What is lamictal used for

(drug use, SH, mania, not eating, etc...) I have a virtual appointment tomorrow. I started lamictal recently (on 100mg now) and ik she's going to ask if I've had episodes recently. I am about to start strattera for adhd. (Diagnosed bp2 and adhd)
I (hypothetically) had a manic episode last week. I got drunk with my friends and it triggered a manic episode. After everyone decided to leave/ go to sleep I went ro my room and relapsed with SH. Then I (still drunk) walked around my campus (tried to print a paper, didn't work). I then went back to my apt and waited until I sobered up, had caffeine/ nicotine, and took some concerta given to me by a friend a while ago. I wondered the fields behind my campus listening to music in the middle of the night. Around 6am I went home, took my lamictal, and presented my final project. I had barely eaten in days bc I have been sick. The rest of the day I was so nauseous/ dizzy, and in so much pain I could barely eat/ move. I also shaved my head since our last session💀
My question is... if I tell my psych, can I get in trouble? Will she not give me adhd meds? Strattera isn't a stimulant so I feel like it would be okay. I desperately need adhd meds and I don't want to push it back further.
I used to be all for telling ur psych EVERYTHING, but now idk what to do.

A new patient(F45) mildly obese was brought in who was planned for ECT in a week. Though she might actually be bipolar (atleast on the spectrum). She was terrified of ECT.
She had severe depression including suicidality and severe agitation.
She was on Lithium 600mg/day (Started recently), Lamotrigine 200mg, Lexapro 20mg and clonazepam 1mg with quietiapine 50mg for sleep.
Since 2023 she'd been experiencing strange episodes according to her family.
Here's all the history and symptoms provided about these episodes since 2023 :

• Agitation/Inner restlessness: Unable to remain calm/sit still. Blaming all of her symptoms on this restlessness. When this comes the other symptoms which I'll mention come along too:
  
• Crying and shouting loudly (simply can not control this to sorta escape)
  
• Excessive anger and snapping at/blaming others for no reason: Involuntarily blame people for the most random and petty things who've been the most helpful and kind.
  
• Very Irritable.
  
• Suicidality (to escape the restlessness). Suicidal attempts in aggression where she had to be stopped with a lot of physical force.
  
• Guilt and worthlessness
  
• Irrational/Questionable decisions and behaviors were almost always noted by family members during these periods accompanied with extreme impatience.
  
• Energy: Being fatigued and unmotivated that she can't even move or do stuff. But at the same time having so much Energy to shout so loud and rip her chest open to escape the "agitation".
  
• Pupils were dilated when I saw her.
  

After her lexapro was increased to 20MG her symptoms have been just worsening and worsening including suicidality.
Benzos would do nothing even injectable ones for the agitation.
Then today when she came to me during the severe agitation I immediately thought of a mixed state. Gave her zyprexa and asked to taper down the lexapro.
After she took the zyprexa (sublingual) in about 2 hours experienced tremendous relief - felt calm, brain went silent and took a long nap quite refreshing. She wasn't bothered by people talking. She wasn't irritated. She just felt normal. The relief seemed never-ending.
It makes sense now how being put on lamictal back in 2023 put her into remission and it kept masking Lexapro's rebound effect(in bipolar)
I'm honestly unsure why high dose Lexapro was continued over a year (even though there was a clear worsening of symptoms with dosage increase) and why high dose benzodiazepines were constantly being used to control the agitation despite having little to no effect. Even effexor was started in cross-titration with Lexapro which further worsened her suicidality etc?
Sorta leaning towards ECT and later on adjusting the medications because it does seem to be severe and ECT it is quite effective though the patient wants to try the no-ssri approach.
If we do go with the latter approach, I plan on : - Switch to Vraylar for its good evidence in mixed states. Cariprazine is dirt cheap here.

• Stick to Lamotrigine and increase Lithium/ Switch to Valproate(Good evidence in mixed features).
  
• Wellbutrin for depression if it does not or only partially responds to psychotherapy.
  
• Gabapentin.
  
• Low dose Trazodone for insomnia.
  

Perhaps the increased energy from the (hypo)mania and the activation from the SSRI is resulting in the restlessness which explains the relief from Olanzapine. I've seen many hypomanic patients who'd get so restless that they wanted to crawl out of their own skin.
What's your go to treatment for mixed states? What about the efficacy of Lithium in mixed bipolarity? Which mood stabilizers seem to work best?

A new patient was brought in who was planned for ECT in a week. Though she might actually be bipolar (atleast on the spectrum). She was terrified of ECT.
She had severe depression including suicidality and severe agitation.
She was on Lithium 600mg/day (Started recently), Lamotrigine 200mg, Lexapro 20mg and clonazepam 1mg with quietiapine 50mg for sleep.
Since 2023 she'd been experiencing strange episodes according to her family.
Here's all the history and symptoms provided about these episodes since 2023 :

• Inner restlessness:Getting EXTREMELY restless (CAN NOT sit still). Inner restlessness that makes her want to slap /kill herself just to escape it. She'd beg her family to kill her so she can escape this.This comes and goes daily during these episodes and is the main symptom. When this comes the other symptoms which I'll mention come along too:
  
• Crying and shouting loudly (simply can not control this to sorta escape)
  
• Excessive anger and snapping at/blaming others for no reason: Involuntarily blame people for the most random and petty things who've been the most helpful and kind.
  
• Very Irritable.
  
• Suicidality (to escape the restlessness)
  
• Guilt and worthlessness
  
• Irrational/Questionable decisions were almost always noted by family members during these periods accompanied with extreme impatience.
  
• Energy: Being fatigued and unmotivated that she can't even move or do stuff. But at the same time having so much Energy to shout so loud and rip her chest open to escape the "agitation".
  

After her lexapro was increased to 20MG her symptoms have been just worsening and worsening including suicidality.
Benzos would do nothing even injectable ones for the agitation.
Then today when she came to me during the severe agitation I immediately thought of a mixed state. Gave her zyprexa and asked to taper down the lexapro.
After she took the zyprexa (sublingual) experienced tremendous relief - felt calm, brain went silent and took a long nap quite refreshing. She wasn't bothered by people talking. She wasn't irritated. She just felt normal. The relief was long lasting.
It makes sense now how being put on lamictal back in 2023 put her into remission and it kept masking Lexapro's rebound effect(in bipolar)
I'm honestly unsure why high dose Lexapro was continued over a year and why high dose benzodiazepines were being used to control the agitation despite having little to no effect.
Sorta leaning towards ECT and later on adjusting the medications because it does seem to be severe and ECT it is quite effective though the patient wants to try the no-ssri approach.
If we do go with the latter approach, I plan on : - Using either VraylaLatuda for their good results in mixed states. Cariprazine is dirt cheap here.

• Stick to Lamotrigine and increase Lithium.
  
• Wellbutrin for depression if it does not or only partially responds to psychotherapy.
  
• Gabapentin.
  

What's your go to treatment plan for mixed states? Is this a mixed state rather than unipolar depression?
A new patient was brought in who was planned for ECT in a week. Though she might actually be bipolar (atleast on the spectrum). She was terrified of ECT.
She had severe depression including suicidality and severe agitation.
She was on Lithium 600mg/day (Started recently), Lamotrigine 200mg, Lexapro 20mg and clonazepam 1mg with quietiapine 50mg for sleep.
Since 2023 she'd been experiencing strange episodes according to her family.
Here's all the history and symptoms provided about these episodes since 2023 :

• Inner restlessness:Getting EXTREMELY restless (CAN NOT sit still). Inner restlessness that makes her want to slap /kill herself just to escape it. She'd beg her family to kill her so she can escape this.This comes and goes daily during these episodes and is the main symptom. When this comes the other symptoms which I'll mention come along too:
  
• Crying and shouting loudly (simply can not control this to sorta escape)
  
• Excessive anger and snapping at/blaming others for no reason: Involuntarily blame people for the most random and petty things who've been the most helpful and kind.
  
• Very Irritable.
  
• Suicidality (to escape the restlessness)
  
• Guilt and worthlessness
  
• Irrational/Questionable decisions were almost always noted by family members during these periods accompanied with extreme impatience.
  
• Energy: Being fatigued and unmotivated that she can't even move or do stuff. But at the same time having so much Energy to shout so loud and rip her chest open to escape the "agitation".
  

After her lexapro was increased to 20MG her symptoms have been just worsening and worsening including suicidality.
Benzos would do nothing even injectable ones for the agitation.
Then today when she came to me during the severe agitation I immediately thought of a mixed state. Gave her zyprexa and asked to taper down the lexapro.
After she took the zyprexa (sublingual) in about 2 hours experienced tremendous relief - felt calm, brain went silent and took a long nap quite refreshing. She wasn't bothered by people talking. She wasn't irritated. She just felt normal. The relief seemed never-ending.
It makes sense now how being put on lamictal back in 2023 put her into remission and it kept masking Lexapro's rebound effect(in bipolar)
I'm honestly unsure why high dose Lexapro was continued over a year and why high dose benzodiazepines were constantly being used to control the agitation despite having little to no effect. Even effexor was started in cross-titration with Lexapro which further worsened her suicidality etc?
Sorta leaning towards ECT and later on adjusting the medications because it does seem to be severe and ECT it is quite effective though the patient wants to try the no-ssri approach.
If we do go with the latter approach, I plan on : - Switch to Vraylar for its good evidence in mixed states. Cariprazine is dirt cheap here.

• Stick to Lamotrigine and increase Lithium.
  
• Wellbutrin for depression if it does not or only partially responds to psychotherapy.
  
• Gabapentin.
  
• Low dose Trazodone for insomnia.
  

What's your go to treatment for mixed states? What about the efficacy of Lithium in mixed bipolarity? Which mood stabilizers seem to work best?

I thought I was ADHD because of my lack of concentration and idling, but that was not the case, unfortunately.
I created a post on ADHD subreddit where I claimed that I was suspected of ADHD based on the fact that I spent 6000 dollars in 20 days. I met the doctor today and he told me that all the computer based tests on stimulus was somewhat normal, which doesn't mean that I don't have ADHD. He mentioned about hyper something. Then I remembered that you guys' suspicion of me having bipolar disorder and he pinpointed it was downright bipolar.
He started asking questions on how I spent and what I spent on with the money, with some ongoing detailed cross-examinations. I remember him talking about ADHD and bipolar disorder being similar in its cause or something. So I told him extra details about my highschool days. I was mindlessly happy at some point, but then when some grievous things happen to me, which is absolutely nonsense and silly to other people, I would lose determination to live well and just do absolutely nothing. What did I do afterwards? I got a notebook, recorded every piece of my memory prior to that incidence which I thought meant to be the most happiest moment in my life. Like crazily....
Afterwards my life was a mess, with years of bad hyperacusis and OCD. I am sad that I was not diagnosed eariler with bipolar.
I'll be asking questions here frequently. I hope I can cope with this disorder, but I am kind of worried that I might snap out of hyperthymia with the use of medication because I have been really happy recently. How far has my brain been messed up with this uncanny disorder for 15 years?
I was given Zeldox Cap. and Lamictal...

Hey guys, so I'm Schizoaffective Bipolar type (my great grandmother was schizophrenic so it runs in the family) and last year was a lot of hell with trial and error for med changes. I wanted to go on injection antipsychotics because I get poisoning paranoia with my medications as well as dissociative episodes where I could overdose. The dose of my other medications taken at a very very high dose won't be as dangerous so we chose the injection to minimize that specific risk). I was on quetiapine (Seroquel) in pill form and coped really well. Because I'd been on it for so long though it was time to change up.
So we switched to Flupentixol (Fluanxol) as pill form and I had some trouble with repetitive blinking, minor tics, and my fingers getting "cramps" (like I'd bend my finger and even though my brain was saying to return it to a straight position it wouldn't respond, but there was no muscle spasm or pain, and wouldn't move freely unless I physically moved it with my other hand). After I was then put on Aripirazol (Abilify) and it made me absolute insane, worsened all of my symptoms and I was in hospitals and care facilities a lot while I was on it. So we immediately stopped that and went back to Flupentixol as an injection. The blinking came back and was worse, like I couldn't open my eyes, I was so sleepy, and the tics came back too. Eventually one day it started bad in the morning and got worse and worse I ended up in A&E with SEVERE tardive dyskinesia (ALL my muscles were contracting by their own accord, pushing my back all the way backwards trying to snap me in half, twisting my torso, twisting my neck so I had to talk to the nurses while facing a completely different direction, it was excruciating) I ended needing an emergency Procyclidine (Kemadrin) shot driven in from a different hospital to stop it. After than my psychiatrist said that I couldn't go on antipsychotics again because now that tardive dyskinesia has developed and is a risk, we can't chance it because long term Procyclidine use will affect my heart but if the tardive dyskenisia is permanent we will have to use it. (We're trying to minimise cardiovascular issues from medications as much as possible.) I've got another month on Procyclidine before stopping to find out whether my tardive dyskinesia is permanent and I'm now on the mood stabiliser Lamotrigine (Lamictal) and no antipsychotics.
Do any of you function well without antipsychotics? I really struggle. Is there any advice that would be useful? What are my options now? I hallucinate minimum once or twice a day when I'm on antipsychotics, way more frequently without. My delusions and paranoia is almost constant without antipsychotics. My tactile hallucinations are also constant. Any input would be super appreciated.
TLDR: I can't take antipsychotics due to health reasons, is anyone else in the same boat? Any advice?

Clinically diagnosed BP2 here, and it’s my first time posting.
I’m on 200mg of Lamictal, and I’ve been taking it since 2020.
Mornings for me are HELL on earth. My sleep is so weird. I require a lot of it, I need a solid 8 hours to semi function in the morning. The sound of my alarm instantly puts me in a dark place, no matter what sound I use.
If I have a particularly bad night of sleep, I’m so messed up in the mornings that I will easily cry. It’s really embarrassing. I legitimately cannot help it. I can even fly off in a rage. Everything gets to me.
I have to really try my hardest to contain it because I have a daughter. She’s only 6. I never take it out on her. I’ll usually be in my room, screaming into a pillow to muffle myself. Or I’ll be crying.
When the evening comes, I will instantly perk up. I’m always my most active and happy from 7pm and on.
Please tell me other people suffering from this bullshit go through it also. I feel so alone.

Hello, First of all sorry for my English, it is not my first language. Long story short, I got diagnosed as bipolar last year and put under two medications: xeroquel 150 mg and lamictal 300mg . My life was really bad before being put under medication and now it’s definitely better. Tho I keep asking my self. What if I ´me not bipolar ? I won’t get into to much details but I’ll try to be understandable. Sometimes I question my diagnosis despite my past, and I wonder if the fact that the meds are working could be a proof that the diagnosis is in fact good.
But what if it’s not ? Can the meds still have effect he there is « no reasons » to be used ? I heard stories about people taking xeroquel by mistakes and going crazy because it’s a tough medecine.
Can I develop problems if I ain’t really bipolar but still taking the medication?
I ´ ma lucky person according to my psychiatrist since I dont’ have any side effect beside loosing a bit of hair because of the lamictal.
Thank you in advance :)

Hi everyone!! I re started Lamictal 1,5 month ago, after some years of not taking it, I started from 25mg and everything was fine but when I upped at 50mg, I started feeling itchy and I got some hives but only in specific places of my body, near my wrists in both arms and on the soles of both of my feet. They are itchy and annoying. Sometimes they retreat and they disappear but then another one pops. Also they are not very obvious with the eye, they look like a small red bump and only if you look really close or feel it by hand you become aware of them. I called my doctor and he told me that I don’t have to worry and it’s not the dangerous rash for sure.
I also visited a dermatologist and she told me that I have urticaria (hives) and it’s some kind of allergic reaction to something and it can be anything. She gave me antihistamines and a cream, and for some time they calm down and then again I feel itchy and have a small hive on my hand or a bump under the skin of the sole of my foot. When I used to take Lamictal some years ago, I had no skin issues at all and now I’m afraid that this skin problem is due to Lamictal, bc I can’t think of anything else that it might cause this. The thing is that I don’t want to stop Lamictal at all and I don’t know what to do. Sure it’s not a serious rash or something as it seems but still it’s annoying and itchy and it hasn’t gone away. Has anyone had a similar experience or has any idea what this might be and how can I handle this? Please I need your insight. Did anyone had a simile kind of skin issue and didn’t stop the med?

Hi, I am hoping to get some insight since I don't know much about GI diagnosis or treatment.
My OBGYN recommends that, if I feel my GU/menstrual symptoms bother me enough to do so, I have a laparoscopic surgery to investigate his suspicion of endometriosis and remove adhesions if they are present. I had a "soft sign" of endometriosis on ultrasound - both of my ovaries are very adhered, and I have not had any previous surgeries to cause this. My uterus was not adhered.
I am hesistant to have the surgery, at least soon, because I suspect I will not tolerate it well.
***I was wondering, especially from the perspective of GI, would you recommend having endometriosis surgery first, since endometriosis is already suspected; or would you find it equally or more beneficial to my GI symptoms to visit a GI and do a "work-up," or whatever they recommend?***
GI symptoms: Abdominal tenderness - for the last few weeks I've had light, seemingly constant, pretty generalized pain. Maybe "all the time" is my brain exaggerating, but at least I can say it happens at any time of day, all positions, it's frequent, etc.
Pretty stark abdominal pain when my abdomen is pressed on while lying down, for the last couple of months - When my 7.5 lb cat puts her feet on my belly, I used to have an uncomfortable pressure, which I felt was normal. I don't feel like the new level of pain is. I also have some similar pain when I lie down and palpate my abdomen.
"IBS flare" - I occasionally get a very sudden, extremely sharp cramp in my intestinal area, and I repeatedly go to the bathroom to defecate, say every 5 minutes for 30 - 45 minutes with the cramping coming and going. This happens between two days before my period to the first day of my period. I think about what I've eaten, but sometimes I have no idea what could have caused it, as it seems like my usual diet. This also almost always happen when I've eaten eggs, which I had no reaction to until a few years ago.
Other GI symptoms - I'm bloated a lot. I occasionally have burping for hours after normal-sized meals, heartburn, a bit of reflux of food/stomach contents. My bowel movements are... odd. Unpredictable. I have occasional diarrhea, soft stools, difficulty keeping my anus clean, smelly BMs and gas, but in the past I have also had severe constipation.
1.5 months ago, my TBIL and DBIL were both 0.5. Generally, my bloodwork is not unusual.
31F, 142 lb, 5'5", sinus tachycardia, fibromyalgia, vulvavestibular syndrome, bipolar (very well regulated). 12.5 mg carvedilol, 150 mg seroquel, 150 mg lamictal, 15 mg meloxicam, 10 mg zyrtec, flonase

Odd question, but does anyone get aphasia for a week plus after the migraines go away (i.e. during the postdrome) but feel that their communication is actually slightly better than normal during the migraine -- kind of like you are feeling hypomanic? The counterpoint is that my ability to think out what I am trying to say while I am typing seems to suffer.
Also, has anyone experienced severe migraine-like headaches for 5+ days on end and even in their "good" moments still have a mild tension headache?
If it helps, a brief summary of my history -- I was diagnosed with Bipolar II in Summer of 2023 although think it slowly developed from 2017 on and became really obvious after concussion in Feb 2022. Experienced intermittent migraine headaches (especially in the beginning) and never-ending tension headaches after self-same concussion, migraines disappeared once I started taking Lamictal in Summer 2023 and it worked to the point where even tension headaches were lessened, has been intermittent since January 2024 after taking a short course of Prednisone that seems to have made me more susceptible to them again--January and February 2024 were a mess.
They really spiked in the past week and a half as I was getting used to a CPAP for sleep apnea (keeps falling off my face which is annoying) and having a cold, but it's started to calm down again just today--no postdrome yet but I am getting anxiety that it will happen. More info in my other posts.

I (27F) started lamictal just under a year ago. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and was immediately given the drug. no side effects on 100 mg. Went through a really long depressive episode…we’re talking months. My psychiatrist upped my meds to 150mg and everything went downhill from there..fast. I immediately started having a runny nose and sneezing every morning and night. Called the psych. She said take benadryl bc that’s not a symptom of an allergic reaction???? WHAT. but ok whatever. take the Benadryl damn near every day. then i notice small raised red patches on random parts of my body. cool. no itching…YET. i had no idea the hell i was in for with the itching i developed insomnia because the rashes were so frequent and i also had shortness of breath. One day a rash was starting. Typical bubbly bumps. Ok…this one was particularly annoying bc it was on my breasts (which has happened before) and i knew that when it was on my breasts i was gonna have trouble breathing eventually so i popped a benny. I laid down in bed and my throat started itching. i started to itch my throat with my tongue. then my throat closed. i got up and frantically was trying to take in air. talking was hardly possible. i told my bf to call 911 then started puking and blacking in and out but started breathing again bc luckily i decided to take the benadryl..JUST IN TIME. my entire back was covered in hives. went to hospital they sent me home w a breathing treatment an epi pen and a spacer and inhaler. cool. weeks later a doctor visit and a new allergy med, im still getting rashes that aren’t itchy but raised, and still wheezing/having trouble breathing daily even with the use of the inhaler. nobody has explicitly told me i have sjs but i obviously have sjs. now im just waiting for that one rash to send me to the burn unit. im scared for my life every single day. it feels like im living through an asthma attack every hour. just thought id share as a warning before you decide if this med is right for you. i wish everyone here the best and i hope it works out for you 🫶🏼

41F nonsmoker, medical cannabis user (no flame)
I have had chronic pain for years that's only been resolved briefly by a month of steroids, or a month on meloxicam with PT.
I've dealt with TMJ dysfunction after an auto accident age 20, which also broke my femur and it has a rod and nails to this day. By 25 it was no longer mouth guards and muscle relaxers, and I was getting injections in the base of my skull, along my neck, and in my upper back out towards my shoulders. I was told it was saline, and the records are lost. I considered this a drawback of my prior occupation in a call center.
Age 35 my nails were drying out, splitting vertically, and my eyes were beginning to stay irritable. I topped out at 214 pounds and I'm 62 inches tall. I had been taking Saphris and Welbutrin for five years and aside from being sore and exhausted all the time, my lower neck had been consistently tight and burning enough for me to look into CBD. I also switched to Fetzima from Welbutrin, and the muscle cramps were comical.
In 2018 I decided to stop Saphris and use this body. My left hip was always restricted after the auto accident. I didn't understand why and no one suggested additional tests or MRI, or more aggressive PT.
2019 was a big year for me when I took a job on retail, after I hadn't worked for a few years. I had headaches all the time from my eyes and the light, which hadn't been a thing. I had more than 1 migraine per quarter, which was my baseline.
Under the stress of the pandemic I pushed myself. I got my symmetry, ROM, flexibility, balance, and strength back. It was rad, until it wasn't.
I was sweating out my headbands up to twice per shift, drinking 6 bottles of water every day at work. My face was always red. Cold tolerance lowered. My lower back felt awful. I went to see the orthopedic for guidance on do more, do less, do different? 2020 fall I have mild OA of SI joints. 15mg meloxicam and 1 month PT had not only made my back feel really good, but everything else as well that's been sore and irritable for years. We agreed to move to rheumatology.
2021 april: Hypermobility and anti-SSB. My ANA is not clinically positive and has a specked pattern. Long term tolerance to meloxicam is untenable. 18 months on hydroxychloriquine no conclusive relief.
I have had a colonoscopy and endoscopy but I'm not clear on 2020 or 21. Constipation, painful and nauseating, passing a concerning amount of mucus, revealed a 10mm single polyp that was benign. No signs of crohns and otherwise unremarkable aside from "senna abuse" and I quit that stuff the next year. The endoscopy was unremarkable, although I had already known that without prilosec for an unknown period of time that either I will be vomiting or at the very least need to vomit to relieve that episode. Baking soda water worked in my 20s and stopped working by my 30s.
2023 I had been through requested reduced hours, reduced duties, and no social life because once I got home and stopped moving it's like a timer that I had 40 minutes before I could barely move. Days off seemed to be more about recovery than catching up. I would find myself unable to stay awake in the middle of the day and the naps are always 4 ½ hours. I called out for those flares but they just kept happening. I felt like I was on fire every time my temp lowered to 97°. To be fair to my coworkers and myself, I quit that job. I tried to work regular hours at a different place that didn't have a 40 lb all day requirement, and within 3 weeks I was done. I couldn't think. I couldn't drive because of my head being so fuzzy. I didn't have access to water all shift and maybe it had something to do with it, but I quit.
The next month I started doing Rick Simpson Oil. It felt like I cleared the junk out of my head finally from all my medications. Now I've been thinking more, taking notes, and seeing how deep this goes. I've lowered so much of my stress with therapy and become more creative, and while all that has helped I am still sick.
December 23 my LDL was 195 and I was put on 10 mg rosuvastatin. I will say I know what happened there. I doubled down on foods I knew I could eat once I confirmed adult onset allergies. Sunflower seeds and undercooked/uncooked eggs are a no go. I also have an allergy to chlorhexadine.
I have tender points in so many places like near the elbows, shoulders, around my head, my neck is awful. My legs have them around the knees, thighs, hips, top and sides of my butt, face in front of the ears.
This year I screwed up my left shoulder with a labral tear. Physical therapy was fixing it, until it wasn't. Everything seemed well with strength and motion but then intense pain down my arm that was hurting my elbow as well. Mri showed biceps tendonotis, and I got a cortisone shot. Life was good. My neck felt better and the two recurrent knots in my left shoulder blade were much looser. Back to physical therapy, and after 1 week it's going to hell again. I have other tendons down that arm feeling like bruises from a car wreck but they are no larger than a thumbprint and no one can see them.
I've left my legs alone before they are too tender. I tried the theragun on them tonight and remembered why I don't. I asked who the pain specialists were in the practice, and now I'm here.
Current medications Lamictal, effexor, adderall D3 5000ui, chelated potassium, garden of life probiotics for colon health and their raw one women vitamin Zyrtec, prilosec twice daily (laryngeal reflux) 10 mg Crestor. As needed 350 mg soma, tessalon 100mg, cannabis Flonase, Astepro (laryngeal reflux) to keep my voice Restasis hurts my eyes for the entire day, not just application, and was discontinued after 5 weeks. My glands aren't dead and we're going to treat them manually at the next visit.
Continued concerns are my toes. I get chilblains in the winter while constantly wearing bombas slippers. The outer edge of my toes next to the pinky randomly numb out and are very uncomfortable. My big toe goes numb halfway down the nail bed randomly. Days where I cannot control my body temperature, I stay under the covers shivering until I pass out as soon as I'm warm... Then it's usually the 4 ½ hour snooze. My limbs are always affected. I have had a shawl in bed the last few years for the on then off with the cold shoulders.
I get zaps through my knuckles when trying to massage my arms with glides. I use Epiderm for a barrier on my face. It's been known to feel on fire and get a rash from my own sweat or tears. I will have some small degree of rash or tiny pinpoint hives here and there throughout the day on my hands unless I diligently moisturize. My cuticles recede the same without care. Wounds heal more slowly because everything seems to itch and I accidentally forget about them and catch them in a scratch. Coconut oil to the groin or the itching starts. Coconut oil in my ear canals as well.
Exclusionary Cardiovascular okay. Treadmill stress good. Echo good. Ekg good. Cholesterol within normal levels. 25 pound weight loss in 4 months and complete cbc okay from march '24.
If I'm missing anything pertinent lmk. 175 pounds. No oral contraceptive. Regular mentrual cycle. Bursitis 2x left hip. I started screaming after I woke up to either bursitis or tendonitis at the right hip last week, and the follow up from the mri last week will be Wednesday. Xray unremarkable.
Cervical unremarkable, slight bulge and osteophites. Thorasic unremarkable slight curvature and osteophites. Lumbar as presented earlier in post. All have recommended MRI/specialist.
This issue doesn't track for celebrex or tramadol, but the screaming incidents response to tramadol.

I'm heading to the EMU in a couple days and I'm freaked the fuck out about it. This on top of other incredible, unbelievable stress. On the one hand, I'm gonna get some real data on this. On the other hand, I'm terrified of nothing showing up and getting slapped with a PNES diagnosis, basically being told I have hysteria, and getting all my *other* neurological problems disregarded.
I can't work, I can't drive, I can't function. I have very little memory of my life. I have chronic dissociation and brain fog. I lose time, I get memory gaps. I got tons of deja vu since I was a little kid. I thought I could see the future in my dreams as a child. On a daily basis now I have deja vu, and nausea attacks that make me dry heave, vertigo, waves in my head, feeling like I'm in an elevator or a roller coaster, this feeling like wet cement in my head, this odd tingling in my sinuses that feels like I've been popped in the nose. I zone out, I have odd flashbacks, I get suddenly exhausted, sometimes I feel like I'm about to pass out, like I'm a zombie. I have gustatory and olfactory hallucinations, my stomach gets upset. I lose awareness in varying degrees. I constantly get myoclonic jerks and fasciculations, like literally constantly, at any given moment something is twitching. Sometimes I start rocking uncontrollably, or my arm and leg on one side begin kicking, or my eyes jolt around, or I tense up and feel like I'm about to start shaking. I see lights in my eyes at all times, and the patterns get worse when I have my episodes. I get bizarrely agitated, or I blow up. I've had experiences at the edge of sleep that I can only describe as "religious." I talk a lot in my sleep. I've developed sexsomnia. I sleepwalk and act out dreams when I'm stressed. That's only like half of what I experience constantly! Everything I read about TLE just sounds like me. While I understand it's mostly defunct, Geschwind syndrome seems to describe me to a T. Half of my favorite artists have TLE. There's a chapter in The Idiot where Dostoevsky just describes his subjective experience of a seizure, and it's precisely what I've experienced. His fucking notebooks, literal textbook examples of hypergraphia, look like mine from when I was a kid. Everyone I talk to with TLE, *my partner* with TLE, tells me they know exactly what I'm talking about. This shit has ruined my life since I was a little kid and it's just been treated as psychiatric the whole time. 20 years hasn't helped at all. I didn't even get to go to highschool, I just fell out of life by the time I was 14, playing catch-up since the second fucking grade. Everybody just *gave up* cuz nothing worked. I've tried CBT, DBT, EMDR, AIR, ketamine, neurofeedback (therapist said my brain looks weird on EEG btw!), two courses of TMS (which seem to have made things worse!), SGB, countless psychiatric meds of every class. Only things that helped significantly were things that are also used to treat seizures like klonopin, tranxene and lamictal. That and fucking mushrooms. Four mental health professionals told me my problem seems not to be psychological. I'm on my fourth and fifth neurologists. The one I saw last year told me I'm *too young* to experience this stuff and refused to listen to me, even after I (in a separate problem) lost motor function and got sent to the ER for stroke presentation. Just said it's all in my head, despite documenting months of episodes with consistent patterns. Hell, my partner got a TLE diagnosis because I was reading about it and urged them to see a neurologist since they experience most of the same things I do. They had to see multiple docs, they cleared an EEG, and only got diagnosed after blacking out and totaling their car on the freeway. I've been writing notes for over a year now and doctors seem generally uninterested, with the exception of this epileptologist who ordered the EMU.
I just barely trust doctors now. I'm freaked out to hell. I'm worried they're not gonna detect anything, which seems to happen very frequently, and seems to be a limitation of the current state of EEG technology. I'm worried I'm gonna get slapped with PNES, of which the existence seems dubious at best, and I'm going to have all my shit disregarded even after I've spent TWENTY YEARS treating it psychiatrically with no meaningful improvement. I feel like I'm fucking crazy. I've been *told* I'm crazy. I *believed* I'm crazy. I'd like to talk to more people with TLE. Compare experiences. Feel less insane. Commiserate about the harrowing ordeal of seeking neurological care. Hear what anyone has to say about lifelong misdiagnosis. Something. Because I feel like an island, like there's no other like me in the world. Plus I'm also just sort of pissed off I have to lay around in the hospital for a week, too.

Im in my early 30st. I had a handicap since i was a kid that led to a childhood full of bullying and resentment. Was SAed by a trusted family member (not close family) Bullied throughout kindergarten, elementary, and secondary school, it triggered me do much that I Feveloped a skin rash linked to stress and uncured. Got type 2 diabetes at age 14. Had body image issues as a teen/young adult.
Started self harming on and off by age 14.
My older siblings were overlooked since i got all the focus and attention being the youngest child and the sick one. I had to be accompanied by my parents for physical therapy and for talk therapy (for kids) for years and years. So i lived with the feeling of guilt since i took away all our parents focus, and time.
By 19h i was officially diagnosed with chronical depression and general anxiety. Started using meds to just survive day to day life, but was never happy or anxiety free, just alive.
By age 25 i tried to commit suicide and failed. (Insulin overdose: no one knew it was intentional).
I turned 30 and my doctor officially diagnosed me with borderline personality disorder. I read about it and it makes sense.
I have a job that im giving the bare minimum to, and feels guilty for letting them down. No friends because i cant keep a human relationships since i go through a lit of isolating phases. I still see myself as the biggest burden to my old and tired parents. And a disappointment to my own self. I dont want to get better i want to disappear.
Im thinking about ending it all.
I dont want to traumatize my parents so no jumping from the rooftop or hanging in my room, im doing it by meds.
I heard that if u mess up you can fuck urself up and not die so im looking for tips to not fuck it up.
Meds that i have access to: fast acting insulin Risperdal (raspidone) bromazepam (lesomil) Lamictal (Lamotrigine)
I dont want to suffer and end up in a coma. I want to fall asleep peacefully and never wake up. What is the perfect mix to get this result?

Hi All-- I posted most of the symptoms improvements in a reply but wanted to share in its own post. It's therapeutic for me to reflect on the progress, especially since I'm having a worse day today--those are fewer and farther between lately--and maybe others can benefit.
I've been on keto for about 4 months now. I've been doing a 2:1 modified Adkins, though its often more like 3:1 depending on the day, with <20 g net carbs. I've aimed for blood ketones above 2.0 mmol/l taken in the late afternoon and also maintaining above 1.0 upon waking. I took me about a month to figure out how to get to those levels consistently. Content of diet beyond the macros has been pretty normal though I've experimented with limiting dairy to goat cheese and butter recently. That restriction seems to help with some of the symptoms. I've done keto in the past with some benefit but not as strict with macros and was typically in lower levels of ketosis. I've been working with Nicole Laurent this round who has been great in helping me learn to do the diet consistent with known keto for mental health best practices and navigate anything unexpected that comes up. She's also been a great support in encouraging patience and recognizing the progress when it comes, plus healing isn't always easy as "waking up is hard to do." I've also found a supportive Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner who is relatively new to assisting with keto but has done Georgia Ede's clinician training. My therapist has become a convert as she's seen my significant progress the last few months.
Symptoms/illness-wise, I'm coming at this from a pretty complex place. Bipolar diagnosis after Zoloft induced manic episode at 18, treated with lithium other mood stabilizers, always paired with still an SSRI, usually celexa. Improved a lot in my late 20s/early 30s on just lithium and Adderall until doc thought Prozac to address anxiety would be a good idea. Cold turkeyed lithium, then the Prozac a year later and had a terrible Prozac withdrawal syndrome that maybe morphed into a bipolar mixed episode. I tried going back on lithium other drugs and the additions and changes just made things worse. I was left with long term effects from multiple drugs and symptoms of complex PTSD from the dysphoric states I endured. My cognitive functioning was about 50% of baseline based on a neuropsych exam, and I had to take 4 months off work in desperate hope of getting better with the time off. The recent years have been bad but even during the better stretches on lithium I never felt well and always like a part of me was missing--I don't know what of that was bipolar and what the dulling effects of lithium.
I started keto 3 months into the time off and have seen significant improvement with all my symptoms-- though I'll have clearer periods and then worsening.
Symptoms I've seen improve:
derealization -- this had been pretty bad, just lacking the crispness of life. While on keto, I've had the feeling of like watching a TV and it suddenly going from standard definition to HD...and then it would happen again. Gradually but at times I'd notice the difference and then kind of get used to it only to notice it again down the road.
tinnitus - I had developed terrible tinnitus after taking lamictal. It's improved significantly, again gradually and is probably 80% less frequent and 50% less intense when it occurs.
anxiety -- I had terrible anxiety and couldn't cope with most things in life. I often felt helpless and that if I confronted anymore adversity I couldn't respond. I]m handling a lot of adversity now.
Fatigue - I was really just dragging myself through every day and could barely get through them. This has gradually gotten better, and I now have energy to do things like clean up the kitchen at the end of the day. When you're not exhausted all the time, it's easier to enjoy life.
cognitive impairment -- this is a biggie as it was disabling and I couldn't perform my work as an attorney. I've noticed various brain functions gradually come back online. I went back to work in early February and have just gotten better and better. I'm able to think and reason again, and my memory's tremendously better. In some ways it's going back to before the Prozac misfortune but also back to my premorbid functioning, before the manic episode. This can be overwhelming at times as I have to process how I got by all those years and the brain reshaping itself creates some feeling of instability.
Sleep - I developed chronic sleep issues during the med changes/withdrawal mess and was too sensitive to take any drug or supplement that might help. I was waking up a lot before keto and usually couldn't go back to sleep, sometimes couldn't go to sleep at all. About 2-3 months in to keto, my sleep started improving a lot. I'm now reliably sleeping through the night most nights and get 6-7 hours. A few times I've been able to sleep in which had become foreign to me.
Executive functioning - I've gotten better at managing myself and my life. I can juggle a lot more and keep up with things. I'm more motivated and can make myself exercise consistently.
Feeling unsafe - this is one of my big PTSD symptoms. I just couldn't relax, ever, always self monitoring and monitoring my situation. Waiting for something to go wrong. This will take time to fully heal, but it's so much better now.
Revisiting -- another PTSD symptom. I was very much stuck in the past reliving certain events around my worsening. I couldn't step out the front door or take out the trash without thinking about things that happened in those settings. As with some other symptoms, it's not perfect, but I'm having more and longer periods where I'm just in the here and now. I can just walk outside and can just take the trash out.
Social anxiety -- At my worst I pretty much totally isolated, and was very withdrawn when around my immediate family that I couldn't isolate from. Each of these have gotten better, again gradually, and I can carry on normal conversations, joke and laugh again. I feel a desire to connect with people and am repairing the relationships I still have, including with my wife and kids.
I'm not fully healed and some days the symptoms come back or worsen. I've been through hell but really feel keto is laying the groundwork for long-term and complete healing. I've even started tapering lithium, under the supervision of a provider, down to 750 mg from 900 mg and feeling more stable than ever. I'm incredibly hopeful and can see the possibility of a full life again.

I used to take this medication about two years ago. I do remember I was a little bit more sweaty on it, but I don’t remember having heart palpitations. I started this medication to help with my non-epileptic seizures. I’m weaning off of keppra right now so I’m assuming maybe the mix of the Keppra and the Lamictal is confusing my body. When I check my heart rate on my Apple Watch it’s not that high. It goes up to about 110 but once I do some deep breathing, it goes back down to around 50 to 60 bpm. Also my BP is almost perfect 121/80. I started at 25 mg. And I’m going to go up to 50 mg next week. I’m only taking the medication at night around 6 PM. I did just come out of the ICU (I was only only in two days for my seizure) and I am currently on a pretty heavy period. I guess what I’m trying to ask is is it normal to have heart palpitations and sweating at the beginning of taking this medication. I don’t remember how it affected me two years ago. I’m just making sure it’s nothing too serious. Last night at Denny’s I started to get out of breath and shaky and dizzy. My heart rate was 74. But it went away once we went home. So I’m assuming it’s not an arrhythmia just bad anxiety . I just hate starting new medication cause I never know how it’s going to affect me. I have depression anxiety borderline personality disorder OCD. I do want to clarify that when I used to take this medication it helped out a lot. The only reason I quit taking it was due to a very difficult break up and a battle with alcoholism. I used to take 200mg of this stuff 😂.

Keep feeling high?
F 26, weight 125-130, 5’3. Possible family history of thyroid issues, family history of heart issues. No medications, supplement magnesium glycinate, folic acid and B complex. Personal history of temporal lobe simple partial seizures, treated exclusively now with CBD, formerly used lamictal (6 years ago). I do not use any drugs, I’ve smoked weed once in the past 4 years, I rarely even have caffeine and I limit alcohol to once per month. Issue has been happening since around December.
For the past couple months, I’ve been having strange episodes where I feel high out of nowhere. The closest thing I can describe it as is the feeling of being on Versid, which I was prescribed for an ACL surgery about a decade ago. It doesn’t seem like it’s really caused by anything, the only “triggers” that seem to line up are eating and being in loud social situations, but that’s probably about 60% of my daily life. I have simple partial seizures which can sometimes be a bit hard to pinpoint because the symptoms aren’t always the same, so I thought maybe they changed, but this just feels a lot different. In the past few months the seizures have picked up as well.
I’ve also been having some other weird symptoms, I feel thirsty ALL the time, I’ve had what feels like flutters in my chest off and on (usually while laying down) and I’ve had CSF leak from my nose more often. This used to happen a lot 6 years ago when my seizures were bad, but between 2021 and January I hadn’t had any seizures and only had the CSF leaks rarely, and this all just started again. Additionally I’ve had this weird feeling of “fullness” in my head, usually when I wake up, and I’ve just felt kinda off, and it’s been difficult really paying attention to things.
The seizures were caused by a bad reaction to hormonal birth control, so I thought maybe my hormones had just been thrown off, but it seems to be getting worse. I have been stressed with school, my stress has actually decreased though since this started, so I don’t know if that’s involved. I’m currently in between moves and jobs so don’t have active insurance, and want to know if this is something worth paying to have checked out, or if it’s ok to wait.

So I just spent the past 45 minutes crying my eyes out after checking the patient portal and seeing I had "sedative dependence" and "opioid dependence" disorder, along with "Social Fear (finding)" (no clue what that means), panic disorder with agoraphobia and moderate panic attacks, and Borderline Personality disorder added to my record. Plus GAD, ADHD and MDD that I already had. I was just in a partial program my current psych recommended, that I left after a week and a half because I didn't trust this bitch with my meds in her hand, and I CLEARLY said way to much and should not have gone, even though I made it very clear my legal rc benzo use was always low doses and never had any tolerance issues or incidents... I didn't hide it from my psych either though and my one before had all my information (I came to her from a partial program and she was very aware of my benzo wanting) but now it's ACTUALLY on my fucking records so I'm fucking done. I'm on Vyvanse and Pregabalin rn, along with Seroquel, Propranolol, Lamictal and weaning off Lithium, and I'm super concerned this is gonna end up being an issue. Pregabalin is the ONLY anxiety med I've tried (besides Klonopin when the weaned me off Bromazolam in the hospital) that's ever helped in any significant way and he said he was gonna up my dose to 300mg 2x a day after I got out of the partial and my last appointment he seemed normal and wasn't acting off. Even asked to confirm which CVS he was gonna send my Vyvanse script to this month. Ugh idk I'm just fucking panicking right now cuz my only hope was to bring it up to my current psych (had him for 6 months, tried to put it out there my first appointment but he didn't really say yes or no) or eventually get a new one who will script me Klonopin 0.5-1mg 3x a day cuz it's the only medication that makes me fully fucking normal (Klonopins like 90% while Pregabalin is maybe 30-40%, then 10% on top with the Propranolol). Yes, I get benzos come with tolerance and withdrawals etc etc I literally couldn't give any less fucks, I've tried to kill myself my whole damn life and just suffered until I finally found benzos (cuz how much they help) and I would for sure kms if I wasn't in the position I am rn where I don't really have to be in the world, just my own head (why the Pregab's enough rn). So it's either pain and suffering or tolerance issues and not being able to cold turkey, unlike SSRI'S.. I think I'll go with the latter. But anyways... someone make me feel better 🤧😔

I’ve been taking lamictal for about a month now and I have never felt so numb, yet resentful until recently. Before the meds, everything was intense! However, I always had an idea of what I wanted, and what I needed to do in order to get my life together. Now I feel so…. Bleugh. I’m going through a decent amount of stress due to struggles with my interpersonal relationships due to my irritability/agitation. I’m constantly battling my inner-critic! Nowadays I just feel so indifferent yet angry at everything! It’s one or the other.
I am seeing my psychiatrist next week, and I’ll definitely talk to her about my changes in mindset. I’ve been feeling so apathetic towards things I used to feel so passionately for, and it’s genuinely concerning me. I wish I felt sadness/anxiety in a healthy amount rather than nothing at all.
I don’t know if I’m numb, or if I’m just able to process life stressors in an appropriate manner now. It feels so weird. I’m still self-sabotaging, but the difference is shown in the way I physically feel.
I think the worst part is my ruminating thoughts. Luckily I can’t physically feel how anxiety inducing/stressful they are at the moment. I hope this is a temporary side effect, and not my baseline for the rest of the time I take this medication. I will say the meds are working really well ahahaha but the trade-offs are… something.

I was on lexapro 5 mg for a couple months before we bumped it up to 10 mg due to irritability I had. The 10 mg caused me major depression and not great thoughts, and my psychiatrist had wanted me to try effexor when I first went to her. I was too scared of all the side effects and withdrawal I saw with jt when she did at the time but decided to give a shot this time. I’ve also been on lamictal for 4 weeks which I don’t think has been doing anything personally, it was suppose to help with my depression on lexapro.
We did 3 days of 5 mg lexapro, 37.5 mg effexor, 25 mg lamictal, then lowered the lexapro to 2.5 mg, and the 7th day was no lexapro. The 8th day was 75 mg effexor and in this process, was able to up to 50 mg lamictal.
I originally went on antidepressants due to anxiety (especially at that time was bad, I was having panic attacks and never had before) irritability, no energy or motivation. I feel like my anxiety was just really bad at that time bc it had never been before. Sure maybe the meds have made it make me think my anxiety is gone, but I don’t think so bc I still feel some light anxiety like I used to before I had panic attacks. I just feel normal but with more irritability. I don’t feel like effexor is doing anything. I had a burst of energy at first but only in the mornings and now I don’t. I was late on my dose by 2 hours and I had a headache and worse irritability. I also had an issue with wellbutrin, it made me really irritable and I’m feeling similar to that. I am waiting ADHD testing and just want to get off effexor and be off meds until I can get a diagnosis.
My question is, how bad will the withdrawal be? I know my psychiatrist wants me to just wait it out but I’m exhausted and I have a month long trip in 2 weeks to see my boyfriend in Spain and cannot afford to be like this, I was hoping to have things sorted by now. I also don’t want to be dealing with withdrawals there either. I’m planning on telling her to figure out a plan to get off it but what are the best things to help with it and/or how long did the symptoms last? Will they affect me after only 2 1/2 weeks? Or should I wait it out?

32F
Meds: 200mg Spironolactone, Minoxidil, Lamictal, Wellbutrin
I keep getting this specifically under my big toe (sesamoid region?). It's spiky and hard like a peeling nail cuticle.
This wouldn't bother me if it didn't snag on my blankets and cause pain.
It's only this spot that it happens.
I work from home and almost never wear shoes or socks, I walk around in foam slippers that are specifically for home use only.
I'm wondering if this is just a dry skin issue or if it's the start of something else (like fungal or who knows what). Lotion doesn't do much to help this.
Picture in the comments.

Hello all,
I have not been as active in this community as I should be, yet I have interacted with many in DM's, most from seeing my posts and reaching out to me to hear more of my story. I'd like to introduce myself, tell my story as quickly as I can, and most importantly, see if there's any others out there that do beef only at a high fat percentage for mental health. I need others in my life on the same path to keep me accountable. Also, helping others helps me greatly.
I urge you to take a few minutes and read what I have written. I know it is long, but it just may be worth it and make a difference in your day or even your life.
I am a male, 47, 5’6”, 150lbs, married with one kid, living in NJ. I have suffered mental health issues since I was a kid, but started my first treatment at 13, which was for my most recurring and prominent symptom: anger. My other prominent issues are irritability, depression, and a sense of wanting to die, but not actually kill myself, just yearning for my suffering to end.
When I am off, I am a huge jerk, I yell at my kid and our relationship is greatly strained, I am mean to my wife, I procrastinate and can’t start projects, and if I do, I don’t finish them; if a stranger in a parking lot who glances at me for a split-second pisses me off, I want to know what the F they are looking at and wanna go kick their you know what. Life can feel impossible, and I hate it and myself so much.
When I am on, I am happy and calm, I handle my kid’s issues with ease and we are best buddies, I am friendly to my wife, and that same passerby in a parking lot gets a smile from me and I am super-friendly. I tackle a to-do list with vigor and do everything from start to finish. Best of all is life is so easy and I am excited for every minute. I love living and myself!
From age 13 until now, I have suffered substance abuse, attended two separate IOP's (intensive outpatient programs), done many, many years of therapy, and taken all the available drug types. The only meds that ever worked were seizure drugs, and Lamictal was the best for me. I also started smoking pot when I was 16, which was the only thing that ever made me feel ‘normal.’ Unfortunately, I am a huge addict, and I did lots of other drugs for a long time, but pot was always my main drug of choice. It took me a long time to realize the anti-seizure effect is why deep ketosis works for me. The pot strains that worked best for me are the ones used for seizures, then add in Lamictal, and the diet; they all work in similar ways. Had a major light-bulb moment when I put that together.
As for my diet, I was vegetarian/vegan for 20 years, the last few were raw vegan. As I ate more plants, and less animals, my physical and mental health declined, but I just thought I needed to find the right plants or supplements. I started to add meat back about 10 years ago, but still ate mostly SAD, and because I smoked pot to feel well, I’d eat massive amounts of carbs, mostly late at night before bed. For a few years my annual blood checks showed I was prediabetic, Fasting glucose was 96, then 104, with 106 being my highest.
When my kid was born in 2016, I was powerlifting heavily and eating low-carb to attempt to stay lean and get stronger, but I didn’t really know what low carb was back then, I just knew when I tracked my food intake and kept my carbs below a certain amount, I felt better and didn’t gain weight. Those of you who know, having a kid changes everything, plus, two months after she was born, I had a nasty fall off a ladder, dislocated my hand, and shattered my wrist; it was severe enough that they considered fusing my hand to my arm, which would mean I could no longer bend my wrist. Luckily, I am fully recovered, and it does not bother me or hinder me in any way; that’s a whole other story.
It took 2 years to recover from that injury, and during that time, we were tight on budget, so I was eating pasta and homemade sourdough bread every day. In addition, I couldn’t exercise how I wanted to. This all led to putting on 40lbs, having terrible skin, eye, and other issues, and I was angry, miserable, and wanted to die. Man, I still miss the process of making sourdough, I was 2-years in at that point, made two loaves every week, and the starter was like my baby.
Anyway, in 2019, I had enough of feeling so terrible and remembered that lowering my carbs helped in the past, so I started that. I removed bread and pasta, tracked carbs, and I lost 20lbs quickly, and felt much better. I naturally got myself down to what might be considered paleo, and ate things like meat, eggs, avocado, nuts, and cheese. I vividly recall hearing Vinny Tortorich, the NSNG guy, on Adam and Dr Drew’s podcast talking about a carnivore diet, where people ate only meat. It sounded like the most ridiculous and impossible idea, but the thought stuck in my mind. As I began to eat more meat and less plants, I couldn’t ignore that I felt so much better, and life was getting better and easier. So, I followed that path.
Within 6-8 months, I was almost full meat-only, with some butter and cheese and maybe other little things added in. I lost another 20 pounds and felt awesome mentally. However, this is when I started having electrolyte and energy issues. I discovered I needed more fat and started buying fat trim from my local butcher. This is also when I started to see a carnivore presence online and listening to Paladino, when he was still actually a carnivore, not the carnivore-ish thing he does now, lol. Because of him though, I began to eat organs and seek out as much of the animal as I could. I still regularly eat liver and heart, and marrow and brains for their mostly-fat content.
I don’t want to bore anyone with too much detail, so I’ll skip ahead. I’m passing over so many details of my journey, and if anyone is interested in chatting about it, please feel free to reach out. Over the next 4.5 years, until now, I have been experimenting heavily and have found that beef only, at a fat ratio of around 90%, or higher, is what works best for me. Digestion and skin are perfect, and mood is bliss. Dairy, wheat, and gluten, cocoa, and sweeteners like monk fruit and stevia are some of my worst offenders. If I eat those items, within 48 hours, my anger and skin issues return, along with many other symptoms including pain in my healed wrist and other body parts. When I add in pork or chicken, even pasture raised, I will have some type of issues and it is less than optimal. This is how I found my HFBO path.
I have had periods of time where I felt the best I ever had in my life. I am a different person when doing this right, and can be a great father to my kid, which is the most important thing to me. I am not perfect, and I am still figuring things out and stumbling along the way, but I have a formula that works very well for me, only if I stick to it.
Here’s my key ingredients for success:
1. HFBO / high-fat beef-only, 90% fat, at or above maintenance calories so I do not lose weight. Ketones at or above 1.2.
2. Beam minerals, both electrolyte and trace mineral liquids, the capsules, and the sprays.
3. Physical activity and sunlight, with sprinting as my main exercise. (shout-out to Dr Shawn O’Mara)
4. Enjoy life and have fun.
Currently, and for many years, I do what is called OMAD, oh how I hate names and labels for everything. I was doing OMAD loooong before I knew it had a name and was a thing. I didn’t wake up one day and say, yeah, I think I’ll try OMAD next, I just naturally gravitated towards it. I had a 6-month period 2 summers ago where I did rolling 48s, and I have done many extended fast of 3-5 days with my longest being a few hours shy of 6 full days.
Unfortunately, I don’t always stay on track. Sometimes all it takes is a cold and being tired for my body to crave more energy, and if I am not careful, I either eat too much meat/protein, which, yes messes me up, or I eat carbs. Last week, this happened, and I had two days of eating stuff I shouldn’t. My remedy to get back on track is fasting. I started fasting on my own, before I knew it was a thing, then I found Cole Robinson and the snake diet. I love the Cole of 5-7 years ago when he was calmer and did hour long videos with so much info.
So right now, I am 90 hours fasted, and I feel amazing. This has been my best extended fast to date, and I have done lots of them. I credit Beam minerals for this, so anyone with electrolyte issues, like cramping or headaches, please check them out. I am full of energy and about to ride my onewheel for an aggressive 20 minutes on some trails, which, for those who don’t know, is physically demanding, then I will kayak as exercise on our local creek.
Check out my glucose and ketones numbers from the last few days, measured on a keto mojo:
Sunday morning, last day of eating crap:
Glu/Ke
105/0.5
Monday, after a 24 hour fast and working hard in the sun:
69/0.7
Wednesday evening, after 72 hours fasting (lowest glucose reading ever):
42/2.7
Thursday morning, after 85 hours fasting:
53/3.8
Plus, I am down 6 pounds, back to my weight before I ate way too much and too much junk for a few days.
Ok, let me wrap this up. I have met some incredible people here. One guy is close to me in Long Island, and I have become great friends with him, we talk all day every day. I love this dude, and while he is brand new, and is just starting to carve his path, he helps me more than he could ever know. Another guy I just met from Ca, is amazingly just like me and eats HFBO. We just spoke on the phone yesterday, and I can sense a great friendship building there. There’s a woman in Canada who does beef only, and we have spoken, but not as much as I’d like.
The LI guy and I have discord servers set up to bring us together. For him, he’s in need of others just staring out. I am there and willing to mentor and help in anyway I can. For myself, I want to interact with people that are trying to do what I do, and also expose the community to a version of metabolic therapy that has done amazing wonders for me. I don’t see anyone talking about HFBO as an option, and I feel it could be a major game-changer for many suffering people. So, let’s get the word out and bring like-minded people together! Feel free to reply here or DM me.
As a side note, my child also suffers similar symptoms and we have tried several meds. It was the typical med experience and only work somewhat for some of the time. She’s only 7 and suffers greatly. The next move by her neuropsychologist was to put her on SSRI’s, but my wife and I agreed we didn’t want that, especially after some terrible med experiences with her already. With the help of her neuropsych, she’s been on a therapeutic ketogenic diet since the start of school year and has experienced so much improvement. We keep her fat 75-78% and she still eats up to 50g/carbs a day, sometimes more. We track her ketones on a Biosense breath meter 2x/day. If anyone is interested in chatting about that, hit me up. My kid and I are starting a YouTube channel to share our experience along with the other typical social accounts. I see a void in the community for this content and feel we could help many people.
If you made it this far, I sincerely thank you. Writing this post has helped me and you reading also helps.
Edit: I have my socials setup and my handle is @MT4MH on Instagram, Facebook, and X. Same on YouTube, where I posted my first video, which is me narrating this intro with extra content added in. My email is MTforMH@gmail.com.
MT4MH = Metabolic Therapy for Mental Health