Posted by JLx on September 24, 2004, at 14:54:31
In reply to Re: Supplements for brain fog?- Larry, posted by KaraS on July 24, 2004, at 22:17:37
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.
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?? ;)
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.
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.
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.
> 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 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...."
> 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.
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.
JL
poster:JLx
thread:359642
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20040901/msgs/394581.html