I've got a bit of a mystery here, and am looking for some thoughts. I have been having bad responses to supplements recently, and I can't figure out why.
Background: I am prescribed adderall, 40mg per day for ADD (though I try to keep my dose as low as possible). I have/had a variety of supplements on hand. I did not take all of them regularly. My typical daily regimen was a multivitamin and 2g of fish oil in the morning, maybe also a b complex. I began to start having some cognitive issues that I believed were supplement related. I would feel a heavy pressure in my head, around the temples. I would be fatigued, and feel like my higher order thinking was turned off. My job involves primarily reading and writing, and my focus would become abysmal. It was like my thoughts would have to push past that barrier of pressure in my head, and I couldn't think quickly or hold multiple ideas at once. Adderall became noticeably less effective. Higher amounts would help me push past the resistance, but it did not in any way fix the problem. As nonsensical as it sounds, it felt like the areas of my brain that would give me the rush of motivation and energy from the meds were locked off behind that wall of pressure. I was irritable and had anhedonia in general. When drinking alcohol, I would get physical relaxation but not the usual feeling of reward. When these bouts happened, I eventually figured out that if I stopped all supplements, the feeling would fade over 3-7 days. It was a huge relief when i would wake up and it would be gone.
I tried things one at a time to see if I could figure it out. I switched brands of multivitamin, was ok for a little while, then more of the same. I thought I had cracked the case when I found that fish oil would reproducibly induce that feeling. Then, it happened again without it. However, it was less severe than when paired with the fish oil. I stopped taking everything but a multivitamin and vitamin D (vitamin d was introduced after this had begun occurring, so it can't be the culprit). Kept happening. I stopped taking my multivitamin. This solved the problem, but after a time I became pretty draggy. I eventually tried a multivitamin, and felt better within a few hours. So much for the easy solution of not taking anything. I had success for a while not taking the multivitamin on a daily basis, but recently have had it happen again regardless (sitting through it right now in fact). Maybe I didn't leave enough of a gap.
I cannot figure this out. Fish oil seems to have near zero side effects, and I have taken a multivitamin most of my life with zero issues until recently. I really need to understand the trigger or underlying issue, because I am sick of having a week go down the drain because I feel generally bad.
I'm sure everyone is bored of the novel I've written by now, so I'll leave off although I'm happy to provide any more information that might be useful. Does anyone have an idea of what might be responsible? It seems like I'm getting too much of something, somehow. Or I'm crazy and it's psychosomatic.
Bonus notes:
- curcumin and tyrosine seem to just give me anxiety instead of any benefits.
- I take 400mg magnesium glycinate in the evenings. Stopping or resuming this seems to have zero side effects.
- I regularly drink home brew kombucha
