u/SoftySunshine

Hi! I've been trying to manage my PCOS for a year now. Found out via my local nutritionist that I'm incredibly sensitive to gluten and dairy. That change alone made me lose 10kg and made me lose about 20cm of weight circumference. I'm very happy.

However, I can hardly stay awake and feel energized after eating a meal. My glucose levels are normal, I got those checked a month or so ago.

Recently I also got taken off my ADHD meds that kept me awake and active. So this gives an extra layer of fatigue.

I've began to notice that after every single meal & snack, I begin to feel incredibly weak, light-headed, in need to lie down.

I was wondering if anyone else has this problem?

This is an example of my meals yesterday:

Breakfast:

30-50gr of oats, protein powder (20gr protein), 30gr chia seed, almond milk.

It knocks me out.

Morning Snack:

Sliced apple with almond butter. This one knocks me out too

Lunch:

100gr lettuce, 200gr seasoned chicken breast, table spoon of olive oil, dairy-free & low sugar garlic dressing.

Lightly, but still very knocked out.

Afternoon snack:

Salmon sashimi, seaweed salad (wakame?), gluten free soy sauce.

It was a relatively small portion and didn't make me feel like a permanent exhausted pigeon.

Dinner:

1/2 plate of veggies, 1/4th protein, 1/4th carbs.

Yesterday was: broccoli, drumsticks, baked potatoes.

Made me feel drained.

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I feel like, theoretically, I'm doing well. But somehow my body doesn't like me eating. Anyone suffered from this as well? What change did you make that worked out for you?

Do you guys get that as well? Every time I genuinely break off the last trail of connection and hover over that button (we are online only) I just get the flu, migraines, my entire nervous system goes into shock and I need to physically recover.

Because I do that an embarrassing amount. (No success yet lmfao).

I'm currently on 5mg lexapro. A few weeks ago, I was on vacation and travelling around. In all the chaos, my ADHD forgot to take my evening meds (which is my lexapro) and due to accidentally skipping a dose a few times too often, I decided to take it in the morning with my ADHD meds so I wouldn't constantly forget it. I figured I had been on Zoloft before and took that in the morning as well. It couldn't be too bad, right?

WRONG.

Within a matter of days, I became more and more fatigued during my trip. Figuring the end of my vacation was around the corner and I had been through a lot of new impressions, it had to be a logical reason I was tired. But by the time monday arrived, my hypochondriac ass was blessed enough to get the common cold on top of it. At this point, my body had become so fatigued that going to work (which is cleaning in the homes of the elderly) was too much for it. I began to get light-headed and had constant fainting spells. This escalated to the point where I couldn't even sit up at my desk without feeling incredibly exhausted.

Obviously, I visited my general practitioner, ran all the tests, and within a week, it was evident that I didn't have any disease whatsoever. And at this point, I had no idea what was going on.

It took me a solid week and a half of constant ruminating to figure out that the only thing that has changed was the timing I took my medication. Upon noticing, I immediately swapped it back to taking it in the evening. Before I knew it, the fainting spells have stopped. The fatigue is still very much there.

Monday, I'll finally be able to contact my psychiatrist again. And after that, I have a meeting with one of the doctors my company hired because I had taken too many sickdays because of this mistake.

I'm afraid that this will be the end of my lexapro adventure soon. Oh well, at least I tried.

Started June 4th with 2.5mg - I was incredibly anxious.

June 11th: 5mg

June 22nd - til now: 10mg.

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Background Info:

I decided to try antidepressants again after getting off Zoloft at the end of 2024. I emigrated during that period of time and convinced myself that beside ADHD medication, anxiety medication made no sense. Low and behold, every ADHD-med gave me panic, anxiety, chest cramps, hyperventilation. And even without any medication in my system; I experienced shortness of breath, crippling anxiety, and panic.

I suspect I might have OCD, but right now I'm not being assessed for it. Due to first focusing my therapy on the trauma I've suffered. However, I suffer from hypochondria, agoraphobia, perfectionism, germophobia, and a lot more fears that make zero sense. I had layers of layers of intrusive thoughts in my head. I couldn't go to school because my fear would override my entire system. Every day I went to work, even though I knew the people, I was scared.

I wasn't in a 'dangerous place' but I knew that if I would be at the same place next year, I would be a goner. Something needed to change and no amount of meditation, nervous system exercises, even praying (I'm not religious to begin with) would help.

Being in a step-family that exists out of neurotypical and mentally stable people really made me realize that I wasn't "normal". My stepmother has a tendency to be very spiritual on top of that and therefore demonized anti-depressants and big pharma which lead to me being terrified of taking them.

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My experience on medication so far:

I began with 2.5mg due to being sensitive to medication and wanting to ease the road toward the right dose. After discussing the fatigue I experienced on Zoloft, I was advised to take it at night. I still do.

Small changes I've noticed were: not feeling the need to constantly listen to music outside. Nowadays, I grab my bicycle and go to work and if the location is nearby, I just enjoy the sound of birds rather than distracting myself with music and daydreaming.

On 5mg: I began to open up a little more. Surely, there were moments I was still anxious to talk, especially in group settings. I had a meltdown in a restaurant because of the many layers of noise. Although I still have intrusive thoughts and still dread going to work, it became a little bit easier to handle. It gave me the possibility to stop for a minute take a few deep breaths and ask myself: What do I need right now?

On 10mg: I am finally thinking about picking up hobbies again. Usually, I'm a very creative person and love to learn more about art, music, writing, etc. However, my constant need for perfection would give me 100s of reasons as to why I wasn't ready to pick up a new hobby and learn it from the get go. A simple example would be: Last year I wanted to pick up piano lessons, and I had a dream about the teacher yelling at me for having acrylic nails at the time, therefore I woke up too scared to sign up. Such a small thing would immediately influence big decisions. Looking back, if I went to piano lessons at the time, I would have thoroughly enjoy them. But that was how extreme my anxiety was. I started texting friends to ask if they want to hang out. I have an easier time going to work, the gym, and socializing with strangers. Things are starting to look brighter.

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I am not yet at the right dose, I feel like. As I still have intrusive thoughts, compulsions and lots of fear, but I do feel like I'm heading the right way with this medication.

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SIDE EFFECTS:

- I lost my libido quite a bit. I find myself hardly ever aroused, and when I am, I have a hard time taking care of it. In a minute or two, I tend to feel relatively bored. I don't get aroused from porn either. However, when I have a partner talk me through it, I tend to be a bit more motivated. If lucky, I can nearly reach a climax. I've read that some have their libido stabilize in a few months of taking the right dose. I hope that will be the case for me. Personally, zoloft didn't tank my libido as much.

- Weight gain was one of the things I was scared of as well. I won't lie: I had a bit of a hard time staying on my diet. Besides all the mental stuff, I also have PCOS and insulin resistance. Weight has always been a sensitive subject for me because of it. I can say confidently that this month my weight, even besides my cravings and binging moments, has been relatively stable. Usually between 85-86.5kg. However, I did notice that I need to time my trips to the grocery store better. I am easily tempted to grab snacks, cookies, and food with ingredients I literally have an intolerance for. I already classified this as a systematic problem. If I figure out the right moment - where I have no hunger or cravings - I'm less tempted to bring home junk.

- Emotional blunting?? I've always struggled with regulating my feelings. I have ADHD and always had my emotions control me. Some moments, I find myself wondering why I can't cry where I usually would have a complete meltdown about nothing. Earlier this morning, I found myself sitting on my bed in order to pay attention to my feelings. I thought I would shed a tear, but nothing came out. Not because it is entirely dull and I don't care but because I might have just been regulated. It is definitely something I'm getting used to. Not sure if this a side-effect or the medication properly working. The happiness hasn't been dulled and can be fully expressed.

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I kind of felt like sharing this. I hope someone might feel a bit more at ease as they are about to begin their journey. (:

After going through a traumatic event last weekend, I've been really focusing on releasing trauma from my body. I began with somatic stretching, tapping, and today, I've began noticing that I could move the energy in my body around. Of course, as someone who used to be very skeptical about reiki in the past, this opened my eyes. I always had healing qualities and a healing presence, if I'd say so myself. But actually being able to feel it? That stuff is pretty awesome!

But moving it around is all fine and dandy, however I want to remove the bad energy in order to restore my nervous system, my chakra's, and continue my life with love and light.

Any tips on how to get myself to 'remove' the bad energy? I already tried plucking motions, and wiping it off my shoulders while envisioning, but somehow that doesn't seem to help just yet.

All advice is welcome.

Have a wonderful day.