5htp or other natural anti-d's
#228521 - 12/01/05 12:01 PM
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taroh73
Reged: 12/28/04
Posts: 184
Loc: chicago, il
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Just wondering if anyone has had success with sam-e, 5htp or any other natural anti depressant other than St Johns Wort (that made me ill). Like everyone else, i'm tired of spending soo much money trying supps and I don't want to take any prescription meds. Any responses would be appreciated!! Thanks.
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do you mind if i ask why you want to avoid prescription meds? if it's because the natural options are "natural," i'd just point out that natural doesn't equal safe or mild - many poisons and lethal substances come from nature - and that herbal supplements aren't regulated by the fda, so there are no guarantees as to quality or anything else.
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jaime
ibs-a (mostly d) // vegetarian
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Is this to help your IBS or emotional stability?
If it is for emotional stability, may I ask what he diagnosis is?
Hope you don't mind the questions...it will help us give you clearer/better answers.
Thanks! 
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Formerly known as Ruchie
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Sorry! It is to help deal with the emotional turmoil that this blasted disorder brings on!! I've had horrible IBS for years... this diet helps but I cry all the time I think b/c my brain has just had it trying to cope all alone.
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The reason I want to avoid Rx meds is simply because I think the side effects, especially long term, are too unknown. I took prozac for a couple of years in the late nineties, and getting off of it was horrible. I also think it permanently changed my brain. I used to be exceptionally gifted academically, and after taking prozac, I now struggle when trying to learn new things. There are other after effects I suffered, but bottom line, having IBS is bad enough, I don't want to set myself up for a potential slew of unknown problems in the future if god willing someone discovers a cure for IBS. Don't want to trade one problem in for another so to speak.
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if the side-effects for prescription drugs seem unknown, the side-effects for natural alternatives are a million times less sure - they're subject to no overseen testing, no standards. sure, some are safe and great, but there's no way at all to ever know.
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jaime
ibs-a (mostly d) // vegetarian
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it sounds like it might help to be in therapy, to have someone to talk to, if you aren't already. if you're looking to avoid side-effects, it might be best to avoid substances altogether.
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jaime
ibs-a (mostly d) // vegetarian
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I agree with Jaime regarding the safety of natural alternatives - "natural" doesn't mean safe. I'm not saying all prescription medications are 100% safe either, but they do include information and documentation of side effects and adverse reactions for both short term and long term use, and they are standardized and regulated for safety and effectiveness.
The safety of supplements and the ingredients in the supplement, on the other hand, are up to the manufacturer. The FDA only steps in if the supplement is proven to be unsafe after being on the market. Plus, a lot of these supplements haven't undergone clinical trials or studies.
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I started taking 5-htp over a year ago for PMS. I did notice an improvement - I even increased my dosage. However, as time has progressed, I'm noticing GI upset and the same symptoms are worssening. I actually went to my ob/gyn specifically for my PMS, and she was very negative on the 5-htp because of the lack of guidelines/safety regulations used to create such a substance and the lack of long-term study on side effects.
She is going to treat me with a low-dose AD that I will take 10-12 days prior to my cycle only. I realize my need for help coping with stress/anxiety, but particularly as it relates to my monthly. This is not the first doctor I've asked about it, and been warned not to use it.
I also have a cousin who has been taking 5-htp and inositol for bi-polar like symptoms. She had short term improvement, but is now cycling back to bad. It is just not a safe, long-term thing to do without careful medical supervision. I wish now that I'd gone to my doctor about this to begin with.
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God is Faithful!
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5 HTP for bipolar is BAD NEWS! Someone with serious chemical imbalances should NOT try to treat it themselves and so far there is no clear evidence it can be done naturally! (I know cause I asked MANY times...and even the folks at the HFS encouraged me to speak to a doc! They are usually quite forward with info. on how this natral route might work...NOT with bipolar).
As far as 5HTP on the tummy...that is an individual thing. It helped my IBS!
It sounds to me Taroh like you could benefit from the IBS diet, the hypno tapes, and perhaps a psychiatric evaluation. Maybe you need anxiety meds? Maybe not. Maybe some SAM-e would help...maybe not.
I think the best thing is to know what the problem is before you treat it. If the anxiety is JUST about going out cause you can't find a bathroom in time...then I say do the hypno tapes and they should do wonders! If it is more than that...maybe you have an underlying anxiety and you would then need to figure out the best way for YOU to treat it.
HTH and that I didn't ramble or give too much opinion in here...*hugs*
Ruch
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Formerly known as Ruchie
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I've tried them all, and they all made me feel VERY ILL, i.e. nauseous/vomitting, etc.
My verdict re: natural A-D's Lifestyle stuff works most effectively, combined with MEDICALLY PRESCRIBED DRUGS. Hypno. is awesome, yoga, exercise, diet, etc.
I'm not wasting any more money natural herbal remedies.
Kate.
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Im not sure weather this will help at all but i went through depression and am off work with it, along with anxiety, panik attacks and stress. i was so reluctant to go on medication i marched myself off to the health food shop to see what natural replacements i could find. Eventually settling with the st johns wart - however this made me sick gave me more panik attacks - upset stomach the works which made me even more depressed. finally my doctor pursuaded me to give prescribed anti depressants a whirl - i sat there staring at the packet with tears rolling down my face wanting to feel better but scared of a) the side effects and b) admitting i needed the help of medication. anyway the night came i finally pursuaded myself it couldnt get any worse and took them, i admit the first 2 weeks were not so good with a bit of nausea and light headed feelings but they up'd my dose(i was only on half a tablet a night) to one tablet - now i sleep better i feel happier and have a feeling of being able to manage life i have no side effects atall.
One thing i think we need to remember about them is and im no doctor but anti depressants are there to help lift your mood giving you the ability to tackle your problems yourself. they are not a miricle cure(although at times to me they have been) also everyone is different and has different reactions to medications as with ibs we all suffer slightly different symptoms - try not to be dishearted if one doesnt work just keep trying eventually one will suit you. i was just lucky to find it in the first lot they gave me. Im on mertazapine not sure if they have that in the US but its worked for me. Hope i havent warbled on too much just trying to help xx
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-- jenix --
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just started using 5htp, its great, yeah it sucks wasting money on supplments, Ive spent thousands....and thousands...
It makes u feel "nauses in wich most people get help for sort of feeling" wich isnt even a real nausea in my opinion compared to what I have felt in my past , for the first 6 weeks "nausea" then it goes away after. Just one pill in the AM and one at night is working wonders so far..
Having IBS can make us very anxiety ridden, and just miserable no matter how much we try not to be that way, stress relief, hypnosis, what ever, it doesnt work, but 5 htp does.
I dont know about D, ive been doing a different diet that I just am now going off for a couple of weeks to see what it does bieng off. But I do notice a great imporvment in my stress level load on my mind.
After all the brain down below also likes high levels of seratonin..
It helps with nightmares 2~!!!!
Yeah St J sucks for IBS.
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"You are not sick, you are not sick, you are not sick, its all in your imagination, use your mind wich doesnt need your body and is completely seperate from it to erase all pain, and to erase all D....You are not Sick you are not Sick" Dont try to change the channel we are in control@!"@@!!!
Its a bacteria, and one day it will be proven and cured. I can give a thousand corelations to why its a infection just one that proves it all is how can cats and pets also get IBS? and wild animals wich have incredible stress not get it???!!!!!!! there are many other reasons besides that, Jones disease, etc etc..milk drinking countries and IBS/IBD etc etc..many many more....I wont do it in this message.
Untill then God have mercy on us.
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Exactly,
Try a low fat Selective Carb Diet, Look up SCD online. im sure it will help starve off the bacteria that love causing all your pain.
Soon it will be proven that IBS in most people, most, are caused by MAP bacteria or something close.
I can give a thousand correlations to why and how. All medical research, polls, studies.
MAP bacteria just like the ulcer bacteria is found in people with and with out pain and inflamation. By genetics we let certian bugs give us hell, and others like ulcer bacteria it doesnt do anything to them.
~One day it will be proven.
Have Patients.
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