How a Digital Nomad Manages Her Chronic Conditions: Hypothyroidism and ADHD
Key takeaways:
Kylee Pucci is a digital nomad who manages her chronic conditions while traveling the country with her family in an RV.
She has hypothyroidism and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and stays in touch with her doctor through telehealth.
She uses GoodRx coupons to afford her prescriptions.
When she was in her first year of college, Kylee Pucci was diagnosed with hypothyroidism.
It’s a condition that happens when the thyroid gland doesn’t produce enough hormones. Kylee says her mom, grandmother, and sister all have it.
They’ve experienced the wide-ranging symptoms of hypothyroidism, including fatigue, weight gain, sensitivity to cold, dry skin, hair loss, and depression.
When Kylee learned she had it, “I was experiencing being on my own for the first time. I wasn’t sleeping right. I wasn’t eating right. I just kind of summed it up to that.”
She started taking medication, and she says her symptoms improved. Life went on. She got married and had two kids.
Then, during the COVID-19 pandemic, she went to the doctor for symptoms she thought were related to depression. The doctor gave her another diagnosis: attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
Kylee says that made sense. She’d always had symptoms like difficulty focusing.
“I just never had a doctor sit down and treat it and really get down to the root of things,” she says.
Navigating health and finding savings as a digital nomad
Kylee is now a 30-year-old digital nomad who travels with her family across the country in an RV.
She says being on the road has made it difficult to get healthcare.
Sometimes, her insurance didn’t cover her prescriptions. Other times, she had trouble getting a prescription for her ADHD medication because her doctor was in California and Kylee wasn’t. Then there were times that she had to make health decisions based on her budget.
Kylee does her best to meet her health needs. She checks in regularly with her doctor via telehealth appointments.
Her doctor also let her know about GoodRx coupons for her prescriptions. It brought the cost of her ADHD medication down from $400 to $50, she says. And she gets a 3-month supply of her hypothyroidism medication for only $10.
“Being able to afford my prescriptions affects my life every day,” Kylee says in a TikTok video for GoodRx. “Overall, it impacts my life with my motivation, my metabolism, my weight, my mood — just everything. Having a healthy and happy mom is definitely something that’s beneficial to my children.”
Kylee says she’s using the savings to travel more with her family and spend quality time with them.
“You don’t feel good when you’re sick," she says. “And so, being able to feel healthy definitely improves my life.”
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