Natural Antidepressants?

[dreamrawalwz]

My depression is not doing that well at the moment and my new therapist was kinda hinting on medication...saying since it's been chronic for so long that i may "need" medication. Well, I absolutely refuse meds, no matter how much I may *need* them. Are there any natural herbs that would work? So far I've heard:

St. John's Wort
5 HTP
B-complex

any others out there? I'd really like to feel 100% better and will do anything BUT I will not put any drugs in my body. I'm an all natural girl ;) Raw helped me at first, but now there are other stressors in my life and it's coming back, even if I'm on raw :( Maybe I'm just not getting sufficient intake of some food(s) since I can't consume many without a reaction...

[Dimond]

There are a lot of natural products you can try. This website might be helpful & she has a free e-book. http://www.thewayup.com

Couple other links that may help:
http://curezone.com/forums/f.asp?f=27
http://depressionlife.com

[Arky]

Here's a good website to read through:


http://www.healthyplace.com/communities/depression/treatment/alternative/food_moods.asp


and on BiPolar, there's a thread here:

http://www.rawfoodtalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=5264

Take care,


J.

[Conscious Midwife]

ST. John's Wart
Ginko Biloba

EXERCISE

[metta13]

There's an absolutely excellent book that deals with natural treatments for depression; I took a nutrition class from a highly respected naturopath , who used info from this book in her teaching. She writes about using St. John's Wort, but also using amino acids which are precursors of the neurotransmitters (this is the way 5 HTP works), along with the importance of omega-3 fatty acids, and removing food allergens from your diet. She also explores the thyroid and adrenal connection, and more. When you use her recommendations, you feel empowered, because you can fine-tune and adjust to what your needs are.

"The Mood Cure" by Julia Ross.

Good luck,

Metta

[metta13]

Oh, and I agree with lifeAgift....exercise.

And may I add......sunshine, affirmations, meditation, surrounding yourself with things that speak to your soul, fresh flowers, passion, learning something new, qigong.

peace to you,

metta

[Conscious Midwife]

Oh, and I agree with lifeAgift....exercise.

And may I add......sunshine, affirmations, meditation, surrounding yourself with things that speak to your soul, fresh flowers, passion, learning something new, qigong.

peace to you,

metta


DITTO

Fresh cut flowers work for me in a pinch. I also have an assortment of begonias cascading around my mailbox. It's the first thing I see when I pull into my driveway.

Long very cool showers diminish stress for me as well as aromatherapy. I've used heavily scent candles and incense during bad bouts of PMS and general tension and have had favorable results literally in minutes.

THE BIGGEST PREVENTION TECHNIQUE WITH RESPECT TO MOOD FOR ME IS

AVOIDING TOXIC PEOPLE

This is my number one prophylactic when it comes to self preservation.

The second is to say NO without guilt!

[Revvell]

Exactly.

Revvell


Oh, and I agree with lifeAgift....exercise.

And may I add......sunshine, affirmations, meditation, surrounding yourself with things that speak to your soul, fresh flowers, passion, learning something new, qigong.

peace to you,

metta

[Shan]

Omega Fatty acids, which Flaxseed oil has TONS of...waaaaaay more than fish oils.

[mrsalf97]

Could you have a wheat or gluten allergy? I just figured out in Jan. that I do so I cut it out. I've been 100% raw for almost 3 weeks and yesterday I started feeling really depressed and told my dh that I felt mentally unstable. I couldn't figure out what was wrong and knew I had only eaten raw. Last night I realized that I had fluid in one ear and I only get fluid if I have had something with gluten in it (which I would only eat by accident). So anyway I was trying to figure it out and thought about the sweet potato chips that I made and one batch had nutritional yeast and one had chili powder, and I do believe that one of the two must have had gluten.

Whatever the case may be, I really hope you are feeling better soon!

Shannon

[paleogirl]

I would, in your case, suspect another hidden food intolerance (you and I have pretty much the same list of exclusions I think - gluten, casein, soy, yeast... in my case all grains). Do you have a yeast iontolerance? I'm not talking candida, I'm talking an IgA mediated immune reaction to dietary yeaat. I do and it affects me the same way as gluten does (chronic fatigue, depression and brain fog for ~2 weeks. Fun!). If you haven't already, I would recommend a full-spectrum IgA test from Enterolab (http://www.enterolab.com). It might uncover the missing link. PM me if you want more info.

Interestingly, I found 100% raw brought back depression and fatigue that had completely disappeared since figuring out all my food intolerances. I'm still researching the concept of the naturually occuring yeast in fruit being the culprit. It sounds far-fetched to those without an IgA reaction, but there is enough yeast in coffee to cause me trouble. And yes, it's the coffee, not the caffeine - I can drink other seriously caffeinated beverages without the same reaction. Black tea also has enough yeast to bother me. Anything fermented is out. Green tea is fine as it's unfermented.

I have yet to try 100% raw and fruit-free, but I intend to do just that very shortly.

[LisaDS88]

Dehydration can be a huge cause of depression. (As mentioned in "Your Body's Many Cries for Water" by Dr. Batmanghelidj, and also in Dr Lorraine Day's books/tapes on curing cancer naturally. www.drday.com and www.watercure.com)

Make sure you drink lots and lots of water!! Daily water intake is crucial, but sometimes I have found that you can get a "quick fix" to feel better right away, too. Following Dr. Day's advice, when I have been depressed at times I will just drink the biggest glass of water I can stomach as fast as I can. It always makes me feel better within seconds, even though your body only supposedly absorbs 8 oz. at a time. I buy those big 24 packs of bottled water at the store now and have gotten in the habit of having a water bottle with me at all times. It's like a purse....if I go somewhere without my water bottle now I feel like I forgot something necessary like a wallet/purse.

[dreamrawalwz]

Thanks for the websites, I'll take a look at them later tonight.

LifeAgift - yes, exercise is a good one. I'm just starting to exercise more again and I do feel better (during), but right after I'm down again. i should constantly exercise then ;) Ha, I don't like flowers...I'm weird! Toxic people...that would be hard considering I'm living with one, but I'll make do. "No" without guilt is EXTREMELY difficutl for me and I don't think I've ever done it (Except say "no" to antidepressants).

Shan - I would try flax oil, but I'm not sure if I react negatively to that or not.

mrsalf97 - I have A TON of allergies and intolerances, including all grains. If I have wheat I'm suicidal and severely depressed within 5 minutes of consuming it. YIKES!

Paleogirl - thanks for the suggestion. I'm sure there are more intolerances that I havn't pin pointed yet, unfortunately. I am allergic to yeast as well. I had a complete blood test to figure this all out. I really hope it's not the naturally occuring yeast in fruit!! I know that fat can impact yeast and not the fruit, so I dunno. Let me know what you find out for yourself?

LisaDS88 - I wouldn't THINK i'm dehydrated. I drink over 100oz of water. I said "think" because when I go to the bathroom it's still not clear, so that confuses me.

[vgloveforlife]

Omega Fatty acids, which Flaxseed oil has TONS of...waaaaaay more than fish oils.

Flaxseed is high in omega 3 but just a certain type and sometimes your body can not convert it to DHA which is another omega 3 important for brain health. What you should get (I'm not sure if it is raw) is a vegan DHA supplement from microalgae which is what the fish eat. I would really recommend this just to ensure that your body is getting the DHA direct if it is unable to convert it.

I'm not sure if it was mentioned but Sam-e is an effective antidepressant.

Music is also really good for depression!!

And to reitirate what others said, excersise! It really does amazing things for the body.