Prozac and Raw Living-bad combo?

[Purl]

My dh has been 100% raw for 7 days. The dr. just gave him a Rx for Prozac-anyone know what will happen if he loses his mucous barrier and takes these meds? I'm a little worried. :(

[theresaann]

he's not going to need those after awhile-esp. if he's getting enough raw greens. I dont' know what will happen, other than what COULD happen-as his body get's cleaner and cleaner, his liver will metabolize them fast and the dose he has could be WAY too strong. But the biggest thing I would expect is that he just wont' need them at all. If he takes them and they are too strong, that may be unpleasant, to say the least. I would consult with a naturopath if he's really serious about healing is body. Just my 2 cents!

[karenisraw]

Purl,

If you want to help him wiht depression naturally, make sure he is taking magnesium suppliments and a multi vitamin and mineral suppliment. 90% of the worlds population (or around that amount) is magnesium deficient. I was having headaches and depression for the last 2 weeks and most of my life before raw. I started taking magnesium 4 days ago and it stopped my headaches and depression within a few minutes. Instant relief. How it works is that the muscles in your body utlilize calcium and magnesium together at the same time. Calcium contracts the muscles making the muscles "tense" up. Magnesium relaxes the very same muscles at the very same time so that the muscles are neither too relaxed and floppy, nor are they too contracted and tense. If you have a deficiency in magnesium, your muscle are not relaxed and you become very tense, especially around your head and jaws and it brings on a feeling of depression and headache. I would definately have him try magnesium before prozac as you know perscription drugs are most likely toxic to the body utlilizing certain mechanisms in the body to detoxify the prozac out of the body instead of being utilized for it's intended purpose.

Good Luck,

k

[chilove]

Is he exercising? Exercise has been proven clinically to drastically improve depression. I would advise him to give raw foods more of a chance and start an exercise program and give that at least three months to work before he resorts to medication, UNLESS he is actively suicidal.

Audrey

[Shmoopie]

Whether he's gong to take meds or not is certainly his choice, and only he can decide what's right for him. If he can get out of it, of course, that'd be the "healthiest" thing, but people gotta do what they gotta do. That said, advise him to watch for side effects. Prozac is a scary drug. I used to take it myself, and the side effects can be pretty bad for some. Tell him to pay attention, and you pay attention too.

Apart from that, Omega 3's are said to be wonderful for depression, as is exercise. I've known a lottt of people with depression who have said that Omega 3's have helped. With or without medication, there's supposed to be a real benefit to taking them. Ditto for exercise.

I don't have an answer to the actual question you asked. Good luck though.

[FloridaBahai]

Purl,

I am much better off than I was when I was on Paxil, Zoloft, and Welbutrin. I don't know what you mean about losing his mucous barrier. What do you mean by that?

When I was on Zoloft, and especially PAXIL!!!, I felt like doing nothing but sleeping and eating. When I was on Welbutrin...which was actually Zyban, to get me off from nicotine, I became angry at the slightest provication. I wanted to slap whoever even looked at me the wrong way. Those drugs are HORRIBLE!! They mess up the brain, its chemistry and its thought process.

I've been much better off on nothing but raw foods.

I may still be nuts, but I'm happy.

:)
Craig

[Purl]

Thank you all. I'm going to have him read this thread.

Craig-when we eat cooked foods our body creates mucous. The body recognizes cooked food as a forgein object and creates mucous to line the intestinal tract. This acts as a barrier. When we go 100% raw our body no longer needs the mucous, so we shed that barrier. Now that's totally AWESOME, except for 1 thing-if we eat something "bad" (ie cooked, preservatives, food dyes, meds(?) etc) we don't have the protective barrier, so a much larger amount can be absorbed and poison the body.

If you read about people that are raw for awhile then eat cooked, they almost always say they got sick. Victoria Boutenko wrote about it in Raw Family. Good Read, Highly recommended.

[FloridaBahai]

Purl,

Now I realize what you were saying about the mucous lining. I don't know if he'll absorb more of the drug since he's gone raw but why would he be given a Rx for Prozac so soon after he's had such good results (as far as no detox) with being raw for seven or eight days? Is he seeing the right doctor?

Craig

[Purl]

I'm going to talk to him tonight. I think he may be trying too many new things all at once and then he won't know which one is working. I just think he's felt so cruddy and overwhelmed for so long that taking a teeny pill each day seems much easier than going raw right now. He also found out that he has carpal tunnel syndrome and may need surgery. Lots of things going on all of a sudden, KWIM?

[mommamia]

I just wanted to add my own experience. I've been on Wellbutrin for a year. The whole mucous lining issue worried me, too. I have just a few thoughts.

I don't think the mucous lining comes out overnight.(i could be wrong here because I've only been 100% for 2 weeks at a time, then on/off high raw) If he does try the medication he may just come to a point where he will cut back.I've been able to cut my dose in half. I just did it, not because I noticed I was taking too much.
I can't believe the difference in my moods by changing my nutrition. But it did take some time (weeks in my experience, but sometimes new meds take the same amount of time!) I wouldn't tell anyone not to try drugs for a while because they certainly saved my life. I had no idea how bad I was. I have a friend who said getting on drugs made her mind clear enough to realize that she needed to nutritionally help herself. She is now off all meds.

Just some thoughts~I wish your husband well!

[Purl]

Yes-I have been depressed for 8+ years-but it took going raw and feeling better to realize who crazy I acted! :p

[Shmoopie]

He also found out that he has carpal tunnel syndrome and may need surgery.

Just wanted to comment on this. I'm a massage therapist and when I was in school, and we were covering carpal tunnel, surgery was mentioned. It was said that surgery will worsen the condition. The scarred tissue that will certainly be created by cutting the tendon around the wrist will cause the tendon to, well, for lack of a better term, grab on even more tightly. It's scarred tissue (or will be after surgery)...it gets tight. Tighter than it is now. Within 5-7 years, he will need surgery again, and in less time than that, he'll need it yet again. The more you scar up that tissue, the tighter it's going to get. I'm not sure what your financial situation is looking like, but if he cannot afford a weekly massage, he can certainly learn to do the stretches (the ones a therapist would do on him) on himself. It's not very comfortable. Until he gets used to it and loosens himself up a bit...the stretches hurt. But he can do them to himself and be in full control of the pain situation, and keep himself loose that way. I can scan some instructional photos and also write down exactly how to do the stretches if you'd like. Get back to me if you're interested.

Surgery...especially for something like carpal tunnel where the surgery itself will undoubtedly worsen the condition it's trying to repair...is an option that definitely needs to be the very last resort.

There's also a fairly new type of therapy out that has had really amazing results. It's called prolotherapy. The number one practitioners for this are in a clinic in Chicago. If you consider this therapy an option, and Chicago is too far for you...at least try to get a recommendation from them for a practitioner in your area. I've heard that there are some iffy pracititioners out there, as well as some very good ones. The therapy involves a series of injections. What is being injected is a natural substance...though there are several to choose from and I'm not at all sure what the reason is for one substance versus another. Zinc is one that is used. Off the top of my head, I can't remember what the others are. In any case, the injections go directly into the problem site (like the wrists for carpal tunnel). I don't imagine it feels very good, though I've heard something about being able to be numbed before the procedure. Anyway, what this does is induce inflammation. Inflammation induces healing. It builds the tissues in the problem area to make them stronger. A former co-worker of mine had this done. He's in his 60's. He had it done on his knee and his back. Prior to having the procedure done, there were days that he couldn't stand up straight. After having it done (only one time, mind you), he's pain free in both of those areas. He met a guy at the clinic who had it done on his wrists for carpal tunnel. The mans condition was so severe that he could not lift his hands because the muscles and other tissues in his wrists had detriorated so severely. I'm not sure how many times he had to have the prolotherapy done, but he's told my former co-worker that he's now pain free and has full use of his hands. It's not covered by insurance (last I heard)...but is far cheaper than a surgery will ever be. I believe that the cost of having it done on your knee is $250, so a wrist is probably not much different. Ok I write really long posts sometimes lol. Sorry about that.
If you're interested in the prolotherapy, the Chicago clinic (where the guy works who was trained by the man who invented it) may be a good place to start. Their website is www.caringmedical.com
They are also chiropractors. Otherwise, there's a lot of info about it on the internet...just do a search on prolotherapy. I plan to have it done on my elbow (I have tendonitis). If you're interested in the stretches I told you about, as I said, let me know and I'll get you whatever info you need.

[JinxieKat]

I just want to second the carpal tunnel thing. Don't do the surgery, gads any surgery on a wrist is awful. I had exactly that same thing happen, the scar tissue built up and I couldn't use my wrist at all! It took alot of very painful physical therepy to break up the scar tissue enough to move it. I still have side effects, if I don't use my wrist reguarlly for something like typeing or knitting my wrist will freeze up again and I have to work over a couple of days to get it mobile again. It isn't fun!

Jinx

[Shivananda]

Anti-depressants like Zoloft and Prozac have benefit to many, but also exhibit a very well documented host of bad side effects, commonly including weight gain and loss of sex drive. I'd investigate alternatives first before taking such a big, heavy step.

You may have missed this, but I recommend looking up a major article Time magazine did a week or two ago about several different schools of cognitive therapy which claim success in treating depression without meds, but which the medical industry has not yet embraced. It tends to be a short term course of treatment. I've personally seen Dr. Albert Ellis at work at a demo session and found his work amazing.

Also, and this didn't occur to me until I noticed you are in New England, that the short, dark winter days in northern climes can trigger Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), which is seasonal depression caused by insufficient light stimulation of the retina. I used to get that when I lived in Seattle. But the treatment is much simpler and safer than meds... it involves using full spectrum lights that accurately simulate daylight, and sometimes getting a light panel to provide extra stimulation. If he suffers from depression in winter, but not in the summer, this could be a sign that it is SAD at work.

[Juicyfruit]

Purl, also, since he is trying raw, the carpel tunnel should reslove it's self in time since it's an inflammitory condition. I HAD it, but not any more since I'm raw. I had it so bad when I was pregnant and right after that I couldn't feel my fingers ! Now, I don't even have the slightest hint of it. The research I've done in the past points towards grains as a cause of joint issues. As for the anti-depressants, been there done that and they made things worse instead of better, that is my opinion though. If he continues on raw, things will turn around. :)

[Purl]

Thank you all.

juicyfruit-what do you think about this as a work related injury? I mean do you think raw will have the same repairing effect if he continues to hang pipe for a living? (It's the wrenches that he turns 8-12 hours a day, 5-6 days a week that have caused it.) I ask because my dh didn't think to ask these questions in the drs office! ;)

[QUAKER]

IMHO mangoes are a very good anti-depressant.

[firefaery]

The problem with SSRI's (like zoloft) is that they articficially introduce seratonin into your system telling you body that it no longer needs to produce it. That is why anti-depressants become addictive. Going off of them your body is depleted and doesn't know to manufacture it's own seratonin.
There are many natural things he can do if he so chooses and many have been mentioned. High doses of omega 3 fatty acids, B complex vitamins, GABA and magnesium supplementation are all an option. 5-HTP has an excellent track record when it comes to depression. It's completely natural and is simply tryptophan which is the natural precursor to seratonin. Since you are providing your body with more tryptophan it can convert it at will. It doesn't shut off neurotransmitters. IT is best taken with P5P, which is a b vitamin that heightens it's effectiveness.
Depression is actually a symptom of a gut that is not functioning properly. FOr this reason cleaning up his diet will help him greatly. All neurotransmitters that are found in the brain are actually manufactured in the gut. If there are any issues with gut health-IBS, IBD, crohn's disease, yeast overgrowth etc. you won't make them and will therefore be deficient. HTH some.