Car wont start, began with misfire

So I have been having head gasket problems and my car has been overheating a lot. I unplugged the coolant overflow reservoir and it stops overheating as long as I keep the coolant up. That is only a temporary fix to get from work and back until I replace the head gasket.

Last night I went to start my car and it started up fine so I put it in drive. As soon as I pressed the gas pedal, the engine started to shake hard and the car did not have enough power to go 25 mph. I had to get home so I figured out that if I barely pressed the gas the car would work fine, it just took a little while to get to second gear. Once I was in second gear, the car drove normally. At every stop this happened, but only in first gear.

This morning I went to start it up to go to work and it would not start. I kept cranking it and the engine would shake, it would catch for half a second or less, then die. At first I was pretty sure this is due to a misfire, but how could it get so much worse from just sitting overnight? I am lost and I cannot think of anything that would cause this.