You are right #94106, it is very difficult to conclude anything definite about factors that make complex systemic ailments like SD better or worse. There are all kinds of difficulties; there may be a delayed effect from potentially beneficial agents, the SD seem to have its own variances as you say, good or bad effects may come from a certain combination of agents and actions, etc.

I have the greatest respect for your long experience with SD. It is very easy to fool oneself, even the very anticipation of finally having found a remedy may have a positive effect in itself - for a while.

Yet I'm pretty certain that things can be done to improve the condition by some relentless detective work. For instance, I've found it useful to accumulate lots of data in a personal logbook. Data about what you eat and drink, what medications you use, your general mood & stress level, how you sleep, the SD status, things like that. Create a database or a simple excel sheet to keep track of data. Over time patterns and covariances emerge in the data which may be helpful to identify potentially good ideas to try, new experiments. Places like this are an excellent source of ideas of treatments, filtered through your own bank of experiences.

Concerning SD I don't think it is possible to come up with a standard solution that works for everyone. However, I do believe it is possible to find personalized treatments for most SD sufferers that improve the condition enough to be worth the effort of trying to find them.

Sorry about your recent SD outbreak after so many years of keeping it in check (or dormancy). I hope you find the motivation to start searching for your personal way of improving the condition again if the standard prescriptions don't give results that are good enough.

Best wishes!