From: mha23x@gmail.com   
      
   Selfhacked   
   Cutting-Edge Solutions For a Better Life   
       
   Self-Improvements   
   Intellectual Improvement   
      
    I’ve had chronic health issues as an adolescent and had to figure out the   
   solutions myself, since no one could help.  These issues weren’t serious   
   enough that I needed drugs or that I could be diagnosed with a disease, but   
   they took a serious toll,    
   especially cognitively.   
      
   My story is unique when it comes to improving my own cognitive function.  I   
   grew up in unusual circumstances and never really got an education.  In   
   addition, I had all sorts of cognitive problems from inflammation.   
      
   I grew up in a ultra-Orthodox Jewish family of 7 and was relatively poor.   My   
   mother was a single mom who wasn’t very proactive as to which school I went   
   to, and so I ended up in a religious school that was meant for kids with   
   behavioral issues or    
   delinquents, even though I didn’t have these issues.   
      
   I remember being bright growing up, picking up reading, multiplication and   
   division at a very early age.  I picked it up myself from some educational   
   game.  However, my education at school was horrible to non-existent, since it   
   was geared for kids who    
   had problems.  I remember being bored to death by learning the same thing a   
   million times. I decided to mentally check out.   
      
   By 8th grade, my reading and mathematical ability barely improved from earlier   
   grades.  In all of elementary school, I had never studied for a test, read a   
   book, did a piece of homework or wrote an essay.  Not once.   
      
   Come high school, the situation was better but still far from good.   My   
   mom’s financial situation improved thanks to benevolent relatives who made   
   lots of money.   Orthodox high schools cost a lot of money (usually about   
   15,000 dollars a year).  I    
   chose one with the best education that we could afford (6000$ a year, with   
   lots of breaks).  Little did I know, the education was horrible.   
      
   Not going to a Jewish school was out of the question for my family.  At least   
   this school was geared for normal kids, but it still didn’t provide a decent   
   education. To give you an idea of what this school was about, they told us not   
   to study for the    
   SATs because they didn’t want us to go to college and get a secular   
   education.   I had 6 hours of religious education and prayer and 3 hours of   
   secular education, most of which didn’t actually take place as the class was   
   filled with boisterous    
   students.   
      
   For high school, I never did homework and studied a total of 10 hours for   
   tests a year.  This wasn’t because I was brilliant, but because it was a   
   joke. On the rare occasion that I did study for a test I would do it the day   
   of.  I still never read a    
   book in my life and maybe wrote two essays in all of high school.  It was a   
   joke.   
      
   By the age of 18, I had a fourth grade ability to read and write and the   
   focusing capacity of a 6 year old.  I could barely understand half of what   
   newspapers would write.  I didn’t have a clue about what any SAT passage was   
   talking about.  I was what†  
   ™s called functionally illiterate (half of the US is).   
      
   This was partly  because I grew up without ever having read a book or writing   
   a paper and had overall little mental stimulation.   The other part was as a   
   result of physiological issues such as brain fog and inflammation.   
      
   Fast forward, the situation now is entirely different.  I either score   
   perfectly or in the 99th percentile in writing and verbal on a variety of   
   standardized tests and score highly in math and a variety of other   
   intelligence tests.  I do best on tests of    
   reasoning.     
      
   I have probably gained around 40 IQ points.  Sounds surreal, I know, but I’m   
   not making it up.   
      
   At 15, I took a PSAT and scored an equivalent of about a 400 on the verbal   
   section (less than the 50th percentile for my age group).   
      
   At 23, I took the SAT twice and both times scored a perfect 800 on the   
   verbal.  Both scores weren’t a result of practice effects, since I didn’t   
   study for it at 15 or 23.   
      
   At 27, my reading (and writing) ability is significantly better now than it   
   ever was.  I was still having a lot of cognitive problems at the age of 23.   
      
   Although it’s a fair point that verbal ability isn’t completely indicative   
   of IQ, I subjectively feel as though my general cognition improved in lockstep   
   with my verbal abilities. So while I can’t know exactly how many IQ points I   
   have gained, 40    
   points seems to be a reasonable and even conservative guess.   
      
   Physical Improvement   
      
   I never was fat, but I have gotten more fit by following my diet, with very   
   little exercise.   
      
   I exercise for about 2 hours a month, excluding walking. No sit-ups.   
      
   Previous Health Problems   
      
   My biggest improvements came in fixing my body.  These are the problems I have   
   dealt with in the post, but no longer do.   
      
   Cognitive   
      
   Some of these are closely related.  For example, generalized anxiety will be   
   correlated with test anxiety, performance anxiety, panic attacks, OCD, nail   
   biting, insomnia, etc…   
      
   I don’t have these issues anymore to any degree (as long as I keep to a   
   strict diet)..   
      
   Brain fog   
   Brain fatigue   
   Hypothalamic inflammation   
    Neuroinflammation/BBB permeability   
   OCD- Cognitve…Nail biting, Lip biting   
    GAD- Generalized Anxiety Disorder   
    Social Anxiety   
    Test Anxiety   
    Performance Anxiety   
    Panic Attacks   
    Chronic Stress – even if I wasn’t busy   
    Anhedonia   
    Dysthymia   
    Memory problems   
    Cognitive dysfunction   
    Nervous tension and energy   
    Insomnia   
    Post-meal fatigue   
   Chronic fatigue – physical and mental   
   Low motivation   
   Reactive hypoglycemia/Neuroglycopenia   
      
   GI Related   
      
   IBS   
    Intestinal permeability?   
    SIBO?   
    Gut dysbiosis?   
    Constipation   
   Other   
      
   Insulin resistance/metabolic issuesHypoglycemia   
    High liver enzymes   
    High cholesterol   
    Higher end of blood sugar range   
    Acne   
    Tinea versicolor   
    Dry eyes   
    Continual loss of vision even after 21   
    Bad circulation in hands feet and in general (cold extremities)   
    Phlegm and Mucous   
    Hemorrhoids   
   Getting exhausted and nauseous quickly from exercising   
    Migraines – exercise induced   
    Knee Pain/Arthritis,   
   Back pain   
    Slowed wound healing   
    Lowered immunity – got sick after lifting weights and frequent sickness –   
   colds,  flu, strep, bells palsy.   
    Needing more than 8 hrs of sleep   
    Nose bleeds   
    Weak gums   
    Cavities/Teeth problems   
    Needing to drink a lot – like a gallon a day   
    Dry lips, hands   
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
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