6 replies to this topic

[echopraxia]

Hey everyone. I'm starting to experiment with nootropics now that I've researched a bunch and have sort of given up with most of the medical system. I'm planning on logging my state as I slowly add/remove things to my life. I think there's likely some underlying issues that will get discovered in time as I see more specialists and can afford tests that general practitioners don't like giving. Some background:

 

- 25yo Male. I exercise a few times a week(have done so since 16), and eat a healthy diet(have done so since 16). Weird stomach / metabolism issues, need 5000+ calories to gain weight. Currently 6'0 150lb.

- Sleep issues since I was born. Sleep-onset insomnia[2-5hours] as a child, until around 18. Waking up 10+ times/night. Currently 25

- Chronic migraines 10-25 days/month from 10-18

- Tourettes diagnosis at 10. Tics are more manageable now[e.g. cough/sniff/jaw lock instead of vocal/yelling, less frequent] but still there.

- 32 on Baron-Cohen ASD Spectrum test.

- Environmental allergies, mostly to stuff indoors -- dust, mold, feathers, etc.

- COPD diagnosis at 17, Beclomethasone until 19

- Fatigue that was bad enough to go to a doctor at 18/19.

- Subclinical hypothyroid at 18.

- Low testosterone at 18(270ng/dl). Tested multiple times. On TRT. Haven't seen an endo yet, on a waitlist to see one now.

- High BP from 18-now. 140-170 / 90-110. Resting heart rate 90-100.

- Anxiety slowly increased from ~16 until now. Probably recognized it as an issue at 19, and started seeking treatment at 22.

- Depression started on/off around 21-22.

- ADHD diagnosis at 24, although has likely been there since childhood.

- Shingles at 25

- Post-shingles spinal myoclonic jerks. Had sleep-onset myoclonic jerks for a period of 72 hours that made it impossible to sleep. Jerks are exacerbated by nicotine and SSRI/SNRIs. Have also had waking myoclonic jerks.

- Increasing egg consumption seems to reduce myoclonic jerks.

- I also STRONGLY suspect I had a full seizure a few weeks ago, but it was while drinking and not around people I know, so I can't be sure.

- Memory has been getting slowly, noticeably worse. I doubt it would meet any medical definition of dysfunction, but it scares me. Things like the time it takes to recall things I know slowly increasing, verbal fluency being worse, needing to use notepads more.

- Family history of Alzheimers + MS(2 grandparents, 1 grandparent). Family history of bone diseases(uncle, cousin(child of a different uncle))(HME)

- Feel bad after eating, either stomach pain or fatigue or depression/anxiety. Has been getting worse over the years. Intolerances that I'm certain of: whole grain rice, peanuts, beer, lentils, lactose, potatoes. Not coeliac. I tend to function best on vegetables, fruits, and meats.

 

Med history:

 

SNRI/SSRI/SARI either make things awful or have intolerable side effects(myoclonic jerks). [Cymbalta, Vortioxetine, Celexa, Lexapro, Paxil]. Granted, I've never made it past a few weeks without either myoclonic jerks or an unbearable urge to kill myself. It's possible I should just push through this? But they seem fairly scary in general.

Wellbutrin makes me incredibly agitated

Vyvanse and Concerta essentially do nothing for my ADHD, feels like they barely last longer than Dexedrine and Ritalin. Dexedrine and Ritalin both help for short periods of time, but after a few months seem to make me worse. Adderall feels more or less the same as Dexedrine for me.

Pregabalin completely gets rid of my anxiety/irritability/mood issues. Benzos seem to do the same. Both seem to have long-term downsides that make them not worth it for anything beyond dealing with the worst periods.

Psilocybin microdosing gets rid of essentially all of my mental health problems. LSD does not. Unfortunately, sourcing psilocybin consistently is hard, so I'd like to find other ways of dealing with my issues.

 

I'm currently on the wait list for an endocrinologist, a sleep lab, and a CT scan.

 

High Glutamate / Low GABA seem fairly clear based on all of this. Maybe low serotonin. Some sort of autoimmune seems likely.

 

 

Baseline food, supplements, lifestyle:

 

- Exercise 4-7x/week

- Eat a fairly consistent diet of spinach, avocados, tomatoes, blueberries, yogurt, beef, eggs, coconut oil, almond milk, almond butter, yams, butter, fish oil. Occasional deviations.

- Coffee, Vit D(5000iu), Magnesium(600mg Citrate), Zinc(50mg Citrate), CoQ10(100mg), Creatine(5g/day)

 

 

Due to my health being about as bad as it has ever been, I'm going to have to start with slightly more adjustments than I'd like to introduce at one time. I'm thinking the first modification will be:

 

- Swapping out beef for 7-8oz wild pacific salmon

- B Complex, B12, Folic Acid, Sulbutiamine

- ALCAR, ALA

 

 

After this, I'm planning on introducing new supplements every 3-14 days depending on my mental health. Once I get more stabilized, I'll test subtracting supplements and seeing how I do. Supplements I plan on testing include:

 

GPC Choline(this is likely first as I suspect a choline deficiency)

Piracetam

Aniractam

NAC

Theanine

Modafinil

 

I'll also test a full ketogenic diet again at some point.

 

If things get bad, some things I'll introduce include: memantine, phenibut, semax, pregabalin

 

I'll also likely test microdosing psilocybin for longer periods of time after I've dialed in all of the other stuff.

 

I have yet to decide exactly how I'll be tracking progress. I'll likely use DnB, as well as some consistent daily ratings for mood/energy, as well as general subjective thoughts. I'm relatively broke right now, so I'm not going to start tracking changes until ~1 week from now when I can afford to add the various B vitamins and ALCAR/ALA. Posting the thread ahead of time to commit myself to publicly tracking this as well as get input before I start buying stuff. I'm assuming it will also take me a bit of time to figure out the easiest way to track and measure things that matter, so this thread in general is a bit of a work in progress right now.

 

If anybody has any ideas for other things I should consider testing, or any general thoughts, I'm open to everything. Hopefully through tracking all of this stuff I can not only help myself, but also help other people with similar issues.

 

 

Edited by echopraxia, 05 August 2017 - 04:12 AM.

[jeffshek]

You brought up how you're not sure how to track this ... might I do a shameless plug and recommend something I built? I'm aiming to add mood tracking in the next few months (customized analytics and automated tracking with FitBit is taking a slightly higher priority). The pages are also mobile friendly, so super easy to track. Site is https://www.betterself.io

 

http://www.longecity...d-productivity/

[echopraxia]

You brought up how you're not sure how to track this ... might I do a shameless plug and recommend something I built? I'm aiming to add mood tracking in the next few months (customized analytics and automated tracking with FitBit is taking a slightly higher priority). The pages are also mobile friendly, so super easy to track. Site is https://www.betterself.io

 

http://www.longecity...d-productivity/

 

This looks cool, I'll definitely try it out. Pre-warning that I tend to try apps to track things and generally end up reverting back to some ridiculously low-tech method at no fault of the app[e.g. index cards > evernote despite trying really hard to like evernote...haha], but this looks cool so I'll definitely give it a shot. The anonymity and accepting excel files sold me.

 

Some updates:

 

1. I ordered all of the supplements. Once they arrive, I'll start tracking and posting updates.

2. Because I was curious I tried the AQ-10, which apparently for certain people on the spectrum results in a more accurate test. Was 10/10 on that. Booked an appointment with a doctor who specializes in autism to get an official assessment and potentially discuss diet, supplementation, etc.

3. Saw a psychiatrist. After taking a detailed history, she recommended I try atomoxetine and guanfacine. I'm going to research the potential valvulopathy from guanfacine, and if it doesn't seem like a huge risk I'll definitely try it since I've always had high BP and a high HR. I'm skeptical about atomoxetine for the same reason I'm optimistic about guanfacine, but I figure it can't hurt to try it, especially with the NMDA antagonism. Would be interested in hearing any experiences people have had with either of those.

4. My doctor said my blood tests were fine, but I looked into it some more and they're definitely not. My TSH was 3.25(ref range .2-4, other ref ranges go down to 3), and my FT4 was 24(scale 10-25). This seems to point at either some sort of antibodies, thyroid hormone resistance, or a TSH-adenoma. My TSH was also measured in the mid afternoon, so I realistically need a morning result to average it out since it can drop by as much as 50% between morning and afternoon. Even with 3.25, my TTSI(thyroid hormone resistance index) is roughly double the upper limit of 150(range of 100-150). Will be getting the doctor to look into this more and test everything, and if she doesn't I'll either go to a different doctor or pay out of pocket.

5. I've transitioned to a ketogenic diet earlier rather than later, I'm about 5 or 6 days in now. Feeling pretty good, a lot more calm and consistent. Still issues with focus and memory and energy and anxiety, but just feel...slightly more stable, I guess. I've also completely swapped out my beef for 7-8oz daily sockeye salmon. Also, my stomach seems to feel better after eating now that I've switched, as well as my general mental reaction.

6. I got a home sleep monitor to do a sleep apnea test, and if the results indicate a likelihood of apnea I'll get referred to an overnight study at a hospital. I'll be doing the test tomorrow night.

 

If anybody has any experience with thyroid issues that are similar, I'd love to hear some thoughts. Also open to ideas on the best way to progressively introduce the supplements.

Edited by echopraxia, 12 August 2017 - 09:02 PM.

[echopraxia]

I've been getting sleep-onset, painful, spinal myoclonus more often lately -- jolt in spine, legs fly up(like a leg curl). I thought it was a reaction to the last antidepressant I tried, but it's out of my system by now. This is concerning.

[echopraxia]

Got everything in mail. Decided to try Theanine first for some reason(specifically 100mg Caf/200mg Theanine capsules).  Day was essentially

 

11:00: Coffee

12:00:Coffee

2:00 Mail Arrives. Coffee + 100mg Caf/200mg Theanine

3:00 Incredibly low energy, feels like brain isn't working even moreso than usual

4:30 Figured I probably need more caffeine by now, 100mg Caf/200mg Theanine

6:00 Felt completely incapable of thought, depressed

 

and now it's 9:00. I drank a lot of coffee and chewed some nicotine gum, and I feel a bit better, but still pretty terrible. I haven't been that type of depressed in a long time. I experience anxiety all the time, and occasionally paralysis by anxiety or irritability that is bad enough to cause suicidal ideation. But very rarely that type of depression. It was just extreme apathy and brain fog. Honestly, the closest thing it reminded me of was SSRIs. It's interesting -- I can consume way more caffeine than most people and it will never make me feel anxious or bad, it always makes me feel happier. And I've literally never felt anxiety from ADHD stimulants regardless of the dose, and have always required a pretty high dose to feel anything at all. Then both Theanine and SSRIs make me apathetic, depressed, and suicidal. It's POSSIBLE that it was an anomaly, but the feeling stands out a ton, as probably my core trait is the opposite of apathy. So, for now, no more Theanine. If anybody has any thoughts on the opposite reactions, would love to hear them.

[YimYam]

Good effect from eggs could be the high amount of pregnenelone in them. Great for major hormones.

Edited by YimYam, 10 October 2017 - 06:38 PM.

[echopraxia]

Sorry I disappeared for a while, things got really bad. Here's where I'm at now

 

Symptom changes:

- Myclonic jerks are a lot more rare, only occasionally on falling asleep now

 

- Left side of arm still numb 8 months in

 

- Hands and feet get red and swollen and itchy/hot/painful still, especially after exercise. Have weird blood flow on right big toe -- its like the vein is always large, and blood returns to it maybe 10x faster than other parts of food which stay white for a 3-5 seconds, and the blood comes back from the inside out rather than the outside in. When this happens, going into a cold room helps

 

- Still tired all the time despite getting a new mattress, eliminating various allergens, etc. It likely did improve a bit when I threw out my mattress though - I was waking up with wet cough, itchyness, ridiculous congestion, and ridiculous fatigue. Tried cleaning it with alcohol, didn't help. Threw it out, got memory foam. Helped.

 

- Suddenly have lots of new allergies. I've never had a reaction as intense as the mattress. Also have randomly been getting (hives?) -- looks like skin gets red with white welts about the size of mosquito bites, really itchy. No clue on trigger.

 

- Sometimes the sides of my jaw(under ear, maybe 1inchx.75 inch area) - shooting pain, aching, crackling sensation

 

- Had one period of incredibly bad joint pain that I have no explanation for. Foot just suddenly felt like all the tendons/ligaments were shredded or something, couldn't walk without limping for a few hours. Then improved

 

- Randomly get red scaly patches on forearm/wrists, basically looks like someone bit me for shape, then looks like a burn or infection. High sensitivity, but not much itching or pain. 

 

- Have randomly gotten sensations(only once so far, for a period of 5 minutes) of having it feel like someone is jamming needles under my fingernails on left arm

 

- Walked to store in -10 weather(i'm from canada, gets to -45, so this isnt that bad). 15 minutes later i was slurring my words

 

Test Results, Pending Tests:

 

PTH ng/L (7-36)

SHBG 16nmol/l (10-55)

TSH 2.3mIU/L (.2-4)

Testosterone 12.3 nmol/l (8-29)

Prolactin 12ug/L (0-15)

Free T4 21.3 pmol/L(10-25)

Free T3 5.6 pmol/L(3.5-6.5)

Estradiol <19 pmol/L (0-160)

Progesterone <.2 nmol/L(0-.5)

ALP 107 U/L(30-130)

Albumin 47 g/L(33-48)

Calcium 2.54 mmol/L (2.10-2.55)

AM Cortisol 234 nmol/L(170-500)

BP 163/90 (followed up with ECG, unsure on results)

 

Pending Tests:

CBC, Kidney/Liver Function Tests, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, H Pylori, FT4, Hba1c, Urea, ESR

 

Medication/Supplementation Changes:

1. I no longer take any OTC medications that aren't hormones -- no more dexedrine, etc. This has been for a few months

2. I increased testosterone dose from 100mg/wk to 200mg/wk after the 12.3 result. I'd like it in top of range.

3. I started taking Centrophenoxine, and I've been working on slowly integrating more nootropics/supplements. My current stack is

 

Current Stack:

General Health:

Centrophenoxine -- 500mg, 4x/day

Alpha-GPC Choline -- 300mg, 2x/day (helps with clarity of thought and calmness noticably)

Sulbutiamine -- 400mg, 1x/day (very noticably improves energy levels, although still very fatigued)

Ashwagandha -- 300-600mg, 2-3x/day(experimenting with dosage and frequency) (so far this very noticably improves anxiety)

Bacopa Monieri -- 300mg, 1x/day

D3 - 5000iu - Morning

B100 Exact Complex(100 B1, B2, Niacin, B6, Pantothenic, Choline Bitarate, Insolitol, B12, Biotin; 1mg Folic Acid) - Morning

B12 Sublingual - 2000mcg - Morning, Sometimes redose mid-day

R-ALA - 250mg - Morning

CoQ10 - 100mg - Morning

Potassium - 500mg Caps, 5-10/day (ketogenic diet, so extra potassium required)

MCT Oil - 3-4tbsp/day (helps a ton with energy)

Flax Seed - 60g/day (I get less allergies when taking this, have forgotten to eat it a few days and had symptoms pop back up)

Creatine - 5g/day

Glutamine - 5g/day

Homemade Bone Broth

 

Tolerating Life:

Phenibut - 500mg, 2-3x/day [I realize this is risky]

Tianeptine Sulfate - 25mg, 2x/day

Coffee - As Needed[2-5 cups/day]

Black Tea - As Needed [2-4 bags/day]

Green Tea - As Needed [1-2 bags/day]

Nicotine - As Needed [40mg vaped? I know this is bad, but it helps a lot with pushing through this until I can get everything lined up]

 

Currently Testing:

Piracetam, 1600mg-5000mg, 1-3x/day. Can't tell if it's beneficial or not. I notice if I take too much, I get more shocking pains, and if I take more choline, that stops. This leads me to suspect that part of my problems are choline related?

 

Soon Adding

Probiotic/Prebiotic Regimine: I want to make sure my gut health is as solid as it can be. I've used antibiotics 10+ times in the last 8 years, and have tons of gut issues. VSL3, some Prebiotic, Collagen, Digestive Enzyme

Modafinil - 200mg/day, AM - I've tried this before, it helps a ton with fatigue, mood, mental clarity, and ADD type symptoms. I'd like to cut coffee, and this seems like a good way to do that while also helping some of my cognitive issues.

ALCAR, .5 - 1.5g in morning

Longvida Curcumin

 

Considering Experimenting With in Mid-Future(any thoughts on these are appreciated)

NAC - 600mg/day (I'm unsure on this one, I haven't been able to research it enough, but it seems like it could help with a lot of my problems?)

K1/K2

Pantothenic Acid

PQQ

Trimethylglycine

Methyltetrahydrofolate

P-5-P

Insolitol

Forskolin

ECGC

Sulforaphane

Vitamin C(I think I cover this with food, but worth testing more)

H. Einaceus

Baclofen

Memantine

HCG

Pregnenolone

DHEA

 

 

Current Non-Medical Interventions

Daily Excercise in the morning, can get up to 15-20 minutes without shooting pain now

Daily meditation in the morning -- currently doing 5 minutes, will be slowly increasing

Daily DnB in the morning, 15 minutes

Ketogenic diet, lots of vegetables, lots of healthy fats. 

 

 

Current future plans:

I'm hoping the gut rehabilitation will help. I think modafinil will help a lot with pushing through all of this. I'm not too stoked about taking phenibut, but it helps a lot. As soon as I can afford it I'm going to take all of the allergy/intolerance tests -- as far as I can tell right now, this costs a bit of money. Again when I can afford it, I'm going to get a full sleep study, since the take-home shows mild apnea. I'm also going to get a 23andme test within the next year. I'm going to try to get a referral to both an endocrinologist and a rheumatologist. I suspect HCG/Pregnenolone/DHEA will help me a lot, but I need to see an endocrinologist for that. I'm keeping journal notes for new symptoms and reocurring symptoms, tracking days that I don't feel good enough to do stuff, taking pictures/videos of symptoms that can be seen. 

 

 

I'm open to any input, thoughts, or advice from anyone here. I'm really hoping that this all resolves and the knowledge gained from the experience can help other people. What I know right now is that the medical system is woefully inept at dealing with actual issues.