What Natural Supplements Do You Take For Depression/anxiety When Ssri And Snri Haven't Been Tolerated Well?

[Amelia]

Hi I have been diagnosed with hyperadrenergic pots by Mayo in Scottsdale. I have tried zoloft, lexapro, Prozac, and Pristiq. All of which make my symptoms worse. I am desperate for any suggestions. I just started using mother wort yesterday. My doc at mayo doesn't want to use benzos for addiction reasons? What are your other pots docs saying about this?

[issie]

Some people that SSRI's and SNRI's haven't worked for --off label ---Tramadol is working for.

Lemon Balm and Valerian works sort of as natural suppressants - like a benzo would work.

Some have found that if their Vit D levels are too low - upping the levels helps with depression.

Issie

[Dizzysillyak]

A healthy paleo / wahls diet, 5htp, theanine and doing something for myself regularly helps me. Tc .. D

[issie]

Dizzy, I'm in between diet changes right now ---if this new doc is right about what he thinks ----a paleo diet is not going to work ---if what he is saying is correct. I'll know more when I see him in a few weeks. The reason is the fat content. More later . . . .just something for us to think about.

Issie

[Dizzysillyak]

Hi issie,

I'm not watching my fat intake other than to fit into my jeans. Is that a Paleo thing ? I remember

seeing fats recommended in the Ketogenic diet but not fats. I just eat

what a hunter gatherer would eat. Basically it's anything that can be eaten raw. I don't eat a

lot of meat fats because they make me feek sick.

I try to stick to raw nuts and seeds

but occassionally cave and buy some Sunbutter. I know better because it puts fat on me quicker

than anything. Avocados are bad too but not as bad as a cooked fat.

I avoid all oils other than evoo and evco too. I'd heard the others weren't good for us but I never

did the research.

Now you've got me curious .. Tc .. D

[issie]

Dizzy, you sound like you may be somewhat okay with the docs idea. He really thinks we have to limit fats - extremely so. I'll tell you more when I know more. My friend has an appt. this week and I'm going back to learn more. My appt. is in 3 weeks. So, will be researching this and trying to form an opinion.

Issie

[KevInChester1]

Recently I've been dieting, initially I cut fat down by a great degree, and removed all bad fats from my diet. The result was I got even more depressed than usual - though physically I felt fine. I ended up having to increase the amount of fat that I consumed so as to feel better. Of course this could have been some sort of vitamin/mineral thing too, or a reaction to the amount of exercise I was doing. Still be interesting to find out how you get on.

As for the op, I'd love to know some meds/supplements that have worked for people, as to be honest none of the SSRI work that well (slightly mood balanced, slightly zombie is the best result I've had), SNRI are out too as they make me go crazy. Might try Tryptophan working under the assumption I just have too little serotonin for any SSRI drugs to work effectively with.

[Dizzysillyak]

I never did well on prescription anti anxiety or depression meds. Finding that I needed to seek out

things that make me smile helped. Things like the beach, feeding the birds, window shopping, watching

funny movies, talking with freinds on the phone or internet etc. Being a member on health forums

with others who understand my illness helps too.

I appear to be low on a lot of nutrients inc serotonin and seem to need 100 mg Natural Factors 5 htp at bedtime. Brand made a difference for me. More makes me drowsy and less makes me moody.

Theanine is good for anxiety and seizure like jittery feeling but I found over time that it slowed

my thinking down too much so I use it sparingly. I'm down to 25 mg at night right now.

Chocolate elevates my mood .. ; )

Thanks issie,

I'm eager to hear what you learn.

I feel better with certain fats like the ones found grass fed lamb, certain wild fish, etc but I have to remove

as much as possible. I always chill my bone broths and throw away the fat on top. I'm on a lamb

broth kick right now.

I also eat egg yolks, fresh ground flax, raw nuts, seeds, etc. I stopped using chia because it's so expensive and I didn't like the flavor.

I don't have my gallbladder and I'm low on elastace so my fat digestion is poor.

Tc .. D

[jackiemxoxo]

I second the Vitamin D supplements. I think they help!

[Ashelton80]

Yes Vitamin D is crucial. Also, getting rid of food intolerances was huge for me. Gluten being the main offender causing major depression for me. Eating lots of protein and no processed foods. Read labels, for example I drink Whole Foods brand broth for salt. They changed their packaging and added yeast extract to the formula. I looked it up to make sure it was gluten free and it was. 2 weeks of drinking it and I knew something was wrong by the way I was feeling. Come to find out yeast extract is another name for MSG. All that to say is what you put in your body or don't put in your body can make a huge difference on your mental health. Exercising so I am able to participate more in life will also help lift me out of a funk. Other than that it can still be a daily battle living with an illness that has been chronic.

[POTLUCK]

As an antidepressant, Wellbutrin is dopaminergic and is in a class of its own, it often has few side effects and or can even relieve side effects from other antidepressants, has your doc considered that?