Completely Stuck, Suffering Multiple Conditions

[Tarmander]

I even disagree with that but I will respond coz I do agree it’ll get him more eyeballs. If you look at the phenomenon of click bait you’ll see people gravitate toward desperation. Some of the biggest threads I’ve seen on here, of a person asking for help, included terms like “I’m suicidal” in the title.

I don’t see what my gender has to do with anything, but you assume wrong. To be fair I’m gay and there’s an argument gay male brains act more like females and whatever, so there’s that. But no, I still disagree, I think it depends on the context whether male or female need to be told truth or comforted, and to think it’s rather based on gender itself tells me about the type of gender roles you obviously buy into. “Boys don’t cry”

tbf I’ve only really experienced support from people in my life, so no I’m not talking to someone from my past, I’m talking on behalf of all of the people I’ve worked with on a human to human level, regardless of gender, who received “truths” like yours, and it did little to help them.

honestly I’m more interested at this point in your notion of an all-loving God. How did it help you? I notice you didn’t respond to my comment about ALS patients.

Did you change names or am I imagining that?

It is fine to disagree with me. I am going by my experience with what works, and in my experience, in general, men need truth more then comfort. I wish it were different and those stereotypes weren't true, but I don't make the rules

Faith is one of the most powerful forces on the earth, and it is there for everyone. In dark times it has definitely helped me.

I am not sure about the ALS reference. Did OP have ALS and I missed that?

 

[Tarmander]

You may be right. I’m sorry to despair in public like this as well, as I don’t want to feed whatever panic is already occurring. This has just been my reality for years already. I always have hope, or else I wouldn’t be posting would I? Appreciate your response though.

No need to apologize. I hope you find the help you need. You CAN get yourself out of this slump. The answers are there

 

[Constatine]

Whenever we are burdened with an overwhelming amount of troubles its important to simplify our perspective as much as possible. Multiple negative conditions can create a positive feedback loop by which each condition perpetuates the other. For an example increased stress from emotional based conditions can worsen physical conditions (in this case infection by reducing immune function). A worse physical state will also lead to reduced stress tolerance and emotional imbalance, hence worsening the physical condition. Its important to stop this process where ever we can as interfering anywhere will hinder the positive feedback loop. Implementing factors that have positive effects on our emotional and physical well-being will have their own positive feedback loop. Thus very simple things can often get us out of very grave circumstances.

Regarding your empathy and consequently your state of panic. Its probably best if you completely stop watching or engaging in media for the course of this event. On this forum perhaps avoid clicking on any threads relating to current events as well. Contrary to popular belief avoidance is a pretty good coping mechanism when properly utilized. It appears that you are attempting to process and come to terms with current events but that is not something you have to do nor should be expected of you. Empathy only helps others (in a practical not emotional way) if those with empathy have the power to change the circumstance. It is not a shameful thing to blind yourself to suffering that you have no control over, in fact it is healthy.

Regarding Post Fin I don't know that much about it. I do agree with GreekDemiGod that TRT might be a good choice though I recall that some people with post fin react differently to androgens. There are a lot of members on this forum that seem to have at least partially gotten post fin under control, they would probably offer good advice.

Lyme and similar conditions are certainly treatable though die off reactions can be terrible as I'm sure you know. I'm sure you already do a lot to manage your infections and I don't recommend pushing antimicrobials too hard until after your stressors recede a bit. Die off reactions can create terrible emotional conditions/feelings of doom/anxiety/etc. Its not good to combine such things with other stressors.

Meditation would probably be beneficial for you. Its actually really difficult to get into and do regularly but it can yield surprising benefits once you make it a habit.

 

[mangoes]

Did you change names or am I imagining that?

It is fine to disagree with me. I am going by my experience with what works, and in my experience, in general, men need truth more then comfort. I wish it were different and those stereotypes weren't true, but I don't make the rules

Faith is one of the most powerful forces on the earth, and it is there for everyone. In dark times it has definitely helped me.

I am not sure about the ALS reference. Did OP have ALS and I missed that?

no you’re not imagining things haha.

it is fine to disagree. My own experience - with straight men even - speaks differently. Like I said it’s dependent on context

my point about ALS and God, was to illustrate further the point I made in my first post. Statements like that are exactly what I said, otiose. But I think we’ve served the purpose of keeping the thread alive and so can agree to disagree at this point

 

[Ashoka]

Man, if you only know how much I feel you totally.

I'm 28 and my life has been difficult for over 6 years as well.
Early 20s, several deaths in the family, feeling lost, stopped all exercise which was beneficial in my teens, had a terrible job in a hospital.
My stress was constantly elevated for 2 years, and then it left me depleted. I tried to work my way back, and about 3-4 years ago I was functioning OK, sometimes even happy, but I was always extremely tired and low energy.

And then I had a massive health collapse more than 2 years ago, with mold infection and overwork, which led to terrible breathing difficulties, and stomach problems. I've managed to recover from what looked hopeless even a year ago, but recently, I've been dealing with a massive emotional cascade, which has led me to a little meltdown, I'm eating less, super sad about lost time, stressed out, lonely etc.

It's a process and I think it's another phase of the recovery, I haven't really felt strong emotions like this since forever, and from watching Tim Berzins on Youtube, I've come to understand the importance of sitting with the emotions and letting them be there, even when it hurts like hell. I try my best to support my physiological needs with pregnenolone to stop the stress hormones, and enough fructose to keep carbon dioxide high, and energy production going. I take cascara to avoid constipation because when you're stressed out the intestines become a sneaky source of further problems.

You to need to ride out emotional periods, you can't suppress them, you need to cry at will, talk to people. I've never ever felt the need to confide in people, and recently I've become so emotional that I've finally reached out to people around me for support, after years of shunning their help. It's humbling AF.

Make sure you do all the little things to lessen the burden, take thyroid, take all the compounds like pregnenolone or progesterone/DHEA which can help. Eat nutrient dense foods to compensate for lack of appetite. Meditate close your eyes and breathe slowly, and focus on ONE aspect of your life which you know you must improve. One thing at a time, and move forward. Realize that in your current stressed out state you won't be able to figure things out, let yourself relax as much as you can, and get into a more comfortable state of mind to fix the problem.

I'm not saying it's easy, it's ******* hard as hell. Just a few short years ago I felt I was resilient despite intense stress and this illness has brought me to my knees. Don't ever give up.

Yeah, your experience has mirrored my own in some real ways. I’m sorry you’ve had to go through all that as well. Trust me, you’re not alone. I’ve also grieved the lost time, the loss of any kind of normal life, and the lack of understanding of people around me.

You know, one thing I’ve noticed, is that good things and change can happen very abruptly. And unfortunately when we’ve been in a bad state, our experience narrows and we stop believing in it. The world looks grey, flat, repetitive at best and anguished at worst. And in that state the mind assumes negativity. For instance, today my pain and despair is much less. And I’m not sure why, lyme disease can be cyclical, but nothing materially has changed. The only thing that happened was I reached out and was listened to on this forum. The mind and body are full of surprises that defy all expectations. I may be miserable again in a week or less or not, but things are capable of being shifted. So I hope my thread doesn’t get you down either. It helps to keep in mind we are not alone, and that change is possible. Sometimes when I start to feel alone now, I recognize the real connectedness of being alone, I imagine sharing in that feeling with others and it takes on a different expression. Reading someone whose experience resonates with you really breaks the spell of aloneness.

 

[Ashoka]

Whenever we are burdened with an overwhelming amount of troubles its important to simplify our perspective as much as possible. Multiple negative conditions can create a positive feedback loop by which each condition perpetuates the other. For an example increased stress from emotional based conditions can worsen physical conditions (in this case infection by reducing immune function). A worse physical state will also lead to reduced stress tolerance and emotional imbalance, hence worsening the physical condition. Its important to stop this process where ever we can as interfering anywhere will hinder the positive feedback loop. Implementing factors that have positive effects on our emotional and physical well-being will have their own positive feedback loop. Thus very simple things can often get us out of very grave circumstances.

Regarding your empathy and consequently your state of panic. Its probably best if you completely stop watching or engaging in media for the course of this event. On this forum perhaps avoid clicking on any threads relating to current events as well. Contrary to popular belief avoidance is a pretty good coping mechanism when properly utilized. It appears that you are attempting to process and come to terms with current events but that is not something you have to do nor should be expected of you. Empathy only helps others (in a practical not emotional way) if those with empathy have the power to change the circumstance. It is not a shameful thing to blind yourself to suffering that you have no control over, in fact it is healthy.

Regarding Post Fin I don't know that much about it. I do agree with GreekDemiGod that TRT might be a good choice though I recall that some people with post fin react differently to androgens. There are a lot of members on this forum that seem to have at least partially gotten post fin under control, they would probably offer good advice.

Lyme and similar conditions are certainly treatable though die off reactions can be terrible as I'm sure you know. I'm sure you already do a lot to manage your infections and I don't recommend pushing antimicrobials too hard until after your stressors recede a bit. Die off reactions can create terrible emotional conditions/feelings of doom/anxiety/etc. Its not good to combine such things with other stressors.

Meditation would probably be beneficial for you. Its actually really difficult to get into and do regularly but it can yield surprising benefits once you make it a habit.

I agree about avoiding the news. I would do it almost completely if I could. But this is actually instructive about the cyclical nature of ehat’s happening that I’m having trouble communicating. How this works in practice: stressor —> distracting behavior —> social media —> encountering news cycle. The stressor could be of the physical or mental variety. Because of ill-health, dealing with stressors through exercise or being more active and social is not really a possibility. So these options end up being more constricted than imagined. So I end up compulsively distracting myself online, which in my mind is still better than having no stimuli.

Meditation, in my experience, is hard when adrenaline is going. When you sit down and you feel your heart pounding, observing your breath intensifies the panic feeling. So in the last few years, I’ve had absolutely no luck meditating. Also, finasteride caused brain fog which is hard to describe. Perception, which once felt fluid, now is broken up. One could say people have a “mind’s eye” (mental attention and focus) in addition to our other perceptual senses, and that instead of being open, as it normally should be, it’s now “blinking” due to the metabolic damage of finasteride. Sorry I don’t know how else to describe it, I’ve heard better descriptions of it before.

The die-off reactions produce exactly the things you say. It partly creates the up and down sense of confusion about my situation that I feel, because in those downswings I feel defeated.

 

[Ashoka]

no you’re not imagining things haha.

it is fine to disagree. My own experience - with straight men even - speaks differently. Like I said it’s dependent on context

I prefer the softer approach. I think our culture is full of self-reliance messaging, and the tough-love talk can be a part of that. Vulnerability often means weakness, for many men. The idea of emotional support may not occur to some men until they need it themselves. Subsequently I believe a lot probably end up leaning on the women in their life for emotional support.

 

[Tristan Loscha]

Last year, I supplementd 5k-10k IU of D3 for a few months. Not that I've sensed any benefits, but anyway. Tested blood levels of D3 and they were on the high-end of normal range.
Stopped supplementing D3 since my endo warned me not to unless I have a proven deficiency. Since then, I've been spending not much time in the sun. Went through a winter and now it's spring, but I'm locked inside due to lockdown.
How long does of take for D3 levels to deplete / drop? Thinking maybe I shoud start on it again


Never heard this before. Are we talking depravation as in going sleepless for days? Very skeptical of this.
Now that I think about it, there is so little emphasis on this forum on sleep quality. I wonder why
We're all trying to have perfect hairlines and infinite energy out here, but that is not gonna happen with non-optimal sleep.

@Ashoka Ever thought of hoping on TRT? Would be an easy fix. How's your Testosterone?

Can you try to remember harder what your dosages were,for how long,what your values were and what
range (ng/ml or nmol/L) you are using in your Region?

 

[Sofia]

I got an idea that being empath means that something went wrong with the brain (because of sickness) as I do feel emotions of other people very strong, and I understand that they are mine. I dont understand people's emotions from their faces or body language very easy, instead I understand that I feel that way. I read it could be because of wrong parenting, lack of mirroring, but I think that the brain is not functioning properly. I read that if someone feels very strong emotion which is not logical in that situation then the emotion is from another person. I think sick people transfers emotions in bigger intensity. And I must say I hardly feel my own emotions, because emotions of other people are overwhelming, the best is to be alone. It's enough to sit next to someone, ask myself how I feel, and I know what he or she feels, here is little conscious understanding that that person feels that way, it really has to go through my soul and heart. I even thought that maybe I catch it because of wireless internet or something like that, it might make emotions spread with more power. In some neurobiology book I read its because the sense of self appears in the se brain region where we understand others. In some way others equals the "I".

 

[Tristan Loscha]

Last year, I supplementd 5k-10k IU of D3 for a few months. Not that I've sensed any benefits, but anyway. Tested blood levels of D3 and they were on the high-end of normal range.
Stopped supplementing D3 since my endo warned me not to unless I have a proven deficiency. Since then, I've been spending not much time in the sun. Went through a winter and now it's spring, but I'm locked inside due to lockdown.
How long does of take for D3 levels to deplete / drop? Thinking maybe I shoud start on it again


Never heard this before. Are we talking depravation as in going sleepless for days? Very skeptical of this.
Now that I think about it, there is so little emphasis on this forum on sleep quality. I wonder why
We're all trying to have perfect hairlines and infinite energy out here, but that is not gonna happen with non-optimal sleep.

@Ashoka Ever thought of hoping on TRT? Would be an easy fix. How's your Testosterone?

"How long does of take for D3 levels to deplete / drop?"

Half-Life of the precursor 25(OH)D,the thing that is measured and acts as an reservoir,is iirc 2-3 weeks,so very very short actually.