So, for the past week especially, I've been noticing a spike in the dysphoric feelings in the morning. In some ways, it's like a runaway train, in others, it's just DEEP, DARK, KILL ME NOW DYSPHORIA. I'd imagine it's a bipolar sensation, except being pulled in both directions at once.
It's known that testosterone surges in the morning. So I wonder if that's a cause.
Key facts:
- Exercise increases T; I'm exercising fairly hard, and consistently.
- No HRT, no blockers, and eating good, quality food, on a modified "Fat Fast" type diet (moderate protein, high fat, low carb)
- Worst so far today, after a good night's sleep. also, the last weekend, I got a lot of extra sleep in.
- Hitting 40, which I think is a trigger for late-onset T*s because it parallels menopause. I don't know the details, but since we know women change, and men change in some ways too, it's logical. (Logical doesn't mean correct.)
I'm hoping maybe others here can corroborate the feelings being worst in the morning, or seeing a correlation to their hormone levels, to find out if it's more of a "just me" situation (suggesting a medical / physiological cause) or a "many people" situation, which would keep it more in the realm of GID/Dysphoria. That means a chemical solution is a first treatment, whereas a "just me" implies more research to get to a solid solution. E.G., rule out cancers, sleep issues, overactive thyroid, etc., THEN think in terms of pharma or herbal moderation steps.
I used to skip a lot of sleep, always felt alive at night. Now, work demands I'm up at 6 AM at the latest (we overlap with India, and MUST MUST MUST MUST have a meeting first thing in the morning. If the boss could get us in at 6 AM, he would - and we'd still need to stay until 4 PM minimum. Boss is up at 4:30 AM, thinks mornings are WONDERFUL!!! /rant.)
So this whole thing is very new, and I'm doing more aggressive exercises than I used to (funny thing is, I was looking for max weight workouts in Olympic lifts before; now I'm doing a posture correction program, and I'm having THIS result. Heavy weights + low reps is supposed to really push the T levels, and I'm doing light weights for reps. Can't effing win!)
Any thoughts or input is appreciated...
-Dianna
