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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

#171

Post by arthur_sav »

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…

TBH i wouldn't change that experience for anything.

During my early 20s, like you, i was working at a startup and had super high workload. Definitely burned out a few times but the motivation was high and i enjoyed every minute of it.

It pushed me beyond my limits and i learned so much in a very short time period.

Now, i'm closer to my 30s i don't think i could do this again. But with time comes wisdom and instead of high energy/high workload i choose to work smart/not hard.

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

#172

Post by operator1 »

I burned out hard during quarantine and developed both sudden onset tinnitus and a migraine for the first time in my life. The migraine was with a visual aura and was terrifying and debilitating. I was so sure I was having a stroke. I saw a neurologist and a psychiatrist just like the author. Nothing. It was all a “stress-induced” episode. No fancy label, no satisfying diagnosis. And the symptoms have persisted here and there since. I have constant tinnitus and my brain feels different since then. I can’t think or focus as well. It sucks. And for the record, no, I didn’t get COVID (this is asked regularly when I describe my experience, especially after describing what sounds like brain fog).

I’m still not doing well. Just like the author, I’m not “better”. I’m barely hanging in.

I’ve heard numerous similar stories. Stress can do horrible things to the body. Almost everyone I’m close with has shared some kind of anxiety-induced medical something or another story with me. Last year was rough for society as a whole.

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

#173

Post by mjgs »

op00to wrote: post #160
mjgs wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the f is there in the head that can make a sound like a bass guitar string?

Neurons constantly oscillate - firing at least to us randomly. It makes sense that after a “reboot” of sorts, your neurons may fire in something resembling the “frequency” that triggers “bass string” experience. Like the “bong” when you boot an old Mac.

So an auditory hallucination?

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

#174

Post by Out_of_Characte »

sciurus wrote: post #121
fho wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is that "bass guitar string" thing common? I had it twice, both times in a hot and cramped train and shrugged it up to "heat stroke".

I'm curious about this too. I have also experienced this at times, although I wouldn't have found these words to describe it. I don't think it's been tied to any particular conditions like heat or stress. Usually it happens when I'm in bed and beginning to fall asleep. Googling turns up https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exploding_head_syndrome which sounds like what I've experienced.

Mentioning the falling asleep part reminds me of a few cases myself. I have trouble sleeping myself and when I fall asleep very slowly I've noticed similar 'illusions'. flashes of light, voices, fractal patterns, a conscious state while dreaming and the very rare loud noise that comes from nowhere. Usually the noise doesn't prevent me from finally falling asleep. I've always wondered how many people experience these effects.

>Despite the name, the sufferer's head does not actually explode.

Oh good, now I can sleep at night again

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

#175

Post by chris_wot »

llamataboot wrote: post #32
chris_wot wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost unrecoverable burnout? I'd say this is more severe on an order of magnitude.

It sounds intense for sure. Seizures aren't a usual symptom of burnout, nor that extent of cognitive impairment, but I certainly think that lots (maybe even the majority) of burnout in the tech industry and in other fields that require constant intellectual output is unrecoverable to some extent. Even many of the people that found a way to code for fun (or even money) again will often say it's not the same, and the m…

But is burnout the same as severe PTSD? I guess I've never thought of it this way, but I can see how that might actually be the case - certainly I've burned out and it affected me for a long time. I just never have heard it this severe.

The U.S. healthcare system does indeed suck, at least from an outsiders perspective. I live in a country that doesn't have such an awful system. I feel very lucky!

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

#176

Post by mjgs »

tedajax wrote: post #162
mjgs wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the f is there in the head that can make a sound like a bass guitar string?

Could be auditory processing of random synaptic firings.

I wonder how random that sort of thing is. I mean if the brain needs to make you pay attention because you’re overworked / burnt out, what better way than to fake a bass string sound?

That would totally freak me out.

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

#177

Post by touisteur »

aspaviento wrote: post #82
popotamonga wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sometimes i wonder if i'm in the path for that. Because even though i do 13h days every day of extremelly stressing work (putting out fires all the time), i do always get 8h sleep and 1h exercise. And so so food.

Compare it with how you feel when you are on holidays. If there's a noticeable difference (not having muscle micro spasms, better sleep - or very tired just when you start them -, better breathing, more inspired or willing to try new things, etc) then you should reconsider to reduce the amount of stress/work in your life.

Holi-what? People on the path to burnout are usually the ones trying to push away time off. 'I'll rest when this is finished' - narrator: it never ended, the exceptional became nominal...

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

#178

Post by mjgs »

hprotagonist wrote: post #165
mjgs wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the f is there in the head that can make a sound like a bass guitar string?

sounds in the world and percepts of sounds to you are at best loosely related.

What do you mean by loosely? Whenever I hear a car horn, they always sounds very similar.

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

#179

Post by codeulike »

wittyreference wrote: post #163

Does anyone remember that Reddit post where a guy thought his landlord was sneaking into his apartment and leaving him notes? He insisted the handwriting was completely different. Then a poster suggested he get tested for CO poisoning, which it was, and the “different handwriting” was actually a part of his delusion. “Burning out all of the glucose and dopamine in your brain” isn’t a thing. “Functional Neurological D…

Also odd is that OP uses the term 'seizure' but I think he means 'seized-up', like an engine that wont run. He explictly mentions at one point that the EEG didnt show anything like epilepsy.

But then he says things like "I'd work for 30 minutes, seize, sleep for 2 hours, then work, then seize, then sleep, ad nauseum."

If he was actually having siezures (absence seziures or focal seizures or myoclonic seizures or tonic clonic seizures) then presumably the EEG would have picked that up and he would have been diagnosed with and treated for epilepsy. At least I hope so because Tonic Clonic seizures (for example) can be extremely dangerous if they are uncontrolled.

Anyway I'm glad he has been able to get back to doing things in a way that feels sustainable and enjoyable.

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

#180

Post by mjgs »

dTal wrote: post #164
mjgs wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What the f is there in the head that can make a sound like a bass guitar string?

Your brain. All sound perception ultimately comes from there.

It’s wild that the brain can just make sounds up like that. Now I’m wondering how much of the soundscape I hear is real.

Seems like that’s something that could be exploited.

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