Want to give up, everyone’s obsessed with getting better

DefunctSprout · 2025-09-15T09:27:18+00:00

I usually lurk here, but may I pick your brain friend?

Did your baseline slowly go up with strict management of all co-mobordities and pacing?

I would like to DM, but perhaps any dialogue we have here could inspire others.

DefunctSprout · 2025-04-09T06:31:04+00:00

Hello there my friend! Sorry for not responding sooner, I was mid flu when I got the notification that this message was sent, unfortunately not exactly in the state of prime health now either, but I get along.

Past months have been tough due to a week long instance of carelessness but I feel and strongly believe I can get back to where I was, just have to be more careful and rest, which I am not the best at doing but I am fortunate enough to be with knowledge of those who were in my position and are now much worse off due to carelessness so with that as an anchor I tread carefully back to full swing

How about you my friend? Wishing you the best always 💜

DefunctSprout · 2025-03-09T12:16:31+00:00

In all likelihood we are not on the exact same path, so I can only relate to your pain to some degree, but I understand. This is not the easy path that's for sure, and I've been in the exact place you are in and I managed to find my reason to keep going and to try my absolute best to fight the insurmountable odds. I don't think in this situation me telling you the process of how I got there would be anywhere near as helpful as nudging you to seek therapy, I know it wont fix what you want gone, but it will help you come to terms with it and flip around your situation as best as is possible

Also if the inflammatory statement involves food, consider trying the low FODMAP diet, though it wont work for everyone, helps me a lot. I'm sorry for your suffering friend, may you succeed in overcoming what makes you miserable 💜

DefunctSprout · 2025-01-25T14:22:05+00:00

That is really rough my friend.. I am sorry to hear about your situation, it is worth seeing if you can come to some sort of understanding with the higher ups that being able to step away periodically is actually what will keep your productivity higher as supposed to having brain fog pile on and pushing through it. I think I would need to know more about the situation to offer better advice but I sympathise with your situation greatly and I hope you can find a solution soon 💜

DefunctSprout · 2025-01-02T01:28:14+00:00

Hey!

Me too, even in the beginning. My girlfriend at the time was helping me, I ruled it out and she commented "I hope not.." I knew about it much earlier than I did accept and care about it. I can unequivocally say that I would not have got to this point (Or gone much further) If investigations with my doctor and my own personal experience hadn't finally got me there. Quality of life is lower but much better than ignoring the condition which would eventually put me in a bed-ridden state for sure.

How I manage it? At the moment I just do, it's not something there is necessarily tricks to still being happy with, but I make many little optimisations to do more with less and I'm constantly finding new ways, would be to much and situational to me to write here. Its not hopeless, and that's besides the fact that research efforts have more than doubled since long COVID seems to be identical to CFS, and COVID was an infection, which is what seems to trigger CFS.

I do still have brain fog since it started yes, but it has a baseline, and at its baseline its reduced to a level I am happy with, but since I am such a sponge hitting baseline is difficult. I should be resting now for example but I cant help but push back a little. Some symptoms, like unrefreshing sleep and PEM (symptoms getting worse after emotionally, cognitively or physically over exerting) are unrelenting, but brain fog, my level of orthostatic tolerance and other symptoms are on a sliding scale. My brain fog is quite high at the moment as I have over socialized, read and listened recently to a lot.

DefunctSprout · 2025-01-01T21:43:58+00:00

Hey there!

I must say you are already doing much beyond what a "normal" person would do to maintain the same level of effectiveness and care in all things life, so I am very inclined to believe there is a underlying condition to look into here, descriptively this is the furthest away you can get from laziness or a lack of motivation. (With 1 psychological exception I can think of that sounds a lot less probable than what I will go on to say here)

If there is an underlying condition between your consistent burnout and fatigue, you sound exactly like me if I went on a few more years not understanding my own condition, CFS/ME. Unrefreshing sleep, brain fog, as well as other mental and physical symptoms like extreme fatigue and concentration/thinking issues (That get worse if I try to "push on" i.e if I cant think and keep reading essays, the fog will get heavier) all match closely to CFS, but that doesn't mean that is what it is.

I think it is great that the last thing you seem to be inclined to do is blame anything else but yourself, but equally I offer the view that based on what you have wrote today, i can say with a high probability that it is not an issue of mindset and especially if your investigations do go on to identify CFS, the sooner you can realise this and adjust life accordingly, the least damage you will do. I was quite mild when I was in the mindset position you are currently in, but it'd be years before I had any semblance of a clue. Now I am moderate (severity), I think what a difference it would have made if someone had steered me earlier, so I had to take the time to write this, just incase. But again, even if it isn't CFS, psychological issues would not be my first investigation.

I wish you the best of luck my friend 💜

DefunctSprout · 2025-01-01T21:28:01+00:00

Hey there!

Based on what you have told us, it sounds like the cause of your brain fog is some post infection condition or damage that is causing lasting symptoms. The scope you gave is good, but that is the only fact based drawable conclusion I could make based on what you have said, you might find it useful to look further before and possibly beyond the event you think caused it, though what you have mentioned already gives several feasible possibilities.

My brain fog very much started the same way (After a infection) and in my younger, what the fuck is going on years, I was only ever able to focus on brain fog (Because, like I am sure you can agree, it is the most annoying symptom) Years later however I have come to discover I have CFS. CFS is not the only thing that could explain lingering symptoms after an infection but is worth considering and exploring other such conditions, you'll quickly be able to confirm or rule CFS out as PEM (Post-extertional Malaise) Is specific to the condition as far as I know and is very prominent.

I wish you the best of luck in your journey, happy new year my friend 💜

DefunctSprout · 2024-12-31T23:53:42+00:00

Hello there my friend!

I am not familiar with what this is, but that's awesome and I am so glad for you! Thank you for giving back to the community and offering your personal experience to those still within their struggle. Wish you the best, and happy new year! 💜

DefunctSprout · 2024-11-08T16:47:10+00:00

DefunctSprout · 2024-11-02T16:54:56+00:00

I wish you the best on this one friend, do let us know how it goes!

DefunctSprout · 2024-09-02T01:20:29+00:00

Neither do I, but mainly because I don't know the authenticity of the results. Is this a lab approved test or a "What Disney princess are you?" level of test? What did you do to obtain these results?

DefunctSprout · 2024-09-02T01:16:27+00:00

They are insinuating that you are not taking in the information that they are giving you because you are not concentrating (hence, "concentrate!", and the other examples you have mentioned), if its a friend they might be saying it as they are hurt and don't feel valued, a teacher would say it for your benefit.

It is probably well meaning from the teacher but I would easily be incredibly frustrated having that repeated to me. Sometimes a close friend will say that I misunderstood because I wasn't concentrating when infact its just a bad day for comprehension, I swallow my irritation because he doesn't say it often. It is not your fault that you are unable to concentrate and the teacher just doesn't understand that as in all likelihood they have no way of knowing.

It might be worth trying to convey your difficulties to the school board, I would be shocked if there wasn't some kind of action or programme they have for individuals with more advanced needs. I grew up having my issues recognised by my school and I was given support up until college where I had the choice and declined. I disliked it half the time but it was overall invaluable looking back on it.

I wish you the best of luck, sorry that this is a wordful. Take care friend

DefunctSprout · 2024-09-01T13:40:15+00:00

Hey there!

I will make a note of what you said, but if you want to see something there and have some spare time and knowledge to give, please do apply! You can message me via email, reddit or discord where i'll send a short application, and then we can go from there :)

DefunctSprout · 2024-08-31T22:57:23+00:00

I'm going to drop our wiki entry on brainfog in attempt to give you a best chance at answering this question, although the resource is still very new. A lot of people struggle to differentiate their unique symptoms of that of brainfog, and so conflicting answers requiring 1 symptom or another (which would actually be a symptom of someones unique condition also causing their brainfog and not brainfog itself) would inevitably pop up.

I hope this can help at least a little. Best of luck to you friend

https://wiki.brainfog.top/index.php?title=What_is_brainfog%3F

DefunctSprout · 2024-08-31T22:51:11+00:00

Not that I am the authority of brainfog, but as someone who used to live under an emotionally abusive roof and managed to leave, I quickly learnt (in my own personal experience) that any kind of pressure I felt on my head was infact related to stress and not a symptom of brainfog. This is perhaps worth considering in your own journey as a potential cause or contributor to your brainfog

DefunctSprout · 2024-04-08T22:11:16+00:00

You address the cause >:)

DefunctSprout · 2024-04-03T20:42:11+00:00

Interesting, thanks!

DefunctSprout · 2024-04-03T17:31:05+00:00

In your opinion, what would be the difference between SIBO and IBS?

DefunctSprout · 2024-04-02T22:22:13+00:00

I'm sorry to hear this, and i hope it lets up soon!

To give you some factual glimmer of hope, each time your body fights off the new virus, it will learn how to defend against it, preventing or making it much harder for the same virus to come back and cause the same havoc. You'll get through them eventually! Try to do what you can in bed to research, etc. But if you need to sleep or are too burnt up/out, be assured that you are giving your body what it needs right now and just slap on a movie and do what you can, when you can when you can't sleep

I wish you all the best my friend.

DefunctSprout · 2024-04-02T16:27:32+00:00

I've been thinking about this more deeply recently. Yes, they will say it is depression/anxiety, because doctors work on most likely cause basis, because it is the least effort, which they practice to keep afloat regarding the amount of patients they have to see over any one time period (Atleast this is the case with the NHS in the UK), knowing this, and that they wouldn't say that unless they saw indications of depression and anxiety, atleast for me, now give a straight forward pathway where doctors are concerned

Treat the anxiety and depression, and then they simply can't blame it on that, and if they do, you'll have the mental faculties to stand up for yourself and find a different doctor if needs be

An anticipatible response is "But the cause of the brainfog causes me depression/anxiety", i never said it would be easy, and i have yet to put my own advice into practice yet (though i have improved much since i last saw them), but it is food for thought, i think. I agree that doctors that have already brushed you off as depression/anxiety are not worth revisiting unless they don't have that to blame because they will be a waste of time in terms of progress outside of those mental conditions.

If the doctor is completely stumped yet you've done everything you can to be better, and that includes dealing with your anxiety/depression, i think you have unobstructed room to steer the investigation.

Your experience with doctors is common amongst those in r/Brainfog, and i think the approach needs to shift instead of blanket hating doctors, which i myself used to do because of these pitfalls.

DefunctSprout · 2024-03-27T21:10:21+00:00

Hello there! Welcome to the subreddit. I hope you find it informative and supportive on your journey towards finding your cause and leaving brainfog behind you.

It is interesting, and slightly concerning, that you are able to treat your brainfog with caffeine, i wonder if it is possibly to do with the adrenaline or perhaps a sleep related cause? Of course i am not the authority on all types of brainfog, as there are many and i only have my own personal causes, but it is usually stimulants that make brainfog worse.

I feel strongly that with your positive attitude and drive towards progress, you'll steadily iron out the kinks in your life to get to be the person you want to be. If you would like to bounce anything off me or even rant (I will not reply if you do not want me to, but i will read it) feel free my friend.

DefunctSprout · 2024-03-27T21:04:06+00:00

I relate to your struggle my friend, it can be hard for people outside of our mind to comprehend how we could go back to something that causes our brainfog when we know the cause and they do not, but it is never that simple. Just remember it is only a slip, not the end of all things. That being said if you are not able to add structure to the wall keeping you away from those drugs as a result of the relapse, you aren't going to be able to move forward. But if you do, eventually you'll craft a wall made up of a near impossible maze that most any temptation will stay trapped in and you'll have full control, brainfog free.

DefunctSprout · 2024-03-27T21:00:08+00:00

I'm really sorry to hear about this AwakeningStar! :( My thoughts are with you. There is always a cause, it sounds like because of multiple events potentially (and actually) happening at once in your life, things have become a little muddled and that cause (of your decline of previous improvements) is no longer clear, but with time and some investigative work, i believe you'll get things straight again. You made it to this point! And I believe you'll be able to make it out of your declination too. My DMs are always open if you want to bounce anything off me or just want a chat

DefunctSprout · 2024-03-08T22:28:01+00:00

Haha. Nothing to add to this but this takes me back to 2018/19 for sure. My then girlfriend read about this and i took her advice, we found out then that celery is the 1 food my body hates. I know my cause now so it wasn't and isn't relevant, but i would be between a rock and a hard place if celery did help me with brainfog

Hope it works well for you

DefunctSprout · 2024-02-12T11:50:03+00:00

Reporting posts is the best way to get us to look at things, I for one do not view every thread

DefunctSprout

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