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Fish oil causing anxiety?

taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
I cant remember which one but one of my gene mutations has the recommendation to avoid fish oils as it can cause problems for those with this mutation.

So do a search on yours with "fish oil"
 

bjl218

Senior Member
Messages
145
Location
Chelmsford, Massachusetts
Only 2 doctors had ever heard of this symptom even though if you Google it, you'll find hundreds of people posting on various boards about this very symptom. The first was the sleep neuro I mentioned. And he was supposedly one of the top sleep neuros in the country. The second was a gastroenterologist. I went to Mass General (one of the top gastro practices in the US) because I had a theory that the vibrations were related to my hiatal hernia or maybe reflux and I just wanted to be tested for those by a top gastro. I wasn't even going to mention the vibrations. But while the doctor was quizzing me and my symptoms I figured I'd just throw the vibration thing out just in case.

I was shocked when the doctor said, "Oh yeah, I know that symptom." I almost cried. According to him, it's a symptom associated with "visceral hypersensitivity." Testing for reflux showed that I had "high normal" reflux, but still well into the normal range. He said that some people just experience this low level of reflux in different ways. Some people experience pain. Some people experience it as weird nervous system events. He didn't know exactly why this happens. But you could imagine that the reflux could irritate the vagus nerve which passes right through the area of the lower esophageal sphincter. His treatment for this is low-dose "neuro-modulators" such as amitriptyline or gabapentin. This is why I'm taking both right now. And it does help a bit. Hard to tell whether it's the neuro-modulatory effects or just the drugs helping me sleep through the vibrations.

My theory is that this is a type of neuropathy that can occurs because of central nervous system dysfunction brought on by nutritional deficiencies and/or just about any other cause of central nervous system dysfunction. My other theory is that this is due to my hiatal hernia impinging on the vagus nerve. Any of these could explain why this happens only during sleep. Perhaps as the autonomic nervous system takes over certain functions such as breathing which is why I often feel this in my diaphragm.
 
Messages
56
Hi, @bjl218. My case was mild, but I did start falling asleep occasionally during the day and had to stop driving for awhile. In addition to sleep paralysis and hallucinations, I also had intense dreams as soon as I lay down and closed my eyes.

If you aren't showing any of the classic signs of narcolepsy, you probably don't need to worry about it. I hope you can find a doctor who can help you. It sounds a little dismissive for a doctor to tell you sleep vibrations are just anxiety.

Did you also see "the visitors" during sleep paralyses? It seems to be a quite common phenomenon. Creepy.
 

perchance dreamer

Senior Member
Messages
1,691
Did you also see "the visitors" during sleep paralyses? It seems to be a quite common phenomenon. Creepy.

Actually, I did, but the first time only. After the vibrations that went up my spine and up to my head, I perceived I was out of my body. This time I had the sensation of being rushed through a tunnel, with a "visitor" on either side of me. I panicked and resisted, and the experience ended.

Another time I experienced the incubus, the counterpart of the succubus. I felt a male being was on top and having sex with me. That was really creepy, especially since with sleep paralysis I couldn't move. Others with narcolepsy have also experienced this.

I know that all sounds so strange, but it felt totally real. At the time, I had never heard of narcolepsy or paid any attention to sleep disorders. I had also never heard of the tunnel associated with near-death experiences. I wasn't having a near-death experience, but I did hallucinate that tunnel.

I think everything I experienced like this was related to the narcolepsy, but still, a part of me thinks there could be such thing as the non-local mind in different contexts.
 

YippeeKi YOW !!

Senior Member
Messages
16,047
Location
Second star to the right ...
@perchance dreamer
I think everything I experienced like this was related to the narcolepsy, but still, a part of me thinks there could be such thing as the non-local mind in different contexts.
That's a fascinating rabbit-hole concept, and it's got my full attention. I say rabbit hole because the more you think about it, the deeper down the rabbit hole you go, like Alice, and things start to get really strange.

There's so much we dont know or worse, take for granted that we do.

Just fascinating. Thank you for posting this.
 
Messages
56
Similar things happened to me in sleep paralyzes. And to my sister too. I have spoken to a few people from around the globe who made similar experiences. They always were shocked how I could know about "them" even before they told me.
Personally I am not into any of the X-Files stuff (I love the show of course) but that is one of the things on earth that creep me out. Haha. Sleep good YK Yow.
 

bjl218

Senior Member
Messages
145
Location
Chelmsford, Massachusetts
Wow... I'm beginning to be thankful that the only thing I experience is the vibrations. I definitely dream a lot although I don't remember most of the dreams once I wake up. But definitely no experiences as described above.
 

Wayne

Senior Member
Messages
4,300
Location
Ashland, Oregon
Like you, I suddenly started having really extreme panic/anxiety attacks. They hit me from out of nowhere, and I had absolutely zero idea of what was causing them. Little by little, as I connected the dots,,, What I determined was that it wasn't necessarily the supplements themselves that were causing the reactions, but the gel caps (all the worst offenders were provided in soft gel caps) they were provided in.

I agree with @bjl218, very impressive sleuthing indeed! @Hip, you may find this interesting.
 

Hip

Senior Member
Messages
17,824
Google confirms it is possible to have allergic reactions to gelatin capsules, although it is a rare allergy.
 

bjl218

Senior Member
Messages
145
Location
Chelmsford, Massachusetts
I suppose that's a possibility. Although if that were they case, I would expect to wake up being hypoglycemic. I've checked my morning blood glucose a few times it's been normal.

I guess I could try eating some carbs before bed...

I used to feel internal vibrating when my blood sugar was low. Maybe you're having night time low blood sugar?
 

bjl218

Senior Member
Messages
145
Location
Chelmsford, Massachusetts
@YippeeKi YOW !! , I was just doing some more searching and I saw a post of yours from a while back that said that you thought that theanine was also contributing to your anxiety. Do you know believe that it might have been the capsules or do you believe that theanine itself was causing anxiety. I've been taking a lot of theanine lately because in the early days, coffee + theanine seemed to help.
 
Messages
63
Location
Isle of Wight
I've had trouble with flax seed oil and anxiety and keeping me awake all night.
I think the thing that we forget is that people with ME/CFS can be sensitive to medicines/ chemicals etc. Probably because of damage to the Central Nervous System.
So one thing to do is start with a minute dose then work your way up to a level that you can tolerate. I think we are so determined to get better that we take a full strength supplement whereas we should be halving the dose or less. You might try evening primrose oil but again only a low dose. :fish::fish:
 

bjl218

Senior Member
Messages
145
Location
Chelmsford, Massachusetts
That's a good point. I was definitely taking pretty high doses of fish oil to get to over 3,000mg of DHA (which is what Nemechek recommends). I don't have ME/CFS, but I definitely have some CNS issues.

I've had trouble with flax seed oil and anxiety and keeping me awake all night.
I think the thing that we forget is that people with ME/CFS can be sensitive to medicines/ chemicals etc. Probably because of damage to the Central Nervous System.
So one thing to do is start with a minute dose then work your way up to a level that you can tolerate. I think we are so determined to get better that we take a full strength supplement whereas we should be halving the dose or less. You might try evening primrose oil but again only a low dose. :fish::fish: