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Progress on hacking shutdowns

Full Steam

Full Steam

The renegade master
V.I.P Member
I've been trying to find treatment for my shutdowns for decades, and it seems like I'm making some progress which I thought I'd share with you all.

I'm more like Bruce Banner than some one doing real research, but I'm reducing the appearance of the Hulk, so that's helpful.

I believe the following are the mechanisms responsible for most of my problematic symptoms (ADHD, depression, anxiety, food sensitivities- you would have to experiment as my sample size is 1.

  1. BDNF - Brain derived neurotrophin factor
  2. Glutamate excitotoxicity.
  3. IL-1B inflammation
  4. Permeable blood brain barrier

I have genetic defects in 1 - 3 and I now believe that they are the biggest factors in depression and anxiety as well.

But this post is just about shutdown, so, what's helping my daily shutdowns?

All these have been proven to help (I rule out placebo by trialling many things, and then stop/repeat to see if it still helps. Placebo effect doesn't seem to extend past the stop/repeat phase for me);

  • Peace and quiet (obviously)
  • Breakfast of porridge (oats reduce il-1b inflammation which is a cause of reduced BDNF), blueberries (boost BDNF), teaspoon of Ceylon cinnamon (boost BDNF). Preventative measure.
  • Nicotine patches or gum (boost BDNF). Nicotine without smoke is not proven to be bad for you. The gum is riskier than the plasters though, as it may react with saliva and produce a carcinogen. Many autistics say cannabis helps - I think it's just the nicotine). I just take gum or patches when I'm overloaded. This removes 60 - 70% of ALL shutdown effects within 10 minutes. Nothing else acts so fast.
  • Alcohol (boost BDNF) - obvious has its own problems.
  • Jiagulan tea. (boost BDNF). This is very powerful and also blocks glutamate at the receptor so if you have ADHD as well, this will be a huge help. Works in about 10-15 minutes, but only lasts a few hours.
  • Stimming is a minor help for me as only crunchy food like chips really helps and they are too unhealthy.

With that in place I've reduced the number of shutdowns, and the time frame of each shutdown too.

Notes; there MAY be a relationship between GABA/Glutamate and shutdown/meltdown. I'm 90% shutdown/10% meltdown, and low glutamate MAY tip towards shutdown, high glutamate MAY tip towards meltdown. Balanced glutamate/GABA MAY reduce both. I'm only 50% certain of that though.
 
Thanks for the heads up on the Jiagulan tea.
- a very quick read into this tea suggests it boasts adaptogenic effects which can only be a good thing.

Rather than smoking cannibis, a CBD oil is available over here.
THC removed, well, 0.02% THC.
Over the counter of a high street shop it’s available in strengths of 2%, 10%, 15% and 50%
Cost increases with strength.
Unsure of cost or strength on dark web.

I have benefitted from its use when lack of appetite and sleep together is a concern - use when needed, not all of the time.

Crunching- We have a rye crispbread called Ryvita over here.
Crunchier than crisps, 0.2g fat, 6.7g carb, 1.7g fibre, per slice. Suggests natural source of magnesium and zinc.
... of course, it all depends on what’s used as a topping :)
- too dry if eaten raw but great for crunching.
 
Unfortunately, rye is high gluten, and gluten has opiate-like substances that I believe are crossing my permeable blood-brain barrier and causing dopiness, brain fog and depression.

I've tested gluten thoroughly and apart from oats, all forms affect me, wheat and rye being the worst.

Milk also has it, but it doesn't seem to affect me.

They also have the same effect on my daughter too.

Gluten also impacts glutamate if you have a GAD1 enzyme deficiency ( I do).

Thanks for the suggestion though :)
 
Gracey said:
Rather than smoking cannabis, a CBD oil is available over here.
Click to expand...

I have CBD oil too, and it does help with anxiety.

I take it just when needed now.

I've tried many adaptogens and Jiagulan is head and shoulders above them all.

I still take ginseng (boost BDNF slightly), Rhodiola (BDNF?), Gotu Kola (increases GAD1 enzyme).

Ashwaganda didn't seem to help, and Tulsi was really bad for me.
 
the_tortoise said:
Oh, people sometimes mix tobacco and cannabis in Canada, too. Don't know how common the practice is, though.
Click to expand...

It's extremely common in EU & AU. That obviously makes it much more damaging as you're smoking tobacco, inhaling deeply, holding and releasing with no filters.

I think US has the best method, not that I smoke anything myself.
 
I wonder if you have ever tried an autoimmune protocol (AIP) diet. I have used this in the past for ulcerative colitis and it immediately stops all my intestinal problems and dramatically reduces my anxiety. It is VERY difficult to stay on in the long term though, IMO.

I will try the nicotine patches... I smoke and need to quit anyway :(
 
lisatomic said:
I wonder if you have ever tried an autoimmune protocol (AIP) diet. I have used this in the past for ulcerative colitis and it immediately stops all my intestinal problems and dramatically reduces my anxiety. It is VERY difficult to stay on in the long term though, IMO.

I will try the nicotine patches... I smoke and need to quit anyway :(
Click to expand...

I've tried AIP but it's too hard for me - it did work though.

Paleo is too hard as I "need" food that's hard and crunchy, or at least provides good "bite"

I call Paleo the "meat and mush diet" :)

My diet is ok at the moment. My doctor thinks that I had a stuck-shut ileocecal valve caused by caffeine.

I quit caffeine and it did seem to get a bit better, and now I'm just dealing with bacterial/yeast overgrowth (ALL readily fermentable foods cause my stomach to blow up like a football).

Low GI, gluten free diet seems to have helped a lot and hammering it with probiotics and supplements at the moment.
 
The things that help most are extended periods of quiet. That is something I cannot get often as I have misphonia and hyperacusis but also live in a dangerous area and in a place with a tremendous amount of noise, pollution, and chaos. So meltdowns are often.

Peace and quiet.
Extremely intense exercise.
Fish oil.
 
I've also been taking Noopept - a nootropic drug that's principle mechanisms are BDNF and choline.

I've found this decreases overload AFTER it's happened, and by 80-100%.

I'm more and more certain that shutdown is caused by stress reducing BDNF levels.

I'll need to test on meltdown which is harder as I don't get so many.
 
If you're like me I think you strive really hard subconsciously to not have meltdowns but then doing so creates more shutdowns.
 
+1 to the nicotine therapy. I've been on nicotine patches for about a year for that purpose, and with the understanding that nicotine itself is relatively benign.

Also, Noopept - isn't that another name for Piracetam? Because I've tried Piracetam and didn't see any notable difference, though I was only using it for a couple months.
 
CMZ said:
If you're like me I think you strive really hard subconsciously to not have meltdowns but then doing so creates more shutdowns.
Click to expand...

That's very interesting.

I learnt to control meltdowns when I was a teenager, although I thought at the time it was just anger that always ended in a fight.

Maybe there is some internalized meltdown going on.

Thanks, I'll think about that.
 
Gritches said:
+1 to the nicotine therapy. I've been on nicotine patches for about a year for that purpose, and with the understanding that nicotine itself is relatively benign.

Also, Noopept - isn't that another name for Piracetam? Because I've tried Piracetam and didn't see any notable difference, though I was only using it for a couple months.
Click to expand...

Noopept is related to piracetam, but it's not actually a racetam . I think the mechanisms are similar, but it's 1000 times stronger than piracetam.

I take about 20mg two or three times a day, with a bit of bromantane.
 
Gritches said:
+1 to the nicotine therapy. I've been on nicotine patches for about a year for that purpose, and with the understanding that nicotine itself is relatively benign.

Also, Noopept - isn't that another name for Piracetam? Because I've tried Piracetam and didn't see any notable difference, though I was only using it for a couple months.
Click to expand...

What strength patches are you on?

I'm finding the gum better, but it's more risky, so I'd prefer to just have patches.
 
Full Steam said:
What strength patches are you on?
Click to expand...

Two 21mg patches, so 42mg total. A single patch wasn't enough, and 1 patch + gum was a little too spiky. I smoke a couple cigarettes a day in addition, but that's mostly after I eat as a habit and to settle my stomach.

I'll check out Noopept. If it's that much stronger than Piracetam then I'm optimistic about it.
 
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