YOU ARE NOT ALONE - A companion online community discussion board for The Mental Illness Happy Hour podcast with Paul Gilmartin

Anyone try any natural remedies before?

I tried St. John's Wort as a teenager to try and treat some depression symptoms without my parents knowing, without any seeming affect. I had some the other day and I had mood swings for a couple of days. It could be a coincidence, as I have had mood swings totally unrelated to that before.

I am curious if you guys have tried any natural stuff, and what you've noticed- if anything.

Previously, I've tried Valerian and St. John's only. I know these can have side effects just like big pharma drugs, but there's something to be said even for the convenience of grabbing stuff up at the health food store.

thanks

Hey Kim, Great idea for a new thread. If anyone's up for reading about easy nutritional changes that can improve mental health, I think this is as good a place to start as any: http://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/content/ ... -diary.pdf (go to page 2)

I've also found some research that looked at connection between Vitamin C and cortisol (a hormone that's involved with anxiety and depression). I've started taking a multivitamin. It's not like it's an overnight cure, but if it can make the mental illness recovery process a little easier, it'll be the best 6 cents/day I'll ever spend.

Not really a natural remedy, but taking a mega-dose of caffeine, setting a 25+ minute alarm, lying down peacefully with my eyes closed in a quiet place, mentally rehearsing the positive simple actions I will take when I arise and prioritizing the next few hours - wow, it does wonders to relieve my sense of anxiety

I too have taken St. John Wort to self medicate my depression but it took several weeks for it to "kick in" and for me to feel the effects. However I've had to stop taking it since it counteracts with my anti-malaria pills (long story) and I have recently switched to 5HTP.

I feel the 5HTP helps me last through the day. I am an introvert and my job is stressful (case in point, the anti-malaria pills) but I believe the 5HTP alleviates or softens that emotional exhaustion I feel at the end of the day when I just need to be in my apartment by myself for a while. I don't know if this is the placebo effect but I will continue onwards and report back.

Hope this helps,

Mimi

Thank you so much for this reminder Manuel. I used to make a point of doing this, but have lately been slacking. I agree, this does wonders for my anxiety as well.

I am currently taking 6htp, and I think it has helped, though not drastically enough to say for sure. I feel like when I do have depressive thoughts and feelings, I am better able to compartmentalize them and realize they don't have to be my reality. Maybe that's also therapy helping, but my honey also says I'm better at not getting upset and sad over small things. I am also taking melatonin, which I think really helps me get fully rested at night and feel like I can get up and do things in the morning, which I struggle with a lot. Melatonin is also very cheap, at like $5 a bottle, and doesn't have any side effects, so I would encourage people to give it a shot and see if it helps.

Its encouraging to hear that people are getting help with natural substances, but a quick word or caution: PLEASE double check with a pharmacist that its not going to have adverse reacations with the medicine you are taking (like Mimi mentioned with her anti-malaria pills).
This includes mixing and matching herbal remedies or vitamins (they are NOT all benign in higher doses).

I would talk to your doctor, pharmacist, chiropractor, acupuncturist - and get all of their advise so you can hear from all sides.

I am a student of acupuncture and highly recomend it for anyone - there are also great herbal formulas that are fairly cheap and can be personalized for your particular situation. - if you ask your acupuncturist for the list of herbs and doses you can give it to your chinese pharmasist (in any china-town) and you can get the good stuff for very cheap.

I have taken formulas for insomnia, depression, and anxiety - all pretty successful in my case
Suan Zao Ren Tang - is quite effective for insomnia and unlike sleeping pills, i dont have to reserve 8 hours for sleeping (i usually get about 6) and it doesnt make me groggy in the morning. - but there are important considerations that only your acupuncturist can determine if this is right for your overall condition.

I took Sam-E a few years ago but it was expensive and without a professional's assistance I didn't know how much to take. When I started I was in a really low place, when I was on it I still didn't feel great, but when I stopped I got worse so it must have worked. I've recently taken St. John a few times but I'm concerned about finding a real and pure product since they don't seem to be regulated and I don't want to unknowingly take anything harmful. Sometimes I drink Kombucha (a probiotic drink) but its not for depression. Often times when I'm depressed my digestive system becomes really unbalanced and it really helps me.

A few years back I took 6 months off all psych med's to try and see if there was any other way for me to handle my lifelong depression issues. I had taken Paxil for about 7 years and it had helped tremendously but I had a desire to see if there was some other way without med's. So for 6 months I kept a balanced healthy diet, exercised each day, and tried different supplements that I had researched. These included St. Johns Wort, 5HTP, Sam-E, certain amino acids and Valerian root. The valerian root helped me sleep if I took 3 capsules at bedtime. If I took one during the day I found it helped with anxiety. The others never caused any steady substantial relief for depression or anxiety. I didn't take any of them at the same time but tried each for around a month. In the end I was still a mess and it was a very difficult emotionally exhausting 6 months and I ended up back on psych meds. The level of relief when they started kicking in was like night and day. My baseline suddenly felt "normal'. I still experience plenty of issues with depression and also some mild manic periods but in the end think that for me I will possibly have to be on psych meds for life.

Yes, I have tried SJW also. Whatever the standard that the Walgreens sold, I took three every morning, and a couple of weeks later... bam! I felt amazing. I specifically remember when it started working; felt like I was high on 'shrooms or something. I was ten feet tall and nothing could touch me. It really helped me with anxiety for many years. I highly recommend you try this before going high-tech "pharmaceutical". I took it for many years, and the only side-effect I noticed was a slight increase in sensitivity to sunburn. (I was not taking any other medications at the time.) It helped me through a lot of my personal anxiety issues, and allowed me to patch up my marriage, which is now 12 years strong.