What Would You Do to Be a Better Mom?

Taking some umproven product that is not medicine prescribed by a doctor, a product that you call "something" and not a drug or an herb or a supplement when you have no idea what's in it does not make you a better mom.
If you have symptoms of depression, see mental health professional, a counselor who can give you actual strategies, and if necessary and desirable, medications that have been approved for use with depression, where you can actually see documentation of risks, benefits and side effects.
Good luck

I watched a few youtube videos on this and read the website awhile ago.

The website seems like a pyramid scheme with all the Mercedes and vacations homes you can get, if you too sold these pills.

NO. I would do some research on the product before taking it...

https://daniel871.wordpress.com/2013/09/26/thoughts-on-th...

There's more out there. And then I would talk with my doctor. If I used a sample, and it made a difference? I would tell my doctor.

I don't think you should wait MONTHS to see your doctor. Stop taking the Thrive, make an appointment with your doctor for THIS WEEK - take the supplement with you - tell him/her what you experienced in taking this supplement - it will help him/her run blood tests to see what you are missing from your diet and get balanced.

You need to start exercising. Walking - go to the pool and do laps - but you NEED TO MOVE...whatever exercise you CAN do. DO IT.

You might be depressed. You are paying attention to your body and symptoms. Do NOT put this off. Don't use something you are NOT familiar with and not know much about.

Good luck!

sweetie, you've been off your feed for YEARS, and you're just now discussing it with your doctor?
don't wait for a few more months. make an appointment TODAY.
it's fine to check around with your buddies to see what works for them, and i worked with a homeopath for several years when i was encountering some crushing fatigue during the child-rearing years, and it helped me immeasurably. but you really to need to put working with a professional far ahead of just taking stuff your friend recommends. i doubt it will hurt you- but since you have no idea what's knocking you off kilter, it COULD. you just don't know.
i know what you mean about not being a good mom. i cringe when i look back at some episodes from the exhausted years, of being snappy and irritable and too wiped to have adventures with my boys. i'd sure like to have a do-over there.
and here you are, in the thick of it. take that desire to be a better mom and use it to take care of yourself NOW. not in a few months.
toss the supplements and go see your doctor. call her right now.
khairete
S.

What works for me is to take better care of myself. I need to remind myself to slow down, exercise, be in nature (hikes or biking with the kids), eat right, get to sleep on time and do my household routines. When I am consistent with that, I feel great! If I let my self-care slide, then I get irritable, feel out of control, feel sluggish and tired. I'd try natural things before going for medicine or supplements. Also, sometimes I have to really force myself to want to play with the kids. Once I'm out there playing, I have a great time. I have even been known to set a timer and let them know I only have 30 min to play, but I stick to that time and enjoy it.

Mama Llama - I can totally relate! I've recently started scheduling in exercise and eating well and in just a few days I felt so much better. I was feeling depressed cranky and lethargic.

Instead of buying the next MLM product - clean up your diet, exercise at least 3 times a week and by all means please talk to your doctor. Be sure you have your thyroid checked.

Honey, if I gave you the list of the stuff I take/do to make me a better mom, your jaw would hit the floor.

Personally, do whatever you have to do to get you through the day.

If your doctor gives you bottles of antidepressants...is that better than what you're doing now? Food for thought.

Make sure your next appointment is with your Dr. and tell your Dr. what is going on with you being so tired, etc. The food and supplement journal to show the Dr. is a great idea.

You need to make sure you eat right and exercise. You have no idea what is in the snake oil you are taking right now. It is just another gimmick to suck people into a MLM.

When you see your Dr., get a thorough blood test so they can see what deficiencies you are experiencing so you can get back to yourself the healthy way of eating right, exercise and don't forget to drink a LOT of water. Stop taking supplements when you don't know what is in them... they could do major damage to your health.

I wouldn't take anything that is potentially unsafe. Who cares if I'm the best mom for a year or two if I drop dead from the side effects of unhealthy pills? Talk with your doctor and make sure that whatever supplements you're taking are safe for you.

I'm sorry you're going through this. I had a lot of issues when I was a mom of a young child too. I have a friend who was in a car accident that resulted in major whiplash and headaches, and she spent a lot of time on the couch. She always felt that she could have been a better mom. If we had known then what we know now, we'd make different choices. But I do believe that taking care of YOU is the first step to being a better mom.

If you don't feel the PA was responsive, it may not be because of the PA training - it may be that the person is just not your cup of tea. Some "real doctors" aren't either - so be sure you have a practitioner who is listening to you and open to a variety of things.

I checked on Thrive for about 5-10 minutes, and learned that the parent company, Le-Vel, is not Better Business Bureau accredited and I note that the website shows nothing about clinical studies on the products or the ingredients. There are a few celebrity spokespeople but I don't think that means much in this world. Alex Trebek advertises for life insurance and Henry Winkler hawks reverse mortgages, but I'm not using those companies just because a well-known entertainer got paid to endorse them.

I work in nutritional education and I am heavily science based - I'd want to see clinical data, and I'd want to know where the products are manufactured and under what conditions. Do they have the FDA Good Manufacturing Practices designation? Is the company well rated by some independent organization, such as the BBB or the Direct Selling Association? Do their food scientists actually formulate the products, or are they just a sales outlet for something made elsewhere.

If you are noticing some benefit, it could be a placebo effect or it could be that you are nutritionally deprived (most people are - you cannot get enough from your diet no matter how well you eat - so says the American Medical Association). But unless those vitamins and minerals are balanced and absorbable, you're not getting your money's worth. Are you getting nutritional support from your friend and does she have any training? And if you are basing your nutrition on caffeine, I'd be highly skeptical. There are far better choices.

ETA: Sadie H., "pyramid schemes" are illegal. Lots of companies charge too much for their junky products - WalMart is one of them, and maybe Thrive is too. WalMart stores aren't manufacturers, they are distributors of someone else's products. I don't know where Thrive gets its products but since it doesn't advertise that they create them themselves with their own scientists and under FDA scrutiny, I'm assuming they are just distributors. That's not, by definition, a pyramid. But I'd like to know a lot more about what they sell before I'd buy it - and they aren't emphasizing that, so I think it's safe to assume it's not as reputable as we would like. But there are plenty of good companies that sell through individual distributors (Tupperware, Mary Kay…) and they are not pyramids just because you sign up through someone else. Companies need to be evaluated through independent means, and that's easy to do.

No, I would not take it. The effects are only temporary and it may have long-term effects you don't know about. Being a cranky mom is better than going through some potentially serious health complications in the future (that might also affect your ability to be a "good" mom in a more serious way).

Eat better, exercise more, take a daily multi vitamin.
There's always some miracle product that will promise you the sun, the moon and the stars on a silver platter.

Sometimes I think the placebo effect makes people think this stuff helps them but if a sugar pill can make you feel that much better, ditch the pill and have yourself a daily chocolate kiss - I'd rather give my money to Hershey than to some snake oil salesman.
If caffeine spins your prop then have a cup of coffee.

My recommendation is for you to start a food journal NOW before you see your physician. Keep it honest.

I would also write when I have the aches/ pains, and good and bad moods, tired and energetic moods.

This information will help you and your doctor much more than taking a supplement.

Bring all your info (food journal, feeling journal and ingredients of supplement) to your appointment.

What we put into our bodies effects us more then we realize.

I know what you mean - being a parent, full time employee, etc can be exhausting. For me, I feel tired a lot but I KNOW it's because I don't exercise often enough, I stay up too late and don't always eat what I should. But you know what else? Sometimes skipping the gym/elliptical/etc for a phone call with a friend or dinner with my parents or eating BK just because I want a darn burger instead of salad is okay for my SANITY. You don't have to always play with your kids. You can play with them while laying down, resting, etc. When my kids were smaller but got up super early, we'd often play "mommy's sick" so I could lay down and they would take care of me. LOL

I think if Thrive works for you, continue with it. Sometimes I drink a monster, other times I drink Spark and there are even times when I hav a candy bar JUST for the sugar rush. Great idea? No, but I do feel better about it.

What I'm trying to say is I feel you - I get it. You aren't a bad mom because you are tired. But you CAN be a better mom by treating yourself better, getting more sleep (which I think is KEY) and really evaluating what is important for YOUR family. Homemade dinners every night when your kids are also in sports and gone all evening? Not for me. We do premade meals, sandwiches or cereal on sports nights. House a disaster and laundry piled up but the kids want to play a game, I'll skip the house and laundry. But there are OTHER times where I do those things and tell the kids I will play with them later.

Mom guilt is real and never goes away. Do the best you can with what you have!! All they want is your TIME....so even if it's reading on the couch, watching a movie while cuddling in bed, coloring on the floor with a pillow, at least you are spending time together!

One of the problems with the Thrive products is that their individual ingredients don't seem to be listed with specific amounts, or percentages of daily recommended values. You can't really give your doctor information about what is helping you, and what might be useless, or what might be potentially harmful. Is it the caffeine that's helping? Or a certain vitamin?

I wish you could see your doctor sooner, and discuss your symptoms. Did you have bloodwork done, for vitamin and mineral and electrolyte levels, at your last appointment?

If you have diagnosed health issues, I don't think it's a good idea to take a product that has lots of ingredients in vague amounts. Can you make an appointment with a nutritionist (a certified one, who works with people with medical problems - the hospital where your doctor has admitting privileges may be able to recommend one, or may have one on staff) and discuss your particular health issues, and find some helpful, specific, supplements?

That way, when you go to your regular doctor in a few months, you can say that Vitamin B12, for example, helped you a lot, as did so many mgs of caffeine. That may provide your doctor with a better picture of how to help you feel even better.

Your question title is a bit misleading.
I was going to say "get more patience."

As for this supplement? I might take it if I knew what I was taking and did the research.
Here's a start for you:
http://supplement-geek.com/thrive-w-review/

would i continue to take something i was not sure was good for me? no
would i continue if it made me a better mom? no.
i would talk with my dr (just as you plan to do) and find a safer way to feel better.

I would skip the supplements and reschedule that appointment with my doctor for next week.
I am generally very skeptical of supplements, which are not regulated in any way. This means that what the bottle says may not be what you are actually taking and the even if it is, the ingredients have not been proven to treat a specific condition.
You seem to be dealing with some serious health issues that are negatively impacting your life, and by your own account, your kids' lives. I would not waste any more time with this Thrive. Talk to your doctor and get some help taking care of yourself. This is what I would do to be a better mom. I would take care of me.

No, I wouldn't. Remember, people sell this stuff to make money. It's not a proven medicine. A placebo effect can make you feel better temporarily.

Get help from a doctor.

For energy that's not caffeine based I would recommend a liquid vitamin B over what you are taking now.

Know this...you get to choose how you are going to react and respond to your children. It is so easy to say no often and frequently but it isn't any more work to say yes. Try to say yes more than no where ever you can because children don't stay little for long.

Talk in depth with your physician regarding your aches and pains. Perhaps you will get a recommendation for some kind of physical therapy so you can feel better and improve your health. Exercise helps with fitness.

Caffeine and guarana are safe in reasonable amounts.
I used both a lot when I was a single mom while going to college.