4 ms·

> profound burnout in 2019 after I lost my digestive health and got low serotonin due to a combination of work stress, overtraining at the gym, dehydration and

> profound burnout in 2019 after I lost my digestive health and got low serotonin due to a combination of work stress, overtraining at the gym, dehydration and a finger of booze after particularly hard days. Also food sensitivities to legumes, nightshades and almond butter, which I wasn't aware of at the time Ashwagandha is a nightshade, so you likely weren't allergic to nightshades if it helps. Also, I'm not sure how you concluded that you have "low serotonin" due to gut issues. Serotonin in the gut doesn't migrate to the central nervous system. It serves different purposes throughout the body, but the synthesis in your brain remains local to the brain. There are a lot of unrealistically specific claims in your post about cortisol and serotonin, but it's impossible to make such specific diagnoses. You might be reading too much into the alternative medicine world that misuses surface-level knowledge about hormones and neurotransmitters to provide false comfort. Real medical diagnoses aren't so specifically centered on singular chemicals.

zackmorris 4y ago
Fair points, ya, I'm not disagreeing, and most of what I'm saying is anecdotal. My working theory right now is that food poisoning triggered an autoimmune response to something with my gut motility. Exacerbated by sleep apnea, stress, drinking, malnourishment from inflammation, who knows. Ashwagandha may have desensitized that somehow. To be blunt, 2019 was one of the worst years of my life. I found myself out of work with no insurance and worse, no executive function. I went from loving my job and hitting gym PRs to broke and barely able to get out of bed in the morning. 20 years of trying to win the internet lottery and failing had sapped my motivation. Then the pandemic hit and things went from bad to worse to even worse to past the point of believability. But thankfully that series of traumas led to my conscious awakening and so I am grateful for that experience. And am gainfully employed and having fun with my work again, which is priceless. And hitting gym PRs again, which is frankly a miracle. I guess I keep OCD'ing on this because working in tech is so high-risk that mental health issues are all but inevitable IMHO. But there are basic preventative steps we can do that western medicine seems reluctant to advocate for whatever reason. I have to be honest - without publicly funded healthcare, our system is garbage because it's being ruled by the profit motive and a tiny elite who spend their ill-gotten gains on lobbying to get out of paying their taxes. Their greed preventing win-wins like preventative medicine is just another hurdle for people on the edge, effectively talking them out of getting the care they need. Maybe the breadcrumbs I leave might help someone struggling to get just well enough to schedule an appointment. I should add that I finally did go to the doctor and got some treatment, but they had trouble isolating any specific cause. I feel that the everlywell.com (no affiliation) food sensitivity test I took and dietary changes were the main fix, YMMV.

zackmorris 4y ago

Fair points, ya, I'm not disagreeing, and most of what I'm saying is anecdotal. My working theory right now is that food poisoning triggered an autoimmune response to something with my gut motility. Exacerbated by sleep apnea, stress, drinking, malnourishment from inflammation, who knows. Ashwagandha may have desensitized that somehow. To be blunt, 2019 was one of the worst years of my life. I found myself out of work with no insurance and worse, no executive function. I went from loving my job and hitting gym PRs to broke and barely able to get out of bed in the morning. 20 years of trying to win the internet lottery and failing had sapped my motivation. Then the pandemic hit and things went from bad to worse to even worse to past the point of believability. But thankfully that series of traumas led to my conscious awakening and so I am grateful for that experience. And am gainfully employed and having fun with my work again, which is priceless. And hitting gym PRs again, which is frankly a miracle. I guess I keep OCD'ing on this because working in tech is so high-risk that mental health issues are all but inevitable IMHO. But there are basic preventative steps we can do that western medicine seems reluctant to advocate for whatever reason. I have to be honest - without publicly funded healthcare, our system is garbage because it's being ruled by the profit motive and a tiny elite who spend their ill-gotten gains on lobbying to get out of paying their taxes. Their greed preventing win-wins like preventative medicine is just another hurdle for people on the edge, effectively talking them out of getting the care they need. Maybe the breadcrumbs I leave might help someone struggling to get just well enough to schedule an appointment. I should add that I finally did go to the doctor and got some treatment, but they had trouble isolating any specific cause. I feel that the everlywell.com (no affiliation) food sensitivity test I took and dietary changes were the main fix, YMMV.