SO HERE ARE MY QUESTIONS TO YOU:
1. Obviously I am experiencing some kind of damage or trauma... what would you advise be my next step? I am eating a healthy and balanced diet, exercising (although still lightly), talking to the ones I love everyday, TRYING to get as much sleep as possible, taking vitamins and keeping hydrated.
- Try to take some time off of work or school if you can because it usually increases stress levels, which can undermine any recovery.
- Make yourself as comfortable as possible when home by keeping yourself concentrated on something which doesn't require a lot of physical and mental effort, such as watching a movie. This is only until you recover.
- Distance yourself from any "bad" friends/acquaintances who may tempt you to buy/sell/use drugs, alcohol, and/or tobacco/nicotine products, as they can make your LTC symptoms worse.
- Avoid any caffeine-containing products or supplements, as they can contribute to your anxiety levels and panic attacks.
- Try to remain optimistic in general (I know it's not easy), and remember that we are here for you, and that we know what you're dealing with - you are not alone.
- Be careful with any supplements (especially herbal) as they can make your symptoms worse, and can also interact with medications. Also, there was a recent study published which found that as little as 1 in 4 of these products contain what the ingredients listed on the bottle, and only those ingedients, as well as the right amount.
2. Should I make the appointments with a better doctor and receive a full body exam and tests? I know so many people here have done this to no results but maybe I should just for peace of mind?
When I was sick, going to any doctor was an exercise in futility. I was repeatedly x-rayed, CT scanned, MRI'd, poked with needles for various blood tests, asked to provide urine samples, ECG'd, EEG'd, and so forth, and it all came back "negative" or "normal."
I would say for you to go and have a full spectrum bloodwork done if you haven't already, just to be sure that - for example - your liver and kidneys are functioning properly.
Other than that, unless you can manage to book a brain PET scan for abnormalities in relation to Serotonin neurons, you might find you're wasting your time. And most doctors seem to believe that when they cannot find objective medical evidence to support claims made by a patient that they're feeling severely ill, that the patient must be either exaggerating or malingering. It's ridiculous, but it's reality, unfortunately.
3. Should I increase my melatonin intake or result to a sleeping aid? I take 5mg of melatonin now... I believe sleep is one of the best healing processes and since my body is making it hard to sleep this is delaying that process. Maybe another short round of benzos?
Be aware that supplements in general have been found to be very poorly regulated in various western countries including America, Canada, England, and so forth. Many have been found to contain impurities, adulterants, and/or none of the main (active) ingredient(s) written on the label. The number is as high as 40%.
I too tried lots of Melatonin, Valerian, Chamomile, Passionflower, and Kava when I was dealing with severe insomnia (shortly before I became ill with LTC symptoms) and it just didn't cut it. You might need a prescription, such as a Benzodiazepine, and I don't say that lightly because I'm aware such a drug can cause a severe physical dependency and possibly even a psychological addiction to form.
The OTC drug Diphenhydramine (Benadryl) may work for you, but after about 3 nights in a row, it usually stops working.
4. I have taken 50mg of 5htp for two nights and haven’t noticed any major differences... I also have L-tryptophane (100mg) pills. Should I alternate each night between a low dose of those two in case it helps?
Isn't it redundant to be using both 5-htp and L-tp? AFAIK, the body converts 5-htp to L-tp (or the other way around), and then to 5-ht. Please correct me if I'm wrong, as I may be.
Anyways, based on the poor regulation of supplements, and also the lack of benefits that I've personally experienced with years of 5-htp use, I wouldn't bother with it.
5. Do you think because I had been taking St. Johns Wort (300mg) for three months prior to this roll it made the situation worse? Should I start back up with St. Johns Wort now or stay off it?
Be careful combining St. John's Wort with 5-htp or L-tp because you could get Serotonin Syndrome if I recall correctly, because St. John's Wort has been shown to be an MAOI (again, IIRC).
If you did combine them in the past, it might have been a bad idea in the long term, but I'm not certain.
6. Piracetam worth for me to try?
I haven't tried it, sorry.
Any help would be amazing. I am willing to take whatever time I need. I am the kind of person who won't go down without a fight! (Although the fight in me seems weaker now)
*side note: I notice my digestion is not so bad... no weird feelings in my stomach although it can make more noise now than usual after eating. (I know serotonin is in the gut, so obviously another sign)
my bowel movement is normal and regular (sorry if its too much info!)
I am currently living back with my partner because being alone was not helping this situation. I have another two weeks off work and willing to take more (or even change lifestyle and job) if need be. My health and happiness is that important to me. (Hence, the sometimes feelings of despair when I remember "how I was" before this incident).
My recovery treatment option might not be popular, but I strongly feel it worked.
Basically, I tried to live a healthy, active, drug free, stress free lifestyle for ~6 to 7 months, but it got me nowhere, so I decided to go the medication route.
At the start of my LTC, I was experiencing about 20 symptoms - more on that soon.
For ~8 months I took a combination of Zoloft (Sertraline) + Xanax (Alprazolam), and somehow this caused 16 of my 20 symptoms to completely resolve. And to this day, they have not returned.
The 20 aforementioned symptoms were as follows:
- brain fog
- uncomfortable awareness of heartbeat
- depersonalization
- de-realization
- feeling of heaviness when standing
- sudden numbness and tingling (limbs)
- dizziness
- difficulty concentrating and/or focusing
- fatigue and/or low energy
- headache
- dream-like state
- vivid dreams
- depression
- anxiety
- panic attacks
- paranoia
- insomnia
- shortness of breath
- sudden chills
- mood swings
- suicidal ideation
- tinnitus
- digestion issues (irritable bowel, colitis)
And after ~8 months on the Zoloft + Xanax, the following 4 symptoms remained:
- difficulty concentrating and/or focusing (improved a little bit, but not completely)
- fatigue and/or low energy (fatigue was less severe, but low energy was not)
- headache (but no more brain fog, depersonalization, and/or derealization)
- depression (but far less severe)
So I stopped taking the Zoloft (Sertraline) and swapped it with Wellbutrin XL (Bupropion). It was tough for the first 4 weeks because of SSRI withdrawal symptoms, but I managed.
Anyways, for ~3 months following that, I took a combination of Wellbutrin XL (Bupropion) + Xanax (Alprazolam), and again, somehow it caused the remaining 4 symptoms to completely resolve. And again, to this day, they have not returned.
I stopped taking all medications and waited, and waited, and waited some more, and none of my symptoms returned, so I consider myself to be recovered, and in total, it took me ~19 months from the time I got sick until I completely recovered. This was a little over 7 years ago.
I'm not recommending this at all, but about 6 months after I recovered, I tried some MDMA again, but I was extremely careful with respect to purity/testing, not overdoing it, having a babysitter just in case, not combining it with other drugs, and so forth, and we went to a big rave, and I was fine afterwards - no problem.
Who knows? Maybe I got lucky, but I don't think so.
I truly believe that you, and everyone else here can fully recover if you keep at it and choose the correct treatment option, whether it's with or without Rx meds. Since we're all wired a little differently, I can't be sure of what that option is for you, and I'm sorry about that.
That said, if I - who acted like a complete and utter moron with a death-wish - was able to recover after eating well over 1000 untested ecstasy pills over several years (I'm not proud of this whatsoever), and many times in combination with other drugs, then I refuse to believe that others cannot. And if that's arrogant and ignorant of me to assume, then I'm sorry, but I still feel that way.
I'd be more specific about certain things, and I'd try a little harder with respect to grammar (sorry), but I really gotta run for now. And I sincerely apologize if I didn't provide the answers you were looking for to your questions. Perhaps someone else will help me out with that.
Have a wonderful day, and try not to think too much about the potentially negative long term implications - you could be out of this mess sooner than you think
