![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 10 of 10. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Dr. Bob on December 19, 2003, at 21:11:47
In reply to Question about Fish Oil, posted by Siraris on December 19, 2003, at 15:23:55
> A lot of people are saying how helpful Fish Oil is. I don't know anything about it, and I wanted to ask people who are taking it a few questions.
>
> First of all, it helps with cognition? You've really noticed helpful effects from it?
>
> How do you know how much to take? Does the bottle tell you? I would like to get a few responses on how much people take, or if there is a universal dose.
>
> How long do you take it? How often and whatnot, and is it something you take for the rest of your life, or just a few months or a year?
>
> Last thing, does it make you smell? I know things like garlic and fish make you smell like them, does this do the same? If so, what do you do to counteract it?
Posted by KellyD on December 20, 2003, at 8:28:57
In reply to Question about Fish Oil « Siraris, posted by Dr. Bob on December 19, 2003, at 21:11:47
> > First of all, it helps with cognition? You've really noticed helpful effects from it?I find it helpful in a number of areas. Mood is better. I seem to handle stressors better and I do believe clarity and "sharpness" is improved.
> > How do you know how much to take? Does the bottle tell you? I would like to get a few responses on how much people take, or if there is a universal dose.
I use 3 gms. (1 gm per softgel) per day of a softgel form. You may want to work up to that, say, a week at 1, progress to 2, and so on. You may find you tolerate it just fine, but gradual works better for some.
> > How long do you take it? How often and whatnot, and is it something you take for the rest of your life, or just a few months or a year?
I split my doses - 3 times per day. My plan, right now, is to remain on it indefinately.
> > Last thing, does it make you smell? I know things like garlic and fish make you smell like them, does this do the same? If so, what do you do to counteract it?
I haven't noticed that being a problem and those "close" to me haven't reported it. People have reported "fishy" burps and stomach distress. You should take it with a fatty meal. I have noticed NO problems with it. The only caution is if you use blood thinners or high dose aspirin - fish oil can interfer with blood clotting, but it's not a risk for most - only the cautions I noted above.
I highly recommend it. It's definately worth trying and you may be pleased you did. My experiences have been good. Others may not find it so good. At the very least, it's good for your heart health and not really harmful.
There are many here who know a lot more than I do about it and hopefully, you will get some good information to make the decision that's right for you.
Good Luck,
Kelly
Posted by linkadge on December 21, 2003, at 9:14:50
In reply to Question about Fish Oil « Siraris, posted by Dr. Bob on December 19, 2003, at 21:11:47
It can be taken with (and often augments) standard antidepressant therapy). Generally more reputable brands (NOW, Omegabrite, Jamieson) etc have very little fishy aftertaste. Nothing that anyone has every commented about.
Some people notice some insomia, on very high doses near beadtime. I have not noticed this that much. In my oppinion this is something you want to get on and stay on (even if it is a low dose).
You may notice short term benefits (like I did within a week or two) and more benefits the longer you take it.EPA and DHA are both found in fish oil.
You may want to read the book "The Omega 3 Connection" by Dr. Andrew Stoll. a professor
at Harvard university.Linkadge
Posted by Dr. Bob on December 24, 2003, at 15:53:06
In reply to Question about Fish Oil « Siraris, posted by Dr. Bob on December 19, 2003, at 21:11:47
[Posted by kotsunega on December 23, 2003, at 11:26:27]
> I take fish oil. I am Bipolar I, besides. I think it does help with mood stability; it has definitely raised my good cholesteral to amazingly high levels. I would advise taking the super-refined fish oil only, as standard fish oil you find in health food stores is still carrying a lot of the poisoness heavy metals that were in the water the fish once swam in. You can get super-refined fish oil from www.searslabs.com. Oh, and it hardly smells of anything at all, so no worry about that problem.
Posted by Omega Woman on January 3, 2004, at 5:02:09
In reply to Re: Question about Fish Oil, posted by KellyD on December 20, 2003, at 8:28:57
I've been using Fish oil for three years now every day. The recovery from illness was so profound. and easygoing compared to Prozac etc..that I became quite vocal and frustrated at the disbelief from learned people and ridicule from friends.
Thanks to omega 3 i've gone from being highly creative and useless to sensible and useless.
only kidding..i'm probably more employable then i've been in quite a while.
Posted by Francesco on January 5, 2004, at 7:42:26
In reply to Re: Question about Fish Oil » KellyD, posted by Omega Woman on January 3, 2004, at 5:02:09
I have read so many good things about fish oil that I decided to try it. Unfortunately I had to stop it after a couple of days 'cause it made me me hypo ... never been like that. I was happy but I was tooo happy and I did a couple of stupid things like speaking in a bioethics conference in favour of dopaminergic meds (the conference's subject -ehm ehm- was another one and consider also that I'm a quite shy person). Some folk like Larry Hoover told me to continue because this over-reaction would indicate a lack of fish oil in my body, some other told me to stop it and I followed the last, just to be cautious. Now I'm on Trileptal ... in fact the other stupid thing I did while on fish oil was going to my p-doc ... I was clearly hypo, in that region situated very near to full mania, and not strangely he put me on a mood stabilizer : /
my question is: is there any of you who experienced hypo-feelings at first who subsided with time ? is there any reason to try again fish oil ? (I had the hypo reaction at ridicolous low doses ... something like 400mg)
Thanks, lucky fish oil users ! ;-)
Posted by Omega Woman on January 5, 2004, at 12:28:32
In reply to Re: Question about Fish Oil » Omega Woman, posted by Francesco on January 5, 2004, at 7:42:26
Perhaps you should read the thread on PsychoBabble ...just Psychobabble..called "zopiclone and omega 3 is it High or Healthy".. Omega 3 made me hyper too...my eyes were popping out my head like a fish !!...so I took them with zopiclone, which is a sleeping/anti anxiety drug which is also a strong physical relaxant. this is a good combo..i have been doing really well for 18 months.
The Zopiclone helps ground the out there effect of omega 3. These drugs compliment each other well. I thought I had discovered the combo but the people on that thread said they had been doing really well with it too.
Posted by Francesco on January 5, 2004, at 19:01:43
In reply to Re: Question about Fish Oil » Francesco , posted by Omega Woman on January 5, 2004, at 12:28:32
Thanks for the answer. I have looked for the thread but I didn't manage to find it. Do you remember when you posted it ? I have tried fish oil in the past for adhd-like-syntoms and I find it helpful but since it made me hypo at low doses I decided to quit it. Now I'm considering to try it again so every comment like yours is very welcome. What kind of syntoms did you manage to target with fish oil ?
Posted by Omega Woman on January 6, 2004, at 1:55:40
In reply to Re: Question about Fish Oil » Omega Woman, posted by Francesco on January 5, 2004, at 19:01:43
that thread was posted on 1/4/2004. The topics really about the use of Zopiclone as an antianxiety drug and how well it works with omega 3. I was surprised to find other people using it the same way.
I keep wondering why I had a general bag of the full spectrum of mental disorders. This makes sense when I read recent research into whole brain defects like Schizophrenia. Omega 3 is a whole brain remedey for mental short circuiting. If its the whole brain chemistry thats out of kilter then it makes sense that I would experience a bit of every symptom going. I did'nt know if I had Schizophrenia, BP or what.
At the height of my illness, I'd say the main problem was an inability to process information properly, everything was getting annoying, any sound, people moving. After a while the stress started to kick in more familiar symptoms, panic attacks, going catatonic, also going manic with the SSRI pills. The Omega 3 cured the mental processing problem or I should say prevents it because I still have to take them at least once a day. The anxiety problem was another issue, which is treated well by zopiclone.
The NHS Pdcos were useless. None of my current treatments were suggested by those people. Their drugs made me worse. Then they wanted to blame those drugs for my problems. How can those people be so bad at what they do ?
Of course I would take drugs if I was ill. Most of them being drugs prescribed by their psychiatrists previously. I did'nt see the point in telling them this. Why bother ? It seems like they look for an excuse not to treat people. A person might have resorted to street drugs, but that might only be 20% of the picture. I nearly died of heart failure from the interaction between what the GP and the psychiatrist prescribed. NHS Psychiatrists did'nt recieve copies of my prescription list. They would ask me personally. But this information just gets summed up in their incompetent subjective routine. and does'nt enter into any sort of system for checking dangerous interactions.
Posted by Francesco on January 8, 2004, at 6:43:07
In reply to Re: Question about Fish Oil (nm) » Omega Woman, posted by Francesco on January 8, 2004, at 5:54:06
pardon me for the previous (blank) message. my question was: how much fish oil are you taking ?
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Alternative | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.