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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 7 of 7. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by stargazer2 on May 23, 2010, at 13:43:43
Hi, I'm in a crisis with a recurrence of depression I have battled with for 30 years...the longer I have it, the more it recurs and options are diminishing with every bout I have.
Only MAOs have given me any type of relief, but I wanted to quickly see if anyone can suggest a tried and true remedy that has helped in any way.
I know everyone is different but it seems worthwhile to explore non-medical options too if some of you had had good success on them.
I know it's a long shot but figured I try to see if there might be something else I haven't thought of. I feel silly even asking as I know answers to this are not easily found.
SG2
Posted by Lao Tzu on May 24, 2010, at 10:59:10
In reply to What remedies work for TRD, w or w/o meds????, posted by stargazer2 on May 23, 2010, at 13:43:43
There could be any number of nutritional deficiencies, depends on your individual biochemistry. There are many vitamins, minerals, and also fatty acids that can be of benefit. And some herbs too. Something is bound to be helpful to you. It depends on your health status and any conditions you might be dealing with. There is no one tried and true method of eliminating depression from your life. As far as depression, what is your diagnosis? Are you unipolar, bipolar, anxiety disorder? Do you have sluggish energy? Are there any health conditions you have, such as diabetes, thyroid, liver or kidney problems? You can rule these out with blood work. If it is just depression, you could be B12 deficient or perhaps, lacking folic acid in your diet. You might need more B6 and/or B1 in your diet. You might have an imbalance in your calcium and magnesium levels. You might need more antioxidants in your diet, such as vitamin E, C, and selenium. You might benefit from a low dose of fish oil daily. As far as medications, it depends on your symptoms. In some cases, it is a lack of serotonin, or it could be problems with dopamine function. Abilify has been used for depression in people who are already on an antidepressant, but I don't have the knowledge as to whether or not you can take Abilify with MAOIs. There are some contraindications as to what medications you can or cannot take with MAOIs. Your doctor would know this. I have been tailoring an individual nutritional program to my medication regimen, and have found it very helpful because the meds alone do not address all of my symptoms. Like I said, it all depends on your individual biochemistry and also, other psychological/social factors. Are you stressed out all the time because of any events or situations in your life? This could also add to your depression or whatever your diagnosis is. In some cases, it is a dysfunction of a number of neurotransmitter systems, or it can be hormonal or endocrine. Probably get blood work done to rule out any metabolic problems and to see whether you are anemic or not, or if you have thyroid or blood glucose problems. These can add to depression. Also, histamine levels in your body can affect mood. You could be high, low, or normal. You could have heavy metal contamination or high or low copper levels. High copper or low copper could cause problems with depression. It really is a daunting task to figure all of these out, but I'm just letting you know of some causes for low mood and depression. Good luck and you might do some research or talk with your doctor if you have resistant depression. Perhaps, there is another medication that can help you further. Like I said, it is a daunting task for some people.
Posted by sigismund on May 25, 2010, at 15:17:38
In reply to What remedies work for TRD, w or w/o meds????, posted by stargazer2 on May 23, 2010, at 13:43:43
Ashwaganda (withania) is good stuff. It actually does something useful. It affects mood favourably in a very modest way. Look for a good brand.
Posted by bleauberry on May 25, 2010, at 18:27:12
In reply to What remedies work for TRD, w or w/o meds????, posted by stargazer2 on May 23, 2010, at 13:43:43
Well, I guess all I can say is to look at killing the causes of depression instead of just trying to blanket the symptoms of it.
Meds that can do that include:
DMSA
Antibiotics
DiflucanHerbs are many, including:
Cumanda
Coptis
Garlic
Japanese Knotwood
Rhodiola
Olive LeafAnd of course, a healthy vitamin supplement, healthy intake of omega oils in the diet...assuming you are not one of the 10% who experience pro-inflammatory from it instead of anti-inflammatory.
Stop all wheat products. Avoid gluten. Minimize or eliminate dairy.
I know some of these things sound absurd to those who don't know. Hey, autistic kids have been cured by simply removing their milk, ok? We are born to believe we can pop into our mouth any common food we want. Well, sometimes we can't. This has to be high on the list of suspects whenever a chronic longtem psychiatric issue is at hand.
My own discovery. Eat a handful of fresh parsley 3 times a day.
Your suspects should be:
Chronic unsuspected bacterial infection within, not reliably diagnosable by lab test.
Chronic unsuspected fungal infection within, not relaibly diagnosable by lab test.
Heavy metal accumulation. Usually lead, mercury, cadmium, and aluminum. This is diagnosable by a DMSA before-and-after provoked urine test with high dose DMSA.The above 3 work in concert. One can cause the other. It is impossible to know which came first. Primary symptoms in practically all cases are depression, anxiety, schizophrenia. Secondary symptoms are inflammation, fatigue, and arthritic type pain.
Probably not the answer you expected. But if you want to have a chance of ending the 30 year battle, you gotta do all you can, and you gotta suspect everything, most especially if you never suspected it before and if you think it is hogwash. The depression has a definite cause. Pdocs don't care about that. They are in the business of selling drug prescriptions.
At least you know MAOIs can help. In my book, that aint good enough. You should be 95% well. That is going to involve cleaning out the body of toxins.
I say this based primarily on people with stories that look identical to yours, and their eventual cures ended up being due to a long overdue diagnosis of Lyme disease, or Candida, or mercury/lead toxicity, even when no one had a clue where the metals came from. On the right treatments, they felt like themselves before illness ever struck. No psych meds needed. Though they were helpful along the journey.
Just food for thought.
Posted by orthomole on May 29, 2010, at 14:51:28
In reply to What remedies work for TRD, w or w/o meds????, posted by stargazer2 on May 23, 2010, at 13:43:43
During my first spell of feeling terribly in April 2009, I started taking niacin at around 500 mg per day and felt better within days. I felt well for 4.5 months.
During my second, I started taking B6 at 1000 mg per day last March (in addition to the niacin) and started feeling better within days. I felt well for about a month.
I have been feeling terribly recently and a few days ago started megadosing with fish oil with a high concentration of omega 3s (16 g per day in addition to niacin, B6 and other vitamins and minerals). I have been feeling better these last few days.
Posted by orthomole on May 29, 2010, at 15:02:59
In reply to Re: What remedies work for TRD, w or w/o meds????, posted by orthomole on May 29, 2010, at 14:51:28
I should mention that some depressives require much more niacin to feel normal (1-12 g per day and more) and that there is no safety risk with niacin. Its only side effects are 1) the harmless niacin flush, which goes away after a few doses and 2) nausea, which occurs if amount taken is too high.
Posted by stargazer2 on June 5, 2010, at 18:56:27
In reply to Re: What remedies work for TRD, w or w/o meds????, posted by orthomole on May 29, 2010, at 14:51:28
Since each time you added a supplement you felt better for a defined period of time, do you think the improvment you felt was due to the placebo effect or due to a real deficiency with say niacin or B-6?
Did you have any lab results indicating a deficiency or why did you add Niacin then B-6, was there a reason for supplementing certain minerals rather than others?
I sometimes do this randomly and never keep track of what actually is helping since along with the supplements, there are always medication changes and it is difficult to say what is helping for sure...
This is the end of the thread.
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