Correlation "how I feel about a number of parameters" with Xanax Ritalin and Alcohol

Quantified Self
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Hi, I have been collecting data for quite a time, I have downloaded and purchased a lot of apps but decided about rTracker, I unfortunately keep changing the trackers due to my ADHD, I wasnt able to decide about one tracker, I always want to make a new one, a better one :slight_smile:

Now I want to be able to correlate the medications I take on demand and alcohol, how they change my mood.

The parameters I am tracking are the ones that makes me either up or down such as “work, wife, x-wife, personal finance, my colleagues, my hobbies etc.”

lets make an example

Work -3, -2, 0, 1, 2, 3
Wife -3, -2, 0, 1, 2, 3
x-Wife -3, -2, 0, 1, 2, 3

once I evaluate them, -3 is “it makes me feel very bad, 0 neutral 3 it makes me feel good”

So on the top of the tracker, I want to ask 3 questions

Xanax (makes me relax)
Ritalin (in the beginning it makes me happy for max 20 minutes, and then kinda makes me anxious)
Alcohol (depending on how much I take, I usually drink 2-3 nights a week, and I feel positive when I have alcohol)

it wouldnt be difficult to correlate xanax, ritalin and alcohol if I would evaluate them as 1 or 0, but each of them has different effects on their half-life stages.

xanax 8 hrs half-life but after 4 hours it makes me sleepy
ritalin 4 hours of half-life first 20 minutes a lot of dopamine, and then it kinda turns into anxiety if I am idle
Alcohol, hard to say.

is it possible to correlate the items above with considering the half lifes?

Or lets say I have multiple choices for xanax etc.

xanax Stage1 - Stage2 - Stage3 - just ended
ritalin Stage1 - Stage2 - Stage3 - just ended

4 stages for each

I dont know how I would correlate them, I use Tableau but I am not good at it,

your comments are appreciated.

(the reason I try to correlate is; due to ADHD my mood changes very very quickly and those parameters are the ones that quickly changes my mood even in 10 minutes, I want to understand, I also will have annotations on changes (that could be done on rTracker)

I havent created the tracker yet, I will create tonight and start tracking, since they change very quickly, I should be able to provide a small set of data as csv to those who can test and help me.

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My 2 cents…
Try to change only one thing at a time, e.g., take your normal does of xanax and ritalin (or nothing at all if possible), and then drink alcohol.
Measure the positive effects of alcohol and give them positive numbers, and measure the negative effects and give them negative numbers. Give them weights if necessary (if you want some to be more important than others). An easy way to do this is multiply more important factors by 2 or something like that so you don’t feel forced to give them higher scores so they have a larger effect on the outcome.
After 24 hours, when any issues with hangover and poor sleep, have had their negative effects, then add them up. If the number is positive, then overall alcohol improves your life; if negative, it doesn’t. Don’t forget to assign at least some low-weighted value to the toxic effect on your liver which isn’t noticeable day to day but will probably matter to you long term.
I’d also suggest taking note of your diet. Certain foods (or supplements) can elevate your mood and muck with a proper experiment, e.g., foods with lots of omega fatty acids can improve your mood (certain fishes, walnuts, etc.). So when experimenting, eat a diet that is typical for you, or experiment with diet separately (note that the effects are somewhat delayed of course due to digestion time). Good luck!

1 Like
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you are right about alcohol, I only wanted to see when I get alcohol things start to look easier, the pain-givers like x-wife doesn’t give any pain… But here I am of course not trying to prove alcohol is good… no, just want to see my fast changing mood especially with Ritalin and Xanax

You are correct about diet, I will take into consideration, I have to start updating MyFitnessPall again. I have premium subscription, so it would be easier to get the info in categories.

thanks

4

I liked the suggestion of just changing one thing at a time. You might want to check out the app Moodfit which will let you track all these parameters, chart them together, etc. Disclosure - I’m the founder. But you should still check it out. :slight_smile: