If you read your post back to yourself, I think you answered your own question.

You were stressed -> Your health went to hell

You started having fun -> You looked and felt better.

You got stressed again -> Your health went to hell again.

Take a look at this list of 50 common signs and symptoms of stress. Any of it sound familiar?

At this point, I don't think it's down to what you eat anymore. Some, maybe, but I don't think that's the main point. In a lot of ways, I think stress is probably even more important than what we put in our mouths.

I think the goal here at this point is to worry a bit less about what you're eating, and see if you can find something that you truly enjoy doing. And yes, I know how hard that is. I've been going through something similar for a number of years now, but once I realized how much I was killing myself, I started doing something about it. And I can now say that, while not everything is fixed, I am making progress. I even have a job interview tomorrow morning so I can (hopefully) leave my current job (the main cause of my problems) and do something I will actually enjoy. (I wouldn't ordinarily discuss this in public, but my boss already knows I am burnt out on my current profession and am thinking about moving on.) You don't have to solve everything overnight, but once you start taking steps forward, other things start to fall in line.

I'm not even going to kid you and say it's easy. It's not, but the benefits far outweigh the work. As a start, you need to have fun. Say "screw it all" for a day, and go have a blast.

I would also recommend watching a documentary called Stress: Portrait of a Killer. It's on netflix streaming, so you don't have to buy it.

Google meditation. No seriously, it helps immensely.

Also, I'm sorry you feel distraught right now. The only thing that seems to help me when I am having issues is a strong support system. Do you have a good influence who can be there to listen, encourage, and support you? It could be a parent, a cousin, or your dog. Sometimes I would write it out. Talking things out helps. Do things one at a time. Nothing will make you feel better though than the fuel you put in your body. So try to keep your eating solid (food journal it if you want) and get some vitamin d. When I was deficient it really caused some depression. Once you have gotten that in check move to sleep. Nothing has healed me more than a strict sleep schedule. It's hard work and an ongoin process, but this is your life. It's only one roller coaster ride so try to straighten it out now while you are young and still vivacious. And us posters on here are only average people. After meditation and a support system, a good certified healer (doesn't have to be a psychologist or a doc--- maybe acupuncture?) could help.

Hope this helps a little :).

First and foremost, if your jaw is dislocated you need to see a doctor, physical therapist, or myofascial therapist that can set it back where it is supposed to go, you mentioned it multiples times, so I suspect it is really bugging you.

Only so much can be hacked on our own. With things like inflammation there can be too many unknown unknowns for us to tackle on our own, time for some professional help, a holistic nutritionist and a good naturopath would be good allies on this journey, if only because the office visits are long enough to fully discuss what issues you are facing. They will have a broader perspective about what could be happening, and have the ability to do tests unavailable to you on your own, who knows, there could be some sort of viral or bacterial infection at the root of your inflammation. There are also inherent gut permeability issues with autism, and while dietary changes can be helpful, there may be limit to what they can do for you. There's no shame in taking medication you need, and a naturopath might have ideas if there are any side effects that are bothering you.

I commend your initiative to take responsibility for your own health, but there are limits to what we can do for ourselves.

Edit Addendum: I don't know a ton about autism, but I believe there is often compromised liver health which can screw up pretty much anything in your body, and gut permeability (allowing inflammatory proteins and pathogens into the blood stream). You might want to try adding some liver support to your routine, like dandelion and milk thistle, especially if you are eating sugar because it has a tendency to impact the detox pathways in the liver itself. For the gut lining, broth, gelatin, and glutamine are supposed to help.

If you are feeling kinda dull/hazy, but "good" with added sucrose in your diet, that makes me think candida, which is crazy common, and can cause both of those feelings when it is systemic. Candida die-off can be a bitch, causing all sorts of freaky side effects, and can be misinterpreted as getting worse if you suddenly feel like crap limiting sugars. Again this is something you'd want to sleuth out with a naturopath because it is important to have perspective and outside monitoring if doing a candida protocol, and if you don't have an issue with candida, who wants to go through all those dietary hoops and take the supplements/meds just for the hell of it. Test, test, test, you've done your due diligence stabbing away in the dark, it is time to find out what issues you are really fighting.

"Who cares about the money anyways :), it's about life :)" ~Korion

True.

So since it's a "life" hack, not just a diet hack and you've already seen meditation recommended, I'm curious about your college major/job. You are so young, so it might be a good time to look at career direction. I'm 37 and just finished massage school. Like a lot of people on this board I have food issues, mood issues, energy issues..... Those things can be hard for the average resilient person to understand. Massage school is the first time I felt able to focus on healing myself. I was led on a whole health journey!

Now I'm not sure if autism or your personality mix well with this particular field, but there are tons of other options and I saw people mention myofascial therapy and holistic/alternative practioners and "A" mentioned your stress levels vis a vis your current environment. My massage program gave me access to all of these things in an awesome human network of real health promotion (not band-aid health). So my suggestion is that maybe you should consider a career that allows you to help yourself and others (soooo many others with health issues) simultaneously. It's the best way I can think of to enjoy being a whole person and have access to amazing support lifelong if you are prone to stress dis-ease.

#1 Get off the sugar roller coaster. Seriously. Sugar = inflammation. Ray Peat is a loon.

Go with a sane paleo diet like the Whole9/Whole30 people or Robb Wolf or Mark Sisson recommend. Pick the one of these that looks right for you and stick with it for a couple of months. Don't experiment during that time.

Make sure all your other lifestyle factors are in line. Sleep, activity, fresh air, clean living.

Have a doctor take a look at you. You could have some serious problems after that kind of lifestyle.

Dude I understand the aggression thing and the brain issues-never got tested for autism but i can relate-I went Zero Carb a couple months ago;now I'm calm as a Hindu cow. Seriously. I can focus and my moods stay very stable as does my energy.

ZC isn't for everyone but it def handled my issues.

I'm also a "nocturnal person", and by that I mean I just do not function during the day and Im way more productive in the evening and at night. I throw stock at a grocery store overnight-been at it for years(extremely hard work btw-80% newbie failure rate). I don't deal well with stress at all-like Chinese water torture bullshit stress.

I had a high paying corporate type job that was killing me-I despise the kind of stress that comes with that so I left it and became a poor ass grocery stocker-BUT I'm RIPPED!!!lol Seriously though all the physical activity just makes me feel awesome and then I go home and sleep like a baby.

Anyway, these things pretty much changed my life for the better. I'm not really trying to get you to do any of this-more just trying to show you another way somebody else with similar problems got out.

BTW-your hair kicks ass dude. Seriously rad.

Hope you find a way out of your particular hell. :)

I know you've tried a lot of diets, but have you considered GAPS? People w/ autism have had success - strict Paleo minus tubers would be GAPS compliant, with the addition of bone broth and probiotics. A lot of people get turned off by the intensity of the intro phase - personally, I've never done intro. I just do the full GAPS diet.

Korion, don't give up. We all went through a period in our lives when nothing seem to go right. You are very cute and just because it did not work out with one girl, it does not mean it won't work out with the rest of them. Girls are like buses, really, the next one comes along in 15 minutes :)

For starters, I would stop using drugs. I know, you feel it is your only way to have fun. Unfortunately, drugs is a one-way street - to a dead end. What happens is your brain re-wires itself to get artificial pleasures from drugs, not from real life. Drugs do it little by little, they damage you in such a way that at one point there is no return. You are too young, too nice and too cute to destroy your life like that. If nothing else will convince you, think of it this way: drugs alter your genetic makeup, think about the kids you will have. You don't want them to suffer because you want to have fun?

For your hair and stuff... This won't be popular on this site, but I think you should try supplementing with biotin and make sure you get enough vitamin B complex. I also think (sorry, just don't think bad of me) that Ray Peat is a little... off. So I would follow some of his advice, but not entirely. I would trust my body before I would trust Ray Peat.

I am not a doctor and I have enough issues on my own (I suddenly realized that most of those issues were brought up by following my doctor's orders, like taking PPI and such), but I believe you should find a good naturopath and try to eat more raw vegetables in addition to what you are already doing. RAW vegetables will help with your enzymes that might take care of some inflammation.

Also, if you find a good chiropractor, he might help you with your jaw. It sounds like it bothers you.

Above all, make sure to believe in yourself. You are a smart and good-natured kid, I doubt how autistic you are (I have had quite a few autistic students and you do not fit the description by any means). I think you have a bright future ahead of you (if you stop taking drugs).

You will get through it. Don't worry. Your little green dinosaur will win the race in the end.

A little off-side note - your hair is quite long (not sure if it is still long) and you might want to find a good hair stylist. A real professional can change your whole look, not just your hair. I used to cut my mom's hair so this is the first thing I notice when I look at people. But you look cute even with long hair.

My late hero used to say "you can't talk your way out of a situation you've behaved yourself into." (Stephen Covey).

Now, that being said, it would be nice to be like, "Oh, I wont cut excess sugar from my diet and I'll find another way to make my health problems go away." Life isn't that awesome and we aren't quite that lucky. If you're looking to figure out what is making you feel the way that you feel, then an elimination diet is the best way to figure out it. Whole30 is a good start. I've found that a month of whole30 helped me regain my former health and body and determine what my body is good with and what it isn't good with. After that, I reintroduced certain things and will occasionally enjoy things that aren't Paleo because "YOLO." When you're ready to actually take your health into your own hands and eliminate sugar and get back to real food, then ask some Paleo people what you should do to feel better without making the statement, "But I wont eliminate sugar." Get back to real food, get fat adapted, get back to giving your body what it needs for true gene expression, and get back to real health.

Korion, I don't think that I can provide you with any answers. The ones above are worth following, though. Just want to say, don't give up. You appear to be an interesting and thoughtful young man and I always enjoy reading your comments!