Behaviors

Be an active participant in your healthcare rather than passive: learn to explore medical and health information online more effectively, stay on top of issues, and ask a lot of questions rather than relying solely on a local doctor.

If diagnosed with a serious disease, connect with the disease organization or advocacy group for that condition because they may know about treatments being used elsewhere and are often well connected with physicians worldwide.

Identify who the leading or world's expert is for your disease and travel to see them if possible, since they may have insights on unconventional or lesser-known options.

After being told the recommended first-line treatment, keep asking whether there is potentially something else, including options used elsewhere.

If future data prove strong enough, women going in for breast cancer surgery should talk to their surgeon beforehand to make sure lidocaine is used in the pre-surgical way discussed.

Seek licensed clinicians who can provide prolonged exposure therapy, cognitive processing therapy, and/or cognitive behavioral therapy if seeking relief from fear or traumatic events.

Emerging therapeutic approach for trauma/PTSD; uses ketamine in psychotherapy to allow recounting trauma from a different emotional perspective, diminishing intensity of the old trauma while enabling relearning of a new narrative. Huberman notes many clinics now offer it and says it may be especially beneficial when trauma/fear is coupled with depressive symptoms.

Use the lightning-thunder delay as a rough safety rule; if after seeing lightning you can only count to about five seconds before hearing thunder, go inside.

When nervous before or during speaking, use movement as an outlet for autonomic arousal, such as pacing or discreetly bouncing your knee behind the podium.

Train for a big communication event like a sporting event: get a good night's sleep rather than cramming, eat well, sleep well, exercise, and stay on your normal routine.

Do not suddenly stop caffeine or add extra caffeine before a presentation; extra caffeine after poor sleep can increase agitation during the presentation.

When staying in a hotel, unplug the alarm clock and use your phone instead on airplane mode, cover bright lights, put a towel by the door crack, and ask for a room away from the elevator to reduce sleep disruption.

If you wake in the night, keep your eyes closed if possible, then move them slowly side to side, up and down, roll them counterclockwise and clockwise, then cross them slightly toward the bridge of the nose and exhale to help facilitate falling or falling back asleep.

Rocking back and forth can help babies and adults fall asleep by making them forget body position.

People should warm up before speaking just as they would before athletics or music.

Cooling the body can help manage perspiration and blushing caused by anxiety before speaking; holding something cold in the palms is one method because the palms help thermoregulate the body.

Use challenging backward counting to force focus and become present-oriented before speaking.

Screen girls and young women early for endometriosis, especially when they have severe menstrual pain, missed school, fertility concerns, or other suggestive symptoms.

Screen all girls and young women for PCOS rather than assuming youth protects fertility.

Pelvic ultrasound should be included in a well-woman exam and requested for pelvic pain, suspected endometriosis, or evaluation of PCOS morphology, fibroids, septum, cysts, and possible endometrioma. If a doctor refuses to order it for pain, seek another doctor or another imaging site.

She presents sex 3–4 times per week as the benchmark trying-to-conceive frequency, noting that in her example about 50% conceive within 6 months and 90% within 1 year.

For people with PCOS trying to get pregnant, ask a doctor about letrozole as a first-line treatment before Clomid.

For people with PCOS trying to get pregnant, ask a doctor about Clomid after letrozole.

Treat painful periods as a possible sign of endometriosis rather than normal menstrual discomfort, especially if the pain disrupts daily life or school.

Painful sex with deep penetration may be a sign of endometriosis.

Persistent bloating around and beyond periods may be a sign of endometriosis.

Painful bowel movements may be a sign of possible endometriosis and should be considered in evaluation.

If recurrent bladder symptoms are repeatedly treated with antibiotics despite negative cultures, consider endometriosis until proven otherwise.

Laparoscopic excision/resection is the gold-standard diagnosis and treatment for endometriosis, especially when pain is severe or hormonal suppression fails.

Cut out lesions rather than burning them, since burning is only a temporary fix and the pain can return.