Posted by karaS on September 25, 2004, at 19:40:26
In reply to Re: Supplements for brain fog?- » KaraS, posted by JLx on September 24, 2004, at 14:54:31
> Hi Kara,
>
> It sounds like we have a thing or two in common. :) I'm 49, female, never married, no children, depressed for many years, have given up completely on antidepressants, just muddling along with supplements and currently not doing too good. Lethargy, lack of energy, lack of motivation and all the discouragement that brings are my primary problems. I'm unemployed and financially desperate.
Hi JL,Thanks for sharing. Sounds like we have more than a thing or two in common (unfortunately for both of us)! It's so amazing to me that people are still reading all of the old posts in this long thread and bringing them back to life.
> I USED to be a nightowl, until just the last few years when I've suddenly become a morning person. That's been very weird, and I attribute it to hormonal changes and also probably increased cortisol always in my body. I read that in "The Cortisol Connection" btw. Talbott said that if we seem to need less sleep as we grow older that it's just that our cortisol is circulating in excess and out of its optimal daily rhythm. Wouldn't you know that there would be that big cloud around the "Hey, I'm now a morning person!" silver lining?? ;)I'm sure that my cortisol is all out of whack too. Might as well be a morning person with screwed up cortisol than a night owl with same problem, eh?
>
> Sleep before midnight is supposed to be the most beneficial to regulate cortisol and when I've managed to do it, I could really feel that I was more rested in some different way. So "early to bed" is on my list of self-care items, as difficult as it still is sometimes.I know you're right on this one. I just have to manage to discipline myself more and get on that earlier schedule. It's just too critical at this point.
> What I need to do to get to sleep early is start turning down or off the lights about 8 PM (which means no computer), eliminate sugar from my diet altogether -- I'm convinced that sugar is the biggest insomnia-inducing substance there is, for me anyway, worse than caffeine ever was -- and get as much light in the morning as I can. I have a light visor too, that I've used to turn myself around when I really got out of whack in the past. This really works but light visors and boxes are pretty expensive.Yes, sugar is very stimulating for me also and gives me hypoglycemia as well as contributing to restless leg syndrome. I do have a light box though I haven't been using it much. I have managed for a few days in a row, when I had some temporary work, to use the light box, go to bed earlier and take some melatonin at bedtime. This did help a lot. It's maintaining that schedule that is the really hard part because my natural instinct is to go to be later and later and later on each progressive night.
> Now that I'm running on I'm wondering if it was you or Simus who was talking about insomnia. Anyway, the other suggestion I have is to COMPLETELY eliminate light sources in the bedroom, such as from LED displays on clocks or light coming in from the sides of blinds. This, at least, is completely inexpensive and might be worth a try. I've also used melatonin in the old days, but just in very tiny doses than what's usually recommended on the bottles and then not all the time as melatonin sometimes increases depression. Exercise helps me to sleep too.Actually, in this thread I think it was probably Simus. I have insomnia problems off and on. I seem to either be sleeping too much or I can't sleep at all (when there's too much stress or RLS sysmptoms) So insomnia advice is welcomed by me as well. SB417 recently mentioned a lot of the same things you did. I really should try shutting off the computer and the TV by 8:00 PM. Of course I'd be cutting off two of my very few pleasures left but that's another story...
> > There are a few other things I should mention that might make the waters even murkier. I probably have an overabundance of candida yeast from antibiotics and too much sugar.
>
> Last year, I made the big effort to eliminate yeast and took that NOW formula that you have as a matter of fact. Since then I've backslid in a major way, and I now think it was helping my depression and lethary more than I thought at the time since it was such a gradual improvement. I take probiotics too. Source Naturals brand, "Life Flora" is now my favorite.I haven't started my anti-Candida program yet. Too many plans and too little motivation. I think just about everyone these days could benefit from such a program given that almost all of us have taken antibiotics and almost all of us have eaten too much sugar. I haven't tried "Life Flora" but sometimes I take Enzymatic Therapy Pearls. They're great because they don't have to be refrigerated and so they're much more convenient. Also, they're protected from stomach acid and aren't released until they get to the intestines.
> I just ran across this recently and don't recall seeing pantithine and molybedenum recommended for candida before.
>
> The Candida/Aldehyde detox pathway and the Molybdenum Connection, http://www.candidapage.com/aldehyde.shtml
>
> "By upping body levels of a body enzyme, pantethine counteracts brain fog, certain allergic sensitivities, and some consequences of alcoholism. (And here it is --) ... In people with candidiasis, the enzyme fights off a toxic byproduct called acetaldehyde, which is thought to cause brain fog, often-suffered but rarely diagnosed...."I've never heard of pantethine before. Sounds like it's worth a try. I believe that I have a problem or shortage concerning some enzymes. It's just an early theory that I need to research more and try more experiments with. The reason I think this is that I have cholinergic urticaria. Larry mentioned that this is thought to be caused by incomplete protein metabolism. That might help explain my depression as well (if there isn't enough of the amino acids available in my body to make neurotransmitters) and it would explain why I have aboslutely no reaction to taking tyrosine supplementation - even in very large dosages.
I've recently had luck with taking extra magnesium. I swear I have much less brain fog the following day after the evening I've taken it. It seems so hard to believe that it could help so much. I'm still testing it but there's no doubt in my mind that it's helping.
> > My sense of humor is still intact. All of this deceives most people (esp. my family and friends) who think that I'm just lazy. They don't get it that I just don't have the energy or the motivation to get a job or take care of my apartment.
>
> Boy, I can relate to that! My sister seems to think that because my parents are helping me with my bills that this means I feel as if I don't "have to get a job". In truth I feel utter shame and semi-hysterical most of the time just thinking about how much they've helped me financially. (And grateful too, of course.) As you've expressed, I usually feel just completely desperate to be more functional. It's just hell not to be able to WILL yourself to get things done. I think it's like depression for normal people, they've been "depressed" at some time in their life so they think they know what "depression" is. Most people have experienced some resistance or procrastination to getting some things done, which they then overcome, so they don't understand what it's like to NOT be able to overcome it. I don't understand it myself actually, but more than that, I don't understand why anyone would think that I'd choose to live like this when it's so obviously horrible.It's so hard to deal with the ignorance of the healthy world!! You want to make them experience it for just a little while so that they could understand. Did you read about the idea Simus and I had for forced understanding treatment? That's a good point about the definition of depression. It's so overused in our society to mean a little bit sad or under-the-weather. That is nothing like serious clinical depression. They just don't have a clue about the difference. It's just maddening! You said something so similar to Simus when she wrote: "As if anyone would choose to live like this!"
> I've ordered from Beyond A Century, btw, after I saw it mentioned on this board in the past. I've placed 3 orders with them and feel quite confident in them now.Yes, I trust them because Larry recommended them even though I haven't placed any orders with them yet. How long does it take to get your order? Do you live in the States or Canada?
-K
poster:karaS
thread:359642
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20040901/msgs/395019.html