Posted by PaulB on May 26, 2001, at 16:52:18
In reply to Re: Has anyone tried natural antidepressants?paul, posted by roo on May 25, 2001, at 14:24:41
> Paul B--
>
> There seem to be a lot of differing opinions about
> which is better: 5htp or L-tryptophan. What do
> you think?
> Also, how did you go about learning which of your
> neurotransmitters is at the root of your depression?
> I'd be interested in hearing more about that. I've
> noticed that the ssri's work best for me, and that
> wellbutrin and serzone make my depression worse. I don't
> know if that indicates anything.
> I'm now taking sam-e with prozac. I initially took
> it to see if I could taper down on my dose of prozac and
> substitute the sam-e, but my depression got too miserable
> so I went back up on my prozac dose. The sam-e didn't
> do much for my depression, but a surprise side effect
> of it was that it made the pain in my feet that has kept
> me from running for years go away! I've been running all
> this past week with no problems. I'll continue to take
> it just for that! Plus the running helps my depression more
> than walking does.
> Anyway, take care and thanks for the helpful info.
>
> RuthI prefer L-Tryptophan because its less likely to cause serotenergic side-effects particularly nausea and I dont have to worry to much about when I take it. 5-HTP usually only works on a completely empty stomach first thing for me.
I sort of came to understnad about my depression and anxiety, as I mentioned, through the use of conventional antidepressants. Paroxetine was the first and it really only helped with my social anxiety which Paroxetine is great for. It actually worsened my depression. I was then put on Effexor and this antidepressant which is dual-acting helped with my depression too.
But in addition to this I learnt that it is serotonin which is indicated in social anxiety as well as depression and I think there is less evidence that noradrenaline and dopamine play a part in peoples social anxiety disorders, panic, ocd etc. The TCA's which are also dual-acting but I think generally are potent noradrenaline acting may be somewhat useful than the SSRIs for depression as is Reboxetinef for severe depression.
Of course experimenting with L-Tyrosine and L-Tryptophan seemed to confirm that my anxiety was a result of low 5-HT and depression low catecholamines. If SSRI's work best for you then maybe you could try 5-HTP. I have read that often a little 5-HTP added to an antidpressant can really help as can l-Tryptophan. Studies show that 5-HTP works much better when given in conjunction with an antidepressant and vise-versa. I think 5-HTP is probably the best option for augmenting an antidepressant.
I have no idea why Serzone made you more depressed. If SSRI's helped you and Serzone didnt well maybe the metabolite of Nefazadone which is serotenergic stopped it from working properly. Maybe the 5-HT2 antagonism didnt agree with you(SSRI's will certainly increase 5-HT2)or the noradrenaline properites of the drug could have back-fired. I thought I would offer my ten cents worth on nefaz in case you were still taking it. Get well soon.
poster:PaulB
thread:64029
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20010522/msgs/64358.html