Help Fixing My Seemingly Unfixable Problems (Inattentive ADHD, General Fatigue, Minocycline Experience etc.)

ajaxinjection

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To keep things short, I have inattentive ADHD (diagnosed officially). Medication has helped immensely in many sectors, but it has illuminated a whole host of new problems. Some of the main symptoms of inattentive ADHD that I feel most directly are the scarily bad memory, lack of in-the-moment presence, sluggish cognitive tempo, something akin to auditory processing disorder, and trouble starting things. Switching topics a little bit, as a teen I was given minocycline for what was presumed to be dermatitis. For all my life I have been plagued with very dry skin (flaky, not cracking though) and rosacea. The minocycline helped for a while, but the serotonin-increasing effects really started to make themselves apparent. All the markers were there (sensitivity to light/sound, general fatigue, muscle weakness, anhedonia, lack of motivation, insane irritability, a dark blotch of hyperpigmented skin on my foot). I'll never forget the first couple days off of it after about a year of taking it (too long), I literally felt so much better. The acne is now back, as well as the very dry skin, and I don't feel nearly as good as those first few days off of it. Now, I am worried that it might have damaged my gut bacteria because of its potent effects and the duration that I took it. I will simplify this block of text below and add a little more info to this disjointed paragraph.

Apparent Problems:
- inattentive ADHD
- (very bad memory, auditory processing disorder, lack of motivation, tendency to space out, overthinking, mood swings)
- skin problems
-(dry flaky skin, rosacea, redness)
- general fatigue/muscle weakness from doing just about anything
- history of gut issues/diarrhea

Known Medical History:
- Hashimoto's on my mother's side (all the women afflicted, unsure if I have it or not, have not experience weight gain, hair thinning or depression)
- Rosacea on my dad's side (along with other indicators that point mitochondrial dysfunction)
- Tonsils and Adenoids removed, sleep breathing problems as a kid (still existent?)
- ADHD (or at least the symptoms) on both sides
- Inflammation issues on both sides
- Very, very skinny throughout most of my life. Very low body fat (like 7%)

Dietary/Supplementary Intake:
- Fish Oils (Have genuinely been a positive, have gotten rid of the stomach ache but I suspect the absorption issues might still be there)
- Nutridyn Essential Multi-Vitamin
- 500 mg of Vitamin C
- Nutridyn Magnesium Glycinate
- Occasional Nutridyn "Methyl Complete"
- Adderall (for ADHD)
- Mostly carbs and salt in the diet, little to no craving for sugar. Honestly not very good, but my schedule and situation make it so that my choices to eat (if I eat at all) are very limited. Very consistent, though.

Any and all help is appreciated immensely.
 

mostlylurking

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Joined
May 13, 2015
Messages
3,078
Location
Texas
To keep things short, I have inattentive ADHD (diagnosed officially). Medication has helped immensely in many sectors, but it has illuminated a whole host of new problems. Some of the main symptoms of inattentive ADHD that I feel most directly are the scarily bad memory, lack of in-the-moment presence, sluggish cognitive tempo, something akin to auditory processing disorder, and trouble starting things. Switching topics a little bit, as a teen I was given minocycline for what was presumed to be dermatitis. For all my life I have been plagued with very dry skin (flaky, not cracking though) and rosacea. The minocycline helped for a while, but the serotonin-increasing effects really started to make themselves apparent. All the markers were there (sensitivity to light/sound, general fatigue, muscle weakness, anhedonia, lack of motivation, insane irritability, a dark blotch of hyperpigmented skin on my foot). I'll never forget the first couple days off of it after about a year of taking it (too long), I literally felt so much better. The acne is now back, as well as the very dry skin, and I don't feel nearly as good as those first few days off of it. Now, I am worried that it might have damaged my gut bacteria because of its potent effects and the duration that I took it. I will simplify this block of text below and add a little more info to this disjointed paragraph.

Apparent Problems:
- inattentive ADHD
- (very bad memory, auditory processing disorder, lack of motivation, tendency to space out, overthinking, mood swings)
- skin problems
-(dry flaky skin, rosacea, redness)
- general fatigue/muscle weakness from doing just about anything
- history of gut issues/diarrhea

Known Medical History:
- Hashimoto's on my mother's side (all the women afflicted, unsure if I have it or not, have not experience weight gain, hair thinning or depression)
- Rosacea on my dad's side (along with other indicators that point mitochondrial dysfunction)
- Tonsils and Adenoids removed, sleep breathing problems as a kid (still existent?)
- ADHD (or at least the symptoms) on both sides
- Inflammation issues on both sides
- Very, very skinny throughout most of my life. Very low body fat (like 7%)

Dietary/Supplementary Intake:
- Fish Oils (Have genuinely been a positive, have gotten rid of the stomach ache but I suspect the absorption issues might still be there)
- Nutridyn Essential Multi-Vitamin
- 500 mg of Vitamin C
- Nutridyn Magnesium Glycinate
- Occasional Nutridyn "Methyl Complete"
- Adderall (for ADHD)
- Mostly carbs and salt in the diet, little to no craving for sugar. Honestly not very good, but my schedule and situation make it so that my choices to eat (if I eat at all) are very limited. Very consistent, though.

Any and all help is appreciated immensely.
Sounds like gut issues with thiamine deficiency. These tend to run together because if you lose your ability to absorb nutrients in your small intestine you won't be able to absorb thiamine (B1). Thiamine + magnesium help heal the gut. I'm very positive about thiamine because I've personally resolved a lot of health problems via high dose thiamine hcl, including some serious gut issues including SIBO and leaky gut, along with multiple digestive tract problems like low stomach acid and lack of peristalsis which caused food to not go down my esophagus, get stuck, and forcing a lot of trips from the table to yak up the food in the bathroom.

Here are some links for your consideration:
Rosacea: Rosacea, inflammation, and aging: The inefficiency of stress
quote: "One nearly ubiquitous source of inappropriate excitation and energy depletion is the endotoxin, bacterial lipopolysaccharides absorbed from the intestine (Wang and White, 1999). That this ubiquitous toxin has a role in rosacea is suggested by the observation that intestinal stimulation, to speed transit through the bowel, immediately relieved symptoms (Kendall, 2002). Increased cortisol (Simon, et al., 1998) and sepsis (Levy, 2007) interfere with mitochondrial energy production."

fish oil: The Great Fish Oil Experiment Fish oil is polyunsaturated fat. Terrible stuff. Here's another: Unsaturated fatty acids: Nutritionally essential, or toxic?

a thiamine overview: The Deficiency that Makes You Tired & Weak

ADHD and thiamine:


 

redsun

Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2018
Messages
3,013
To keep things short, I have inattentive ADHD (diagnosed officially). Medication has helped immensely in many sectors, but it has illuminated a whole host of new problems. Some of the main symptoms of inattentive ADHD that I feel most directly are the scarily bad memory, lack of in-the-moment presence, sluggish cognitive tempo, something akin to auditory processing disorder, and trouble starting things. Switching topics a little bit, as a teen I was given minocycline for what was presumed to be dermatitis. For all my life I have been plagued with very dry skin (flaky, not cracking though) and rosacea. The minocycline helped for a while, but the serotonin-increasing effects really started to make themselves apparent. All the markers were there (sensitivity to light/sound, general fatigue, muscle weakness, anhedonia, lack of motivation, insane irritability, a dark blotch of hyperpigmented skin on my foot). I'll never forget the first couple days off of it after about a year of taking it (too long), I literally felt so much better. The acne is now back, as well as the very dry skin, and I don't feel nearly as good as those first few days off of it. Now, I am worried that it might have damaged my gut bacteria because of its potent effects and the duration that I took it. I will simplify this block of text below and add a little more info to this disjointed paragraph.

Apparent Problems:
- inattentive ADHD
- (very bad memory, auditory processing disorder, lack of motivation, tendency to space out, overthinking, mood swings)
- skin problems
-(dry flaky skin, rosacea, redness)
- general fatigue/muscle weakness from doing just about anything
- history of gut issues/diarrhea

Known Medical History:
- Hashimoto's on my mother's side (all the women afflicted, unsure if I have it or not, have not experience weight gain, hair thinning or depression)
- Rosacea on my dad's side (along with other indicators that point mitochondrial dysfunction)
- Tonsils and Adenoids removed, sleep breathing problems as a kid (still existent?)
- ADHD (or at least the symptoms) on both sides
- Inflammation issues on both sides
- Very, very skinny throughout most of my life. Very low body fat (like 7%)

Dietary/Supplementary Intake:
- Fish Oils (Have genuinely been a positive, have gotten rid of the stomach ache but I suspect the absorption issues might still be there)
- Nutridyn Essential Multi-Vitamin
- 500 mg of Vitamin C
- Nutridyn Magnesium Glycinate
- Occasional Nutridyn "Methyl Complete"
- Adderall (for ADHD)
- Mostly carbs and salt in the diet, little to no craving for sugar. Honestly not very good, but my schedule and situation make it so that my choices to eat (if I eat at all) are very limited. Very consistent, though.

Any and all help is appreciated immensely.
If your diet is mostly "carbs and salt", than its no wonder you have these issues. If you are not eating much animal protein, you have no raw material to make neurotransmitters. Amino acids and choline are necessary to make neurotransmitters to motivate you, promote easier focus and attention, improve and stabilize your mood. Working memory and long term memory will be bad as well. Acetylcholine(Ach) is mainly necessary for long term memory and if you aren't getting plenty of choline Ach activity will be low. Working memory is dependent on glutamate, dopamine, noradrenaline... Again, all of these things come from amino acids from protein.

All these vitamins you take are basically useless. You need protein for aminos otherwise your brain will never work in a million years no matter how much you want it to. The first thing I recommend you do is figure out how much protein and choline you get daily and lets see where your intake is at in terms of these.

The fact that you also have generalized weakness, especially weakness upon exertion, confirms likely acetylcholine synthesis is too low due to low choline intake. Acetylcholine is what tells your muscles to contract. Low ach supply will cause debilitating fatigue that gets worse from any physical activity.
 
Last edited:
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ajaxinjection

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Joined
May 8, 2022
Messages
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Location
United States
If your diet is mostly "carbs and salt", than its no wonder you have these issues. If you are not eating much animal protein, you have no raw material to make neurotransmitters. Amino acids and choline are necessary to make neurotransmitters to motivate you, promote easier focus and attention, improve and stabilize your mood. Working memory and long term memory will be bad as well. Acetylcholine(Ach) is mainly necessary for long term memory and if you aren't getting plenty of choline Ach activity will be low. Working memory is dependent on glutamate, dopamine, noradrenaline... Again, all of these things come from amino acids from protein.

All these vitamins you take are basically useless. You need protein for aminos otherwise your brain will never work in a million years no matter how much you want it to. The first thing I recommend you do is figure out how much protein and choline you get daily and lets see where your intake is at in terms of these.

The fact that you also have generalized weakness, especially weakness upon exertion, confirms likely acetylcholine synthesis is too low due to low choline intake. Acetylcholine is what tells your muscles to contract. Low ach supply will cause debilitating fatigue that gets worse from any physical activity.
Sounds like gut issues with thiamine deficiency. These tend to run together because if you lose your ability to absorb nutrients in your small intestine you won't be able to absorb thiamine (B1). Thiamine + magnesium help heal the gut. I'm very positive about thiamine because I've personally resolved a lot of health problems via high dose thiamine hcl, including some serious gut issues including SIBO and leaky gut, along with multiple digestive tract problems like low stomach acid and lack of peristalsis which caused food to not go down my esophagus, get stuck, and forcing a lot of trips from the table to yak up the food in the bathroom.

Here are some links for your consideration:
Rosacea: Rosacea, inflammation, and aging: The inefficiency of stress
quote: "One nearly ubiquitous source of inappropriate excitation and energy depletion is the endotoxin, bacterial lipopolysaccharides absorbed from the intestine (Wang and White, 1999). That this ubiquitous toxin has a role in rosacea is suggested by the observation that intestinal stimulation, to speed transit through the bowel, immediately relieved symptoms (Kendall, 2002). Increased cortisol (Simon, et al., 1998) and sepsis (Levy, 2007) interfere with mitochondrial energy production."

fish oil: The Great Fish Oil Experiment Fish oil is polyunsaturated fat. Terrible stuff. Here's another: Unsaturated fatty acids: Nutritionally essential, or toxic?

a thiamine overview: The Deficiency that Makes You Tired & Weak

ADHD and thiamine:


I genuinely appreciate both responses. I will see what I can do.
 

mostlylurking

Member
Joined
May 13, 2015
Messages
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Location
Texas
I genuinely appreciate both responses. I will see what I can do.
There's a connection between low acetylcholine and thiamine deficiency.

@redsun is right about the diet and the importance of protein. Ray Peat recommends at least 80 grams of high quality protein/day, 100 grams/day is even better. He prefers other animal protein sources instead of muscle meat, like dairy and eggs. An egg has 6 grams of protein; milk has 1 gram of protein per ounce of milk.
 

Phosphor

Member
Joined
Jan 30, 2021
Messages
202
Rather than suggesting you take MORE stuff, I'm going to suggest you find out what you're ingesting that could be causal, at least for some things.
There is a blood test that checks for which foods/supps/chemicals are inflammatory for you in particular; it's called the MRT, is not cheap, and can make a tremendous difference by only ingesting those things which *your* body doesn't have an inflammatory reaction to. This is NOT an "allergy" test.
here is one online source; so far it's the least expensive and has the least "controlling input from the provider."


I would also seriously consider whether you have histamine reactions to things you ingest. Histamine is associated with some pretty awful mental symptoms and the person suffering it has no idea. Best site I've found for that is mastcell360.com

Best of luck. Don't chase symptoms; chase causes.
 

dreamcatcher

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Oct 29, 2016
Messages
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If your diet is mostly "carbs and salt", than its no wonder you have these issues. If you are not eating much animal protein, you have no raw material to make neurotransmitters. Amino acids and choline are necessary to make neurotransmitters to motivate you, promote easier focus and attention, improve and stabilize your mood. Working memory and long term memory will be bad as well. Acetylcholine(Ach) is mainly necessary for long term memory and if you aren't getting plenty of choline Ach activity will be low. Working memory is dependent on glutamate, dopamine, noradrenaline... Again, all of these things come from amino acids from protein.

All these vitamins you take are basically useless. You need protein for aminos otherwise your brain will never work in a million years no matter how much you want it to. The first thing I recommend you do is figure out how much protein and choline you get daily and lets see where your intake is at in terms of these.

The fact that you also have generalized weakness, especially weakness upon exertion, confirms likely acetylcholine synthesis is too low due to low choline intake. Acetylcholine is what tells your muscles to contract. Low ach supply will cause debilitating fatigue that gets worse from any physical activity.
Just came across your comment and it reminded me of a vegan cardiovascular doctor I saw on YouTube.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FX58PyQwrcI

Even though he didn't eat animal proteins in half of his life, his mental health and memory were remarkable, at the age of 96!
 

InChristAlone

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Just came across your comment and it reminded me of a vegan cardiovascular doctor I saw on YouTube.

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=FX58PyQwrcI

Even though he didn't eat animal proteins in half of his life, his mental health and memory were remarkable, at the age of 96!

What was his diet? Wheat is a source of betaine if he was still consuming wheat. There are a couple other plant sources as well I believe.
 
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ajaxinjection

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UPDATE:
I have since been introducing more protein into my diet in the form of protein shakes. They worked alright at first, but now they make me light headed and super thirsty for some reason. I have also switched to doxycycline, and the black deposits on my foot are now gone. Tried getting off the fish oils but the inflammation came back to bite me. Thiamine worked for a day, then stopped. I got my first blood test, though (awaiting results)!

My short-term memory and irritability are still very bad. Still do not have very much energy. ADHD still there.

A little bit frustrated, but thankful for the help so far and hoping we can find a solution.
 
A

Adf

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UPDATE:
I have since been introducing more protein into my diet in the form of protein shakes. They worked alright at first, but now they make me light headed and super thirsty for some reason. I have also switched to doxycycline, and the black deposits on my foot are now gone. Tried getting off the fish oils but the inflammation came back to bite me. Thiamine worked for a day, then stopped. I got my first blood test, though (awaiting results)!

My short-term memory and irritability are still very bad. Still do not have very much energy. ADHD still there.

A little bit frustrated, but thankful for the help so far and hoping we can find a solution.

Do you drink caffeine?
Common sources, coffee, tea, energy drink, preworkout, Most soda i.e. coke/pepsi etc.

If you do commonly consume any of those with caffeine, have you tried ceasing all caffeine consumption? I would try for 1 month and see how you feel.

Caffeine is addictive and hard to drop, but I notice profound mental and energetic benefits when I do, after the 1 week mark. The first week is tough, but then you recover and may realize you weren't living normally or naturally when consuming caffeine every day.
 
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ajaxinjection

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Do you drink caffeine?
Common sources, coffee, tea, energy drink, preworkout, Most soda i.e. coke/pepsi etc.

If you do commonly consume any of those with caffeine, have you tried ceasing all caffeine consumption? I would try for 1 month and see how you feel.

Caffeine is addictive and hard to drop, but I notice profound mental and energetic benefits when I do, after the 1 week mark. The first week is tough, but then you recover and may realize you weren't living normally or naturally when consuming caffeine every day.
I drink a little bit of soda. Not enough to really do anything.
 
A

Adf

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I drink a little bit of soda. Not enough to really do anything.
If you're drinking it at night time, even the little bit in soda might be enough to disrupt sleep and over time can potentially compound the adenosine, slowly mind you, and lead to all sorts of issues like lethargy, brain fog, irritability etc.

Caffeine blocks the adenosine receptors in the brain. Adenosine causes tiredness, it slowly builds up from when you wake up, until you have enough of it at night time to put you to sleep. When you sleep your body then uses that adenosine for numerous processes, basically it helps you get deep and restful sleep.

If you're consuming soda at night with caffeine in it, you're blocking adenosine receptors in your brain, so not all the adenosine will be used up, so your sleep might not be as deep and restful as it could or should be. And you will wake up with more adenosine left over than you should.

This isn't necessarily an issue if you drink soda once or twice a week, or don't drink any at all after 12pm. But caffeine has a 5 hour half life, that doesn't mean it's out of your system in 5 hours, that means half of it is out of your system in 5 hours, then half of what is left is out in another 5 hours and so on. So there can still be adenosine being blocked while you sleep with nighttime soda consumption.

This may not necessarily be an issue if you occasionally consume caffeine as in, not every day. But if even trace amounts of caffeine is consumed at night, every night, or a lot is consumed even before 12pm, over a period of time, it will likely eventually lead to some symptoms of fatigue and create dependence of caffeine. Add that onto general life stressors and it will catch up to you.
 
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ajaxinjection

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If you're drinking it at night time, even the little bit in soda might be enough to disrupt sleep and over time can potentially compound the adenosine, slowly mind you, and lead to all sorts of issues like lethargy, brain fog, irritability etc.

Caffeine blocks the adenosine receptors in the brain. Adenosine causes tiredness, it slowly builds up from when you wake up, until you have enough of it at night time to put you to sleep. When you sleep your body then uses that adenosine for numerous processes, basically it helps you get deep and restful sleep.

If you're consuming soda at night with caffeine in it, you're blocking adenosine receptors in your brain, so not all the adenosine will be used up, so your sleep might not be as deep and restful as it could or should be. And you will wake up with more adenosine left over than you should.

This isn't necessarily an issue if you drink soda once or twice a week, or don't drink any at all after 12pm. But caffeine has a 5 hour half life, that doesn't mean it's out of your system in 5 hours, that means half of it is out of your system in 5 hours, then half of what is left is out in another 5 hours and so on. So there can still be adenosine being blocked while you sleep with nighttime soda consumption.

This may not necessarily be an issue if you occasionally consume caffeine as in, not every day. But if even trace amounts of caffeine is consumed at night, every night, or a lot is consumed even before 12pm, over a period of time, it will likely eventually lead to some symptoms of fatigue and create dependence of caffeine. Add that onto general life stressors and it will catch up to you.
When I drink caffeine I get a little bit of a kick, then it dies out and I am back to normal. As for sleep, I wake up everyday tired. I have at least one dream every night, often quite vivid. 8 hours is the minimum for me.
 
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ajaxinjection

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If your diet is mostly "carbs and salt", than its no wonder you have these issues. If you are not eating much animal protein, you have no raw material to make neurotransmitters. Amino acids and choline are necessary to make neurotransmitters to motivate you, promote easier focus and attention, improve and stabilize your mood. Working memory and long term memory will be bad as well. Acetylcholine(Ach) is mainly necessary for long term memory and if you aren't getting plenty of choline Ach activity will be low. Working memory is dependent on glutamate, dopamine, noradrenaline... Again, all of these things come from amino acids from protein.

All these vitamins you take are basically useless. You need protein for aminos otherwise your brain will never work in a million years no matter how much you want it to. The first thing I recommend you do is figure out how much protein and choline you get daily and lets see where your intake is at in terms of these.

The fact that you also have generalized weakness, especially weakness upon exertion, confirms likely acetylcholine synthesis is too low due to low choline intake. Acetylcholine is what tells your muscles to contract. Low ach supply will cause debilitating fatigue that gets worse from any physical activity.
Acetylcholine, from what I am gathering, feels like one of those double-edged supplements that needs to be constantly balanced or else the depressive symptoms hit. What form of choline and at what dosage would you recommend?
 

redsun

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Acetylcholine, from what I am gathering, feels like one of those double-edged supplements that needs to be constantly balanced or else the depressive symptoms hit. What form of choline and at what dosage would you recommend?
Choline seems to cause depression in some people for unknown reasons. Some theories exist, some biochemical, others psychological but regardless it may not affect you at all. There is no way of knowing until you try.

Choline is best from food. Eggs are the easiest way. Meat also is a good source provided you eat enough. Milk, yogurts, kefir, all have some. Cheeses lose a lot of their choline. I can't stress the importance of actual food. Protein powders may have helped slightly but they are processed food, so they lose a lot of their micronutrients. You cannot just supplement choline and then supplement protein powders. Whole food is best. Red meats, eggs, some dairy, starches, some fruits/fruit juices. Short term memory is mainly about glutamate, dopamine, norepinephrine. So you may likely need more copper to see in an improvement in short term memory as it is needed for catecholamines production. You could need more iodine. I have no idea what you eat so these are all assumptions. But carbs and salt sounds very nutrient devoid and definitely is so you could be missing many things because you are trying to substitute real food.

Cashews, cocoa powder, tropical fruits, are all good copper sources. If you do not consume milk or its equivalent like yogurt or kefir, you likely do not have enough iodine intake since iodine is not found in many foods. Iodine is very important for the function of all your neurotransmitters as well. Iodized salt shoud be used to increase iodine levels in the body or you need to start consuming eggs and dairy or do both. You should eat beef regularly as it is a good source of iron and zinc which are needed to increase the activity of your neurotransmitters such as glutamate, acetylcholine, dopamine, norepinephrine, etc. White meats dont have many minerals though dark chicken meat is better.

There is no need to drop fish oil. Omega 3 is important and if its reducing inflammation there is no reason to stop it.
 
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ajaxinjection

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Choline seems to cause depression in some people for unknown reasons. Some theories exist, some biochemical, others psychological but regardless it may not affect you at all. There is no way of knowing until you try.

Choline is best from food. Eggs are the easiest way. Meat also is a good source provided you eat enough. Milk, yogurts, kefir, all have some. Cheeses lose a lot of their choline. I can't stress the importance of actual food. Protein powders may have helped slightly but they are processed food, so they lose a lot of their micronutrients. You cannot just supplement choline and then supplement protein powders. Whole food is best. Red meats, eggs, some dairy, starches, some fruits/fruit juices. Short term memory is mainly about glutamate, dopamine, norepinephrine. So you may likely need more copper to see in an improvement in short term memory as it is needed for catecholamines production. You could need more iodine. I have no idea what you eat so these are all assumptions. But carbs and salt sounds very nutrient devoid and definitely is so you could be missing many things because you are trying to substitute real food.

Cashews, cocoa powder, tropical fruits, are all good copper sources. If you do not consume milk or its equivalent like yogurt or kefir, you likely do not have enough iodine intake since iodine is not found in many foods. Iodine is very important for the function of all your neurotransmitters as well. Iodized salt shoud be used to increase iodine levels in the body or you need to start consuming eggs and dairy or do both. You should eat beef regularly as it is a good source of iron and zinc which are needed to increase the activity of your neurotransmitters such as glutamate, acetylcholine, dopamine, norepinephrine, etc. White meats dont have many minerals though dark chicken meat is better.

There is no need to drop fish oil. Omega 3 is important and if its reducing inflammation there is no reason to stop it.
Thank you for the reply. I have since moved away from home and am in college now. To flesh out my previous diet, I was eating a lot of pasta, pizza, and other low quality carbs. Not the worst of the worst, but not healthy or sustainable. Literally no one in my family can cook, it is quite pathetic. Most of the time I simply skipped meals or ate snacks, too tired to do anything else. I have now switched to simple, but comparatively healthier stuff (soups, homemade sandwiches, milk, fruits etc.) since I was never taught how to cook. I am now completely relearning my relationship with food. I have recently had bloodwork done and will probably try choline soon, as there is no way I am getting it in my diet.
 
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ajaxinjection

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Choline seems to cause depression in some people for unknown reasons. Some theories exist, some biochemical, others psychological but regardless it may not affect you at all. There is no way of knowing until you try.

Choline is best from food. Eggs are the easiest way. Meat also is a good source provided you eat enough. Milk, yogurts, kefir, all have some. Cheeses lose a lot of their choline. I can't stress the importance of actual food. Protein powders may have helped slightly but they are processed food, so they lose a lot of their micronutrients. You cannot just supplement choline and then supplement protein powders. Whole food is best. Red meats, eggs, some dairy, starches, some fruits/fruit juices. Short term memory is mainly about glutamate, dopamine, norepinephrine. So you may likely need more copper to see in an improvement in short term memory as it is needed for catecholamines production. You could need more iodine. I have no idea what you eat so these are all assumptions. But carbs and salt sounds very nutrient devoid and definitely is so you could be missing many things because you are trying to substitute real food.

Cashews, cocoa powder, tropical fruits, are all good copper sources. If you do not consume milk or its equivalent like yogurt or kefir, you likely do not have enough iodine intake since iodine is not found in many foods. Iodine is very important for the function of all your neurotransmitters as well. Iodized salt shoud be used to increase iodine levels in the body or you need to start consuming eggs and dairy or do both. You should eat beef regularly as it is a good source of iron and zinc which are needed to increase the activity of your neurotransmitters such as glutamate, acetylcholine, dopamine, norepinephrine, etc. White meats dont have many minerals though dark chicken meat is better.

There is no need to drop fish oil. Omega 3 is important and if its reducing inflammation there is no reason to stop it.
Tried Choline and did not feel great. No major depression but definitely some lethargy after taking it. Kinda at a crossroads right now.
 

redsun

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Tried Choline and did not feel great. No major depression but definitely some lethargy after taking it. Kinda at a crossroads right now.
Sounds like you tried a choline supplement and not food. This is the whole point I tried to get across. Try to get more choline from foods, Eat real proteins, not powders, eat more whole foods. If you have been really eating not great for awhile, it will takes time for things to shift. If you really have not been eating much animal foods like unprocessed meat such as red meat, chicken, eggs, which are one of the more important dietary aspects for sharper cognition, you need to integrate them into your diet and then be patient. I recommend generally at least 8 oz of unprocessed meat a day. You could easily eat way more depending on height and weight, muscle mass. 2-3 eggs a day. You are eating some foods like milk, sandwiches, soup, but you really lack the major substances still.
 
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ajaxinjection

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Sounds like you tried a choline supplement and not food. This is the whole point I tried to get across. Try to get more choline from foods, Eat real proteins, not powders, eat more whole foods. If you have been really eating not great for awhile, it will takes time for things to shift. If you really have not been eating much animal foods like unprocessed meat such as red meat, chicken, eggs, which are one of the more important dietary aspects for sharper cognition, you need to integrate them into your diet and then be patient. I recommend generally at least 8 oz of unprocessed meat a day. You could easily eat way more depending on height and weight, muscle mass. 2-3 eggs a day. You are eating some foods like milk, sandwiches, soup, but you really lack the major substances still.
I apologize for the misinterpretation. For a couple weeks after this I was cooking eggs almost everyday and did not feel much of any difference when it came to energy. I really appreciate the advice, though. I am starting to take a more fundamental approach in identifying the problem, which is leading me to the ADHD medication. The appetite suppression is very real, especially as someone who never ate very much in the first place. I feel as though it sedates too much, not providing any bodily energy what so ever. It is weird, I have no anxiety/depression whatsoever, but I never get that bodily rush of adrenaline/energy. Some adjustment is probably going to need to take place there, whether that is changing the dose or medication or nothing. The sum total of my day's energy should not be going to class and coming back.

IDK if it was my body simply detoxing or what but that first day off of minocycline was the best I had felt in years. Tons of energy, a normal appetite, feeling good, no low dopamine symptoms. Such is not currently the case. At least I have a benchmark, though, y'know?

Oh well, I'll keep looking. My healthcare provider locked me out of my blood test results, so that is the next order of business.
 

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