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Comment by starkfist | Hacker News Reader

I had the same symptoms as you about 5 years ago, and it was from having a poor diet and an anxiety disorder (that i did not want to admit I had).

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I also had some similar symptoms 2 winters ago. Turned out to be anxiety, stress, mediocre diet, and a bit of hypochondria. What finally got me out of the rut was taking a trip to San Diego, spending time with friends away from my commute in the cold/dark hours, and realizing that maybe it was all in my head. It was difficult for me to accept that I could be psychologically messing with myself, but this was ultimately the problem.

Congrats for realizing that those sorts of "minor" things can have a significant impact. I think that this guy has something similar, which is why I suggested he go to Costa Rica in the last HN story.

Thanks. It all started in some October when I had some sort of bad reaction to something (maybe food) that caused a massive headache/vomiting all day for me. I got pretty worried about the cause. The headaches nagged everyday on through winter and into March (when I finally went to California).

I went to specialist after specialist.. had blood tests, MRIs, etc. The actual headaches were real and not just in my head, as it were -- the search for something that wasn't there was really what brought me down.

And ps- symptom checking online is the worst thing I did to myself (can't stress this enough).

Symptom checking online is a huge mistake, I agree.

It's fascinating to think about the role of an "official, correct diagnosis" into the psychological aspect of the suffering.

The most uncomfortable suggestions are those that are accompanied by not reassuring stamp of authority. What, go to Costa Rica and eat fresh fruit and swim and learn to surf? That's crazy, what I need is a pill... etc.

It's not just health but the experience of feeling/being healthy/unhealthy that is profoundly important.

It's rather humbling how complex the human body (below and above the neck)!

I resisted the possibility of a psychological aspect to this for a long time, but eventually (when other things didn't pan out and enough doctors told me "it's all in your head") I gave in.

So I've seen several psychiatrists (both in the US and abroad), tried every kind of drug, and spent many months in psychotherapy. I feel like I really did investigate that angle thoroughly, and it's not the problem. I'm pretty confident in saying that it's not in my head.

Have you tried smoking high-CBD cannabis? If you have both muscle problems and brain fog, then it's possible that the brain fog is coming from the CRP and other stuff that's getting released as your muscles break down. CBD is non-psychoactive and doesn't even act in the brain, it just attaches to receptor sites on your muscles and works as an anti-inflammatory.

It won't fix the root problem, but I'd recommend trying it (in moderation). High-CBD cannabis pretty rare, but they do sell it at Harborside in Oakland.

This podcast explains the science much better than I can:

http://matrixmasters.net/archive/Various/218-Little-TellsCan...

> it's possible that the brain fog is coming from the CRP and other stuff that's getting released as your muscles break down

CRP is not released by muscle breakdown. It is a predominantly liver-produced acute-phase reactant that is an inflammatory marker. Myoglobin, on the other hand, is released by muscle breakdown, but this is only appreciably released in severe circumstances such as a crush injury. The major harm of myoglobin is to the kidneys, not the brain, and I'm quite certain that CBD does not help this.

>CBD is non-psychoactive and doesn't even act in the brain

CBD acts in the brain.

Thanks for correcting the science. My more general point though was that chronic low-level inflammation causes a large percentage of depression / brain fog type things, and CBD can help with this:

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8...

And depression/anxiety causes inflammation too, so you really have to break the feedback cycle.

Interesting; I've never heard that before. Do you mean that there is peripheral inflammation and the cytokines pass through the blood-brain-barrier, or do you mean that there are actually inflammatory cells that enter the brain and cause depression? Also, can you cite something more specific than a Google search? Most of those are for-profit or interest group websites.

Edit: I found an NIH reference: http://www.nimh.nih.gov/science-news/2009/key-molecule-in-in...

Of the two options I mentioned, it's the former (peripheral inflammation with release of cytokines). Thanks for sharing.

Yeah, if you Google for cytokine theory of depression there are a bunch of papers. I'm not an MDPhD so I have a very limited understanding of the science, but from observation and personal experience the hypothesis seems quite accurate. The good news is that it's extremely easy to manage, the bad news is that no one knows this.

A great anti-inflammatory supplement besides cannabis is Turmeric due to its high Curcumin content.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curcumin

In vitro and animal studies have suggested that curcumin may have antitumor,[9][10] antioxidant, antiarthritic, anti-amyloid, anti-ischemic[11], and anti-inflammatory properties.[12]

Thanks for pointing that out, I didn't know that.

You do realize that smoking cannabis can be against the law ?

And that if savemylife is in the wrong jurisdiction that can put him/her in an afwul lot of trouble ?

I take no stance on whether or not it should be legal, it's just a fact that it currently is illegal in many places and I'm kind of surprised that you'd suggest someone do something that may very well be against the law where they live.

Hey good on you for realising this, anxiety issues can be very difficult to admit to. I hope everything is good for you now :)

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