UNBEARABLY slow after running awhile

[DoYouKubuntu]

Does Ksysguard show the memory use expanding and not levelling out?

I don't know--because I honestly hadn't thought of trying it. The next time I'm at that laptop, I will.

One thing I've thought about as a possible cause is the size of SM's mail files. It's been years since I last archived off old mail I wouldn't need regular access to--and my mail directory is approaching 5GB. Could that be it?!

[GreyGeek]

Does Ksysguard show the memory use expanding and not levelling out?

[DoYouKubuntu]

Hey there, everybody, hope you're having a good new year. I've hit a rough patch, so I've been in bed for a few weeks, rarely using anything but my phone. I prefer posting here using a computer, hence my absence. Today I'm making an exception, as I really need some help for when I do use a computer.

My System76 laptop, which I recently upgraded to 19.10, becomes unbearably slow after running for...some time. I mean slow as in virtually unusable. My suspected culprit is SeaMonkey.

An example scenario: I've rebooted, then opened only my three basic, daily programs--konsole, Dolphin, SeaMonkey. Unlike my usual use of SM, I only have 2 or 3 tabs open (vs my normal 12+). I also have SM's mail client open--since that's my mail client! After X time, and with nothing more than I've listed running, the system slows down to a crawl--sometimes even the clock freezes, then suddenly leaps forward 45 seconds or 3 minutes, to the current time.

If I repeat the same scenario, but without running SM, it's as fast as lightning! And stays that way indefinitely...until I open SM.

I've come to dread even the little bit of laptop use I'm currently doing. I'm using KDE Connect on my Android phone, and have programmed one of its functions to reboot the laptop. I'm now doing that a few minutes before I head out to use it. By then it's fresh, fast, and ready to go!

Please note that this same behavior used to happen on its previous version, 14.04--but not to this degree. It would take weeks before slowing down to a crawl--and that included daily periods of heavy use, with many programs running (like the GIMP, with 10 or more very large images open at one time).

I love SM and do not want to switch to something else. But what can I do? I don't even have a clue how to troubleshoot this behavior or, much more importantly, make it stop.