Posted by Lao Tzu on May 26, 2008, at 6:50:44
Three herbs that have helped me in the past are St. John's Wort, Kava kava, and ginseng. I have not tried rhodiola rosea, though I hear it is good for mood, energy, and mild to moderate depression.
For the first few months I took St. John's Wort I felt great relief from my depression. After that, I still didn't go into really bad depressions, but my moodiness returned and I lacked sufficient energy. If this happens to you, you might need to add other nutrients to your SJW. These include B12, B6, B3, zinc, magnesium, calcium, vitamin D, vitamin C, and in some cases, fish oils. If you've never taken B12, I'd recommend that you start at a low dose, say about 250mcg. Most B12 comes in 1,000mcg tablets, so you can use a pill cutter to cut the tablet into 4 250mcg pieces. Starting off with 1,000mcg B12 if you've never taken it before can be too energizing and sometimes irritating. Next is kava kava. This herb helped me with generalized anxiety but not social anxiety. If I took the normal dosage I was fine. If I took a lot more than the normal dosage, I felt stimulated, which isn't always good if you have a lot of anxiety or panic attacks so keep the dosage low. Also, I noticed that SJW and Kava kava don't seem to go well if you're already taking psychiatric medications. The last is ginseng. This herb helped lift my mood somewhat and made me more energetic. However, ginseng's primary function is not for energy, but more for strengthening the body to help recover from illness and stressors on the body. Might enhance immune functions and strengthen adrenal glands, but I'm not positive. This herb I found I could take with medication, and I didn't notice any adverse effects. But that's just my experience.
Instead of St. John's Wort, you could probably use 5-htp. I'm not sure which is better for depression. And of course, try adding the vitamins and minerals, and I have also found that some amino acids are helpful for depression. They are glycine, taurine and tyrosine. From my experience, I would only take glycine and taurine at bedtime because they both can be sedating. Tyrosine can help somewhat with energy. Hope this is helpful to some of you.For the nutrients I mentioned above, typical multivitamins don't have enough of the B vitamins to do you much good if you have clinical depression. SJW or 5htp by itself might not be enough. For B12, you may want to start at 250mcg and slowly work up to an optimal dosage, anywhere from 500-1,000mcg. For B6, I find that 100mg is fine for me or at most 200mg a day. For B3, it usually comes in 250mg capsules. You might need half of this or you might do well on 500mg a day. For zinc, I'd start off at 15mg or 30mg and see if this is sufficient. For magnesium, anywhere from 200mg-400mg per day is usually sufficient. With calcium, some people need it, some don't. The RDA is about 1,000mg a day, but I would take 500mg in morning and 500mg at night if you need it. Vitamin D is supposed to be good for depression, especially in the winter when there is less daylight. I would take anywhere from 500IU to 1,000IU. Finally, Vitamin C can be good for mood and energy, and it is a good antioxidant. Dosages can be anywhere from 250mg-2,000mg a day. I also take 1 or 2 fish capsules before bedtime, not during the day because it makes me feel lethargic if I take them in the morning. Remember, everyone has different nutritional needs. You have to find the right dosages of vitamins/minerals that work for you and make you feel more comfortable. Hope this helps.
poster:Lao Tzu
thread:831184
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20080326/msgs/831184.html