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So I finally sorted out what happened to my brain

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Re: So I finally sorted out what happened to my brain

#111

Post by lsiebert »

The truth is all mental illnesses are real, we are finding more and more underlying evidence of the neurological underpinnings of mental disorders (including with FND) using functional neuro-imaging techniques.

And yet these debilitating illnesses are too often stigmatized because their effects are often invisible to the outside observer. This person was let go because they talked about their mental illness with their employers, which is, I believe, not even legal.

People should treat those with mental illness with compassion and consideration, just like how they'd want to be treated if something like this happened to them. And if you think it couldn't, remember you might crack your head on the pavement tomorrow when someone knocks you down and get brain damage.

The truth is that just as we wouldn't want people to work in ways likely to injure their bodies or damage their health, and expect good employers to consider worker's physical well being, we must also have workplaces in which people's mental being is considered.

I consider how this person's employers behaved to be problematic to say the least.

Re: So I finally sorted out what happened to my brain

#112

Post by GordonS »

failwhaleshark wrote: post #73
sjtgraham wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not an expert but it does seem incorrect. As I understand it (correct me if I am wrong), the brain cannot function alone on ketone bodies and always needs some glucose. Even when fully depleted and in deep ketosis, the liver will synthesize glucose via gluconeogenesis.

People usually get "hangry" / feeling like they're going to die like a diabetic does before entering a coma if their glucose actually crashes. My dad was an adult-onset type-1 from exposure to Agent Orange who ended-up in the hospital more than once from either insulin misadministration or glucose-management issues. They might've actually had something like a nervous breakdown or a TIA. PSA: Don't self-diagnose, esp.…

It isn't my intention to doubt Tinker, only to continue discourse here, but I was going to say something similar. I have reactive hypoglycemia and it is very, very obvious when my blood sugars are too low - it really is an absolutely horrible thing.

At first I start to feel a little bit "stupid", like my brain isn't functioning properly, and is working in slow motion. Talking is more difficult. Next I start to feel a bit weak/shaky/trembly. Next I start to feel anxiety/dread. Sometimes now I can get very aggressive (which isn't in my nature at all!). Then comes an incredible desire to eat sweet things - once you start eating, it can actually be difficult to stop! Depending on how bad things got, I might feel too confused to actually just go and eat something.

Now, all being well, I did eat something, and will start to feel a lot better within 10-15 minutes.

If I didn't eat something (because there wasn't anything available, or because the "stupid" feeling had given in to confusion, and I didn't know wtf was happening), everything ramps up - the anxiety becomes full on dread, the world seems to be caving in on me, and I literally feel like I'm going to die. The weakness feels like I need to lie down (a couple of times I have, but thankfully my partner was at home and found me). The "stupid" feeling gets much worse - my speech is slurred, and finding the right words to talk is very difficult - mostly what comes out it is "umm.. err.. what?.. uhh..".

Re: So I finally sorted out what happened to my brain

#113

Post by jordanbeiber »

fingerlocks wrote: post #100
jordanbeiber wrote: post #71

I experienced something really similar a few years back. Lengthy post, but a topic close to me these days. I had, a couple of years previously, changed job and had the opportunity to do a complete retake on a traditional business from a tech perspective. Incredibly motivated and excited - spent my days talking to teams and management and nights coding and building things. This is not in the US, and I had no pressure…

This neck issue is interesting to me. Someone close to me, a former Microsoft developer, complained about neck issues for years. Doc said it was probably posture and stress, and this person never went to a specialist. One day, after about a decade of untreated neck pain, this person collapsed at their desk and went into a coma. They eventually recovered, sort of, but what they describe is exactly how you feel and Mr.…

The neurologist I went to really recommended naprapathy and/or physiotherapy on a regular basis - he was in his 60s and had seen a lot of really weird things over the years.

It’s easy to chalk a burnout down to emotions and stress, and these might very well be the root cause. For me the above, however positive in nature, gave me physiological “blockers”, in a sense.

Had my shoulder not started to act up (bicep it turned out after a couple of months excruciating shoulder pain - a whole story on its own, fixed by sticking a needle straight in to the muscle to force relaxation) I would not have ended up at the naprapath.

A kind of burn-out - but rest and mindfulness on it’s own would not have been enough to get me back.

Re: So I finally sorted out what happened to my brain

#114

Post by layoutIfNeeded »

Sometimes when I push myself too hard I find that I become incapable of resting. Even if I’m very tired I can’t sleep properly because I keep having these “loops”, such that the moment I would fall asleep my whole body jolts and I’m thrown back to this half-asleep state, and this keeps repeating seemingly for hours.

Re: So I finally sorted out what happened to my brain

#115

Post by sokoloff »

74d-fe6-2c6 wrote: post #94

I don't find his explanation convincing. He totally overworked for a long time, probably didn't exercise at all, didn't do anything at all - this by itself is likely already a symptom of an underlying issue. No sane person will spend all the time working if there is a choice. Maybe he was distracting himself from a depression or some trauma. To narrow the cause of his experience down to Glucose seems like quite a sim…

I might not be sane (how would I know fully?), but there are several times in my life when I beyond-willingly worked 75-90 hours per week for months on end. I did it to ship a game, and two other internal products at other companies. Those periods look a lot like working, sleeping, eating, and walking among the areas where those activities happen. I loved my life in those periods and had plenty of freedom to choose to do or not do it, probably more than I do now with obligations to provide for my family.

Re: So I finally sorted out what happened to my brain

#116

Post by Tycho »

misterremote wrote: post #64

I don't know about the glucose ... ... but burning out can really destroy your life. I know it destroyed mine. It took me years to recover, and I'm still not 100%. I started working for an early stage startup right after school when I was 19yo. I didn't sleep. I didn't eat properly. Our team was small. Responsibilities super high. And I burned out. Oh, I have so many stories from this time... like when I hadn't slept…

still not 100% in what way? physical impairment? ambition? appetite for work? damaged relationships? personality? ability to socialise?

Re: So I finally sorted out what happened to my brain

#117

Post by wirrbel »

Jakobeha wrote: post #45

I don't necessarily doubt the author, but how do you chronically deprive your brain of glucose? Afaik you would get glucose back whenever you ate anything. Unless you were doing keto, but then your body and brain run on ketones. And if you did somehow deprive your brain of fuel, you would get symptoms in a much shorter span. Maybe undereating, but he doesn't list weight loss, and if you're rapidly losing weight and s…

It sounds like this was the diagnosis he was given. I have done extended water fasts for multiple days and often eat keto (Nevertheless, who knows what combination of medical peculiarities might be involved, so I guess it cannot be ruled out.

My prior assumption would still be that a case of burnout/exhaustion, or micro stroke seems like a more probable explanation.

He writes

> talking to other hackers & infosec folk, they have said they've felt similar symptoms. The brain fog after working too hard & too long.

I really get the feeling that being overworked, not resting enough is the problem. I get the feeling that the work ethics and self-concept of being a hard worker makes it somewhat hard to admit that one is being overworked and thus a medical explanation for breakdown is very welcome for some individuals.

Re: So I finally sorted out what happened to my brain

#119

Post by [deleted] »

GordonS wrote: post #112
failwhaleshark wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People usually get "hangry" / feeling like they're going to die like a diabetic does before entering a coma if their glucose actually crashes. My dad was an adult-onset type-1 from exposure to Agent Orange who ended-up in the hospital more than once from either insulin misadministration or glucose-management issues. They might've actually had something like a nervous breakdown or a TIA. PSA: Don't self-diagnose, esp.…

It isn't my intention to doubt Tinker, only to continue discourse here, but I was going to say something similar. I have reactive hypoglycemia and it is very, very obvious when my blood sugars are too low - it really is an absolutely horrible thing. At first I start to feel a little bit "stupid", like my brain isn't functioning properly, and is working in slow motion. Talking is more difficult. Next I start to feel a…

[deleted]

Re: So I finally sorted out what happened to my brain

#120

Post by iovrthoughtthis »

nchi3 wrote: post #105
polytely wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The distinction is a bit misguided anyway because of course all stress and and emotional problems also happen inside the body and thus have a physiological basis.

Yes, emotion is all chemicals and signals in your brain, but there's still a quite clear distinction to what the difference between physiological and psychological is.

it’s not so clear cut, instead it’s very interlinked.

what you think effects your body, what you do effects your mind.

e.g. worrying will cause your heart rate to increase ad your breathing to quicken, breathing slowly will reduce your heart rate, a lower heart rate will reduce your sense of anxiety.

your body is a sensor, your mind is the computer. emotions are like the ships diagnostic warnings from star trek.

edit:

id add that this is why “mastering your emotions” using the control sense of mastering, doesn’t make sense.

you don’t want to control your diagnostics, you want to be great at reading them and making decisions from them, aligning with them if you will.

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