Posted by honeybee on June 10, 2006, at 11:01:03
In reply to Re: Here is what the medinical herbalist gave me.. » honeybee, posted by Meri-Tuuli on June 10, 2006, at 5:20:30
Yes, exactly!
For a while, I was going to a teaching acupuncture/TCM clinic, and was given the standardized blends. Then, through a friend of mine getting her L.Ac. at another school, I participated (e.g. was the subject) of a grand rounds focusing on depression. The expert, who's co-authored several books on acupuncture and depression and who led (I think) one of the only studies of acupuncture on depression for Stanford, took me aside afterwards to discuss my treatment. Not only did she say that herbs are imperative. She explained that they need to be tailored to my specific condition (because it's so complicated, apparently--and in a way that I can't understand!). It sounds like, for the best results, everyone's meds/herbals should be tailored to them. If only treatment were more like that!
I'm just like you, by the way, super squeamish about drug interactions and reluctant to take more than a few pills at a time. It's gotten worse in the last year. Before that, I was happy to sign up on the med train left and right. And it's funny how the squeamishness doesn't apply to some classes of drugs--antibiotics, I'm fine with them, my asthma inhaler (a steroid) is just fine. How's that for the irrationality of the human mind?
As for the rhodiola. I really misspoke when I was writing. I mean to say that I was distracted when I was taking it, so I couldn't really suss out what kind of antidepressant response there was, if any. It, combined with the higher amount of SAM-e I was taking at the time, really did seem to energize me, though. Some people have had problems with insomnia, but it wasn't a problem for me. And it seemed to be pro-sexual in a way...
Sadly, I still have to go back on ADs, methinks. My cognition had ground to a halt. I'm a real mess. So I'm going to the pdoc on Tuesday night to discuss options.
But keep us posted on the herbals. You should really just go for it. I know it's scary (I had a panic attack one night taking a new herbal blend; just the thought of introducing the new chemicals, and not understanding their interactions or how they worked sent me over the edge!), but I think for folks like us, it's helpful to remind ourselves that the people we're seeing are *trained professionals* with years and years more experience and education than we have (at least in that field!). Plus, the blend sounds pretty conservative. I bet you'll be fine.
It's tough, though, doing things without getting the guarantee that everything has been tested and that it will all be o-okay. Sadly, it doesn't seem like anything in life can offer that!
hb
poster:honeybee
thread:654870
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20060601/msgs/655225.html