u/Shrimps-is-Bugz — reddlx

DL-Phenylalanine experiences?

Have you experimented with DL-Phenylalanine supplementation? If so, what was your experience? I started 2 days ago, and it might be helping? Energy and mood seems to have improved, but I need to give it at least a week to be sure. I am concerned though that it might lead to deficiencies in some related chemicals over time. I plan to talk to my doctor about it, but curious about whether anyone here has anecdotes to share.

reddit.com

u/Shrimps-is-Bugz — 3 hours ago

▲ 26 r/anhedonia

Lifelong Anhedonia lifted for 3 days with Auvelity...now what?

I (44f) have been emotionally flatline for as long as I can remember. While I can intellectually identify which environmental conditions should create each feeling in order to answer the question "how are you feeling?", I have never actually felt any physical sensation in response to emotional stimulus unless it was an extreme event like losing a loved one or melting down from a panic attack. If I had to describe what I typically feel based on bodily sensation, it would be a daily general numbness, with a static undercurrent of exhaustion, anxiety, and muscle aches. If I feel anything else, it's so muted as to be virtually undetectable physically. I've described it as being like a ghost haunting my own body because I am aware of what's happening, but I'm disconnected from the sensation.

I swear to you that until a few years ago, I truly believed that everyone was like this, and that they were faking dramatic emotional responses due to peer pressure, social expectations, or just to get attention. Then I stumbled upon the definition for Anhedonia and was like, "Oh. Well damn. This seems unfair". Lol

So a couple of months ago I talked to my psychiatrist about Anhedonia specifically, and she changed my meds from Wellbutrin alone to Wellbutrin with Dextromethorphan (Auvelity). The first week didn't bring any changes, but then I went to the full dose, taking the second pill at night.

The 3 days that followed were the best days of my life! I felt what I can confidently claim was "happiness"! I was singing, engaging in hobbies, smiling, cooking, making plans, being an active conversation partner with my friends and loved ones. I was waking up in the morning with some energy, throwing open the curtains to let in the daylight, feeling excited about possibilities, and not noticing any of my chronic muscle pain issues. This was it! This is the thing other people get to have! And I could feel all of it in my body, clear as day, unmistakable.

Now, I have friends who struggle with occasional manic episodes. I know what it looks like, and I know that people in a manic state often feel like nothing is wrong and this is how they "really are". That situation terrifies me, so any time I change meds, I notify the people closest to me to look out for the mania red flags. According to them, I didn't have any personality changes or impulsive risk taking or spending issues, or delusions of any time. I was just more "present, engaging, and active". They saw nothing concerning. So I was freaking thrilled!

3 days later, it was almost all gone. By a week later, I was back to flatline. I told my psychiatrist about it and she said that maybe lowering my dose back down to one pill a day would help bring the bliss back, but alas, it did not.

So...what now?

Psychiatrist says changing again to trintellix or rexulti might help. I'll try anything, but I have already been through a ton of meds, so I'm worried that I am getting close to the end of the list. What if they don't get me back to the bliss?

I'm currently on Lisdexamphetamine, Desvenlafaxine, Auvelity, and low dose ketamine troches. They are all doing stuff for GAD, AuDHD, and MDD, but not Anhedonia. The ketamine makes me feel my body while I am on it, but it's not something I can keep in my system all day. I'd be too goofed-up to function.

So what are people in my situation usually doing? I already do all the somatic work, therapy, diet, vitamins, minerals, probiotics, electrolytes, amino acids, and all the exercise and yoga I can. What am I missing?

Thanks in advance for ideas! *Edit: For anyone curious about what the "happy" sense of wellbeing feels like in terms of body sensation, I can say it's like having a TENS/EMS unit attached to the skin over the major muscles of your arms, legs, back, neck, and scalp and turned on a low tingly massage setting that's kind of like a tickle but pleasant.

reddit.com

u/Shrimps-is-Bugz — 5 days ago

▲ 3 r/ChineseMedicine

Anhedonia and Fatigue...Ideas?

Hi everyone! Thanks in advance for reading and any opinions!

I'm on a journey to find body and mind balance and healing after about 40 years of self-neglect due to poverty, poor upbringing, chronic conditions, and depression.

I have tons of doctors now investigating and treating various symptoms, and one doctor helping to manage everything from a holistic viewpoint to find patterns and links.

I've also been working with a psychotherapist and a psychiatrist. I'm on a regimen for overall diet, vitamin & mineral supplements, gut biome restoration, and various dopamine, serotonin, and other brain chemical stimulators and reuptake inhibitors. I've come a very long way over the past 5-6 years, and I've made significant progress.

Now I want to begin investigating anything I might be overlooking from the TCM perspective. I had an acupuncture practitioner years ago who helped me with an acute issue and gave me some Free and Easy Wanderer which was very subtle but did help some issues I had at the time. She moved so I'm on the hunt for a new one. In the meantime...

There are two symptoms specifically that are resisting all efforts to treat them:

I am emotionally flat. No highs, no lows. It's called Anhedonia, and I've been like this since at least my pre-teens (maybe always). I can feel emotions, and identify them, but everything is really muted. The range and level of emotional energy I see in others has always been shocking to me, and I used to think everyone else was faking the enthusiasm or drama for attention or something. I know now that they mostly aren't, and I am just different. I thought it was ADHD or Autism related and unchangeable, but recently I had one of the SSRI type medications actually work for 3 days and I got to feel what happy feels like for others. It was fantastic! I want that again. If a pharma med can do it temporarily, maybe there's a TCM formulation that could work longer term to provide emotional balance for me.
I'm tired. Mentally, physically, always exhausted, and always have been.Treating the ADHD finally gave me a bit more focus and drive, but not enough. I think I really only have an hour a day of productivity in me. I'd like to improve that. We've ruled out nutrient deficiencies, are working on seasonal allergies as a factor, and I will be doing a sleep study soon to start treating what I assume will be confirmed sleep apnea, with possible narcolepsy. I want to also look into TCM areas on this topic, since it might take a whole different angle.

* Temperature (any aversion to heat or to cold? Do you often have fever?) - I use heated pads frequently to help relax and ease muscle & joint aches. I have Hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, so I am prone to injuries and misalignments even with normal light duty daily activity. My overall tolerance for hot weather has decreased over the past few years. However cold has always been really painful, still is, and I avoid it.

* Sweat (do you sweat too much?) - No.

* Thirst (do you often feel unusually thirsty, or the contrary? Do you feel more attracted to hot or cold drinks?) - I have always been chronically dehydrated because I forget to drink and eat with any kind of regularity. I am being mindful of that now and drinking more water and with added electrolytes. I get thirsty, but I usually just want a sip at a time. I remember feeling uncomfortably bloated when I drank water as a child, so maybe I made a mental pattern back then to avoid drinking too much at once. I like all temps of fluid within reason. Super cold hurts my teeth. Super hot burns my tongue and lips.

* Appetite (good or bad?) I rarely desire food. It's always been an afterthought. I feel more exhausted after eating, so I usually fast until late in the day. I've been tracking my calories lately to make sure I eat enough. We recently ruled out any sort of diabetes or blood sugar issues despite the fasting periods. I'm pretty steady between 70-140 no matter what.

* Digestion (digestion problems?) - Bloating and cramping recently resolved via gut health restoration.

* Bowels (frequency, texture, color, any pain?) - Frequent diarrhea recently resolved via gut health restoration.

* Urination (frequency, color, any pain?) - No issues.

* Pain anywhere in the body (headache, chest, abdominal, etc.?) - Muscles/Joints. 3 herniated discs in neck.

* EENT (eye, ear, nose, and throat --> any issue with any of them?) - Tree, grass, cat allergies being treated. Deviated septum.

* Mood (often angry, sad, anxious, scared, etc?) - I'm pretty flatlined unless the situation is extreme. I can identify a steady level of generalized anxiety, but I am doing everything I can to treat that. Somatic exercises, therapy, pharma meds, ketamine, etc. and I've improved it a lot.

* Sleep (any issues?) - Non-restful, never has been, periodically either insomnia or hypersomnia in phases but nothing obvious precipitating the switch over.

* Energy (low/high?) - Always low. Didn't even play much as a child because I would be tired within 5 minutes and have to sleep.

* Skin (any skin issues? How does your skin look: bright, lusterless, pale, moist, dry, etc.?) - Cystic acne unresponsive to all treatment. Not even Accutane touched it. Spironolactone and antibiotics had no effect. Benzoyl Peroxide, salicylic acid, retinol etc might work but I always have to discontinue it due to extreme skin rash/blister/peeling issues. Other than the deep cysts that never got away, my skin is soft and normal looking.

* If a woman: menstruation, leukorrhea, number of children, childbirth, miscarriages and abortions - No children. No period due to IUD. Hormones always test "normal", but my testosterone is actually low. MDs just don't like to give women supplemental testosterone for some reason.

* Any history of old diseases as well as your view on health issues you might currently have. - I think addressing my sleep issues will probably help the most, but I want to look into TCM options in the meantime, just in case. Very few of the western options I've seen address root causes for anything that is non-surgical in nature, and I just always wonder what I am missing that could be resolved without taking 50 pills/day until I die. Lol

u/Shrimps-is-Bugz — 7 days ago