Notices by Don Romano 🍹 (thj@mastodon.cloud), page 20

@clacke ...and what this mutation effectively does is tell my brain to down-regulate the level at all times.

Another possibility is that the homeostatic system is fine, but my dopamine receptors are less sensitive than they should be.

From what I can remember reading, though, the research says that the problem is dopamine levels, not dopamine receptors.

@clacke I assume that, with ADHD being highly heritable, there must be a gene that controls the homeostatic level of dopamine and dopamine transporters in the brain, and that my version of this gene has a mutation.

@clacke What surprises me isn't so much that I have too little dopamine in my prefrontal cortex, but the fact that my brain is in fact deliberately attempting to maintain it at that level.

I had thought of ADHD as being more similar to a vitamin deficiency. If you give your body more iron, it doesn't actively go out of its way to get rid of it. It doesn't act as if a deficiency of iron is the desired state.

I don't think the inventors of Bluetooth anticipated that pretty much every person who owns a smartphone and listens to music would be using it. Walking through a city when using Bluetooth equals constant glitches as the radios attempt to find vacant channels. They should've designed it with a shorter range, or some kind of range dependent transmission strength system.

Country person: A shooting? The city sounds like a dangerous place.

City person: Yeah, and it was near my workplace, but it happened at night and I wasn't even in the area. It's always like that.

I just tried sleeping with the radio off, and was immediately reminded of why I don't like sleeping in silence: Auditive hypnagogic hallucinations (hearing sounds that aren't there just as you fall asleep) that startle me and wake me up again repeatedly.

At the moment, my temporary "solution" to this dilemma is to be a bit creative in how I account for my working hours.

This isn't sustainable, because the apparent amount of time I spend on my work is disproportionate to what I actually deliver.

It works for the time being, because almost everyone, including the customer I'm working for at the moment, is on vacation.

The net effect of all my planning seems to be that it merely shifts the burdens around instead of reducing them, as intended.

I'm considering if I should perhaps speak to my doctor and NAV (welfare) about partial disability benefits at some point in the future if this situation does not improve.

I'm trying to reduce the number of interruptions at work, but it's very challenging, with various medications and meals needing to happen at scheduled intervals.

There is not much room for improvisation. I'm trying to give myself more elbow room, but this is not a trivial task.

I'm considering if I should perhaps speak to my doctor and NAV (welfare) about partial disability benefits at some point in the future if this situation does not improve.

I'm trying to reduce the number of interruptions at work, but it's very challenging, with various medications and meals needing to happen at scheduled intervals.

There is not much room for improvisation. I'm trying to improve the elbow room a bit, but this is not a trivial task.

I'm coming to the realisation that I have a dilemma when it comes to my job, my health and my general life management.

When I think about it, there is a persistent cycle:

1. I try to concentrate on my work.

2. I'm constantly interrupted because I have to manage my ADHD, diabetes, sleep apnea/deprivation and digestive issues.

3. This eats up my working hours.

4. I stay late to catch up.

5. I try to keep my house, make plans/arrangements and to relax.

6. I run out of time.

Studies show that ADHD medications, which work by inhibiting the effect of dopamine transporters (removers), also increase their number. This means that ADHD symptoms get worse than before treatment shortly after you stop taking them.

This means that you can't really compare before/after effects without quitting your medications for a while.

It seems that your brain actually pushes back against the medications, which is somewhat stupid of it, since it actually needs them.

With ADHD and medications, there is a scale you move along at different blood concentrations.

It runs roughly from "fatigued, indecisive, playful and sad/happy" at zero, to "drowsy, strict, narrow, businesslike, determined and unemotional/irritable" when they're too high.

I'm gradually reaching the rather startling conclusion that I should *lower* my doses of Ritalin.

I've very much been "going down the rabbit hole" when it comes to taking these medications. Ritalin does not help me with ADHD hyperfocus, but it can definitely make it worse.

When you don't feel any mental fatigue while you're focusing, you can go down any kind of crazy path you want without stopping to question it.

Fatigue would, at times, help me know when it was time to try something else.

"The dietary changes necessary to improve gastroparesis may seem to run counter to the dietary recommendations for diabetes management. For example, when you have diabetes, it is recommended you eat whole-grain, high-fiber foods—however, you may be asked to avoid these foods for gastroparesis treatment."

No kidding. It's a known issue, at least, but I wish they didn't just leave it at "Talk to your doctor about that problem."

"The dietary changes necessary to improve gastroparesis may seem to run counter to the dietary recommendations for diabetes management. For example, when you have diabetes, it is recommended you eat whole-grain, high-fiber foods—however, you may be asked to avoid these foods for gastroparesis treatment. You will need to work with your doctor and diabetes care team to come up with an optimal diet plan and diabetes regimen to manage both diabetes and gastroparesis."

No kidding.

I have a bit of a dilemma when it comes to food and health.

I have diabetes and a slow stomach (possibly chronic gastroparesis).

In most cases, adding fiber to your diet is recommended. For non-diabetics, it can relieve constipation. For diabetics, it can improve blood glucose levels.

For gastroparesis, fiber is *not* recommended, because it worsens constipation. This is the case for me.

The dilemma: All the foods which are recommended for gastroparesis are discouraged for diabetes.

@skypage It doesn't seem to mention anything about obstructive sleep apnea, which is more or less what this is. I know I have some nights of good sleep. I just have to figure out why they happen.

Do I like it? I don't know.... "Like" is a strong word for an SMT component breakout board.

Okay, that's so weird. If you have gastroparesis (slow stomach), you should *avoid* fiber, not eat more of it.

When you have constipation or hard stools, you're advised to add more fiber to your diet. Reducing the amount of fiber if your gut is just slow in general seems extremely counterintuitive in light of that.

I guess I'll be eating more eggs, fish, chicken and meat, and cutting down on the high fiber rye crackers.