Hi, I'm 28 and I've been dealing with anxiety and depression from 3-4 years now, the symptoms started like some physical and mental fatigue and evolved into cognition issues. I've been diagnosed with GAD and Depression and been treated with SSRI's and Benzos. Those two didn't work so well and I had to recover from the side effects for a long period of time. When I try to function normally, I push myself to be connected with others, to be aware of all my responsibilities, to engage with surroundings, tasks, people, etc. But it takes just a few days to feel overwhelmed to a point I just fall into depression again, like if something is building up in my system, maybe cortisol or glutamate. After some days I find myself struggling at night to sleep, and start to get symptoms that might be described as an overexcited CNS such:
- Can't feel calmed/safe.
- Mind is ruminating.
- Can't easily shut thoughts.
- Random memories, images, songs, thoughts pops in my consciousness.
- Agitated Dreams, not restful sleep.
- Nerve tics in Jaw or other body parts.
Thanks to experience and some natural supplements I've learned to deal with these symptoms better. I can control my train of thoughts better and I can fall asleep thanks to melatonin and relaxation techniques. Still, I need something else to aid my CNS so I can deal with day to day simulations and relationships. My theory is that I'm getting too much of glutamate and my brain can't deal with it, and that excitotoxicity has been causing some of the cognitive issues. But I know it gets more complex than that, so I'm all ears.
So this is the list of things I've tried, so maybe someone can see a link between my symptoms and what works and what doesn't for me, and what can I try to cope with this:
- Excersise: Best mood lifter, but one of the worst stimulants for my brain. I feel very mentally overwhelmed after exercising. I'm currently 15-20 kg of overweight. Some meds and food habbits made gain weight but If I exercise everyday I can loose it in some months, I don't because how overexcited my brain gets after each session. So there must be some co-relation or clue here.
- Diet: I eat healthy most of the time. But in my weak times I add a lot of sugar and carbohydrates to it cause anxiety.
- Melatonin: this is the single most helpful supplement that never lets me down. It induce sleep for me and keeps me down.
- NAC: noticeabile effect helping with compulsive thoughts. Don't work all the time.
- L-theanine: This helps me calm down in case I'm very anxious. But it builds up.
- Magnesium Citrate: sometimes I get a bit of energy from it.
- Bacopa: bit anxiolytic, bit helpful for memory, not sure if placebo.
- Phenibut: Very helpful for anxiety, but I don't use it more than a day or two per week because side effects.
If you have a suggestion in how to deal with this sensory overload let me know. Thanks for reading.
Edited by Adr1n, 23 June 2016 - 05:43 PM.
