All Natural Meds for Depression...

Please be very careful when taking anti depressants, my husband committed suicide 2 months ago, after beginning on an antidepressants for nine days. For 7 days he took his prescription on the eighth day they changed his dosage, and did not monitor him, by day 9 he was erratic, and shot himself.

If you can stick to Holistic medicines, chiropractic care, and a regular visit to a psychiatrist or counselor for your emotional state. Please think very carefully about what you are doing before starting on any drug.

You can try taking magnesium, which can cause loose stools, but really does the trick, and as for the weight loss, I have successfully loss weight by simply eating several small meals during the day of healthy foods, don't starve yourself, eat what you want just portion control, and try not to eat after 6 pm ( Yeah I know with a family, right.) Apple cider vinegar and pure raw honey also helps when you want to control your appetite. It doesn't taste so great but it does work. My grandmother who is a retired airforce nurse has been preaching this for years, only 2 years ago did I listen. I'm 33.

Most importantly your mood, and self image affect you greatly. The more active you are the less time you have to let you mind wonder those what ifs and dwell on those negative things that can affect who you are. Just one day a week STOP!!!! Take time out for yourself, Go out and get your toes done, let that hair down girl. You've only got one life to live, don't let it pass you by. God Bless You. You will make it thru.

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Hello T.,

have your Vitamin D levels checked. Mine were at 30 (minimum should be 32) and I was taking more than the daily 400 IU. The Rx was for the 50 IU once/week. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! I was taking st. john's wort because I was feeling over stressed. Now it's been a couple of weeks and I haven't had the need to take it. I'm not saying that it's a cure but that it could be an underlying issue. Also, my body cannot tolerate milk and soy. It's PMS on steroids! It makes me very moody. Also, I figured out that if I take tylenol... 24-36 hours later I'm depressed. just keep that in mind. in the mean time, they have st. john's wort w/ time release so you can take 1 or 2 per day instead of having to take pills every 4 hrs. also, get some lavender oil also lemon oil. put some on around the house --a few drops on a tissue-- and enjoy. Also, by any chance have you tried natural progesterone creams? You can get some good info at Sprouts and Whole Foods. Good luck and keep looking! ~C.~

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I have suffered from depression for almost 15 years now and ave tried everything from Rx to OTC herbals and actually dated a gent years ago that his father worked for a pure herbal extract company in michigan and I used a lot of the products. I have found that the Rx meds are the key to saving my sanity, herbals are good, but after being on them for some time, your body becomes immune to them or your body starts to reject them. check with your dr. and see if there is something else that you can take that IS covered by your insurance. There are soooooo many Rx meds out there for depression. first you really need to find out what is triggering your depression and anxiety problems. Then work from there forward. There are so many different types of depression that will need different types and possibly combinations of meds. I wish that there were just one that would fix everything, but unfortunatly there is not. talk to a psychiatrist that specializes in mood disorders, have them evaluate you for a period of time, then see what they recommend.
As far as your energy goes, B complex vits are great for your energy and depression. brain uses the B1 vitamin to help convert glucose, or blood sugar, into fuel, and without it the brain rapidly runs out of energy. This can lead to fatigue, depression, irritability, anxiety, and even thoughts of suicide. B6 helps with the manufacturing of serotonin, melatonin and dopamine in the body, which in turn helps with depression. I would suggest reading up on these vitamins as well as what I suggested above and what others have suggested as well. I wish you luck, it's so difficult dealing with depression and axiety problems. Just know that your not alone and there are many of us here that suffer from the same things. Keeping you in my prayers!!!

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You have to be VERY careful with the natural meds for mental health issues. I've not heard of one yet that has been proven safe and can't cause more than norm complications.

There are several anti-depressants that are on the Wal-Mart $4.00 drug lists. I will say if they put you on Zoloft (K-mart has it for $4) it has a bad "kick" when you start it for about 2-3 days. You will feel worse but it does work after it gets in your system.

I am a HUGE natural rememdy fan, except for mental health issues. Mental issues are something that can get so gradually worse that you don't realize it until it too late. It's just not worth the chance.

I've been on "happy pills" for 7 or 8 years now and can tell such a difference in my life, mind, mood, everything when I am taking them (there were times when finances didn't allow).

Good Luck!

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Hey - go on WAl Mart's site, and check what they have in the $4 a month prescription list for depression, then ask your doctor if any of them would work.

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You do sound like you have a lot on your plate!! The gold standard is treatment with Rx drugs and counseling. You can take meds, but they will not change the behaviors, bad decisions or way you think about things that may be keeping you in a depressive state. Herbal remedies are not regulated or standardized so this makes things difficult as well. If you're having just garden variety blahs, then herbal may be worth trying; however, if it's true depression (as this sounds like) then I think meds and therapy are your best bet. Check out WalMart as previously suggested. Also talk to your insurance company re what is covered or see if they will work with you. I know some will allow meds if the Dr writes them a letter or submits forms.

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T.,

It depends on the reason for your anxiety attacks and depression. Many with anxiety issues alone can be treated naturally with therapy. But depression is usually caused by an imbalance in hormones and thus there is no natural cure-all. If you really are depressed and it is due to a hormone imbalance, pay no attention to "purists" who tell you that you can go buy something OTC to solve the issue...it won't happen. Good Luck!

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Have you tried going to a chiropractor? My husband is one and he also has a nutritionist available in his office. It's amazing what chiropractic can for your mind and body. It's far better than being prescribed medication that could possibly have side effects and only puts a "band-aid" on things. Let me know if you would like more information about it!

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I have tried 5HTP and it did absolutely nothing for me. Despite what others say, there is actually research on the natural anti-depressants and many can be quite effective. For example, there are 19 published articles in pubmed (www.pubmed.com) on the use of 5HTP for depression. And, there are 1651 for the use of phenylalanine for depression. It's marketing from the pharmaceutical companies that makes folks and the mainstream medical community discount natural solutions, since these cannot be patented, there's no money in it for big pharma. However, one should always start with the basics and vitamin B-12 deficiency can be the root cause of depression. Many, especially women, are deficient in both B vitamins and iron, so standard blood tests (CBC and CMP) look normal. That's because vitamin B-12 deficiency raises MCV and iron deficiency lowers it.
So, docs need to measure B-12 and iron (ferritin) separately and these are not done routinely. Also, always ask for a copy of your labwork. Being borderline low can also be a sign of problems. However, the average doctor usually doesn't pay attention - it generally takes integrated or functional medicine doctors to really look at these things critically. Low iron can be the cause of your low energy. Also, stress increases your body's need for B vitamins. You might do well just taking a high quality multi or as someone else mentioned on another posting this week the Fatigued to Fantastic vitamin powder is quite good (you must take your B vitamins separately if you go that route because they leave it out of the powder due to taste). Also, a low carb, high protein diet can really help for depression. And, exercise has been proven to be the most effective anti-depressant (and it's an exceptional stress reliever).

Also, doctors often overlook thyroid problems as the source of depression and unless they specifically ran all the thyroid tests: TSH, Free T3, Free T4 and thyroid anti-body tests they didn't test thoroughly enough AND the lab ranges for TSH were changed in 2003, but many labs use the old ranges. And, again, these tests (unfortunately) are not routinely done.

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There is a good book, "Battlefield of the Mind" by Dr. Joyce Meyer. Very good at examining how our thoughts affect us. Worked for me. I also started reading a book by Jordan Rubin called "The Maker's Diet". The basis is that we (people in general) have trashed our bodies by eating crap that wasn't around when our bodies were made (ie. fast foods, hamburger helper, etc.). People don't understand what we put into our bodies affects everything! Have you ever been allergy tested for foods? Certain food allergies would make you gain weight, and cause other help problems, like anxiety and/or depression.

Sorry, I don't now about any natural meds, but I thought this might help.

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