I found the thread linked below and the previous one that is linked within it really interesting when it comes to this topic
Why I Started Using SRS Again?
Pretty sure @KazeTachinu is still around on the forums so they would be able to say more about it (if they like!) but I thought that they were really well considered posts and give good reasons on both sides (for and against using SRS).
This may not be all that helpful as I’m definitely no expert - but my thinking would be, if you are feeling that SRS is draining your ability to read more, then that’s probably enough cause to pause or reduce the SRS you are doing just now. That doesn’t mean that you can’t come back to using SRS in the future!
In my own personal experience (and this may well not apply here) I was doing a lot of SRS for the first 9 months to a year or so of studying Japanese. When I first started reading I felt like I had to SRS everything I didn’t know, and seeing as I also was generally reading above my level that quickly would get overwhelming. What I did was to take a break of a few months from all SRS and to just read, and while I probably didn’t learn as much vocab as I might have, my reading in Japanese definitely improved a great deal and perhaps more importantly it turned into something that I do because I really enjoy it rather than feeling like studying. I’ve now gradually been adding back in SRS (though not for everything I read and generally in a pretty chill manner) and it’s been okay but I do think that I made the right decision at the time in terms of taking that break.
So yeah, I wouldn’t argue with anyone here when they say that SRS is most effective for learning new vocab but having a little break also isn’t the end of the world 