Posted by Lyon on August 10, 1999, at 2:25:13
Funny but many may think of what I am suggesting as strange and unorthodox but in any case, it does hurt to share my views. I've suffered from OCD and uni-polar depression for well, maybe more than 20 years now. Its not until I've started a regimen of Chinese medicine that I've begun to feel better. I still take 60mg of Paxil daily, which I've been doing for more than 3 years now. Paxil seems to have been the best med for me so far, after have tried Prozac, Zoloft, Anafranil, Xanax, Amytriptyline (forget the commercial name)...... What I find is that the drugs only bring one to a certain level of comfort and not more. Increased dosages are like throwing more horspower at a brick wall. A different approach was needed. The Chinese doctors I've seen all talk about the liver being my problem. They have strange ways of describing various ailments in the body but their remedies seem to work. In any case, the liver seems far removed from the head problem. Indeed as does most traditional medicine. But low and behold, the Western scientists have only just discovered the link between liver health and mental health. Apparently, livers that are not in their optimimum states can and will produce various other hormones/chemicals that affect the mood center and other aspects of mental health. I remember reading that in the NY Times some months ago. In my case, my liver was taking a beating cos I was not resting well enuf and eating the wrong things and smoking. Morover, according my Chinese docs, the smoking was contributing to only what can be know in English as "catarrgh" which is not necessarily visible in physical terms. Accupuncture in the right spots along with the correct Chinese herbal concoctions have always brought me out of my most difficult times. Increasingly, as my quality of life becomes better, smaller disturbances in my life caused by my OCD and depression become more noticable. Moreover, the SSRIs have only been able to fix 60-65% of the problem with the rest of the 30% still in questions. Despite the western med. my quality life would still have been questionable without the Chinese herbal therapy to compliment the Western drugs. My bad spells can lead me to become suicidal despite the meds at times and a few visits to the Chinese doc. can patch up the problem in a few days.
In fact, one feels markedly better after an accupuncture therapy that focuses on the body's nervous system. This may seem hocus pocus but this is my experience and I've chosen to share it in Psycho Babble. I don't think Chinese medicine is the same as Western homeopathy which I've tried to no avail. Moreover, it is unfortunate that many of the participants here reside in the states and not in Asia where this kind of help (CHinese med) is more available. Maybe if you live near China town or something. But the Chinese docs in China town may not be the greatest. However, it never hurts to try when there are no more avenues left to explore on the Western psychopharmalogical front. Lastly, I am not espousing the idea that the Chinese stuff will work 100% but only provide a complimentary platform for the other drugs to work on.
poster:Lyon
thread:9846
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19990726/msgs/9846.html