Posted by Quintal on February 18, 2007, at 13:59:10
In reply to Re: Why Most New Antidepressants Are Ineffective, posted by Squiggles on February 18, 2007, at 11:13:13
Okay, I for one am not taking any prescribed psych meds at the moment. I am taking codeine in the form of OTC painkiller tablets, which I seem to be addicted to. I am in the process of weaning myself off them. I also take these herbs;
Rhodiola Rosea in the morning as a mild stimulant and mood elevator (think caffeine but without jitteriness).
Agnus Castus - as is often the case with naturals I'm not entirely sure why I'm taking it to be honest, but it does seem to have a positive effect on my mood and anxiety as I've found out from skipping doses for a few days and finding myself nervous and overwrought. I seem to find emotional balance again after a day or two of taking it again. Scientific studies have shown it is (among many other things) a mild D2 antagonist (like antipsychotics) and balances hormone levels (quite how I don't know).
Valerian, hops, passion flower, melissa, opium lettuce; a compound preparation of sedative/hypnotic herbs take at night to aid restful sleep. It does seem to be effective.
Melatonin; 3-9mg slow-release tablets as a sleep cycle regulator and hypnotic. It does seem to be effective.
I have a hard time convincing some people here that I'm not anti-med or anti-psychiatrist because of the above, but I can assure you I was once *very* anti-alternative and very pro-med and nobody is as surprised as myself to find me in this position after five years of taking nearly every psychoactive substance available in the BNF (that is not an exaggeration). I'm in the process of compiling a spreadsheet of all the drugs I've taken along with doses, side effects, tolerability etc. I may post it here after I'm finished if anyone would like to see it.
Q
> I think it would be interesting to see how many
> posters here are
>
> doctors
> medical students
> patients
> SSRI takers
> AD takers
> ATYPICAL AD takers
> Benzo takers
> Lurkers
> Drug company reps
> Naturo or herbal therapy takers
> Addicts on hard drugs
>
> - and see how many are currently unhappy or
> mentally distraught from their medical condition.
>
> I have noticed that many are very lucid in their writing (are they stable on the meds or not taking meds?) and some cannot spell or have trouble posting their complaints (are they non-medicated or perhaps over-medicated). And then there are the ones who are too sick to post or have left for some reason or another.
>
> I think that would be revealing of how well this group is doing on medications.
>
> Squiggles
poster:Quintal
thread:733613
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070213/msgs/733858.html