Wow, JSC,
You remember your dreams in vivid detail! I don’t often remember my dreams, but, when I do, they are pretty strange! Often, I’m living in the home I grew up in. Sometimes, I live in a huge home, with many floors and rooms I haven’t yet seen… And, folks from both my present and my past are in my dreams together… Sure makes it weird when you wake up in the “real” world and try to analyze!
Hope your health improves, my friend. I know you haven’t been feeling well, lately. 
1 Like
2021-04-28, Wednesday - great night & day, so keeping up this GABA-combo despite uncertainty
FEELING Well % / Pain 0-7 
DOING
90%/1 Sleep 9h, up 2x (30’), Action 4h30 (TT 6:0), Treatment 1h30 (psych. 1h = 80%/2) (fibro-work 2h55) 
Effects of GABA+3: 
Much less peeing at night despite drinking tons in the evening 
Effects of acupressure: Hands not better at first, but seem better today, a night later.
Jaw/tooth pain comes and goes, 60% improved by relaxing jaw, sometimes in background, sometimes gone completely, even when eating hazelnuts or carrots.
GABA-info-page, very helpful to understand, different combination recommended
Why GABA is one of the Best Supplements for Anxiety and Sleep (Updated – Natural Stacks
You should never take a GABA supplement on its own! It actually won’t work!
It’s strange that more people don’t know about this neurotransmitter, since it’s the most common one in our central nervous systems!
When you have a “fight or flight response” — your heart beats faster and your stomach knots up — GABA is what allows your brain to calm down again afterwards.
This is because GABA is responsible for putting the brakes on messages passing between our neurons, telling them not to fire, and thereby blocking stress response messages from being passed along to the rest of the body.
This explains why low levels of GABA or disruption of GABA receptors is associated with some forms of epilepsy and various other physical and mental disorders characterized by excitability.
So why doesn’t it work all the time?
Under normal conditions, the excitatory and inhibitory systems work in harmony to keep the nervous system in balance.
But when faced with chronic stress and fatigue, the neurotransmitters can get out of synch.
The body’s natural stress response overpowers the amount of GABA that the body can produce to compensate.
These include high blood pressure, sweating, increased secretion of gastric acid and activity of the large intestine.
Part of the production pathway for GABA takes place in the mitochondria in our cells. Stress causes inflammation and oxidative stress and, together with a nutritional imbalance, it affects mitochondrial health.
While there’s no food that contains GABA, you can certainly eat foods that provide glutamate and glutamic acid, the precursors that your body uses to make GABA.
Foods with lots of glutamate and glutamic acid include grass-fed meats, eggs, dairy products, fish, sea vegetables, tomatoes and mushrooms.
Other supplements which have been shown to increase GABA or enhance its function include L-thiamine, the amino acid taurine, and certain herbs including kava, passionflower and lemon balm.
The following dosages are recommended:
General stress relief
650 -800 mg per day
Divide into three or four doses during the day
Anxiety
250 – 650 mg 3x per day
Maximum dose 1950 mg per day
Improved sleep
250 – 650 mg daily
Take just before sleep
Insomnia
500 – 1000 mg
Take just before sleep. High dose ensures that more crosses the BBB
A recent study on humans showed that a supplement combining both GABA and 5-HTP reduced the time it took to fall asleep, increased the duration of sleep, and improved sleep quality. [11]
Ingredients:
L-CITRULINE(500MG)
ROSEMARY EXTRACT(333MG)
GRAPE SEED EXTRACT(33MG)
Does GABA helping mean I have a leaky brain and this is all wrong?
How to Increase GABA and Lower Glutamate
According to Dr. Datis Kharazzian, a brain expert, if you have any effect from GABA, (positive or negative) that means you have a leaky brain. In his book, Why Isn’t My Brain Working, he explains that in a healthy brain, the junctions in the blood-brain barrier only permit nanoparticles to pass through. GABA “exceeds the nanoparticle size and does not have a blood-brain barrier transport protein.” It should not be able to cross the blood-brain barrier. If it does, then this suggests there is a leaky brain.
As a matter of fact, Dr. Kharrazian uses GABA supplementation as a screening tool to determine whether one has a leaky brain or not, calling it the GABA Challenge Test. He also states you shouldn’t take GABA supplementation, even if you have a positive effect, “because you risk shutting down your GABA receptor sites.” This is evidenced by the fact that many people experience withdrawal when they come off a GABA supplement. The fact that withdrawal is occurring tells us that the brain is downregulating responsiveness to GABA in response to the GABA supplementation. I do not encourage the use of GABA supplements unless one is coming off a benzo and uses it temporarily to get from point A to point B in recovery. If you have no effect from GABA, this is a good sign, you most likely to do not have a leaky brain. If a leaky brain is present, then many other harmful substances can be crossing the blood-brain barrier and causing additional problems.
Integrative Holistic Health Coach - Cynthia Perkins, M.Ed.
Feeling/Action-details
(Well in % / Pain incl. Gut 0-10) (Sleep, Fibro-‘Work’, Work Digi & Live, Activity, Treatment)
90%/1 Sleep 21:30- (80%/2, very tired) 0:40 (p.i.)25’ 4:00p 7:00 (p) 9h, up 2x (30’). fw7:05:20’ 7:30: RR 112/72 59. Measure more 7:40 I cd get up, but feel like resting more, bit unstable, slightly shaky, praps it’s just the bp tho. RR 7:40 110/74 61.
RR: 9:30 141/80 61 after high energy back exercise. music lesson 1h+20’. work 60’. TT 6:0 1h + cycling. Cook broccoli, eat, psychologist, shop, fibro-work 16:30-17:15=35’, work.
fibro-work 20:55:10’
Fibro-work: 7:05:20’ 7:45:1h40 16:30:35’ 20:55:20’ =2h55
Development: (/
?)
Improving self-treatments:
Timing, AuTr, palpate, cold shower, stretch
Workout, breath-hold, Neck, Yoga
Docs/Diagnoses: My psychologist does mainly Gestalt therapy. After the news part about new easier work & the positive effect of GABA we concentrated on positive tension vs. strain & tautness, with childhood and relationship as examples and connections, & concentration on feelings during that, in future practicing coping mechanisms whilst talking about that. It was a strain 
- hope it’ll do summink.
Abbreviations
AT = Autogenic Training, cold/FCS = Flash Cold Shower (20’’) , ex = exercises, HWB = Hot water bottle, breath-hold/WHM-B-H = Wim Hof Method Breath-Holding, slp = sleep.
Reasons for getting up lbu: lower back unrest, p: pee, i: ideas. PsA = Psoriatic Arthritis-suspicion
fw = fibro-work
Pain 7 = crying (/out) point
1 Like
Hi AM - it’s actually only meds that make my dreams this vivid, in this case the GABA or it’s combination. Normally I just have easy action, chases, nothing disturbing. So I’m noting these to decide if they decrease re. are a reason to stop the GABA. Up to now - 2 good weeks after the 4 bad ones - the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages, so you hope seems to be bearing fruit…! - so thank you!
And the CoV-lab-tests of all family members were negative too… and work seems OK…
- altho I do feel I need more time for myself & my jaw’s started up again… 
1 Like
2021-04-29, Thursday
FEELING Well 90-80%/1 of 7 DOING: Sleep 9h10, 2x (10’) , Activities: 4h50 (digi-work 2h ‘sports’ 2h30 shop 20’) Treatment: 2h30 (APM 2h, self 30)
Effects of GABA+3: No side effects any more , so keeping dose same.
Effects of acupressure: 1’ shake-dance is helpful.
Jaw: 10’’ each from blow drying, vacuuming, cleaning sink, looking for bike, traffic. Slightly tense sometimes at night.
IBSD from one dried tomato. A quarter the day before seemed OK.
Feeling/Action-details
(Well in % / Pain incl. Gut 0-10) (Sleep, Fibro-‘Work’, Work Digi & Live, Activity, Treatment)
90%/1 Sleep 21:50- 1:20p heartburn → Gastritol 4:15 w hot → 1 top off, shake-dance, twist-stretch, (p, itchy scalp) -6:45 w shake, twist, still bit tired, rainy weather… “+25’” 9h10, 2x (10’) fw 1h But now sunny. Work. fw about 10’. = 1h10.
Acupressure 2h. cycle 25’ Grandchild 45’. cycle 25’ Table tennis 5:1, cycle 5’. knackered, but OK. 1h digi-‘work’ for wife.
Self-treatments: Timing, AuTr, palpate, workout, cold shower, breath-hold, Stretch, Neck, Yoga
Fibro-work: 1h10
Therapy: Adjectives for how I was as a kid she asked - adapted vs I now prefer to say adaptable/flexible… I was & still am curious, interested, talented, emotional, cautious, shy, sad, oppressed, strong… But do I really wanna go back, done that enough, learnt why I’ve become this way and it hurts & doesn’t help much. Wdnt it be more helpful to stay in the present?
Abbreviations
AT = Autogenic Training, cold/FCS = Flash Cold Shower (20’’) , ex = exercises, HWB = Hot water bottle, breath-hold/WHM-B-H = Wim Hof Method Breath-Holding, slp = sleep.
Reasons for getting up lbu: lower back unrest, p: pee, i: ideas. PsA = Psoriatic Arthritis-suspicion
fw = fibro-work
Pain 7 = crying (/out) point
1 Like
2021-04-30, Friday
Well 80% / Pain 1 of 7 Sleep: 8h45, up 3x (1h) , Activities: 70%/2 4h (live-work 2h sports 1h30 shop 30’)
Effects of GABA+3: Not as much energy, due to 3h without break yesterday afternoon? But praps I forgot the GABA, I’m thinking! (Which might work against the habituation?..)
Effects of acupressure: Neck still not good, esp. to the right. Bit better during the day. Shoulders & back quite good.
Feeling/Action-details
(Well in % / Pain incl. Gut 0-10) (Sleep, Fibro-‘Work’, Work Digi & Live, Activity, Treatment)
90%/1 Sleep 22:00- 23:30 w (p) 1:10 w 40+fw10’ 7:00p hungry doze -7:45 2+7h45-1h=8h45, up 3x (1h)
fw 12:10-14:10=2h. 17:20-18:55? +20’ = 3h55
Improving self-treatments: Timing, AuTr, Palpate, Workout, cold shower, Stretch, Neck, Yoga : breath-hold*
Fibro-work: Feel like doing more. Understanding GABA
Therapy: Not at all sure anything much is gonna come out of it, but clearly stating that early retirement is a realistic option last week was a help, whilst this week the topics seemed futile/trifles. Talking with my wife brought up nothing I didn’t know/think of myself.
Docs/Diagnoses: GP had no time, trying Wednesday.
Development: GABA is keeping on well, but far from perfect. Habituation? Ashwagandha? Therapy is occupying my thoughts quite a bit.
Abbreviations
AT = Autogenic Training, cold/FCS = Flash Cold Shower (20’’) , ex = exercises, HWB = Hot water bottle, breath-hold/WHM-B-H = Wim Hof Method Breath-Holding, slp = sleep.
Reasons for getting up w = awake, lbu: lower back unrest (‘RLS’?), p: pee, i: ideas. PsA = Psoriatic Arthritis-suspicion
fw = fibro-work
Pain 7 = crying (/out) point
JayCS, what is GABA again? Is it short for Gabapentin? Do you get headaches? If so, what helps get rid of them?
Hi Freedom - not short for it, no, it’s its mum - it’s the ‘original’ natural body-protein, which gabapentin, pregabalin & other meds are made of.. These were made because taking GABA doesn’t usually help, yet is important for nerve-relaxing etc. In my case it does help tho and I wdn’t tolerate the meds.
Headaches are ‘normal’ with Neurontin/gabapentin. I wdnt know what to do about them, apart from trying to cope with taking less. Personally, there’s no way I’d take anything that gives me headaches, whatever good it does…
One alternative for you however might be the gabapentin as ‘Gralise’, which is the same, but extended release. It does have similar side-effects, but not the headaches, however people on here have complained about allergies to the extended release substances.
Another alternative’d be pregabalin, which also comes without the headaches, but of course causes problems too.
Third possibility is trying ‘nature’ = GABA itself, altho its controversial and works - if at all - differently to its 'analogs’. It’s been great, but I think the experience of others may be true that my body is getting lazier with its own GABA-production.
So fourth is trying ashwagandha, which I was going to anyway: a really good natural substance which enhances GABA in the body. And Valerian root, passion flower, and hops, which do the same… (however these 3 hadn’t helped me at all before…)
1 Like
Hi, JSC!
So glad that the CoV tests were negative for your family! What a relief that must be!
Sorry about your jaw, my friend. I often have jaw pain, due to bruxism (I wear a mouth guard at night) - Will be having a tooth pulled soon, as another one has cracked. NOT fun. 
Wishing you a beautiful day & weekend! 
PS: Regarding the therapy, and going back to childhood feelings, idk how often this helps…Maybe we never overcome what we became…You can quote me on that! LOL 
1 Like
2021-05-01, Saturday
Well 80% / Pain 2 Sleep: 9h45, up 4x (1h10),
Activities: 60%/3 2h (sports 3h. standing outside 1h, TT 3:3)
Treatment: 80%/2 self 1h.
Effects of GABA+3: Strong tiredness in the evening - did I forget it Thursday eve? Do I need to take it apart from the meal?
Effects of acupressure: Spelt cushion under hunchback as suggested is quite alright.
Feeling/Action-details
(Well in % / Pain incl. Gut 0-10) (Sleep, Fibro-‘Work’, Work Digi & Live, Activity, Treatment)
Sleep 21:30- 0:30p15’ (fw:10’) 5:20p doze 5:40i45’ 8:10p 2h30+8h10-1h05 +10’ =9h45, up 4x (1h10)
After fibro-work & eating we cycled 25’ to a field with 30 sheep & 30 pretty new-born lambs which I’d discovered Thursday. Standing there 1h (& filming, but with arm rested) got harder & harder, so after cycling back 25’ I desperately need to lie down, with a heated blanket and breath-holding. Even had to postpone table tennis a while, plus used a different bat, not sure which of the 2 explains 3:3. After it fibro-work lying down.
Improving self-treatments: Timing, Palpate, Workout, breath-hold, Stretch, Neck, Yoga
? Autogenic, cold shower
Fibro-work: 0:35:10’ 8:50:1h35 11:30-12:20:50’ 15:45-17:40 18:40-19:35 = 5h25
Therapy (… type thoughts/research): A-Type personality? Wrong!
A colleague asked if fibromites were ‘brain-steered’. I answered: “not necessarily, but some’d say more an “A-type personality”, meaning active people, achievers, despite stress”.
But how true is that? It ISN’T I’ve researched again…
I just keep reading that some fibromites say they/we have a type-A personality. Similarly here: https://www.traceyturton.co.uk/post/is-there-a-chronic-fatigue-and-fibromyalgia-personality-tye. Reading it up properly now makes me think that this is completely false!
First I read that cardiologists in the 50s started this tale. And that research has found that if at all it’s just the impatience part which is actually a problem for the heart:
I just took a modern test on Type A Personality Test and get 14 from 100 for impatience - not.
It’s true, I do (did!) enjoy working, find it hard to stop (but only when working to help others), do have a bit of stress working, don’t like failure and find it difficult to stop. So what!
However there’s a lot which I think does not apply to me or to the people who think they are type-A:
I do enjoy achieving my goals, have no sense of competitiveness, impatience etc.: “Characteristics associated with a Type A personality may include operating at a more urgent pace, demonstrating higher levels of impatience, having a more competitive nature, getting upset easily, and associating self-worth with achievement.” What It Means to Have Type A Personality Traits
"Type A individuals tend to be very competitive and self-critical. They strive toward goals without feeling a sense of joy in their efforts or accomplishments.
Interrelated with this is the presence of a significant life imbalance. This is characterized by a high work involvement. Type A individuals are easily ‘wound up’ and tend to overreact. They also tend to have high blood pressure (hypertension). … Type A individuals tend to be easily aroused to anger or hostility, which they may or may not express overtly. Such individuals tend to see the worse in others, displaying anger, envy and a lack of compassion.
When this behavior is expressed overtly (i.e., physical behavior) it generally involves aggression and possible bullying (Forshaw, 2012). Hostility appears to be the main factor linked to heart disease and is a better predictor than the TAPB as a whole. " https://www.simplypsychology.org/personality-a.html
“Time Urgency” is something I do tend to, however not impatience, it just creates a positive drive in me, a motivation, a wish to do productive creative helpful things.
“Type A personalities experience a constant sense of urgency: Type A people seem to be in a constant struggle against the clock.
Often, they quickly become impatient with delays and unproductive time, schedule commitments too tightly, and try to do more than one thing at a time, such as reading while eating or watching television.” https://www.simplypsychology.org/personality-a.html
In sum the following short overview would show I’m more type B:
Type A behavior: competitive, ambitious, impatient, aggressive, fast talking.
Type B behavior: relaxed, non-competitive. https://www.simplypsychology.org/personality-a.html
Also “This doesn’t mean that Type Bs don’t like to achieve. They may work hard and take real pride in their accomplishments, but they don’t attach the same stress to their outcomes if they don’t come in first or achieve the most, something that tends to create significant stress in Type As. Type Bs also tend to be more creative and low-stress by nature.” What It Means to Have Type A Personality Traits
“‘A Types’ often have control or perfectionist issues and have very high expectations of themselves. Pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion, and neglecting your own needs is a form of self -abuse. Putting everyone else’s needs before your own is the same.
Often this type of person won’t allow themselves any rest until they have helped everyone else and feel selfish or guilty if they think about their own needs. Rest is only allowed when they have achieved perfection or are completely exhausted.
This behaviour may stem from a family work ethic and is driven by feelings of not being good enough. In many cases though, it is due to taking on responsibilities too young.” https://www.traceyturton.co.uk/post/is-there-a-chronic-fatigue-and-fibromyalgia-personality-tye
What she is writing here is very different to other things I’m reading, so I’m pretty sure this is filtered, and also fits to what many people believe type-a to mean:
What It Means to Have Type A Personality Traits While the term “Type A” is thrown around often, it’s not always fully known what specific characteristics make up Type A personality, even among experts. For some people, the term applies to rude and impatient people. Others see workaholics as Type A. Many see competitiveness as the main characteristic. According to research, the following characteristics are the hallmark characteristics of Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP):
Time Urgency and Impatience
Time urgency and impatience, as demonstrated by people who, among other things, get frustrated while waiting in line, interrupt others often, walk or talk at a rapid pace, and are always painfully aware of the time and how little they have to spare.
Free-Floating Hostility or Aggressiveness
Free-floating hostility or aggressiveness, which shows up as impatience, rudeness, being easily upset over small things, or “having a short fuse,” for example.1
Competitiveness
People with Type A behavior need to win at everything, from work to relationships, even if these activities aren’t inherently competitive.
Strong Achievement Orientation
Type A people tend to get their feelings of self-worth from what they achieve.
Need for Dominance
Many Type A people try to show dominance in business and personal interactions, disregarding the wishes and needs of others in favor of their own.
Physical Characteristics
Years of Type A behavior and stress can prompt physical characteristics and changes, including:
- Facial tension (tight lips, clenched jaw, etc.)
- Tongue clicking or teeth grinding
- Dark circles under eyes
- Facial sweating (on forehead or upper lip)"
Here a study is described which reports not much apart from more severe symptoms in D type personality traits: Fibromyalgia Symptom Severity May Be Affected by Personality Traits
Interestingly this fibromite explains that fibromyalgia has lead to a kind of type-A-ambitiousness, to cope better: Developing a ‘Type A’ Personality Because of Fibromyalgia | The Mighty
But to add to all this looking up personality types shows that this cardiologist - not psychologist - theory is one of many…
It reminds me however of a motivation test I once did at a university, where people were divided into 4 groups, and I was in a small group of ones which reacted to failure very strongly, but still stayed motivated. Perhaps a bit like something like “Weebles wobble, but they won’t fall down” or “always lands on his feet”. But actually more like always getting up again and again and again.
Next thought: Praps part of the problem is wanting to do more than I can manage, because my mind energy can manage, my body can’t. This would have applied to all my actual job wishes, but also to some of the jobs I did to finance my studies etc.
Also: When I was 32 my first long university training suddenly fell flat thru no fault of my own. Many others would have given up on doing something similar, I did it all again. But maybe that first training was actually somehow too hard for me.
Another thought: Jung’s personality types are mainly extraversion and introversion and I’ve always found these types very important - my mother was very extraverted, my father very introverted, and I always thought that’s why their marriage failed. I’m a strange mixture of the two and I strived for extraversion-type jobs helping people, but knew I also need introverted parts. I always realized that what I am trying is a strain. And a lot strained me.
And I thought it’d be enough to optimize and strive for and get healthy body, mind and soul, which is what I did get. But praps something in me broke down from the overload all the same… Wanting to be and get more “activity” - not really career, but help others more? I wdnt be the first. In my first university course I took it slowly, helped others on the wayside, came out ‘too slow’ in time and result. For the 2nd course and then demanding job, parallel also in my 2nd relationship, I jumped over my shadow (forced/overcame myself / in spite of myself), got sicker first in the process, then self-optimized my health to do so. My 3rd relationship and coming to terms with my job (sort of 4th job phase), even ?seemingly making it my dream job, were relatively a blessing but still tough. For my 4th relationship I self-optimized again, becoming self-dependent instead of co-dependent. And now I’m coming home, realizing I don’t want all this load anymore and trying to balance out how much I can take of the job, if at all.
Abbreviations
AT = Autogenic Training, cold/FCS = Flash Cold Shower (20’’) , ex = exercises, HWB = Hot water bottle, breath-hold/WHM-B-H = Wim Hof Method Breath-Holding, slp = sleep.
Reasons for getting up w = awake, lbu: lower back unrest (‘RLS’?), p: pee, i: ideas. PsA = Psoriatic Arthritis-suspicion
fw = fibro-work
Pain 7 = crying (/out) point
Hi JayCS, found out today I don’t have fibromyalgia. I have something possibly worse. I have Stiff Person’s Syndrome. Super tired. Going to bed. Freedom 
1 Like
Oh dear, Freedom! 
I’d read/heard of this just a few days ago… And just read up that the diagnosis - like fibro - is not at all clear: “SPS is diagnosed by evaluating clinical findings and excluding other conditions. There is no specific laboratory test that confirms its presence. Underdiagnosis and misdiagnosis are common.” (wp). Also that there’s nothing evidence based for it yet. Also “Drugs that increase GABA activity alleviate muscle stiffness caused by a lack of GABAergic tone. They increase pathways that are dependent upon GABA and have muscle relaxant and anticonvulsant effects, often providing symptom relief.” (wikipedia)
Since GABA (‘the original’) definitely immediately relieved almost all my stiffness I’d strongly urge you to try it soon. Since it often doesn’t work, your docs will not suggest it and may laugh at it. But they won’t stop you trying it, for the same reason.
Since my stiffness is/was also the whole day, not just in the mornings, I’m wondering if I might have something like this too. It was the first and most prominent thing my wife noticed about me.
But I don’t have that many spasms/cramps, not many postural problems, generally not decreased mobility. Just told my wife, and she immediately started wondering too… On the German wikipedia it says the heightened muscular tension is measured electromyographically, which was done a year ago and didn’t show up any problems there. But I’d be interested to know how high my GAD-antibodylevels are, I’m sure that’s one thing that hasn’t been tested. But I’ll have a look, maybe the centre for rare diseases. And it’s not that telling anyway.
These are some of the most recent studies. In the 3rd one, from 2015, GABA as a body substance is mentioned directly: “Treatment of SPS with drugs that increase the GABAergic tone combined with immunotherapy can improve the neurological manifestations of these patients.”
https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/All-Disorders/Stiff-Person-Syndrome-Information-Page
1 Like
Thank you JayCS. I started a new thread so you can have this allocated to your blog.
2021-05-02, Sunday
FEELING Well % / Pain 0-7 DOING
Sleep: 90%/1 8h35, up 4x (1h30),
Activities: 3h30 (digi-work 1h30 sports 2h) Treatment: 30’ (APM h, self h)
Effects of GABA+3: Good.
Effects of acupressure:
Gut: Broccoli → wind, but no bloating. No heartburn from cinnamon in fruit spread in soy joghurt.
Feeling/Action-details
(Well in % / Pain incl. Gut 0-10) (Sleep, Fibro-‘Work’, Work Digi & Live, Activity, Treatment)
Sleep 21:40- 23:30p.i1h15 =fw55’ doze 2:30p doze a bit 4:45 6:30p -7:45 2h20+7h45-1h30=8h35, up 4x (1h30) Due to wanting to get so much done.
Fibro-work, 30’ housework, 1h table tennis 5:1, 1h45 walk/cycle! 1h30 digi-work, but only late!
Improving self-treatments:
Timing, Autogenic, Palpate, Workout, cold shower
breath-hold, Stretch, Neck, Yoga
Fibro-work: 23:35:55’ 8:00:1h15 11:05-12:30:1h25 
+20 = 3h55
Development:
Just read Q: Is my even higher sleep-need since mid-March due to trying to flexibilize my sleep for work? and Psychologist: Relaxation-Supervision, Work-Supervision on JayCS’s Fibro Blog (see summary-thread ∑) - #302 by JayCS
Sleep-need: It’s still always 9-10h, still +1h. So Thursdays live work would still be quite a challenge despite GABA. And could still break the whole week. I could wait and try, since I’ve never done it - when it was possible I was sick anyway. The higher sleep need was not just due to melatonin and CBD oil, but they made my daytimes worse and my nights no better and that was what put me on sick leave. I took them, because I was needing more sleep. So it still might be that the sleep need was due to not getting enough, due to trying to flexibilize. So that could be dangerous. If it is then I’d need to only work later in the day like at the moment, getting up at 7:45 (and not 6:30).
Psychologist: My ideas were to talk about relaxation and work, and I spose that’s what I am doing, in depth. So no need to bemoan or soul-search about why I’m doing it, it’s OK, it fits.
Abbreviations
AT = Autogenic Training, cold/FCS = Flash Cold Shower (20’’) , ex = exercises, HWB = Hot water bottle, breath-hold/WHM-B-H = Wim Hof Method Breath-Holding, slp = sleep.
Reasons for getting up w = awake, lbu: lower back unrest (‘RLS’?), p: pee, i: ideas. PsA = Psoriatic Arthritis-suspicion
fw = fibro-work
Pain 7 = crying (/out) point
2021-05-03, Monday
FEELING Well % / Pain 0-7 DOING
Sleep: 90%/1 8h40, up 3x (1h10)
Activities: 60%/4 after table tennis 2:4, 3h30 (live-work 2h sports 1h walk+shop 30’)
Treatment: 80%/2 1h (self)
Effects of GABA+3: Cdve been lots better. Changing “the formula”: Took selene - not again. Took less glutamic acid. Try eating earlier, taking GABA after.
Left Jaw/teeth: Thought I’d got the pain under control again, now #18, 2nd molar left bottom, no longer #19.
My tooth is different - again: Is it the gold filling coming out on the opposite tooth again?
Wind due to rice yesterday? No, it was OK today. Or 1 egg yesterday and 1 day before? Maybe one was slightly off. Try the last one tomorrow.
Feeling/Action-details
(Well in % / Pain incl. Gut 0-10) (Sleep, Fibro-‘Work’, Work Digi & Live, Activity, Treatment)
90%/1, except tooth 3 & unrest Sleep 22:00- (cos procrastinated with work) 23:55p.i1h (fw:25’) 2:00p/drk/tooth 5:30p tooth down a bit -7:50 2+7h50-1h10=8h40, up 3x (1h10)
60%/4 Table tennis 2:4 and really knackered after, even 1-2h later.
Improving self-treatments:
Timing, AuTr, Palpate, Workout, Neck, Yoga, cold shower
*breath-hold, Stretch, *
Fibro-work: 0:05:25’ 12:10:60’ 14:15:1h10 = 2h35 16:15:2h25? 19:30:1h = 6h
Therapy:
Being (too) dedicated at work and whatever? Overly committed, eager? I am successful in what I do, but only when I put such a lot of energy into it.
Docs/Diagnoses:
Development:
What do I really mean by feeling 90% well?
I mean it under the prevailing circumstances, i.e. if I manage to pace properly.
If I don’t it quickly goes down to 70% or less.
I used to be able to do 10-14h of work a day, i.e. without breaks to speak of, incl. weekends, physical or mental, for weeks on end. I didn’t count table tennis as a sport, cos I cd play for hours without any sweat (except against club members), I used to love getting sore muscles (well I still do, cos it feels more normal than this 
).
Now I can only manage 1h of whatever. So I could say it’s “10%”. Now I’m realizing what my wife means when she keeps saying that my ‘numbers’ are sugar coated and not really in perspective, and when I say 80% it’s really 40%…
But the other perspective is what I’m aiming for - to live toned down so I don’t really how sick I really am. And that’s fair enough.
Abbreviations
AT = Autogenic Training, cold/FCS = Flash Cold Shower (20’’) , ex = exercises, HWB = Hot water bottle, breath-hold/WHM-B-H = Wim Hof Method Breath-Holding, slp = sleep.
Reasons for getting up w = awake, lbu: lower back unrest (‘RLS’?), p: pee, i: ideas. PsA = Psoriatic Arthritis-suspicion
fw = fibro-work
Pain 7 = crying (/out) point
2021-05-04, Tuesday
Sleep: 90%/1 9h05, up 3x (40’)
Activities: 90%/1 4h (live-work 2h sports 1h30 shop 30’)
Treatment: 90%/1 2h30 (2h acupressure, 30’ self)
Effects of GABA+3: Glutamic acid 2->1 pill. “90%/1” again. I’ll keep it like that, then add selene again, to make sure it isn’t that. And I still have to find out where I got the idea from to take glutamic acid Ah, found one site… hmm…
Gut: No problem with rice at 15:00 except praps a bit hungry at night. Egg at midday slight wind. Nothing like the IBSD Sunday evening…
Tooth: Pretty good again. Cos I pressed the filling in again or cos I ate on the right side? Started again, but praps due to not caring for it enough. Pretty OK after.
Feeling/Action-details
(Well in % / Pain incl. Gut 0-10) (Sleep, Fibro-‘Work’, Work Digi & Live, Activity, Treatment)
90%/1 Sleep 22:00- 1:40p (very full, no pain) 3:53w (nose clot)30’ 6:00(p, no pain) -7:35 2+7h35-40=9h05, up 3x (40’) Bike → 80%/2. Back to 90%. Bellly pressure → palpate OK. Cycling against wind, hobbly jog to the train 90%.
Table tennis 5:3 (rain & hail)
Improving self-treatments:
AuTr, Palpate, Neck, Yoga, cold shower
Timing, Workout, breath-hold, Stretch
Fibro-work: 3h in the evening? (GABA)
Therapy: Ears → shoulders → hang marionette-feeling from top of head
2021-05-05, Wednesday
FEELING Well % / Pain 0-7 DOING
Sleep: 90%/1 8h55, up 3x (45’)
Activities: 90%/1 7h (music 5h, digi-work 1h, sports 1h, TT 5:3) ?
Treatment: 90%/1 30’ (self)
Effects of GABA+3: Good - (almost) no pee pain since over a day, I’m ‘counting’.
Feeling/Action-details
(Well in % / Pain incl. Gut 0-10) (Sleep, Fibro-‘Work’, Work Digi & Live, Activity, Treatment)
Sleep: 21:45- (23:00 woke, but went back to sleep - something ) 1:20p (lots, no pain) 35’ 6:55p -7:25 2h15+7h25-45=8h55, up 3x (45’)
Remember to play table tennis more from the wrist. Didn’t quite work, but 5:3, despite bad news from work.
8:20 RR 118/77 61. Music production, standing → 10:35 pretty exhausted, lie down, but more music production, often standing up, till almost 15:00, then vid conference, actually all OK…
Improving self-treatments:
Timing, AuTr, Palpate, Workout, cold shower, Yoga, Stretch Fibro-work: 8:15:10’ +?
breath-hold, Neck
Development: Bad news from work: From next week on I have to get up at 6:20 on 2 days and at 6:50 on 1 day. Have to shorten my evenings, so be even more disciplined with my timing. 
Abbreviations
AT = Autogenic Training, cold/FCS = Flash Cold Shower (20’’) , ex = exercises, HWB = Hot water bottle, breath-hold/WHM-B-H = Wim Hof Method Breath-Holding, slp = sleep.
Reasons for getting up w = awake, lbu: lower back unrest (‘RLS’?), p: pee, i: ideas. PsA = Psoriatic Arthritis-suspicion
fw = fibro-work
Pain 7 = crying (/out) point
2021-05-06, Thursday, 3 good GABA-weeks
FEELING Well % / Pain 0-7 DOING
Sleep: 90%/1 9h15, up 6x (1h35)
Activities: 90%/1 2h30 (digi-work 30’ sports 3h: TT 5:3)
Treatment: 90%/1 40’ (self)
Effects of GABA+3 today: Good. Glutamic acid still down to 1 pill. Hurting dry mouth as side effect. for the first time in 10 days.
Effects since April 15th of 1x 750mg GABA + 2x250mg Mg + 2x → 1x (from May 3rd on) 330mg glutamic acid + 2x290mg passion flower in the evenings:
Doesn’t seem to make a difference if I take it with or after the evening meal, or works less when after: on May 5th I took it quite a time after and had a very long sleep break at around 3:00.
- Stiffness after keeping in one position, e.g. sleeping, has been almost gone ever since taking it, even on ‘bad’ days, visibly as well. Only there a bit more than normal after sitting on the floor. Interesting cos it begs my idea that the muscle & tendon stiffness might lead to Ache and fatigue, which are better but not gone. Makes my twist-stretch-hack completely unnecessary, unless I just feel like stretching.
- Stiffness from overdoing it, e.g. when walking up stairs / needing to take a lift has been almost gone too, occasionally in the evenings.
- Sleep stints much longer (2-4h instead of 1-2h)/breaks much less (2-3 instead of 5-7), under an hour (instead of 1-2h), every night, but still there, still long sleep of about 9h. Ear plugs & eye mask still necessary. Still one longer break almost every night. Deeper, more refreshing, less disturbances, distractions, pains… so almost none of the “waker-stoppers” necessary any more.
- Wide awake, no drowsiness in the daytime. altho very drowsy (eyes half closed) upon waking up, but I can get myself to wake up much faster, and then feel refreshed. Decision if I still need to sleep or not faster. No need for a nap, hardly any itchy eyes or feverishness (30’ once in a few days). Exception: April 26th, praps due to first & different live work.
- Ache quite a bit better & less, but still distinctly there after 1-2h of exertion. Problems on Apr 30th, May 1st, May 3rd, improved again after taking only 1 glutamic acid pill. Arms still hurt a bit when getting up.
- Exhaustibility is quite a bit better & less, but still distinctly there. No longer problems with staircases. Rest after exertion definitely necessary, but not quite as soon and not quite as long, e.g. 30’ after 2h of exertion instead of 1h after 1h of exertion.
- Energy is quite a bit better & less, but still not considerably better. I am able to do a ‘7’-workout every day in 25’’ stints instead of only several times a month, but not the full 30’’ or 12’ altogether, and 6-8 games of table tennis every day, winning 5/6:3/2 but not 10 games winning 8/9:2/1 like in the best times of the last months.
- Bladder pain down from 80% of the time since the fibro full flare (“Oct” 2019), pain 3-6 to 20%, pain 1-3. Almost completely gone at least since evening of May 4th.
- Pee frequency down to completely normal, even if I drink a lot in the evenings, my bladder is just fuller, but urgency signals normal, which hasn’t been that way since about 10 years (problems at work and in holidays).
-
Long mask wearing less of a problem
Almost no side effects since April 29th: - Weight gain seems slight up to now. 79kg Apr 20th, normally around 80 (after the amitriptyline weight gain went down, used to be around 77kg). Seemed 83 May 3rd, but 80 May 5th.
- Drama dreams the first week, now gone, but still sometimes vivid, if I can still catch them (May 6th 5:20 fairy tale town, where silver-clad pixies shot down out of their house and sped down the street, strange houses, buy a believe-pizza: no, didn’t want to; drank 1 pint of mineral water in one go to test my bladder - eh, no, in that dream).
- Dry mouth at night the first week, plus May 6th.
- Prickly lips & face for 5’ minutes the first 1-2x, then gone.
- Tingly-fluey feeling all over, esp. inside mouth the first 1-2x, then gone.
- Strong bowel movement the first time, then gone.
- Nose clotting differently the first 2 weeks, now better.
- Nose bleed 1.5x in the first week, then gone.
- Fluey-ill-feverish at night a few times in the first week, now gone.
- 2 stronger, 2 small focal seizures on April 23rd, altho GABA is sposed to stop seizures. Praps from the glutamic acid, or just my normal amount.
What isn’t necessarily better: pain pangs other than bladder, e.g. shoulder 5’ May 6th 5:20… Tooth/jaw ache is better as from May 5th, but if at all very slow improvement over the 3 weeks.
I can manage 6-8 games of table tennis again, before and I’m alert, but not as fast as everything else would imply, cf. “energy”.
No, it won’t be good for every fibromite with muscular problems. But it might be. And praps there’s something for you still waiting to be discovered - don’t give up looking! And if it doesn’t quite work - change the formula again and again. (But I’d suggest avoiding all side effects.)
Connections: excitability, muscle tone helps sleep and muscle tenseness, night and day.
FYI: IBS/hyperacid-elimination / Mediterranean / vegetarian-come-vegan diet, gluten-reduced, whole food, organic, a lot raw, nothing particularly processed.
Meds: blood pressure, blood fats, supps: D3 20,000, roseroot.
Next on my list: adjusting the amounts. Trying to add selene again. Ashwagandha. Serrapeptase.
Feeling/Action-details
(Well in % / Pain incl. Gut 0-10) (Sleep, Fibro-‘Work’, Work Digi & Live, Activity, Treatment)
Sleep 21:30- 0:15p10’ fw:5’ 2:25p doze 2:55i1h10 fw:40’ hungry after 30’ → eat (eating early, but less, up too long) dozy 5:20p shoulder pain 5’ 7:00p 7:55p -8:20 2h30+8h20-1h35=9h15, up 6x (1h35)
Angiologist, cycling 30’, bus trip 2x30’, GP 30’, lots of mask wearing, still OK. Strange wind after gluten-containing muesli…
Work 16:45:30’ cycle-walk 2h15 despite cold.
Improving self-treatments: Timing, AuTr, Palpate, cold shower, Workout, Stretch, Yoga, Neck
breath-hold
Fibro-work: 5’+40’ 13:00: 30’ 16:15:20’ = 1h35
Development: GABA etc. is still not enough for me to able to work anything like I used to, maybe 15h/wk.
Abbreviations
AT = Autogenic Training, cold/FCS = Flash Cold Shower (20’’) , ex = exercises, HWB = Hot water bottle, breath-hold/WHM-B-H = Wim Hof Method Breath-Holding, slp = sleep.
Reasons for getting up w = awake, lbu: lower back unrest (‘RLS’?), p: pee, i: ideas. PsA = Psoriatic Arthritis-suspicion
fw = fibro-work
Pain 7 = crying (/out) point
2021-05-07, Friday - effortless table tennis due to selective strain after acupressure!
FEELING Well % / Pain 0-7 DOING
Sleep: 90%/1 8h20, up 3x (1h40) ()
Activities: 90%/1 7h05! (live-work 2h50 sports 2h45, video meeting 1,5h)
Treatment: 90%/1 2h30 (acupressure 2h self 30’)
Effects of GABA+3: 82kg at night and before eating.
The GABA brings my muscle excitability down altogether, but I need to learn more to strain just what is necessary and not all of my mind and body at the same time. Kids draw and write with their tongues moving around for instance - it’s natural, but unnecessary, and I seem to have to get out of habit.
Feeling/Action-details
(Well in % / Pain incl. Gut 0-10) (Sleep, Fibro-‘Work’, Work Digi & Live, Activity, Treatment)
Sleep 21:45- 0:45p1h30 10’ fw:10’ doze, AuTr, self-hypnosis, cutting off thoughts 3:05 Flash cold shower 6:45p -7:45 2h15+7h45-1h30-10=8h20, up 3x (1h40)
Long work due to various talks being necessary, acupressure, table tennis 6:2, effortlessly! video meeting with friends 1,5h, clearing a cellar out 1h50…
Improving self-treatments: (Timing,) AuTr, Palpate, cold shower Workout, Neck, Yoga, breath-hold, Stretch
Fibro-work: 0:45:10’
Therapy:/Development: Selective strain seems the clue… to be continued…
Abbreviations
AT = Autogenic Training, cold/FCS = Flash Cold Shower (20’’) , ex = exercises, HWB = Hot water bottle, breath-hold/WHM-B-H = Wim Hof Method Breath-Holding, slp = sleep.
Reasons for getting up w = awake, lbu: lower back unrest (‘RLS’?), p: pee, i: ideas. PsA = Psoriatic Arthritis-suspicion
fw = fibro-work
Pain 7 = crying (/out) point
2021-05-08, Saturday
FEELING Well % / Pain 0-7 DOING
Sleep: 90%/1 9h10, up 5x (2h20)
Activities: 70%/3 3h (TT 1h, sorting 1h30 shop 30’)
Treatment: 90%/1 30’ (self)
Effects of GABA+3:
BTW yesterday I took selene again, and it was really good all the same after acupressure.
Activities too much - but haven’t been taking sleep breaks seriously enough…
Table tennis: everything went black for a minute after bending down - very rare for me.
Feeling/Action-details
(Well in % / Pain incl. Gut 0-10) (Sleep, Fibro-‘Work’, Work Digi & Live, Activity, Treatment)
Sleep 22:05- 23:40p 1:00p1h35 heartburn → Gastritol. (fw=1h05) doze 3:05i20’ i → cut off i & say goodbye till tomorrow? Or cold shower? (fw15’) doze/AuTr isn’t enough, hungry: 3:50:15’ Ate & 1’ cold shower & HWB 6:55p -9:35 1h55+9h35-2h20=9h10
Table tennis 4:4, I only got a handle on it by doing as intense AuTr as poss.
Improving self-treatments: AuTr, Palpate, Workout, cold shower,
Timing: Sleep break too long, Neck, Yoga, breath-hold, Stretch
Fibro-work: 1:00:1h05 3:05:15’ 10:35:10’ 12:35:20’ 13:50:15:40:1h50 17:50:5’ 21:10:5’ =4h50
Therapy:
Docs/Diagnoses:
Development:
After suggesting (on Apr 18th) my newest hack-order to be:
hack #1 autogenic training, #2 GABA, #3 twist-stretching JayCS’s Fibro Blog (see summary-thread ∑) - #308 by JayCS
I’d now adapt it to #1 GABA, #2 selective straining, #3 autogenic training/relaxation (“all the time”) - whilst twist-stretching is hardly necessary any more, cos of the GABA.
#1 + #3 calm my overall state, whilst #2 tries not to “excite”/strain all of my mind/body, but focus on what is necessary, and shutting down as much involuntary strain as possible.
New thing dawning on me: It’s more my involuntary muscles which may generally be causing the problems. I’d got them quite good until I started work. The cold showers relieve the tension at night, so perhaps I need to use them more in the daytime again too. What happens for instance if I use them before table tennis and cold wash at work now?
Abbreviations
AT = Autogenic Training, cold/FCS = Flash Cold Shower (20’’) , ex = exercises, HWB = Hot water bottle, breath-hold/WHM-B-H = Wim Hof Method Breath-Holding, slp = sleep.
Reasons for getting up w = awake, lbu: lower back unrest (‘RLS’?), p: pee, i: ideas. PsA = Psoriatic Arthritis-suspicion
fw = fibro-work
Pain 7 = crying (/out) point
2021-05-09, Sunday - suddenly hot, how wonderful!
FEELING Well % / Pain 0-7 DOING
Sleep: 90%/1 9h (up 6x, 1h)
Activities: 90%/1 7h30 (digi-work 6h, sports 1h30, TT 5:3 (wind), but relaxed)
Treatment: 90%/1 20’ (self)
Effects of GABA+3: 81kg . Back up to 2x passiflora. And after the meal.
Slight pee-pain 2x (yesterday) evening, (day before) yesterday evening 1x, none this evening.
Yesterday not great, just cos of Friday’s exertion or GABA-habituation?
I looked bad my wife said, but I felt quite good despite working 6h.
23:30 Slight reflux, then Stomach pressure Gastritol.
Feeling/Action-details
(Well in % / Pain incl. Gut 0-10) (Sleep, Fibro-‘Work’, Work Digi & Live, Activity, Treatment)
Sleep
21:45- 23:20p10’ reflux 0:35 Gastritol. not easy falling asleep either time, hot flush…
3:40 eyebrow pain due to mask (again an indication that it’s trigeminal, not cluster headache)
4:15 bit cold → HWB 4:40 hungry i 40’ 7:20 -7:45 2h15+7h45-1h= 9h
Lot of work all day, then table tennis 5:3. I’m wondering whether I’m just not used to the bat I’ve been using the past 2 weeks, maybe I shd try the old one again.
Improving self-treatments: Timing, AuTr, Palpate, cold shower, Neck, Yoga, Stretch
Don’t care what else I get done: I need to get my sleep breaks back down to ∑15’. Problem tonight was that GABA wasn’t quite as effective as I’d hoped. Ashwagandha? But I’d gone down with passion flower and up with selene, so I’ll go back up with the passion flower first.
Sleep breaks 1h, Workout, breath-hold
Fibro-work: night: 10’ 8:25:20’ =30’
Therapy: (Thinking about strain in my life:) I decided for jobs which I didn’t necessarily already have talent for, I just remembered, they were heart decisions, not head. But people did think I could do it. But they were very much a strain, cos of my chaos, hyperactivity & high sensitivity.
Abbreviations
AT = Autogenic Training, cold/FCS = Flash Cold Shower (20’’) , ex = exercises, HWB = Hot water bottle, breath-hold/WHM-B-H = Wim Hof Method Breath-Holding, slp = sleep.
Reasons for getting up w = awake, lbu: lower back unrest (‘RLS’?), p: pee, i: ideas. PsA = Psoriatic Arthritis-suspicion
fw = fibro-work
Pain 7 = crying (/out) point