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Re: Has anyone tried natural antidepressants?

Posted by PaulB on May 23, 2001, at 17:09:07

In reply to Has anyone tried natural antidepressants?, posted by N.P. on May 23, 2001, at 15:38:28

> Has anyone tried St Johns wort or any other natural stuff? Does it help? I'm on 600mg of St. Johns wort now and the stuff does work, but not as good as I would want it to. Maybe it's because it's been a little more than a week and it didn't kick in yet. Or maybe I need 900mg a day. Anyone ever had any good results with herbs? I would love to see a realy good herbalist about it but don't want to just pick one out of yellow pages.
>
> Any feedbacks are appreciated.

There are lots of natural remedies for depression. St Johns Wort is a well known one and is indicated for mild depression. Basically its a 'weaker prozac'. It blocks the re-uptake of serotonin in the brain by 50% but its unselective unlike the SSRIS so enhances serotonin generally.

Other natural treatments include amino acids which are the precursors to neurotransmitters in the brain. If these work you are likely to see much quicker results than with the St Johns Wort. They include serotonin precursors-L-Tryptophan and 5-HTP and dopamine/noradrenaline precursors L-Phenylalanine and L-Tyrosine.

There is also SAM-E which may work syngernistically with these amino acids to enahance the synthesis of neurotransmitters.

There are several natural hormones that have been shown to improve mood including pregnenolone and progesterone.

There are other natural mood-boosters about but the evidence is flimsy for their use in depression which is a serious illness. If you suffer from severe depression I would recommend an SSRI over SJW although 5-HTP has shown effaciousness comparable to the SSRIS and L-Tyrosine has shown effaciousness comparable to some TCA's.

I would suggest you visit the website www.raysahelian.com. Sahelian has written quite a few books on natural mood boosters, answers questions at his site and I think it might be what your looking for.

You may also want to read 'Dealing with Depression Naturally' by Sid Baumel, 'The Way Up From Down' by Patricia Slagle(www.thewayup.com)

Good luck
PaulB


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