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Comment by beaker52 | Hacker News Reader

Indeed. Thanks for the pointer. My testosterone level is in a happy range, as are most of my levels.

Chronic stress, now that's an interesting one. I've never regarded myself as stressed. Or, if I am stressed, I'm always stressed and it's just normal. But I see no reason to be stressed, but maybe I am. And I wonder, how much of stress is a cause, or a result. I've taken a year off work. Am I better for it? It's hard to say. I'm yet to find anything that I can say helps. I've only really found things that make it worse. Like alcohol, and sugar. Diabetes? Yeah, I've considered it. I've got 6 months of blood sugar monitoring data, with no discernible correlation between my levels and how I feel. Funny world <3

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About stress: how's your HRV? Look into sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous system, vagus nerve and it's relation to HRV. It gives you a more objective way to measure stress.

In particular, Garmin smartwatches have a very good measurement and intepretation with their "stress" and "body battery" features.

I initially thought about sharing this about stress and didn't, but then I read your post.

That's how I learned I was stressed while working. I have a Garmin watch and everyday I get an alert telling me I had a stressful day.

During the day if I do a little check-in where I observe how I feel, I often notice a lot of muscle tension, especially in the plexus area, and that I stop breathing for extended periods of time. I try to consciously relax, which would work for a few minutes before the tension comes again. I end up being exhausted almost everyday. My watch has been telling me I'm either in "recovery" or "strained" for months.

Stress can be difficult to notice, especially when you're stressed.

It's low when I've got a job, or need a job. Double, when I don't. I have years of data on this.

Do you drink coffee?

Yes. I've tried avoiding caffeine during my year off. When I don't (even after weeks of abstinence) I sleep 12-14 hours a night and still need a nap during the day, which is incompatible with having both a day job and something approaching a well-lived life involving laundry. So I drink caffeine, to be compatible with the labour market.

You need more than weeks of abstinence, friend. Ive generally noticed 1-2 months are necessary to recover from all of the awful side effects of caffeine (from drinking a tiny amount of coffee per day - my body is just very sensitive to it). I urge you to try it.

OK, from tomorrow, I will abstain for caffeine until 21st September at the earliest and take a read. Let's see if I will still have a job :)

yeah. 2 month is good number.

if you burn out at same time - it can take half year.

caffein makes you work TWO-FOUR times slower than you could without.

yeah, that is number i measured on self.

and yet i still do it - drugs are drugs - coffee makes me happy - cappuccino - to make effect longer and less strait compared to black shots.

also do not drink in the morning - feel pain of starting a day:)

the only reason you will not have job - you can start hating your job and leave. but you would do job more productive without coffee.

> all of the awful side effects of caffeine

If I may ask as a coffee addict, what were some of these that affected you specifically?

for me, mostly just poor sleep and focus/clarity. It creeps up on you slowly, til you realize youre just in a haze. Once you detox, life is much better.

And, yet, as an addict, i keep convincing myself that I can handle a little bit (like, 6-10 grams daily - which is nothing) and will re-addict myself every few months.

I should say that i have been actually handling 10 grams vastly better lately than i could even 6 grams a few years ago. Not sure what to attribute that to.

I really like coffee - i roast, grind and brew it at home. I should treat it as i do alcohol - only 1 drink, once in a while - but i'll probably remain like this for life...

hard to switch attention and context.

easy to fall into "first idea good idea trap".

lack of ability to work in priorities.

lack of ability achieve long term goals, as long as these are not just extensive usage of self.

procrastination.

all this before even health issues like blood pressure and sleep disruption.

if worth to drop at least once for half year - experience panic attacks may be - and get on track back with better control of addiction :)

Have tired ADHD diagnosis?

I have one :) Unmedicated. Side-effects impacted me more than the meds helped.

What were the side effects? High blood pressure, feeling like a "zombie", sleep getting worse?

I'd try centanafadine and see a top ADHD specialist. There are a lot of variables: molecule, dose, release profile, melatonin timing.

What is worth checking:

* Comorbid anxiety or trauma symptoms (PTSD)

* Hormone imbalance

Just because your blood work is perfect, it doesn't mean all is good. I have hypomagnesemia - the tests were perfect, yet my body needs way more magnesium to function properly.

BP (manageable), tinnitus (BP related), prostate discharge (due to muscular tension), sleep getting worse as the week would go on until I'd have to stop. Sleep wasn't restful at all, which was the main problem. I'd feel like I'd closed my eyes and become unconscious, rather than actually asleep. I'd wake up in the morning like I'd been kept awake as some kind of torture all night, but with no recollection of it.

I desperately wanted ADHD meds to help, but in the end the juice just wasn't worth the squeeze so I stopped. I tried all 3 or 4 different stims and 2 non-stims.

Thank you for the pointers, I will look into them.

For the stims, I've found that most doctors titrate up the dose way to fast.

For example for methylphenidate, I'd recommend starting on 2.5mg (1/2 the smallest pill) for a week or two, until side effects go away, and then up the dose to 5mg.

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