So, I have to take a nap every day. That's fine, that's normal and expected with my brainweird + physical disability. The problem arises when I have literally done nothing that would make me need to nap and yet I'm sitting here being exhausted. Then I nap and nothing changes. Like, right now for instance. I can't figure out if I'm hungry, bored, or actually tired. I've already napped, I haven't done anything today, and every time I look at my homework my brain does this thing where it's like 'ALRIGHT TIME TO FUCKING SLEEP.' Like, looking at letters and seeing them split (floating apart like my eyes aren't focusing) then getting tired and woozy and light headed. Look up? Sorta fine, not really still tired. Read on computer? Sorta fine, get distracted super fucking easy. Feel hungry and frustrated as hell. Try to homework / read book again and brain does the thing. Does it even when I'm reading on my phone. So I'm sitting here so fucking frustrated that I know I'm near shutdown but I have to do this homework tonight. I'm honestly 100% not sure if it's food related because I just feel drained / tired but then I get this exact feeling when I'm bored and my brain just decides that everything but a specific activity will make me feel like shit. Of course I never fucking know what the activity is. Just. OH my god I'm so fucking frustrated and I just... I don't know if this is my ADHD? Because I cannot have it medicated, I react SUPER BAD to anything that medicates it. But then idk? Because normally my ADHD doesn't show this way, I don't think? NOT THAT THINKING IS REALLY MY STRONG POINT RIGHT NOW. I hate hate hate hate this and hate that it happens so often and UGH UGHHHH. Idk what it even IS like if anyone else feels this I would love to know because it's absolutely annoying. Small part of me wants to mention that this never happened before I was in a car accident that damaged my neck. Cries. Also I hope this is in the right spot
... could it be the angle you are holding your head while reading? if you mention specifically it is only your phone and your homework that does this and your neck was injured in the car accident, have you tried getting your to-read-stuff in a position more similar to your computer? I know it sounds weird but it sounds like maybe your neck posture does something to a nerve that makes the letters split? Also have you eaten today? If not you should eat somethign and see if it clears up having low blood sugar can lead to fatigue and feeling easily distracted
@IvyLB I have eaten very little today and yesterday I think all I had was mochi and rice.... whoops. The angle thing is a valid concern and currently I'm working out how to go about doing that without attracting destructo cats
i have a little standard checklist i run through when i start feeling weirdbad. it goes like: drink a glass of juice move around some (going downstairs to get the juice counts) hug a seebs or a kitty lie down for a few mins if one of those doesn't make a dent in it, either i'm coming down with something, or i'm overloaded to the point where i need to take a serious vacation from stimulus like right the hell now.
oh fer yikes, it's probably blood sugar. drink some juice or pop or sweet tea or something, which will give you a 5-10 minute window of boosted coherence, and use that to make a sammich or sth. with protein!
OH! also check for drafts and get a scarf if there is draft in your room and your neck is exposed to it! Cold can settle in as stiffness and weird-bad hurt and sometimes if a nerve is already pinched there it can get worse :( eat a banana if possible to get your blood sugar back up *hugs*
I get the same thing with my brain. Usually it's right around food time or bed time. I hate when my family does late dinner because I end up being uselessly tired for an hour or two. I'm guessing when you're doing homework or looking at your phone, your head is tilted down? That often makes me more tired. Also being off routine makes it worse. Checklists of things like food, water, meds, movement, socializing, sleep ect are wonderful for brain troubleshooting
should be noted too for future reference that if none of the stuff already mentioned is working that this is also symptomatic of hypersomnia, which in turn is symptomatic of a lot of different things. my most serious depressive episode between naps and sleeping for the night I spent roughly 16 hours asleep a day and the other 8 wishing I could be asleep
Food seemed to help but I do know that there are times when food does NOT work. Those episodes I usually just give up on. @liminal uUgh :\ I wouldn't be surprised. I legitimately cannot get any kind of rest if I don't get somewhere around 10 hours of sleep every couple of days. I prefer getting 12. School days I get something in the 6 to 5 range mostly, sometimes I end up with a nice little 8 hours. BLEUGHGh
Pretty sure you're bonking (cycling term for low blood sugar). Something sweet to drink, preferably with multiple types of sugar (sucrose, dextrose, fructose) is the immediate remedy. Then something more substantial to eat, but not a huge amount. A bowl of cereal with milk is about right. If you are also feeling very irritable and crabby, it's almost sure to be bonking. Low blood sugar -> "Fucking world fucking sucks fuck fuck fuck YOU TOO!" feelings. For the future, lay in a stock of energy gels (not energy drinks with caffeine and shit) and protein bars. The gels have a mixture of sugars in them. Your body can only process so much sugar at a time, but it can process different sugars in parallel to some extent, so the gels can give you a serious blood sugar rush. The protein bars provide longer term slow release energy to prevent you from re-bonking once that sugar rush wears off.
wow scientific i usually just go with a glass of apple juice or chocolate milk and a cheese sandwich but i guess the principle's the same
my dad also swears by pb&j after his rides. peanut butter for some protein, jelly for some sugar, bread for some carbs. plus if you make them on white bread they're delightfully squishy. i will second protein bars if eating does not feel like a thing you can do for whatever reason.
so I just wanted to thank you guys for the help. I'm very sure it's sugar crashes, as pointed out (Or bonking, I like that term rigorist ) but the problem is I think I've figured out the source. I suppose this has little to do with my brain at this point, other than it taking a beating from lack of food. I would put this under a thing but idk how so W/E you were warned. I've got some major digestive issues and recently found out I have gastroperisis. This could be due to other issues or due to rather severe celiac disease. The problem is, I've realized I'm 'passing' completely undigested food. This happens frequently with gastroperisis and means that food is sitting in my stomach (undigested) for hours on end. (As a note, I had a scope at one point and I had a full stomach of food even though I'd eaten over 6 hours ago). I'm actually really fucking terrified that this is the problem, and I know it is. I might have to just... go on a liquid diet? But. Ugh.
aww that sounds suck-y :( But I mean smoothies and such stuff (if that is liquid enough? man idk about special diets beyond vegan and glutenfree and low carb stuff) can be pretty tasty!
I would definitely ask your doc about this first, but I have digestive issues and I take supplemental enzymes that help me break down food my body can't quite manage. You can get them over the counter in places like whole foods or vitamin shoppe (in the US at least)
Oh I am. I have a GI doctor because I have all sorts of digestive fuckups. Basically gasroperisis means my stomach is paralyzed and the nerve to it doesn't function, not something that enzymes help.
I wonder why it is that it can be so hard to determine what's going on? I sometimes feel like I'm just spinning the ol' low blood sugar, dehydration, depression, meltdown, hot flash wheel of fortune. Where it stops nobody knows.
Largely because, when mental illness is involved, you're trying to find the problem with your body by using the brain that's malfunctioning. And it's such a complex machine with so many interconnecting parts. It's a bit like trying to troubleshoot a computer. It crashed and there's a bunch of possible causes but there's a list of things to try that'll fix it most of the time.
