For depression, what do you use?

[kimmerspixelated]

I use moxxor(fantastic Omega-3 fish oil),Bvits(need to remember to take everyday) and exercise. Laughter Yoga! Sometimes Royal Maca!

I have never tried Sam-e or St. John's Wort, yet? Is there something else natural?

[Shallah Kali]

1. I have tried rhodiola

I am ridiculously sensitive and found it too stimulating unless I open the capsule only taking a tiny pinch first thing in the day. It is an adaptogen that some users have said helps reduce anxiety & panic attacks (a small study using Rhodiola on people with GAD http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18307390 )

Rhodiola http://www.iherb.com/Rhodiola-Rosea
http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2007/dec2007_report_nutraceutical_01.htm
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0NAH/is_9_31/ai_80679953/
http://books.google.com/books?id=VILu0f0UprAC
http://www.prevention.com/cda/vendorarticle/rhodiola/HN3956007/health/herb.encyclopedia/?print=true&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prevention.com%2Fcda%2Fvendorarticle%2Frhodiola%2FHN3956007%2Fhealth%2Fherb.encyclopedia%2F
http://www.botanical.com/products/learn/r/rhodiola_root.html

[Shallah Kali]

2. currently I am using SAM-e, b-complex w/methyl b-12, & more

niacin-bound chromium, omega 3 eggs (since my digestion does not tolerate fish oil). i will write more on what I have tried soon. I am having vertigo and the dimenhydrinate makes it hard to think straight even at 1/2 tablet.

[WhiteTara]

3. do you have menieres disease?

my friend does and sometimes she is thrown to the floor and has to crawl head down to her bed.

[Shallah Kali]

4. Every couple of years I get vertigo for a day or three

I had chronic ear, nose & throat infections as a kid and always figured it was connected. Doctors usually attributed it to that. evening before last I got a sore throat esp. on the left side. The next day i rolled over in bed and felt like I was spinning like a top and felt like I was going to hurl. my Mother took me to get some dramamine which helped so I was only slightly dizzy if I bent over to pick up something or tilted my head back vs feeling like I was spinning & about to loose my last meal. am much better today but will continue a half or 1/4 tablet until it is totally gone.

I am sorry your friend has such a severe disorder :( vertigo is truly wretched.

[WhiteTara]

7. gosh, good luck with that.

Sorry you are going through this!

[FirstLight]

5. Cymbalta, not natural but it works

My depression is linked to chronic pain and arthritis too, though


I would love to someday replace with a herbal-natural regimen, but I am afraid to go off it now, it's been 2 years. If i miss a day i get crazy dizzy spells too...

[get the red out]

16. I understand!

I battled depression from age 12, nothing they had available worked when I was young then when I was in my mid 20's doctors just about drugged me out of existence. I used natural remedies for years after that, tyrosine, St. Johns Wart, vitamin B, GABA....I have used so many and with some small success but still had such depression symptoms that I finally bit the bullet and went on medication. My sister uses Cymbalta with terrific results, but my insurance wouldn't cover that so I am on Effexor for about the past month. The difference in my life is AMAZING. The horrific anxiety and agitation and feelings of doom (sometimes with thoughts of suicide if it were a bad period) have lessened so much, I think "is this how people normally feel?". I just thought feeling bad was my lot in life. I am glad I gave up and admitted I am just not wired like other people. I did make the right decision to go natural for a long time and get away from the doctors who thought making me comatose was the solution (probably because I was a woman), but now there is more available for people with depression. I am grateful my sister told me what a difference it made in her life. We come from a long line of people with depressive problems. The genetics on both sides is overwhelming.

I still know people I wouldn't tell I was on anti-depressants, some folks I know see such an illness as a lack of spiritual work. I do not believe that it is any more than I believe diabetes or allergies are.

[Fire Walk With Me]

6. "All my molecules are drinking in God's light."

[kimmerspixelated]

8. What a profound quote!

Yours?

[Fire Walk With Me]

10. Paramhansa Yogananda from the collection "Scientific Healing Affirmations".

[kimmerspixelated]

11. Ahh, I'll check it out!

[Fire Walk With Me]

19. It is filled with amazing mantras and affirmations.

[arikara]

9. I used st johns wort

when I had a problem with depression. I found that it worked very well. If I'd forget to take it after a day or 2 the depression would be quite noticeable again. I took it regularly for a couple of years with no ill effects.

[Liberation Angel]

12. To be honest, I went to the doctor and...

it was for some dental work

and

he gave me laughing gas

and

it is aka nitrous oxide

and

it really made me feel a lot better

and that deep depression I had that day never came back!

I also use st john's wort at night (it is way high in melatonin)

[Celebration]

15. Interesting!

Sometimes all it takes is breaking the cycle. The mind and body tend to want to do what it did yesterday (stuck in a rut), while at the same time wanting to heal. This goes to show that sometimes only a little nudge is needed to take the "different" path.

[Shallah Kali]

17. st john's wort

it has the opposite effect on me. I have to take it first thing in the morning or I have more trouble than ever falling asleep. I find it fascinating how things like this have such a wide variation of effects on different people. Melatonin itself helps me sleep and sleep soundly with little to no tossing and turning.

[rosesaylavee]

13. Vitamin B and Tyrosine 15 minutes before breakfast

Fish Oil
Plenty of sleep
Walking outdoors at least 10 minutes per day - 30 minutes is best.
Zinc tablets
Turning off computer and television for a few days
Avoiding contact with any toxic people in my life for at least a few days
Reading a fiction book of some sort that takes me somewhere other than my known universe.
Laughing at anything I can find/Gut laughs are the most restorative

[kimmerspixelated]

18. Oh, yes, LAUGH>LAUGH>LAUGH!!!!

[WhiteTara]

14. so, I've always been affected by SAD

but by 2002, I was sinking deeper into depression with long crying bouts. It deepened for the next several years and my doc began giving me different antis...I tried maybe 4 or 5 different ones. By 2008, I was a real mess and I began using effexor...it had the best effect on my mentally, but the physical problems were overwhelming. I weened off that and but was then just a big mess emotionally. By that time, I had been in therapy for about 3 years (my therapist was the greatest blessing of my life), was working with the democratic central committee in my state, was a state delegate to the state party and working for the elections...mostly local, but of course the general as well. Then Obama became our president and began appointing people like Vilsac and Rahm and Geithner. All of this was a progressive nightmare and I fell deeply into a well and I couldn't find the way out. That's when I began taking Pristique. I've been on it for about 1 and 1/2 years. Since then we moved to a new state and I now have a garden where I work for some time each day. and that's how I cope with my depression. Oh, I also smoke herb which helps with my many physical pains as well. I tell myself "Goddess is in little white pills, too."

[Tumbulu]

20. Nordic Naturals Cod Liver Oil

If I don't take it for even one day, my spirits plummet.