so glad that you finally got your diagnosis right! Good luck dear Gale 🙂
Thank you so much for this. I have struggled with intense anxiety and crippling panic attacks on and off since just before my Hashimoto’s diagnosis in 2003. Going through a particularly bad flare up right now. It really helps to know I am not alone.
Hello Jill,
Thank you for your feedback. You are definitely not alone! Anxiety comes and goes in our lives. I know how hard it is to go through a flare, but hang in there, it shall pass. I like to remind myself that anxiety is “just” a mood. As such, it will eventually go away, especially if you are practicing relaxation techniques. Good luck 🙂
I know this is an old post but can you describe your flare ups for me? I just found out that I have TPO antibodies and thank I’m going thru a flare up now and feel like I’m losing my mind 🙁
Hello Kristy,
Severe anxiety all day long and worse at night, panic attacks, insomnia were the worst. I was misdiagnosed erroneously at first with an anxiety disorder, when in fact it was my thyroid going out of whack (Hashimoto’s). Does this seem familiar?
Thank you so much for responding!
Yes!! Did you have a racing pulse too? I’m swinging between hyper and hypo as this is my first flare up of this lovely disease. I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism about a year-and-a-half ago but just tested positive for TPO antibodies, which has caused all of this. I feel like I’m losing my mind and my doctor even asked me if I was bipolar lol
Yes, racing and erratic pulse (it would go out of beat for a few seconds then starts speeding up again). I am going to take a wild guess but I bet you are not bipolar 😉 What you are describing looks like the early stage of Hashimoto’s. After, the thyroid settles into hypo all the time. You are in the right place here to change all this 🙂 Wishing you all the best.
Kristy, you sound like me. I have been Googling “Hashimoto’s and panic attacks” and stumbled upon this post, and it’s SO reassuring…especially on days like today where heading to the salon for a much needed hair appointment (something RELAXING and WANTED) caused a major panic attack for me. What if I am sitting in the chair and can’t leave? What if I freak out? It was crippling.
After my 3rd baby in April 2016, I began with migraines. I was told it was stress by my family doctor…two times. Eventually, a chiropractor I went to ordered an x-ray. Radiologist ordered an MRI…and tada! A 3cm thyroid nodule was found. I was simultaneously ecstatic and frightened. On my way home from my thyroid ultrasound, I had my first full blown panic attack on the freeway. It was terrifying. 2 years in (almost), I just found a functional medicine doctor in February, and he diagnosed me with Hashimoto’s (as I suspected but no doctor agreed with due to “normal” levels despite my antibodies!) and gave me a game plan. I am still having panic attacks, and it’s causing me to avoid going places, which scares me even more. I swing between hypo and hyper, and it’s so obvious to me.
Best of luck to you in your journey! Thank you for this post, ladies!
Wow! So many parts of this sounded like I could have written it myself.. I was diagnosed with an underactive thyroid in 2014 but for the most part it didn’t give me unbearable symptoms. Then in 2018 I got what I called “hyper” symptoms even though my levels werent in the hyper range.. the symptoms only lasted for about 2 months and then all of a sudden disappeared. I was relieved and went on about my life thinking it was over.. fast forward to 2019, things were going great and I finally decided to get a half sleeve tattoo that I had always wanted for years!! About 2 weeks after getting my tattoo, all of a sudden the hyper symptoms came back.. I had severe anxiety, insomnia, weight loss, nervousness, palpitations, etc.. I got so depressed cause I was like “oh my God it’s back”. I tried everything to get it to go away again like it had the previous year but nothing was working.. finally my doctor decided to really look into my thyroid being the cause and I was officially diagnosed with Hashimoto’s this past Friday after finding out my antibodies were off the chart.. unfortunately I’m still having the anxiety and panic attacks :/. I’m loving the weight loss but I can definitely go without the anxiety.. after reading this and hearing you say that you think the surgery is what finally pushed your body over the edge, I have no doubt that my tattoo is what pushed me over the edge. Sitting and getting a tattoo done for 4 hours straight was probably too much and finally made the Hashimotos come out.. thank you for writing this! It has helped me so much to know I’m not alone..
Is unbelievable to me how much we all have in common as people who have Hashimoto’s. I had extreme anxiety and panic attacks for about a year-and-a-half and remained undiagnosed for the majority of that time. I remember saying to my husband that I felt like my body had been poisoned and my mind was screaming out with four alarms telling me that I needed help. I’m so grateful for the doctor I currently have who diagnosed me with Hashimoto’s and I’m glad for the internet that has introduced me to the AIP lifestyle. While stress for me is a major trigger I’m learning to deal with both Hashimoto’s and rheumatoid arthritis through changing my diet and my mindset. Because I was a holy hurricane in my former life and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound it has been a huge adjustment adjustment to learn how to slow down and be okay with not accomplishing nearly as much as I would like to. Hang in there AI Warriors. It always gets better!