Looking for "survivors", doctors or specialists in this field... Recovery stories on burnout/ brain fog / HPA axis disfunction / neuroinflammation. Is it possible to get my beautiful smart brain back?
Hey everyone. Going through the hardest time in my life right now. Chronic stress and hormonal issues, lack of sleep and cognitive overload pushed me into burnout in December. I have not had many physical symptoms, but mostly severe brain fog for 4 months, only noticing slight improvement in the last month. Did several tests, been to doctors, tried supplements, diet (less sugar and carbs, no alcohol, no smoking, caffeine 2x a week), exercise (light)...
Before: perfectionist, overachiever, always gave 150%, open-minded, quick to learn and understand complex topics, top of class all my life, creative, funny, able to adapt to any situation... Spoke 3-4 languages fluently, read books, did free courses, drove, worked and studied.
Right now: battling sever fog most days (hard to recall things or need a lot of time, hard to have conversations since my mind feels blank, forgetting words, memory issues, focus issues, processing speed is slow, hardly remember things I just did or wanted to do, pressure in my forehead, wake up at night, fatigue and fog most day and a bit clearer head in the evening when my mind races and wont let me sleep...).
I feel negative thoughts and emotions deeply, but can't physically find joy or interest in things I used to love. For example, I received a notice of being selected for a grand award for my academic performance and diploma last year and felt over the moon, but not really "felt" happy. Like my body just would not react to positive things.
It's a rollercoaster right now. Some days feel 60%, then one or two feel 80-90% and then crash for 3 days and feel like I am back to square one.
I was taking dexamethasone for 2 days to test my cortisol and ACTHand those 2 days felt the best in the last 4 months. Like I was fully awake again, clear and driven. But then after stopping them, I crashed again.
This gives me a lot of anxiety since I was always in control, dependable, and observant. Now I can barely register the world around me; everything seems overwhelming, everybody seems smarter and better, I can't drive or work since it's hard to communicate or react fast. School is really hard. I can memorise things for an exam if I do active recall by writing it down, but if I have to repeat things out loud its a huge struggle. My mind just cant organize thoughts. I see in my head what I want to say, but it turns to gibberish, and I just can't word it properly. I am wired but tired, can't seem to calm down or relax, listen to music or watch a movie.
Labs: bad cortisol suppression, elevated testosterone and androgens, PCOS (PMS problems, hirsuitism, mood swings, acne, weight), insulin resistance, ACTH and DHEA (grey zone and no dynamic). I have never experienced these symptoms before. Doing more testing for cortisol. Vitamin D and iron were on the lower end of the range, so I started supplementing.
Currently taking: metformin (extended release), B12, Vitamin D+K, Omega 3, Magnesium, iron, multivitamins, occasional creatine and electrolytes
Anyone who had the same thing going on and was able to come out of it? Get back to normal?