Posted by JohnL on February 6, 2000, at 4:58:46
In reply to Omega Oils (salmon oils, flaxseed oil, etc.), posted by Janice on February 5, 2000, at 13:22:52
Whether any over the counter remedies work or not I think depends on how closely they target the individual's underlying malfunction. There are so many different chemical imbalances that yield symptoms of depression or anxiety or whatever. If a person's underlying chemical imbalance happens to be targeted by a particular remedy, they will experience a great deal of success. If not, they will either have no response or get worse.Personally I have found SJW and SAMe to be slightly helpful. Perhaps a notch or two on a ten point scale. Everything else imaginable has either had no effect or made me worse. From this I can assume that SJW and SAMe partially target whatever problem(s) I have, but only partially.
Sometimes the doses needed are huge. For example, inositol was studied at doses of 12g a day. Since the capsule form comes in 500mg, that's 24 capsules a day. Yikes. That's a lot of swallowing! I think it also comes in powdered form, but even so, 12g is a lot of spoonfuls.
Whether it be over-the-counter or prescription, I think it is best to use medication reactions to guide treatment rather than symptoms or diagnosis. All too often drugs expected to work don't, while others that are not expected to work do. Like someone who tried everything in the book for anxiety but was finally cured with Ritalin, of all things. Or someone who tried every antidepressant in the world, only to be finally cured with a child's dose of Ritalin. I'm rambling, but I'm just trying to say that nothing is going to work--natural or prescription--unless it is closely targeting whatever the underlying problem is. There isn't any one shoe that fits all.
poster:JohnL
thread:20564
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000128/msgs/20604.html