*Hugs* I know this breakdown well, I had the same thing happen to me the other week. I had to set all my lists to web only, and decided that I didn't need to read every single piece of fanfic that crosses my threshold. It just wasn't possible. It feels much better now.

Also, don't know if you know about this option: if there are certain people you'd like to keep on your friends list, but whose journals you only read occasionally, you can set up a filter (http://www.livejournal.com/support/faqbrowse.bml?faqid=102) so those people don't appear on your friends view.