[Repth]

Hi, my name is remy. I’ve suffered with DPDR for about 8 months now. It started after I took an edible my bf gave me. I won’t go into detail of the experience, just that it was terrifying. I was baker acted at an ER which made it worse, and there’s been a lot of ups and downs since then. I never had an episode as bad as when I took the edibles, until recently.

I had a bad panic attack one night and was in a constant state of stress and anxiety. Then, a few days ago I woke up and found I was exhausted the whole day. I thought it was because I didn’t get good sleep the night before, but even after sleeping 9 hours I was still fatigued and weak. I could barely walk. A family member ended up taking me to the ER and the doctor told me I had an underactive thyroid. Not majorly, but he said it could be contributing to my symptoms.

He gave me 0.05mg of levothyroxine, and told me to follow up with a GP. I’ve been taking the meds but haven’t felt any difference, in fact I feel worse. More weak, more fatigued, brain fog and the DPDR is like how it was in the beginning, extreme. I’m anxious and depressed. I can’t sleep and if I do, I’m always waking up with heart palpitations or just feeling weak and dizzy.

I have an appointment in a week with a doctor, one who is known to test thoroughly and get to the root cause of things. I’ve also started a diet change today, as I want to improve my gut health and lessen inflammation. I’ve been trying to get outside more, even if it’s just sitting or walking in the yard. I’m used to doing pretty moderate exercises, but now I’m just doing very basic stuff because my energy levels are shot.

Im feeling scared because I barely have energy to leave bed, let alone cook. I’m wondering if anyone else has gone through a similar situation? And if you saw an improvement, what changes did you make to get there? Can a slightly underactive thyroid cause this much of a change?

 

[Chip1021]

This is complete conjecture, but it could be that your under active thyroid contributed to your susceptibility to developing DPDR, but the direct catalyst seems to be the edible and your reaction to it. I doubt that the thyroid issue alone is producing your symptoms. It’s a good idea to get a complete workout done anyways, and watching your diet and activity is important too. But the most common mode of recovery for those who do recover seems to be just focusing on life, especially socializing, and ignoring or at least not obsessing about the thoughts and feelings. Problem is, it can be a very difficult thing to do, understandably. But that is ultimately what has to be done.

 

[Repth]

This is complete conjecture, but it could be that your under active thyroid contributed to your susceptibility to developing DPDR, but the direct catalyst seems to be the edible and your reaction to it. I doubt that the thyroid issue alone is producing your symptoms. It’s a good idea to get a complete workout done anyways, and watching your diet and activity is important too. But the most common mode of recovery for those who do recover seems to be just focusing on life, especially socializing, and ignoring or at least not obsessing about the thoughts and feelings. Problem is, it can be a very difficult thing to do, understandably. But that is ultimately what has to be done.

Yes I agree. It’s difficult because I have no friends, no job or anything. And with the state I’m in now, I don’t know how capable I am of going out and doing things. I can barely walk around without feeling faint. Right now I am just trying to take it one day at a time. I have no appetite and can’t sleep so it feels like torture sometimes, but I’m trying to learn to be more mindful of what I can and can’t control.

 

[Chip1021]

Yes I agree. It’s difficult because I have no friends, no job or anything. And with the state I’m in now, I don’t know how capable I am of going out and doing things. I can barely walk around without feeling faint. Right now I am just trying to take it one day at a time. I have no appetite and can’t sleep so it feels like torture sometimes, but I’m trying to learn to be more mindful of what I can and can’t control.

This sounds a lot like my current position. In earlier years trying to live life as normally as possible helped a lot; completing school, being around friends and other support systems especially. I never fully recovered but I wasn’t constantly just feeling like I was tripping balls and about to die, and life was reasonably decent to good. But nowadays I can’t actually do much activity due to the severity of the symptoms themselves and their consequences (it is ridiculously unsafe for me to drive in this state, for example). So like you, it’s just trying to make this existence as comfortable and manageable as possible, absent some miracle cure.