Hypersensitivity and Kindling

[jon1]

26 minutes ago, Luke44 said:

Anyone deal with hypersensitivity worsening over time? In the sense of more foods/drugs/supplements  becoming intolerable but also the severity and length of the reaction to those things. Which for me has been increased anxiety/panic, for an entire week or so.

Yes. Around one year after my final dose I discovered I had become highly sensitive to gluten. It was by chance, I was visiting my doc for something else and it cropped up.
 

I saw a gastroenterologist who performed an endoscopy. He said my stomach was inflamed, likely causing the gluten sensitivity. I mentioned my issues with SSRIs and he said it could be the cause, and my body being under constant stress could trigger new sensitivities. He also said it could resolve itself in the future.

 

If I eat gluten now, I’m fine for an hour or so, then my heart will start faving and I’ll get awful anxiety and agitation for the next day or so. It happens every time.

 

I could eat what I liked before Lexapro.

[Tigz91]

1 hour ago, jon1 said:

Yes. Around one year after my final dose I discovered I had become highly sensitive to gluten. It was by chance, I was visiting my doc for something else and it cropped up.
 

I saw a gastroenterologist who performed an endoscopy. He said my stomach was inflamed, likely causing the gluten sensitivity. I mentioned my issues with SSRIs and he said it could be the cause, and my body being under constant stress could trigger new sensitivities. He also said it could resolve itself in the future.

 

If I eat gluten now, I’m fine for an hour or so, then my heart will start faving and I’ll get awful anxiety and agitation for the next day or so. It happens every time.

 

I could eat what I liked before Lexapro.

I’m 19 months of citalopram/celexa and gluten also does this to me. I also have reaction to loads of other foods and my diet is very restricted because of it. 

[Tigz91]

2 hours ago, Luke44 said:

Anyone deal with hypersensitivity worsening over time? In the sense of more foods/drugs/supplements  becoming intolerable but also the severity and length of the reaction to those things. Which for me has been increased anxiety/panic, for an entire week or so.

Yes I’m 19 months out and my diet is very restricted. I worry this has given me mcas because it seems like my body just can’t tolerate much at all, even this far out.

[Luke44]

13 hours ago, jon1 said:

Yes. Around one year after my final dose I discovered I had become highly sensitive to gluten. It was by chance, I was visiting my doc for something else and it cropped up.
 

I saw a gastroenterologist who performed an endoscopy. He said my stomach was inflamed, likely causing the gluten sensitivity. I mentioned my issues with SSRIs and he said it could be the cause, and my body being under constant stress could trigger new sensitivities. He also said it could resolve itself in the future.

 

If I eat gluten now, I’m fine for an hour or so, then my heart will start faving and I’ll get awful anxiety and agitation for the next day or so. It happens every time.

 

I could eat what I liked before Lexapro.

Good to know I’m not the only one. I wish there was something that could be done about it but yeah I guess it’ll just resolve itself at some point down the road. 

[Luke44]

11 hours ago, Tigz91 said:

Yes I’m 19 months out and my diet is very restricted. I worry this has given me mcas because it seems like my body just can’t tolerate much at all, even this far out.

I am 21 months out. My diet is also pretty restricted. It is baffling that we can be this far out and yet continue to have such severe sensitivities. 

[Tigz91]

27 minutes ago, Luke44 said:

I am 21 months out. My diet is also pretty restricted. It is baffling that we can be this far out and yet continue to have such severe sensitivities. 

Sorry to hear you’re struggling too. I totally agree I can’t even eat out and it’s very difficult when going out for family dinners. Family members just think I have an eating disorder. 

[Bren711]

Is hypersensitivity to certain stimuli in the environment related to kindling and hypersensitivity? For example, music that used to excite me or intense movies that used to bring me thrill from the dopamine rush now cause a panicky feeling and make my heart start to race (I can't tolerate most things I used to enjoy because they feel too intense). Would this be related to kindling or just a withdrawal symptom? I'm pretty sure I kindled and had an adverse reaction by starting a dose of Prozac that was too high while I was already in protracted withdrawal, and since then I've had hypersensitivity to foods and supplements, but now Its like I'm hypersensitive to my own thoughts/feelings and anything that's supposed to excite me or make me feel emotion.

[jon1]

10 hours ago, Luke44 said:

Good to know I’m not the only one. I wish there was something that could be done about it but yeah I guess it’ll just resolve itself at some point down the road. 

It’s pretty frustrating isn’t it! I’m sticking to the ‘if something has an ingredient I’ve never heard of, or wouldn’t be found in a home kitchen, I avoid it’. Seems to work so far. Ironically I’ve probably never eaten so healthily.

 

7 hours ago, Bren711 said:

Is hypersensitivity to certain stimuli in the environment related to kindling and hypersensitivity? For example, music that used to excite me or intense movies that used to bring me thrill from the dopamine rush now cause a panicky feeling and make my heart start to race (I can't tolerate most things I used to enjoy because they feel too intense). Would this be related to kindling or just a withdrawal symptom? I'm pretty sure I kindled and had an adverse reaction by starting a dose of Prozac that was too high while I was already in protracted withdrawal, and since then I've had hypersensitivity to foods and supplements, but now Its like I'm hypersensitive to my own thoughts/feelings and anything that's supposed to excite me or make me feel emotion.

I’ve had hypersensitivity to sounds and movement a lot, I think it’s a relatively common withdrawal symptom. When we’re in ‘fight or flight’ mode, our bodies make our hearing and vision much more sensitive, to watch out for threats. Withdrawal often means this is happening a lot more without an external cause. So the slightest thing can cause a rush of adrenaline and stress.

 

Pretty much anything can make it worse, emotions, exercise, some foods, chemicals (in foods and in the environment), even working too hard mentally.

 

Inside, you’re probably still enjoying those movies, but your bodies ability to regulate stress is currently compromised, so instead of triggering dopamine, it triggers a release of stress hormones.

 

It does improve, but it can take time.

[BaccatePlayer]

13 hours ago, Bren711 said:

Is hypersensitivity to certain stimuli in the environment related to kindling and hypersensitivity? For example, music that used to excite me or intense movies that used to bring me thrill from the dopamine rush now cause a panicky feeling and make my heart start to race (I can't tolerate most things I used to enjoy because they feel too intense). Would this be related to kindling or just a withdrawal symptom? I'm pretty sure I kindled and had an adverse reaction by starting a dose of Prozac that was too high while I was already in protracted withdrawal, and since then I've had hypersensitivity to foods and supplements, but now Its like I'm hypersensitive to my own thoughts/feelings and anything that's supposed to excite me or make me feel emotion.

Yes, it's yet another way CNS present itself as abnornally sensitive to a harmless stimuli. Precisely the music example is what I can relate to. I guess you can either wait it out until your system build enough tolerance for such experiences or you can gradually keep trying to expose yourself to it more, practise acceptance of your worsened symptoms and hope your mind will register this activity as safe. Your default arousal levels are too high and quickly activate you too much in face of any major change. Probably similair effect would be achieved with working out, sexual activity or going on a carousel.

[Bren711]

12 hours ago, jon1 said:

I’ve had hypersensitivity to sounds and movement a lot, I think it’s a relatively common withdrawal symptom. When we’re in ‘fight or flight’ mode, our bodies make our hearing and vision much more sensitive, to watch out for threats. Withdrawal often means this is happening a lot more without an external cause. So the slightest thing can cause a rush of adrenaline and stress.

 

Pretty much anything can make it worse, emotions, exercise, some foods, chemicals (in foods and in the environment), even working too hard mentally.

 

Inside, you’re probably still enjoying those movies, but your bodies ability to regulate stress is currently compromised, so instead of triggering dopamine, it triggers a release of stress hormones.

 

It does improve, but it can take time.

 

That's reassuring, thank you. It makes a lot of sense, even getting out of bed to walk seems to elevate my heartrate to crazy levels as well. It's especially difficult when its my own thoughts/emotions because they can be very difficult to control. My mind always wants to think about my symptoms and only focus on that 24/7, which perpetuates the cycle of hypersensitivity, and its very hard to shift focus when in a wave. Hopefully it does get better and more manageable.

 

 

5 hours ago, BaccatePlayer said:

Yes, it's yet another way CNS present itself as abnornally sensitive to a harmless stimuli. Precisely the music example is what I can relate to. I guess you can either wait it out until your system build enough tolerance for such experiences or you can gradually keep trying to expose yourself to it more, practise acceptance of your worsened symptoms and hope your mind will register this activity as safe. Your default arousal levels are too high and quickly activate you too much in face of any major change. Probably similair effect would be achieved with working out, sexual activity or going on a carousel.

 

Very true, it's definitely strange. My guess is that it's almost like the mind is "factory resetting" its response to internal/external stimuli. I'd like to think this means the brain is still trying to figure things out and will eventually. When I can force myself to meditate in a wave (very difficult) it can help for a few minutes, but it doesn't take long for something to trigger my CNS again (which could be anything). I do have hope though.

[BaccatePlayer]

4 minutes ago, Bren711 said:

When I can force myself to meditate in a wave (very difficult) it can help for a few minutes, but it doesn't take long for something to trigger my CNS again (which could be anything). 

Totally! I think it's a bit of delay in response from the mood. If we're normally stuck at too high activation mode (compulsion to rumminate, checking out symptoms, tensed stomach, headband sensation), we're probably living some low-key (or even high-key) simulation of a panic attack during waves. I try relaxation during waves and it either works only for as long as I'm doing it or it starts working with a delay. I even sometimes get a huge outburst of endorphins randomly as the wave ends and ask myself what happened. The answer seems to be, I was triggering release of joy for the whole time when I was fighting my wave that once it exit flight or fight mode, it all got to my brain at once. I guess the CNS trying to sort things out during waves is simply too busy to respond to anything without assuming the worst as if our survival was hanging on a thread. One wrong thought and the storm gets triggered, anything but usually something along the lines of: "There's no cure to that, I need to bear whatever is there", "What if it'll last more months?", "My family doesn't understand" - all this is like throwing a gasoline to the burning system. Factory reset is absolutely on point, I think some general topic even uses that term.

[jon1]

26 minutes ago, Bren711 said:

 

When I can force myself to meditate in a wave (very difficult) it can help for a few minutes, but it doesn't take long for something to trigger my CNS again (which could be anything). I do have hope though.

My doc said something helpful (and blunt!) when I told him I was meditating, but it wasn’t doing much good:

 

’Do you think you’d be able to meditate away a broken leg?’

 

Essentially, he was telling me that while meditation can help a great deal for ‘normal’ anxiety symptoms caused by the mind and environmental situations, it’s virtually useless against symptoms caused by withdrawal.

 

Withdrawal anxiety is physical, not mental. It’s a the result of an ‘injury’ to the brain, much like a broken leg or cut, or bruise. So we can’t do much about it but wait for it to mend and heal.

 

While not exactly giving me a solution, it really did help me reframe the withdrawal symptoms as something that needed to run their course, rather than something I could fix or control.

 

It certainly eased frustration, and lessened the pressure I was putting on myself to get better.

[Hibari]

@jon1

 

I agree with your doctor. 

 

I tried meditation at different points in different tapers. It just didn't work for me because my brain was to affected to handle or benefit from it. I ended up feeling worse every time I tried. 

2 hours ago, jon1 said:

really did help me reframe the withdrawal symptoms as something that needed to run their course, rather than something I could fix or control.

That it so true! 

 

Hibari 

[missy27]

Has anyone experienced hypersensitivity with any food during a wave. I feel anytime i eat my cortisol levels go through the roof. I feel very jittery and electrical and i cant sleep. Each wave can be so different

[Bren711]

10 hours ago, BaccatePlayer said:

I even sometimes get a huge outburst of endorphins randomly as the wave ends and ask myself what happened

I know exactly what you're talking about. It like a temporary glimpse of hope that can last for a few seconds. It feels so short-lived but I feel like its a sign that everything is still there underneath all the clouds. 

 

11 hours ago, BaccatePlayer said:

"There's no cure to that, I need to bear whatever is there", "What if it'll last more months?", "My family doesn't understand" - all this is like throwing a gasoline to the burning system

Exactly, and in my case at least, it "literally" feels like my body is burning when the gasoline is added. After that, it doesn't just go away right away, it takes forever for the fire to settle (hours and even days). Its so hard not to feed the cycle when the mind is stuck.

 

10 hours ago, jon1 said:

Essentially, he was telling me that while meditation can help a great deal for ‘normal’ anxiety symptoms caused by the mind and environmental situations, it’s virtually useless against symptoms caused by withdrawal.

Agreed. For me, when I'm in the deepest midst of a wave (like right now), meditation feels useless in that regard. I end up squirming around and being unable to sit still because of the automatic negative thoughts that rush into my head. So I can definitely see how it could go wrong when not used with the right intention/at the wrong time during recovery.

 

10 hours ago, jon1 said:

While not exactly giving me a solution, it really did help me reframe the withdrawal symptoms as something that needed to run their course, rather than something I could fix or control.

For me, its almost like going through the "acceptance" phase of grief if I try to meditate. It doesn't stop the symptoms, but in those moments I am able to reframe my mindset of how I am going to tolerate them, even if its just in those moments.

[Bren711]

On 4/16/2024 at 4:55 PM, missy27 said:

Has anyone experienced hypersensitivity with any food during a wave. I feel anytime i eat my cortisol levels go through the roof. I feel very jittery and electrical and i cant sleep. Each wave can be so different

Yes, I’m currently realizing I’m experiencing this right now but because of the foods I’ve been eating. I think there are some resources on this forum where people have shared their experiences. I saw somewhere someone suggesting to eat organic foods that don’t contain chemicals, but if you search you should be able to find some information pertaining to this. I’m trying to figure this out right now as well.

[missy27]

4 minutes ago, Bren711 said:

Yes, I’m currently realizing I’m experiencing this right now but because of the foods I’ve been eating. I think there are some resources on this forum where people have shared their experiences. I saw somewhere someone suggesting to eat organic foods that don’t contain chemicals, but if you search you should be able to find some information pertaining to this. I’m trying to figure this out right now as well.

Thank you so much for your response. Im so sorry your experiencing this as well. Good to know on the organics, makes sence. I will search more on this.

[jon1]

Yes, organic foods are a very good idea.

 

It's the pesticides more than anything. I was quite shocked to learn that oats are one of the worst foods for containing residual pesticide levels. Apparently it’s because they have a large surface area for the chemicals to attach to!

 

Needless to say, I now eat organic (and gluten free) oats.

[Onmyway]

On 4/15/2024 at 11:38 PM, Bren711 said:

Is hypersensitivity to certain stimuli in the environment related to kindling and hypersensitivity? For example, music that used to excite me or intense movies that used to bring me thrill from the dopamine rush now cause a panicky feeling and make my heart start to race (I can't tolerate most things I used to enjoy because they feel too intense). Would this be related to kindling or just a withdrawal symptom? I'm pretty sure I kindled and had an adverse reaction by starting a dose of Prozac that was too high while I was already in protracted withdrawal, and since then I've had hypersensitivity to foods and supplements, but now Its like I'm hypersensitive to my own thoughts/feelings and anything that's supposed to excite me or make me feel emotion.

The hypersensitivity this thread is talking about is to the introduction of new psych drugs. 

 

What you're describing is a common withdrawal symptom but not the same thing. There are threads for those kinds of hypersensitivity in they other threads - light, sound, emotional stimuli, stress, food, and vitamins etc. 

 

Look up also emotional spirals and neuroemotions. . 

 

Hope you get some respite soon. 

Omw 

Edited April 18 by Onmyway

[Bren711]

11 hours ago, jon1 said:

Needless to say, I now eat organic (and gluten free) oats.

Definitely will try this. I had been eating oatmeal every morning until recently when I had heard something like that. 

 

10 hours ago, Onmyway said:

What you're describing is a common withdrawal symptom but not the same thing. There are threads for those kinds of hypersensitivity in they other threads - light, sound, emotional stimuli, stress, food, and vitamins etc. 

Makes sense that they are separate now that you mention that. I'll check out the other threads. Thanks for the kind words also.

[Moe96]

Anyone got symptoms of POTS, MCAS, CFS/ME, dysautonmia after getting kindled? 

[Tigz91]

1 hour ago, Moe96 said:

Anyone got symptoms of POTS, MCAS, CFS/ME, dysautonmia after getting kindled? 

Yep me 19 months off and still struggling with them 

[margaretLO]

1 hour ago, Moe96 said:

Anyone got symptoms of POTS, MCAS, CFS/ME, dysautonmia after getting kindled? 

I have

[Moe96]

One symptom that worried me months ago was bradycardia. My heart rate was 49-52 bpm while resting and dropping lower during sleep. Now it seems to be back to normal 62-64 bpm, but i still have other severe debilitating dysautonomia symptoms…

[Moe96]

17 hours ago, Tigz91 said:

Yep me 19 months off and still struggling with them 

Sorry to hear that. Did they lessen with severity at least? 

[Tigz91]

3 hours ago, Moe96 said:

Sorry to hear that. Did they lessen with severity at least? 

Somethings have but unfortunately I really struggle with a lot of symptoms still. Especially mcas like symptoms. I think this could now be permanent.

[Moe96]

18 minutes ago, Tigz91 said:

Somethings have but unfortunately I really struggle with a lot of symptoms still. Especially mcas like symptoms. I think this could now be permanen

Can i ask what your symptoms are? 

[Moe96]

20 hours ago, margaretLO said:

I have

Hello @margaretLO i’m sorry that you do. I read about your struggle with cognitive impairment a while ago and i’m having the same issue with the same severity you’re describing. i hope you’ve improved since then.

[Tigz91]

15 hours ago, Moe96 said:

Can i ask what your symptoms are? 

I get hives, foggy brain, weird throat sensations(feels tight and painful). My brain also feels inflamed at times and trying to work out if it happens after eating certain foods. I have a lot of other symptoms which seem to come and go very often. 

 

[Barry2954]

On 4/20/2024 at 1:04 AM, Tigz91 said:

Somethings have but unfortunately I really struggle with a lot of symptoms still. Especially mcas like symptoms. I think this could now be permanent.

I know what you mean. I'm over a decade after treatment with the benzodiazepines went wrong, without the treating psychiatrist recognising it, and have been on disability support since a year and a half after it happened. I only just learned that my condition fits with that of BIND and it has answered so many questions.

[Tigz91]

11 minutes ago, Barry2954 said:

I know what you mean. I'm over a decade after treatment with the benzodiazepines went wrong, without the treating psychiatrist recognising it, and have been on disability support since a year and a half after it happened. I only just learned that my condition fits with that of BIND and it has answered so many questions.

I’m sorry to hear that even after 10 years you’re still having difficulties. Do the supplements help?

[Barry2954]

2 minutes ago, Tigz91 said:

I’m sorry to hear that even after 10 years you’re still having difficulties. Do the supplements help?

Thanks. I have been altering my diet for the last six months with minor improvements in some things but, as I say, I have only just learnt that it was the benzodiazepine medication Lorazepam which caused this so I haven't yet had time to try to tailor supplementation for the condition. Prior to six months ago doctors kept telling me not to do anything to try to fix my condition, still trusting the psychiatrists from a decade ago that I was either faking my condition, was delusional, or was a hypochondriac. I don't struggle to breathe as hard when walking as I did before altering my diet and I'm able to eat more and healthier than I used to but that's been the limit of my improvement to date. However, now that I know that the dysfunction is in the GABA-A receptors I am looking for natural substances which help to modulate their function. So far the only thing I've found is Sideritis; https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4384808/  I can only speculate whether it is likely to have any effect at the moment and it may be a while before I'm able to obtain either that or something else to be able to test the theory.

[Dee12h]

If you have an activating response to an updose (3-4 days later), is it still possible to stabilize, or will you not stabilize until you drop again?

[missy27]

32 minutes ago, Dee12h said:

If you have an activating response to an updose (3-4 days later), is it still possible to stabilize, or will you not stabilize until you drop again?

In my situation it took about a little over a week to stabilize when i updosed. 

[Dee12h]

8 minutes ago, missy27 said:

In my situation it took about a little over a week to stabilize when i updosed. 

Thanks, what were your symptoms?

[missy27]

37 minutes ago, Dee12h said:

Thanks, what were your symptoms?

Insomnia, felt like i had electricity running through me at all times, fogged out, muscles hurt, no appetite