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Life-long mental health issue that progressively gets worse

Hello. I have been struggling with an undiagnosed mental illness for potentially my whole life. It has progressively worsened and no doctor has been able to help me. Here is a brief outline of my symptoms:
• Indescribable feeling of semi-consciousness.
o Over the years my description of this has evolved. Originally, I described it as a feeling of being in a fog. Later I started calling it a feeling of being a “zombie”. More recently I described it as being in a dream. Today I call it semi-consciousness.
o This is my primary symptom. I could learn to cope with anything listed here except for this. I include the other symptoms as a diagnosis tool for this symptom because it is so hard to describe.
• Lack of motivation
o Consequently poor hygiene
• Attention deficit
o My mind wanders or goes blank constantly.
• Sub-conscious avoidance of mentally strenuous activities
o My brain refuses to process school assignments, resulting in poor academic performance. I often sit all day with a textbook or homework assignment in front of me and accomplish as much as most people would accomplish in 15 minutes.
• Sleep abnormalities
o I have great difficulty going to sleep at a normal time and waking up at a normal time.
o If I am uninterrupted I sleep for extended periods of time, ranging from 10-14 hours.
• Obsessive-compulsive behaviors
o I constantly carry out some sort of compulsive behavior, often many at once. I grind my jaw, scratch my head, crack my knuckles, etc.
o I rarely listen to music, but if I am awake there is constantly a tune playing in my head. I can’t control this.
• Strange phobia(s)
o I am uncomfortable looking up into the sky. I’m unsure why. This was more severe when I was younger.
I am a 20 year old male currently in college. I have a family history of autoimmune disease and bipolar disorder.
I did not experience any of the aforementioned issues until at least early middle school, and they have progressively gotten worse.
Does anyone recognize these symptoms or have any idea of what might be ailing me?
I will try to answer questions as soon as I see them.
I did not experience any of the aforementioned issues until at least early middle school, and they have progressively gotten worse.
Does anyone recognize these symptoms or have any idea of what might be ailing me?
I will try to answer questions as soon as I see them.
Replies
This caused feeling of not being fully awake my friend had to be woken up otherwise she wouldn't wake up at all she cant live on her own because she would never do anything but she had to clap 10 times four times a day you seem to be functioning better than my friend she has lack of consecration and can't be left alone she is under a specialist in London I csnt remember the proper name but iits a form of brain disease she has oxygen in the morning for four hours and oxygen early evening for 4 hours that helps her to feel awake and helps concentration she has more motivation she is 24 it might not be what my friend has but there are similar symptoms
Thats all I can say maybe you should ask for a brain scan unless you have already had one but only a medical professional can help you
Maybe you should try speaking to your dr again
Thank you for telling us about your undiagnosed condition. That sounds really challenging to live with and I'm sorry you are going through it
You say that no doctor has been able to help which must be very frustrating. Have you ever been referred to the hospital for more tests or input from specialist services? Also, is your GP aware of the impact this is having on your daily life?
I hope that our members responses have helped, and we will all get our thinking caps on some more.
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Unfortunately we are not medical professionals so unable to comment
Have you been referred to social services or maybe look at mind charity
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I have come across many of your suggestions before, so it’s good to know we’re on the same page. I didn’t mention it before as to not bias your responses but I have been diagnosed with ADHD, but I strongly believe that my attention issue is a symptom of another underlying cause for a few reasons; because I did not experience ADHD symptoms until my teens, because I have taken several different medications for it without any effect, and because it doesn’t explain the “fog”. In other words I have ADHD but I don’t think that it’s the cause, if you know what I mean. I’ve been rolling with the ADHD diagnosis for 3 years and it’s clear I’m not making any progress, that’s why I’m looking for other potential causes.
Years ago my GP had me get an MRI, but it didn’t reveal any issues. He also had me get an EEG to rule out epilepsy and because I told him that I thought a scan of my brain activity might give some clues, the EEG was normal but they were only looking for epilepsy and only saw a single wave on their display, it didn’t show activity in specific areas of the brain. He also checked all my “levels”, whatever that means.
Disassociation is one that keeps coming up, but when I read about it it doesn’t quite sound like me, although I definitely have several symptoms of it. Regardless I’ll bring it up next time I see a doctor.
Feel free to throw any more questions or ideas at me.
I'm not saying that you do definitely have ADHD, but I think it's worth bearing in mind that 'brain fog' can be a symptom of ADHD. It's not spoken about as commonly as some of the other symptoms, but I've heard anecdotally that many people experience this. Your GP or a specialist would be best placed to discuss this with you, of course.
Perhaps your GP was checking to see whether you might have a deficiency? Or a thyroid problem perhaps? Did they explain this to you at the time?
I'm sure that disassociation can present quite differently in different people, so I definitely think it's worth mentioning this to your doctor. The best thing you could do would probably to be as honest about your symptoms and experiences with them as you have been here, and try and work together to work out why things haven't improved yet.
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