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Expert Yogi
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Location: A Blue State |
Jeans-- I hope that all goes well with DH. Florida should be nice at this gloomy time of year.
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 2479
Location: A Blue State | DownwardDog - 2005-11-28 5:48 PM
Make sure that you don't try and treat depression yourself if it feels really bad. Go and visit your doctor, it's dangerous. Afterall you wouldn't stitch yourself up or operate on yourself. If it's a bout of depression you think you can handle, then fine, by all means try out some things. I know John's Wort interracts with other medications, so check it out if you're on any before taking it.
This is really good advice. The clinical studies on St. John's Wort are not at all encouraging....
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
 
| I don't know about interaction but SJW can apparently increase blood pressure so that can be an issue. When I have pms (not so often or so bad since yoga) I find it quite effective. In a way it would be nice to know if it was placebo effect OTOH, I don't care as long as it works  I find it to be about the equivalent of a 1/2 glass of wine as far as reducing that antsy, cranky, nasty feeling yet much more socially acceptable for someone who works with little kids  |
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| SJW is the most commonly used antidepressant in Germany and works for like 80% of mild-moderate depression. So if it helps, awesome, but if things are *really really* bad "professional help" is in order.
The side effect profile and drug interaction profile is very similar to the common prescription antidepressants like prozac/paxil/zoloft. So if you can't take those drugs with a certain med, I wouldn't take SJW either. Most common side effects are insomnia or excessive drowsiness, decreased appetite, headaches, stomach aches.
Overall is is a good solution for lots of people, and IMHO way better than the prescriptions tuff if it works for you.
(can you tell I answer that question at work a lot...now back to yoga!) |
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| I totally agree,
for mild depression taking prescription drugs is overkill. Like calling in a doctor to apply a blister plaster. Sadly a lot of people resort to them. They are however crucial medication for deep depression and the like. Bipolar depression (or manic depression) however rarely benefits from antidepressants. Most take mood stabalisers as the antidepressants make everything worse.
Keep an eye on it, if it gets worse, see your doc. It's an illness like any other. Just there's a difference between pneumonia and having a cold.
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| Yes, the recent not-very-encouraging studies of SJW related to its effect on major depression. You don't want to self-treat major depression. But if SJW fixes your depression, probably it wasn't major Other studies have shown it effective for minor depression. |
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| I was also under the impression that some of the other anti-depression medications are also not that great when you're really depressed, in some cases making things worse. |
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| That's what I kinda figured. I thought it couldn't hurt (aside from making my birth control pills less effective, which is not an issue anyway) and if it didn't work I would seek more help.
It is a lot like medical treatment for other ailments. Of course I wouldn't attempt to set my own broken leg or perform surgery on myself. But if I had a headache or a cold, I'd take something over-the-counter to see if it made me feel better while the ailment runs its course. If my symptoms didn't improve or got worse, I'd see the doctor. |
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| Hey Jello, well it does take time to find the right medication like for everything, not everybody responds well to prozac, same as some people are allergic to penicillin.
Jeans yoga, I think that a headache and depression are really different as depression can really be rather dangerous if severe. When you have severe depression you don't always know it, contrary to popular belief.
I just think that from seeing severe depression and having been there, it really is too serious to mess about with. I agree that a minor depression can be helped, but ice cream tends to work too 
SJW does have some problems as some countries have even banned over the counter sale of it, you can read about the authorities warnings here for example:
http://www.netdoctor.co.uk/special_reports/depression/stjwort.htm
It's important to be informed - supplements and over the counter drugs are always considered "safe", when they can really have a negative effect on you, like a lot of painkillers are not good for the liver.
Edited by DownwardDog 2005-12-01 6:12 AM
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| DownwardDog - 2005-12-01 6:02 AMHey Jello, well it does take time to find the right medication like for everything, not everybody responds well to prozac, same as some people are allergic to penicillin.
True. It's been quite a while, but I believe the article was talking about people who were doing well on certain medications, and then, for no apparent reason taking a serious turn for the worse. Sometimes fatally so, sometimes not.
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
| I know that people think herbs are automatically "safe" which is a dangerous belief. I actually have a huge crop of SJW growing in my side yard - a nice ground cover. Some have asked why I don't just use it instead of buying it but without the knowledge of how to safely adjust the dose, it does not seem at all wise. Some people would take the time to learn and enjoy this free crop but it is not my area of expertise so I am leaving it up to the herbal companies. Of course, I have to trust that they are doing things right and that is most definitely not always the case (how many studies have shown little or no active ingredient in many herbal preparations???) but I try not to be that cynical. Well, not every day  |
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| My dad is a pharmacist and says the same thing - you like herbal supplements because they're "natural"? Where do you think drugs come from??
I have studied the effects of herbals and of nutrition (sorry, ice cream just doesn't do a thing for me!) to some extent, but haven't delved much into depression before, so maybe you guys can help me understand. My assumption was that there is a difference between someone who is generally a happy person but is having trouble recovering from a traumatic situation, and someone who has a flat-out chemical imbalance in their brain that causes them to be severely depressed (even suicidal). Is the person who is going through a rough time actually experiencing the same chemical imbalance, albeit temporarily instead of permanently? Or are they just experiencing an extreme version of a "bad mood" or something along those lines? Does the "bad mood" person really require the same medical attention and prescription drugs as the chemical imbalance person? Seriously, I'm not trying to be a smart-a$$, I don't know.
I've wondered if I should talk to a professional (and sometimes thought it would be nice just to have someone to whine to!!) but I really feel like I'm not that sick and would be making a big deal out of nothing - wasting everyone's time. If a little SJW (i.e. one capsule/day) makes me feel better, am I actually sick at all? Shoot, a little margarita makes me feel better too, but they kind of frown upon that at work.
Edited by jeansyoga 2005-12-01 11:23 AM
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| Well the other problem is that nobodies really sure exactly what these drugs do. At this stage a lot of them are, we think it does this, and it seems to effect that, and there's a lot of guessing involved. Since so little is know with any degree of certainty, particular about long term effects, it's a little scary to place your trust in them.
For that matter the whole issue of chemical imbalances is interesting, since most scientists are saying, the general population has the following balances of chemicals, people with these problems seem to have this balance. If we increase that chemical it seems to help. But everybody's different, and we're all going to have different reactions, and the brain is an incredibly complex thing.
Anybody who's had a drink can tell you that any change to the brain's chemistry is going to have a whole host of reactions. Some good, some bad. My understanding is that after several thousand years of experimentation with alcohol we still don't know all the repercussions of long term exposure.
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| As far as herbs go, if an herb is strong enough to have an affect on a person then it's strong enough to have a side-effect, too.
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Yoga for Depression
