I'm not completely there (food, brain and mental disorders)

I don't really know how to say it otherwise.

I think I could compare it to the state you are when you are slightly stoned on weed, yet you are not.
(I know we are not allowed to talk about drugs but I'm just trying to describe my "normal" state).

And I feel this way most of the time during the day until I go to sleep. The time I'm the most "there" is in the first 1 or 2 hours after getting up.

One consequence, among others, is that when people talk to me, as hard as I can try, I'm not paying as much attention as I should or would like, and I forget most things that people tell me unless I write them down in the next few minutes. Useless to say that I become absolutely inept when there is more than 2 people talking - it just becomes a loud buzzing to my ears.

I'm doing some research these days about the link it could have with food. I'm already on gluten free, dairy free diet and it had help a lot with energy and depression, but it didn't fix the "I'm not there" problem. I'm studying the possibility of starting a low carbohydrate diet soon.

I was wondering if anyone else has this problem and if you heard about a solution, or did any research about the link between food, brain and mental disorders.

While I can't completely relate to what you're saying, the past few weeks have been very hard for me to actually follow a conversation. For example, yesterday when my mom and I went out for coffee, even though I was keeping eye contact with her and trying to listening, for the life of me I could not keep up with the conversation. I'd hear a sentence or two, then the rest is just... nothing. It's like I was toning her out off and on, but no control over it. It was weird. Then again, I've been dealing with candida yet again, and this time around it's pretty bad. I'm waiting for my new medicine to come in this week. Hopefully that helps, since the diet doesn't really work for me with my other allergies.

Do you drink any caffeine? Maybe that could be a factor? Refined sugars? Just offering some suggestions, I really don't know of any solutions, sorry.

Maybe it is that state that you reach when you've been through so much that as a survival mechanism your mind just doesn't care?

If it's mental, it probably has more to do with your thoughts than with what you eat (since it seems you're already taking care of what you're eating).

I hate it... it's this "numbness" in which you no longer care.... feels like being a zombie, sorta . Good luck to you, PL, hopefully you can find a solution to it.

Wishing you the best (hopefully that helps).

Edit:

You mentioned "other" consequences? What are they? Maybe listing them will help narrow down the problem?

Thanks for your answers

@Phoenixx: You take medication for Candida? Did you try the almighty 7 days diet where you eat almost nothing?
I cut a lot of the refined sugar compared to average human beings, maybe it's not enough... About caffein, I used to drink only tea, but when I started working I realized I had to be productive and sometimes it is just impossible without coffee. So I drink between 2 and 5 coffee a week, which, I guess, is not that bad, but I'm looking for a way to be able to work without caffein because I think it shouldn't be that way. Caffein wakes me up but after a while it also makes me feel even more stoned.

@Easyskanking: I don't think I went through that much but yeah it could be a possibility. I did put myself on I don't care mode in order to survive due to social anxiety.
About the consequences, people often feel like I don't care, because apparently I look very "detached" (and actually, I am). I also feel like it's one of the main reason why I have huge troubles to focus - it takes me forever to do the most simple tasks because I always have to bring myself back into it.... very unefficient :/

Pacific_Loner said:

@Phoenixx: You take medication for Candida? Did you try the almighty 7 days diet where you eat almost nothing?
I cut a lot of the refined sugar compared to average human beings, maybe it's not enough... About caffein, I used to drink only tea, but when I started working I realized I had to be productive and sometimes it is just impossible without coffee. So I drink between 2 and 5 coffee a week, which, I guess, is not that bad, but I'm looking for a way to be able to work without caffein because I think it shouldn't be that way. Caffein wakes me up but after a while it also makes me feel even more stoned.

Click to expand...

^ I just recently found out about Capryllic acid. It's supposed to be really effective for candida, so I ordered some. I shouldn't have called it "medicine," since it's not really. (just the first word that popped in my head and I went with it, lol) Just a natural supplement.

And yeah I've done the diets. With my food allergies, cutting out that much food even more doesn't work well at all for my body. Figured that out the hard way last year, such a nightmare that was. Never again...

Hm... I'm guessing you try to eat everything all natural? No food dyes, preservatives, processing, etc? Really wish I could offer more suggestions.

Sounds sort of like a mild form of dissociation (maybe depersonalization or derealization). I experience it occasionally, but if you're feeling that way ("I'm not there") all or most of the time then it could be a dissociative disorder or something. Hopefully not.

Sometimes I feel like this, it's usually when I have to do something I have no interest in and I can't bring myself to occupy my brain with it.

I feel this way almost constantly these days. I've been off the forums for a while now, and life has continued and evolved in certain ways, with much of it being positive. But I still have this disconnected feeling whereby I experience life through some sort of haze. For me it's a dreamlike state where I almost feel like I can't distinguish what's real and what isn't.

I notice it most when I'm out and about, walking around. I see people and establishments but I never feel connected to any of it. Even when I try to do things that I can directly engage in, it's as if I'm not really present. I'm not sure if it's related to food or not but I would think that it has more to do with being isolated for too long. I've also noticed that it's gotten worse with the years. I used to be able to focus and get things done whereas now I feel an almost perpetual brain fog. I'm sometimes afraid that I'm losing my sanity.

Brain fog can come from too much computer time too, how much are you online?

Walking/hiking/exercise or apple juice or raw food (or cocoa ) can increase 'sharpness' for me.. (Sweet fruit juice is not so good for any candida or such though...)

Yeah, you may need to experiment with food, different things work for different people...
There are rotation/elimination diets and such, not sure if you've come across them? If you repeatedly just eat eg rice, you could become sensitive to it too.. (some people have) Ideally one would eat different food every day... Are you eating anything on a repeated basis, and things get worse after that?
You could also get your blood tested for any allergies/sensitivities...

Pacific, you mentioned weed - hope you know it can cause depersonalization too...

If you go low carb, do your research, some people have had troubles with it.. I think we do need a balance of protein and carbs.. (my brain doesn't work too well with just proteins lol)

Phoenixx: Yeah I'm really careful with what I eat, but still working on it. Don't worry about the relevance of your suggestions, it's just nice you're trying to help

flowers - I checked on depersonalization and it's kind of what I'm talking about, though it's hard to say because it's such an abstract feeling, but I have trouble to believe that medication could help that... Anyway this is definitely not dissociation. I'm not there yet hehe.

Firewalk - thanks for the info, I'll keep trying that low carb thing I think... Lots of people seems to say it really helps

Kinetik - It sounds pretty much like what I'm talking about. I see people all the time so it's not isolation, but I admit that it gets worst in hermitage periods

Feathers - Yeah I know about weed - that's why I don't use it And actually I started the low carb diet some days ago and it f*cked up my stomach so I'm going to try to do it another way. But I still think I need to try it.

I'll try some things and let you know how it goes