Posted by JohnJ777 on January 21, 2010, at 12:04:12
In reply to rhodiola rosea » KarenRB53, posted by janejane on January 21, 2010, at 7:44:48
> > I just posted earlier about what I could use with Celexa to help with the lack of motivation and fatigue I feel from taking Celexa and "bleauberry" responded with great info about Rhodiola Rosea so I'm glad someone else is using this. Is it working well for you...are you taking it with other AD's?
> >
> > Thanks
>
> Hi Karen,
>
> I've copied over your message to me from the other thread (see above) since I think it makes more sense to answer it here.
>
> I sympathize with you about the low motivation and energy, and feeling "disconnected". I got that from prozac. If you want to read more about SSRI-induced apathy, do a search of the archives here. It's been discussed quite a bit.
>
> I'm certainly no expert, but all the recommendations you got made a lot of sense to me. I think anything that increases dopamine/norepinephrine would be worth trying, including tyrosine and DLPA (amino acid supplements).
>
> I'm currently taking rhodiola rosea, but I'm not sure I would recommend it as the first thing you should try since you have so many other options. Then again, it might be exactly what you need.
>
> I'm not taking any Rx meds right now and I find the rhodiola to ease my depression (mostly despair and feeling overwhelmed) with no obvious side effects. I'm not sure yet whether it's going to work for the long term as I'm still experimenting. My depression isn't completely gone, and I've had some setbacks. I might try adding a little prozac back into the mix at some point to see whether there's a synergistic effect.
>
> If you want to read more about rhodiola, there are a few threads in the archives here about it. Googling will come up with more. There is a book called "The Rhodiola Revolution", which I haven't read, but would probably be a good source of info, especially if you want to go to your p-doc with this (it was written by a psychopharmacologist who uses it as an add-on to ADs).
>
> As far as brands, Mind Body Spirit by Verde Botanica is the one that stands out. Bleauberry recommends it, and it's the kind I've been using. The one online store that sells it isn't set up for customer reviews, but from everything I've been able to find about it elsewhere, it seems to be "smoother" and better tolerated than other formulations. It also doesn't have unnecessary fillers. Price is comparable to other brands.I've read the book suggested by JaneJane and enjoyed it. There's a big caveat, however, in that it was written a number of years ago and the brands/recommendations have all changed since then. I take the MBS Mind Body & Spirit mentioned above, and it wasn't even around when the book was written. I think there's a lot that's been discovered about Rhodiola since this book, most notably that it can't be combined with chemical additives as so many companies use (such as magnesium stearate, chromium dioxide, etc). Rhodiola seems as if it is a very sensitive, ultra-fussy herb, which is the only thing that can explain to me why I can take 500 mg in one capsule from one company, and then get more effect out of a 150 mg capsule from another. What's up with that!
I've also discovered this with Maca, another herb I enjoy taking. There is such a difference between types of the same herb.
poster:JohnJ777
thread:934462
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100113/msgs/934564.html