Has anyone here ever heard anything about depresssion and various nutritional deficiencies from your

[hedgehog]

doctor?

[mopinko]

1. yes

my daughter's pdoc recommended a gram of fish oil a day. my pcp brought up supplements in connection with chronic pain problems, and a rheumie i went to dicussed herbal meds for hot flashes. none really in depth, but you don't get much depth on anything from a doc.

[bliss_eternal]

2. Do forgive me for jumping in here...

I hope it's ok that I post here, as I usually don't. But I saw this, and wanted to comment based on my personal experience.

You are absolutely right in that doctors won't go in depth on such issues. Sad, but true, unless you find a holistic or integrative physician or even one that is open to information other than what they learned in school.

As one that had some nutritional deficiencies I can say from experience, my doctors wouldn't give any credence to it. I was miserable with a variety of symptoms. I had to start digging for information on my own. I found nutritional books that spoke to my specific symptoms. That eventually led me to seeing naturopaths (natural doctors) and a holistic MD.

I went to all the doctors our insurance covered, primary care internal medicine physician, ob/gyn, etc. If what you are experiencing doesn't show up as out of the range of NORMAL on their conventional tests, the doctors tend to be rather dismissive. In Medical school, they spend very little time on Nutrition and how it impacts our body chemistry. It's unfortunate, as changing diet and adding appropriate supplements can help one with a great deal I've found.

Hope this is helpful. :hi:

[hedgehog]

3. I've been doing some checking on Vitamins D and B12, and was

stunned at what I turned up. I don't really trust the sites that are selling supplements. But when I come across papaers on the NIH site, I pay attention. There is a lot of very solid research out there that hasn't gotten passed through to practicing physicians.

[bliss_eternal]

7. Unfortunately,

it seems they don't want you or me or anyone to know about the solid research out there. :( This is why they work so hard to make sure the information does't get to practicing physicians.

Natural ingredients, the items found in many vitamins, minerals and supplements can not be patented. As such, they can't make a fortune off of them. But they CAN patent drugs, and the pharmaceutical industry IS making a fortune off of those.

It's more beneficial from a monetary standpoint to keep everyone sick and suffering. :eyes::( One of the reasons I took responsibility for my own healing. Most physicians aren't about healing. It isn't their fault, it's a symptom of a much bigger problem (in my opinion).

I don't blame you for not wanting to buy them on-line. I primarily purchase from my local pharmacy (he does compounding) and Whole Foods Market. The rare occasions they are out of something, I may get it from drugstore.com (if they have the same brand that I trust).

[hedgehog]

10. I don't buy that canard that physicians are hiding information or that "they"

don't want to cure people. On the other hand, there is very little incentive for a big company to research nutrition. As I indicated below, I would tend to mistrust someone who tells me that Vitamin X is a miracle vitamin that cures whatever ails you and that a 100 tablet bottle will cost me only $12. There is good research being done, though. When I see a paper on the NIH site or from the American Journal of Medicine , I pay attention. A lot of this research is fairly new and runs against the accepted knowledge that most people get plenty of vitamins. We know how much Vitamin B is needed to stave off beri-beri and how much Vitamin D prevents rickets. This new research is picking up more subtle effects such as mood, energy levels or insulin metabolism.

[bliss_eternal]

12. You're entitled to your opinion...

...do forgive me for offering mine.

[hunter]

4. Exercise more and avoid things like high fructose corn syrup.

More fruits, vegetables, nuts, and minimize processed foods.

That's what the doctors I hang out with say.

It's my opinion that "Nutritional Supplements" are right there in the bin with other heavily processed foods.

In my own experience exercise is the most powerful non-pharmaceutical anti-depressant, and beyond that I think high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oils, and light beers turn people into placid Fox News watching couch potatoes.

I'm a very prejudiced son of a bitch that way.

But even with all that, I still require pharmaceuticals or I'm not functional.

If your depression is bad enough it's a big mistake to think you can tough it out with exercise and nutrition. It's not enough to be fit and active if you are always miserable.

[hedgehog]

5. Absolutely - I would never replace my prescriptions with supplements.

I view them as part of the overall program. Personally, I may be responding to placebo as much as to the supplements; whatever works, right? On the other hand, I can believe that the same malfunction causing the problem in the first place may make it more difficult to absorb nutrients, so supplements may be an increasingly recognized part of the treatment program.

Now - this is not advice, and you should check with your health care provider, but for what it's worth, I started taking Vitamin D in the amounts some of the papers used for people with depression, which is way over the RDA. My doctor tested my blood serum levels, and I came up normal. I was taking many times the RDA, just to get to normal. Placebo or not, if I cut back, after a week or so I start dragging. I've done it twice, cut back to a more normal dosage, forgotten that I cut back, start to feel draggy, realize finally I did cut back, up the dosage again, and felt better. I won't mention the dosage; you should talk to your health care provider. I'm just posting this to give people something they might want to explore further with their therapists.

[bliss_eternal]

8. That's smart...!

:) I've read some awful stories of people trying to do that (replacing their meds. w/supplements), cold turkey with disastrous effects.

Good for you, doing research and seeing what works for you--in addition to your prescribed meds.

[EFerrari]

6. I use B1 for stress sometimes and agree with hunter

about exercise and eating healthy. It helps me A LOT. But, I still need my meds.

[bliss_eternal]

9. Nothing wrong with that...

Something in your brain chemistry dictates that you do better WITH certain meds. Same way diabetics need their insulin.
It's great that you were willing, and able to experiment some with diet, exercise and supplements and found it was helpful for you.

For some, using such things may mean they could taper down their meds to lower dosages, under their doctor's care. For some...no way! LOL! Everyone's so different.

:hi:

[hedgehog]

11. Some of the research would seem to indicate that depression is

tied to a shortage of certain vitamins or an inability to metabolize vitamins. Alternatively, the same thing that caused the depression causes an inability to metabolize the vitamins. Some studies try to explain the chemistry. Others consist of double blind trials. For me, the vitamins seem to lift the fatigue I associate with depression so I can get moving and get things done.

[no name no slogan]

13. Mine recommended fish oil (Omega 3)

I've been taking it for about a year now. I'm on six other meds (besides a multivitamin), so I don't know if it works or not, but it hasn't hurt.

[Lorien]

14. I get very depressed when I consume sugar, high fructose corn syrup,

and artificial sweeteners. Caffeine also does me no good at all. I've found that cutting processed foods, increasing exercise, and taking quite a few supplements (a good multi, co-q 10, fish oil, holy basil, Sam-e, alpha lipoic acid, and B12, among others) give me a fairly significant improvement in mood and energy level. These were all recommendations by my very thoughtful and conscientious doctor, but it took me years to finally get around to following them all.

[hedgehog]

15. The most ironic thing about depression is that the activites that

are most beneficial; exercise, eating right, getting enough sleep; become more and more impossible the worse the depression gets!

[politicat]

16. Vitamin D is being really thoroughly studied right now.

Especially schizoaffective disorders and mood disorders. Of course, it makes sense -- we evolved to spend most of our time outside, in sunlight, and to go into a semi-hibernation in the winter. We don't do the first and we're not allowed to do the second.

[Ariana Celeste]

17. before i was given prozac, i was told to take vitamins

neither worked for me