Posted by Regis Harold on October 15, 2005, at 15:46:45
For the past few years, I have been dealing with a case of dysthymia, a lack of motivation and energy. Despite regular exercise, I would experience severe tiredness regularly, and found it difficult to do something as simple as reading a book or talking with friends.
Over the past three and half weeks, I have been taking 400 mg of SAM-e twice a day, and 600 mg of Adrafinil. I have been noticing a gradual, yet steady improvement in my focus, motivation and energy. For instance, I actually have the energy to write this post. I am cautiously optimistic about what the current regimen (along with multivitamins and fish oil) will do for my mood. I feel a lot better now than before, but I am still curious about one thing that has been plaguing me over the past few years.
I experience a noticeably dip in my mood anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour after eating. I feel fatigued, unfocused, irritable and so sleepy that I feel an incredible urge to nap, yet feel very little benefit after I wake up. The fatigue lasts through the early evening, and usually doesn’t lift until a few hours before I go to bed. Although it is not as bad as it used to be, it is still bothersome.
This is something that has been perplexing me for quite some time now. I’m not hypogylemic. I had a 5 hour blood glucose response test done, and I’m pretty normal in that department. I thought for a while that I might be experiencing food allergies, but after going through the rigamarole skin tests and food elimination tests, I have come to the conclusion that food allergies are not the issue either. I get tired after eating just steak, or just salad, or just chicken, or just wheat (you get the picture).
Has anyone ever experienced, or heard of this? I have talked to a couple of pdocs about it, but not surprisingly, none of them have answers. It’s frustrating, because I love to eat. But then eating leaves me tired, sleepy and grumpy for hours. The fact that SAM-e and Adrafinil have reduced the severity of the fatigue even after eating leads me to believe that this may have something to do with the postprandial balance of neurotransmitters in my system or the balance of hormones that influence the sensitivity of the receptors in my brain cells. But then again, I’m open to any ideas that people might have about this.
Regis
poster:Regis Harold
thread:567218
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051010/msgs/567218.html