Have you suffered from burnout, and how did you recover?
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Strangely, I have never had problems sleeping, even in the burnout periods. So I don't think this is the case for me. But out of curiosity, what medication has helped you? Sleeping pills?
Bjorn
Well, its a bit technical. I thought I was sleeping well. My wife complained that I snored. Who doesn't snore? But that snoring is actually an artifact of the apnea giving me dozens of, basically, very small heart attacks each night. In the morning I would awake exhausted. It is caused by the collapse of parts of the airways (mostly the back of the tongue) when your body "relaxes" on falling into sleep. I wear "clackers" at night. Like mouthguards for sports, except they keep your lower jaw in a forward position, to stop the tongue flopping back. And I have a monitor on the back of my neck that vibrates (just like a cell phone) when I roll onto my back (which is the "most harmful" position). It also keeps a log of brain activity and stuff that the doctors like to see. And during the day I take Modifinal, which cures the mental fog amazingly well.
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I've suffered multiple times, and I'm curious to learn how others dealt with it. Recovery programs? Medication? Change of profession? Change of attitude? Shrink sessions? I should have switched profession a long time ago, but my biggest passion is still software development, and it is hard to give it up. I now have permanent damage to my nervous system. Any kind of mental effort makes me tired very quickly, and my mind is constantly "cloudy" without ability to think very clearly. Add to this the phantom sensations of ants running over my forehead and similar nerve issues. I have lived with this for 10 years. First time it happened I took three months off. Second time I needed 9 months of professional rehabilitation. In those days I worked for a consultant company, no surprise. Nowadays I run my own one man show, pretty much doing what ever I please each day, but I still keep running into the ground, so this affliction never seems to go away. Sorry about the depressing topic, and I'm not looking for sympathy, on the balance I have a very good life. But I am curious how other people have dealt with this. I'm sure it is more common than most people think.
Bjorn
My post is in regard to your symptoms, rather than the concept of burn-out. I often have the same feeling: a feeling of mental dullness and a vague sensation of a fly walking on my head. I haven't seen a specialist about it yet, but in my opinion it is from lack of blood flow to my brain -- a lack of glucose and oxygen and a build-up of the byproducts of metabolism. A drink of water, eating, exercising and deep breathing seems to help, as does meditation or doing an activity that uses a different part of my brain -- something involving feeling and movement rather than reasoning. I know that I tend to have low blood pressure, and I believe that is a factor. I found a book in the library that you might find interesting. It is titled "Preventing Alzheimer's" by William Shankle and Daniel Amen, published in 2004. Good luck.