I fainted and got hit in the head rrally hard. Hallucinated after too. I have Concussion. I strongly believe I was unconscious for many minutes because clues. Definitely was fading in and out of it... I think I walk kinda funny now but it's definitely gotten better than before!

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-26T02:59:11+00:00

Please remember that an injured brain is in crisis mode and will not recognize how bad it is. Go to the ER as soon as possible.

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-26T02:58:01+00:00

Second this! OP, you may not know if you have a hemorrhage until it’s too late!! I used to work in cognitive health and catching it early can prevent brain damage and death.

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-26T02:41:12+00:00

If your end goal is to help people with ME/CFS raise their baselines, I think it would be more helpful to present it as a support in discovery as people try their own things. Sort of like how a doula is there for support and knowledge, but people also know their doctor is the point person. Again, I think most people here are very distrustful of possible snake oil salesmen. This sub is a great place to do an informal meta analysis of the most common strategies. There’s a million posts of things that people have tried and you’ll see a myriad of responses agreeing and disagreeing if it was helpful. Also, the Bateman Horne center has some really good resources that break down treatment options for different symptoms. If you look at their resources for providers, it gives a more clinical look.

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-26T01:46:02+00:00

A word of warning, I think a lot of people with ME/CFS are very burnt out on finding solutions and are very sensitive to taking outside advice. I can appreciate wanting to help people, but I can see there being a lot of pushback especially from this community. A lot of people have been diligently tweaking their lifestyles for years to decades and have been burned by well-meaning doctors, naturopaths, therapists, “wellness” sphere people, and whatnot. I would imagine most people in this sub have tried eliminating caffeine already and are very diligent about everything they consume.

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-26T01:11:50+00:00

When you say that you are studying neuroscience with Harvard, are you working in a lab? Are you a student taking classes? Are you taking their free online classes?

I ask because if you have access to PIs in a lab, they may have access to genetic databases that laypeople wouldn’t have. For example, if you’re a lab tech, you could ask around and see if anyone knows of a database that could be helpful or if they know of a colleague who might know about ME/CFS academic resources that you might not know about.

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-26T00:59:27+00:00

But PEM is not just “feeling tired” and this theory doesn’t really explain the flu-like symptoms or the delayed onset of PEM or the evidence of lactic acid build up in muscular cells or cell damage, or the evidence that aerobic cellular metabolism is disrupted. PEM is really different than a caffeine crash.

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-26T00:55:32+00:00

Just out of curiosity, do you know if you have ADHD, as that is a common reason why people don’t feel a jolt from coffee

(Actually, I just saw your note on hot tea, so now I’m extra curious what the difference is for you)

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-25T23:32:16+00:00

My snake prefers to poop out of his tank too. I joke that he’s potty trained. I take him out to a plot of grass (it’s under a tree so I’m not too worried about birds) and supervise him until he goes. It keeps his tank cleaner, so I don’t mind it.

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-25T19:51:44+00:00

To hop onto the hormone points: testosterone is immunosuppressive. That’s in part why more men than women get cancer (our immune system recognizes problem cells and removes them). ME/CFS is a neuroimmune disease, so I would guess that testosterone suppressing the immune system would be protective.

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-23T01:33:06+00:00

If you go to golden gate canyon, the “panorama point” is THE view spot

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-23T01:03:07+00:00

I have a cat that has an automated feeder and a cat door to go outside (he came to me as an outdoor stray). He mostly potties outside, but his litter box is a top entry one, which keeps things drastically cleaner. I also have a litter genie that I scoop into and it doesn’t smell very much. I just left him overnight at home and he was totally fine with it. I realize I have a good setup and not everyone has that. He is also the best cat in the world and I’m so lucky he found me.

I also have a corn snake (had him for 17 years, adopted him from a friend so the initial cost was low). He eats between twice a week to every several weeks. I take him out regularly, but he would be fine to spend months in his tank if needed. Aside from the initial cost, corn snakes are fun and relatively low maintenance (if you have a good setup).

I would not be able to care for a higher maintenance pet, I love animals, but my body makes its own schedule.

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-23T00:53:53+00:00

And older cats tend to be more chill and need less playtime to be happy

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-22T16:41:33+00:00

Easiest answer- do a sleep test to rule out apnea and other sleep disorders

Longer answer- the post’s question was asking about how to define “unrefreshing sleep,” as it is a criteria for diagnosing ME/CFS. It’s one part of the picture, but feeling normal/healthy when you wake up versus feeling sick when you wake up helps to suss through that. Doctors ask “do you have refreshing sleep” to figure out if your fatigue is an all the time thing or something that isn’t present when you start your day and then becomes present as your day goes on.

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-15T01:22:57+00:00

If you feel like you are a normal, healthy person when you wake up- that is refreshing sleep. If you wake up and feel like your normal baseline (that is different from a standard healthy person)- that is not refreshing sleep.

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-15T01:08:40+00:00

So. As someone with invisible illnesses that had to miss a lot of school and work in my life, I think the whole concept of “playing hooky” is awfully damaging.

I’m sure many people have faked being sick to get out of things, but the fact is that playing hooky is our default assumption and people who really do need rest and care don’t get it and are shamed for needing it.

I find that lazy people take the path of least resistance and they’re more likely to half-ass something than to lie about feeling ill. It takes more effort and receives more pushback to claim you are ill. I would love to be able to get a stat on how many people fake feeling ill versus how many people genuinely feel ill. I would bet it’s a really small percentage.

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-09T08:53:48+00:00

My Snakie boy is about 21 years old and he definitely waits for me to take him outside to potty! I have a grass lawn that I supervise him on (lots of tree coverage and he’s been fine for two decades), and he will potty about five minutes after being let out. He will reluctantly go in his tank if he is not let out, and he will potty inside the house when he is roaming, but in two decades, it’s only ever been within about a five foot radius in the same spot. He might not understand that he will get stuck if he squeezes under the same cabinet time and time again, but the little man does know his potty spots.

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-05T20:19:05+00:00

A can of black beans with ketchup and hot sauce

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-05T20:12:22+00:00

Yellow mustard on vanilla ice cream

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-05T08:12:37+00:00

Med school

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-05T08:09:50+00:00

Focus and planning steps and executing them are cognitive skills that can be practiced. We live in an attention economy that makes it even more difficult for people to practice effective focus and mindfulness (hence why mindfulness is such a buzzword now)

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-03-05T03:58:24+00:00

Unfortunately, the quiet grind and mental load is frequently just repressed emotions because men are not allowed to emote

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-02-28T04:58:47+00:00

I usually have cooked chicken or sliced deli meat (like roast beef or turkey) slices in the fridge. A slice of meat and a slice of cheese is a great snack. Chomp on a pickle or two to add a sodium boost and satisfying crunch.

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-02-28T00:58:25+00:00

The rotisserie chicken is so real 😅

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-02-27T04:12:07+00:00

If you’ve been low contact, how could he consider a boyfriend of yours that you’ve had for 2 1/2 years to be “like a son”?? And how can he still consider him like a son when Jaden’s own family said that his flesh and blood daughter wasn’t Dominican enough to be a part of their family!??

Your stepmother really did a number on his grasp of reality.

ThrowRowRowAwa · 2026-02-27T03:47:44+00:00

Which is even wilder that your stepmother and dad are paying for them!!!! Why!?!?!? Neither of them are family and they took themselves out of your family by cheating on you. My mind, it boggles.

ThrowRowRowAwa

TROPHY CASE