Can anyone relate?(especially you INTPs)

[Belak]

Hello all.

First of all, I am sorry if you have heard this all before. Sincerely, I apologize. If you don't want to read about my troubles, leave the thread.

I have posted similar concerns in the past, but they only accumulated a few responses.

Spoiler

I will start by explaining my... Situation. I'm fifteen, male, in high school, intp. I have it pretty easy.

But no, it's not that simple. You see, I'm tired all the time, not only that, but I cannot for the love of God, pay attention. The day goes something like this. I wake up (not hungry for breakfast), drink some water, brush my teeth, and head to school. I go to school and go through the same boring and mundane day as always. My problems with inattention do bother me, but I can easily coast through most of my classes and still get decent grades. When I get to my more boring classes (and subsequently more challenging), my issue arises. Suddenly, it is really hot, I have a headache, I cannot concentrate. Sometimes I'll find that five minutes have passed and I was just spacing out. It's only when the subject is interesting (hardly ever), or intellectually stimulating that I am able to do well. It is especially bad in my math class. I used to love math, now it is a challenge to sit through it without falling asleep or dying of boredom. My grades are starting to hurt. Next, I ride home on the bus and am perfectly fine. Things are once again entertaining. I can concentrate on entertaining things for hours while school bores the living hell out of me. When I go to bed at around ten, I spend till eleven lying awake trying to fall asleep, but my mind is buzzing.

I don't know if this is an intp thing, but I honestly hope it is. Because then you will have advice.

I have also considered ADHD-PI, but I'm pretty sure that my mother considers that hogwash.

What does it sound like to you, and have any of you experienced the same symptoms.
-Fatigue/really tired (intermittent)
-Mental exhaustion
-Inability to concentrate (usually mundane tasks)
Keep in mind that these things have been almost constant; I am fully aware that these things happen to everyone to a certain degree.

If you have experienced this, I would greatly appreciate your help. I know that these posts are tiresome, but this is becoming too much. (I have been debating on making this post for over a month for fear of being ignored for being repetitive)

Thank you.

 

[onesteptwostep]

Haha, I started to like math again when I started calculus. What are you studying? (Trig? Geometry? Statistics?)

 

[Belak]

I'm in Algebra 2, but I am also only a freshman. It really isn't too hard.

 

[Rook]

Simply this: BREAKFAST

At times, when I do not eat breakfast, I feel fatigued, with mid-day headaches a common occurrence.

I only skimmed over the rest of your explanation because, with all sincerity, breakfast is the most essential action in any human's day to day life.

Start eating healthy breakfasts, if you don't feel hungry, eat regardless.

Your other concerns with school and boredom aside, this is quite essential advice which is sure to improve your initial temperament.

 

[TBerg]

Drinking coffee and sitting on the toilet make my day better. A little meditation after a good sleep is also wonderful.

 

[Minuend]

Well, yes I can relate to some of it, but I can't offer you any particularly helpful advice. My "problems" probably have a different cause than yours, though. The problems you are experiencing might very well be ADHD, but stuff like concentration problems, difficulty sleeping can be a result from stress, depression, vitamin deficiency etc etc as well.

I don't think it's an INTP thing, no.

One thing I do know, though, is that when experiencing difficulties with concentration, brainfog, mental sluggishness or the like, what you eat can make things slightly better or slightly worse. Not to the extent where you will be able to concentrate clearly. It wont cure it. More like having a slightly less painful throat ache.

Eating regularly have had no noticeable effect on me, if anything I can get worse after a large meal. I can skip breakfast without problems if I get enough calories the rest of the day. I can even fast for two days before I start getting sluggish. What you eat is important, though. A lot of processed foods, food with high sugar content or the not-ideal fats etc is not advisable. I have wondered about the long term effects a bad diet have on teenagers. It's a somewhat critical age of development, so I'm curious whether bad food could slightly reduce their mental abilities throughout the rest of their lives.

Anyways... D:

Edit: I guess I could mention that wheat, peanuts and too much sugar have very noticeable fog inducing effect on me.

Keep trying to concentrate and do activities that stimulate brain activity is important even though it can be almost painful to engage in those activities. The more you let things go, the worse it gets.

Drinking coffee makes my brain fog worse if I'm already feeling a bit ill. Though I still drink it from time to time because it calms me.

It might be worth trying to work out the root of the problems through a doctor or psychiatrist. It's easier to tackle ones problems if one know where they come from. Easier to find help tailored to one's situation. Of course, difficult if your mother would work against you.

When I'm feeling extra brain foggy, I sometimes take DMAE and acetylcarnitine. The worst layer of fog tends to go away, though this might be the famous placebo effect at work. I wouldn't recommend it as I haven't researched it extensively, but it might be worth reading more about.

I think there are some foods that are thought to be neuroprotective, may be worth a google.

 

[Belak]

I should probably say that my problems begin shortly after lunch, so breakfast may not be relavent. I'll try to eat breakfast more though.

Thanks for your help.

 

[OptiMist_Prime]

...I have also considered ADHD-PI, but I'm pretty sure that my mother considers that hogwash...

What does it sound like to you, and have any of you experienced the same symptoms.
-Fatigue/really tired (intermittent)
-Mental exhaustion
-Inability to concentrate (usually mundane tasks)
Keep in mind that these things have been almost constant; I am fully aware that these things happen to everyone to a certain degree.

If you have experienced this, I would greatly appreciate your help. I know that these posts are tiresome, but this is becoming too much. (I have been debating on making this post for over a month for fear of being ignored for being repetitive)...
Thank you.

I don't have anything INTP-specific for you but have you ever thought about sleep apnea or sleep disturbance of some kind? Do you know if you snore? Do you have an overbite? Is your neck circumference > 17 inches?

There's a sleep apnea online questionare you can take to see if you are at risk.


There are other sleep problems, serious ones I mean aside from sleep apnea. I just read about sleep panic attacks for example, REM disregulation, narrowing of the airway while asleep and all weird kinds of stuff. There's an app called "Snore Clock". It will show a graph of the sound and will show spikes when there is more than just ambient noise, so you can quickly go that that spot in the recording.

According to one website, 80% of sleep apneas go undiagnosed, so your doc might not be well versed, so you might have to nag him but maybe it's worth a thought? It sucks that your parents don't take your ADHD seriously. (Why are parents like that??? Sheesh.) Maybe they will take this more seriously, or can you go on your own to the doc?

 

[onesteptwostep]

I'm in Algebra 2, but I am also only a freshman. It really isn't too hard.

I understand that it's tedious to do all that calculation and carrying over and stuff, but they're just things you have to understand before you take the next leap onto other subjects. I hated doing trigonometry/geometry/statistics because it didn't deal with theories and out of the box thinking but just ridiculous mind-numbing calculations. The concepts are easy to grasp. For me math started to become fun again when I began calculus.

On algebra: without learning algebra you won't be able to get into physics and chemistry indepth. If anything just nag your teachers on why learning all this mind-numbing gibberish is useful. I don't think the problem lies in your mentality or anything, it's just that you haven't realized how all this connects to other subjects. If you're completely unchanllenged at school, find things that interest you and drill into it. Read classic literature, study history, learn programming, learn a new language, learn how to play an instrument, and so on.

If you really want to challenge yourself, learn how to play a team sport or go ask someone on a date ;]

 

[Desired Username]

Not the physical side, but mentally I may understand.

I can't think of a time I ever really paid attention or tried in school, somehow graduated.

Math, just have the answer available to your problem, then work backwards to see how that answer could possibly come about. Then test that theory with the other problems listed under that category to see if that is the correct way to determine the answer.

If all else fails, chase ducks.

 

[Belak]

Thank you guys.

I do get what algebra is supposed to do, and I'm in an honors class. I actually get really good grades, but I'm finding that I've started to care less and less. Up to this point, I was interested, but for the past few months, these problems have arisen or at least become noticeable. It isn't that it is hard, but rather, it is boring. But I'm downright obsessive and energetic twenty minutes later!

I believe that it is probably a combo of sleep problems and adhd. The former I can fix, while the latter... I could try talking to a guidance counselor. I don't know how my mom would react. My dad might take it more seriously as he had adhd when he was a kid, but he most likely will think that I am being paranoid or worrying too much.

Personally, I don't believe that I'm just worried over nothing. At least, it's not normal.

Anyway, thanks for the support.