Posted by Will_Hung on June 6, 2002, at 17:42:53
In reply to Omega-3for the Unipolar's-quid-pro-quo for advice, posted by PaulB on January 23, 2002, at 15:56:34
Just thought I'd add my experience with Omega-3 to the pile...
I have social phobia and severe depression as a result of this. I currently take moclobemide but started looking for something to add to it after getting frustrated at my general lack of progress. I now take 14,000mg of fish oil a day, giving about 4,000mg of omega-3 fatty acids.
To be honest, the omega-3 has done nothing for my depression, nor has it affected the level of social discomfort (or rather, my level of avoidance of) HOWEVER it has drastically stabilised my mood. Previously I found it virtually imposssible to speak to anybody (family included) or even look people in the eye until I had been up for several hours. As I work with the public this was proving to be a bit of a problem. Now I'm (relatively) chatty first thing and find eye contact and such a lot easier. If you count mood swings as a sympom of depression then I guess you could say that omega-3 is useful. Also, although my situation anxiety has not decreased, my anticipatory anxiety (ie my anxiety before certain interactions) has decreased drastically. I swear I've even become a bit more 'touchy-feely' lately as well.
I disagree that increasing the amount of omega-3 does not increase the benefits. My experience is that each time I up the amount of fish oil the positive side effects augment also. I have had no side effects to speak of. If I take the capsules with plenty of water and after a meal there are no fishy burps, indigestion, etc, etc. For me, the major problem is financial. 250 capsules - which last me about 18 days - cost 15 pounds. This means I'm spending about 25 quid a month! Jeez.... if it weren't for this, I'd probably be taking 30 capsules a day.
Now I have a couple of questions:
1) Are there any concentrated supplements e.g. Omegabrite available in the UK? I can't order from outside the UK as I have no credit card.
2) Is the amount of DHA relevant to mental health or not? Different articles seem to contradict each other on this point.
3) Does anybody have any links to any information on the development of EPA-based antidepressants. (I read recently somewhere that they are in the pipeline)
Oh, and personally speaking, I would not recommend flax oil as a cheap replacement for fish oil. I have seen a couple of articles which suggest that only about 2% of ALA is converted to EPA by the body and so you would need very large amounts of the stuff to get the same effect. Having said this, I know there are some who swear by the stuff.
Cheers
Will
poster:Will_Hung
thread:91297
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020602/msgs/108985.html