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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by spriggy on July 22, 2006, at 23:37:19
Maybe you remember my story but if not, I'll bore you with my history and you can humor me. LOL
About 20 months ago got an infection, got terribly sick for an entire year ( dr.'s initially said lupus and later said Epstein Barr and Fibromyalgia) but in the midst of this.. I developed severe- funky depression mixed with horrific anxiety and panic attacks.
Yeah.. triple whammie!
Bottom line and straight to the point; I am better but whenever I have a physical "flare" ( my doctor's favorite word for this achy-flu like state), I slide into depression/irritability/anxiety state.
I am there now;
I want to go the natural route if possible. I am super sensitive to meds and totally wigged out on Lexapro and became suicidal.
Because of that experience, I really want to try this naturally.
I bought St. John's Wort- took one 300 mg tonight. Obviously it's a small dose and too soon to tell anything but wanted to know if starting out slowly ( 300-600) would be better since i'm so sensitive to meds?
Also, would a low dose like that be beneficial at all or am I wasting my time?
I also have a bottle of Fish Oil; in the past, it seems to increase my anxiety and has given me acne but I've read how good it is for depression and wonder if I stick with it, will the acne and anxiety go away with time???
Okay; sorry for rambling.
Thanks in advance.
Posted by dessbee on July 23, 2006, at 10:14:44
In reply to question about SJW and Fish oil, posted by spriggy on July 22, 2006, at 23:37:19
If you take no more than 4 gram of fish oil it should not aggrevate your acne. In high doses fish oil can cause insomnia and confusion.
I recommend 600 mg St John Wort. Higher doses may actually cause fatigue and drowsiness.
Please make sure you buy an extract with standardized hypericin (0,3%) or hyperforin (5%) content. This will assure the quality of the extract.Initially during the first two weeks SJW may temporarily worsen your depression. Take it as a sign that it will have effect.
It will take 8-10 weeks before you know the final/optimal effect of SJW.Do you easily get acne?
Do you easily rash?
Are you a light sleeper?
Posted by JLx on July 23, 2006, at 13:39:50
In reply to question about SJW and Fish oil, posted by spriggy on July 22, 2006, at 23:37:19
Every winter I get a 3 week virus that really exacerbates depression. Then it takes me months to get back on track.
I work as a tax preparer and it's the stress that does me in. Last year my dog died too and I wound up having two infections.
I've heard that probiotics can strengthen the immune system and since there are neurotransmitters also in the gut, I wonder if taking more probiotics might help both the immune system and the depression/anxiety.
I've also heard good things about lactoferrin, but it's fairly expensive.
Re fish oil, after someone posted on this board that it was the brand that made the difference for them, I tried a different brand and had no acne with it.
Re your anxiety with fish oil, do you also take magnesium? Or eat a magnesium rich diet (dark green vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, etc.)? If not, it may help. If not alone, then perhaps with calcium.
In my experience, the effects of fish oil are quite subtle and may take a long time.
JL
> Maybe you remember my story but if not, I'll bore you with my history and you can humor me. LOL
>
> About 20 months ago got an infection, got terribly sick for an entire year ( dr.'s initially said lupus and later said Epstein Barr and Fibromyalgia) but in the midst of this.. I developed severe- funky depression mixed with horrific anxiety and panic attacks.
>
> Yeah.. triple whammie!
>
> Bottom line and straight to the point; I am better but whenever I have a physical "flare" ( my doctor's favorite word for this achy-flu like state), I slide into depression/irritability/anxiety state.
>
> I am there now;
>
> I want to go the natural route if possible. I am super sensitive to meds and totally wigged out on Lexapro and became suicidal.
>
> Because of that experience, I really want to try this naturally.
>
> I bought St. John's Wort- took one 300 mg tonight. Obviously it's a small dose and too soon to tell anything but wanted to know if starting out slowly ( 300-600) would be better since i'm so sensitive to meds?
>
> Also, would a low dose like that be beneficial at all or am I wasting my time?
>
> I also have a bottle of Fish Oil; in the past, it seems to increase my anxiety and has given me acne but I've read how good it is for depression and wonder if I stick with it, will the acne and anxiety go away with time???
>
> Okay; sorry for rambling.
>
> Thanks in advance.
Posted by JLx on July 23, 2006, at 13:56:19
In reply to question about SJW and Fish oil, posted by spriggy on July 22, 2006, at 23:37:19
This page has a nice summary and some discussion of current fish oil studies: http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/meds/Omega-3.htm
Another summary: http://www.biovita.fi/suomi/terveyssivut/e-epa_table.html
Nothing very definitive there and the studies are small.
I currently try to take 1 gm EPA, which has been 6 capsules/day of 180 EPA and 120 DHA capsules. I just recently started taking Natural Factors where the capsules are 400 EPA and 200 DHA per capsule.
Some day I'd like to try 4 grams of EPA, which would mean 10 capsules a day. That wouldn't bother me, but the price does.
JL
Posted by Meri-Tuuli on July 23, 2006, at 15:49:42
Hey there
SJW is great for depression and anxiety although it might take 6-8 weeks for an effect to show. But beware - if you take birth control tablets, it will interfere with that. And when coming off SJW, do it slowly like with an SSRI - I ended up with with a massive panic attack in ER, 4 days after quitting. A similar thing also happened to blueberry.
Also check out http://www.sjwinfo.org/ if you haven't come across it already.
Kind regards
Meri
Posted by sdb on July 23, 2006, at 17:02:03
In reply to SJW info, posted by Meri-Tuuli on July 23, 2006, at 15:49:42
> Hey there
>
> SJW is great for depression and anxiety although it might take 6-8 weeks for an effect to show. But beware - if you take birth control tablets, it will interfere with that. And when coming off SJW, do it slowly like with an SSRI - I ended up with with a massive panic attack in ER, 4 days after quitting. A similar thing also happened to blueberry.
>
> Also check out http://www.sjwinfo.org/ if you haven't come across it already.
>
> Kind regards
>
> MeriThanks meri for your info.
For me sjw seems to be a very interesting drug.
Unfortunately sjw has interactions with many other drugs metabolized by CYP3aX enzymes in the liver, intestinal and intestinal transporters. Fatal cases of interactions with cyclosporine are mentioned but important in psychiatry there are not fatal but noteworthy interactions with benzodiazepines. Most benzodiazepines will no more work being on sjw for
a week.sdb
Posted by Meri-Tuuli on July 24, 2006, at 10:38:53
In reply to Re: SJW info, posted by sdb on July 23, 2006, at 17:02:03
Oh dear. I was trying to help Spriggy out and started a new thread by mistake.
Oh well.
Meri
Posted by sdb on July 26, 2006, at 15:34:22
In reply to question about SJW and Fish oil, posted by spriggy on July 22, 2006, at 23:37:19
Dear spriggy,
I really don't know about beneficial effects of sjw. I am interested myself. I only sjw for about 4 days to look what it does in the short time. It causes some fatigue, tiredness. But it is said that sjw needs 1 week up to 8 week to "kick in". I have no experience. Probably starting with a dosage of 250mg could be better than taking to much first.
Take care combining some other meds especially heart meds. It is very likely that some benzodiazpines will no more work if you take a sjw extract with a higher amount of hyperforin.
I will try to look for more information myself concerning sjw.
take care
sdb
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