Posted by bleauberry on April 7, 2009, at 17:31:11
In reply to Thought provoking article on Amen blog, posted by Larry Hoover on April 7, 2009, at 7:58:06
Very interesting stuff, but not at all surprising. I have seen it firsthand with my spouse. Though not at all thoroughly investigated as in the article, my spouse on a blind tip from a friend started taking a supplement called Estroven. In 2 weeks her scary mood crashes of the last 2 years, rapid swings back to normal, more crashes, more normal, and sleep disturbances throughout, have all been tamed about 90%. There is obviously to me a super strong link between mood disorders and hormones. A psychiatrist probably would have given her a mood stabilizer, benzo, sleeping pills, antidepressant, something, while the disease was allowed to progress. All it took was a stupid OTC supplement called Estroven. Go figure. Hormones have power, lots of it.
I've seen the same thing myself with my own trials of psysiological replacement doses of hydrocortisone for diagnosed hypoadrenalism, which after 2 weeks of nothing turned into a stunning jaw-dropping miracle, far beyond what any psych med or ECT could have ever hoped to do. Will be pursuing that again soon, but need my yearly Adrenal Stress Index test first, which measures Cortisol, DHEA, progesterone, gluten antibodies, and insulin, at 4 intervals throughout a normal day.
I recently had discussions in threads here about Hydrocortisone and mood disorders. This is pretty much uncharted waters for psych patients and pdocs. But the anecdotal evidence that does exist, whether it is understood or not, whether it is studied or not, and whether it is 100% successful or not, clearly shows hormones have a lot of power in controlling serotonin, dopamine, and lots of other stuff.
And in another thread I shared the writings of someone who claimed the body is the mind, the mind is the body, they are one, if the body is messed up, so is the mind. Hormones are throughout both. If a female has bad estrogen levels or whatever, it isn't just her mind suffering.
I just wish there was more reading material available for male pscyh patients with reference to mood disorders. I think the best we know at this time has to do with cortisol, thyroid, and testosterone, but something tells me that is barely scratching the surface.
poster:bleauberry
thread:889167
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090330/msgs/889275.html