Posted by KaraS on February 7, 2005, at 15:10:24
In reply to Re: fsih oil - other brands?, posted by LOOPS on February 7, 2005, at 8:24:09
> Hi Kara -
>
> right now I am not taking the sjw and taurine, because I feel that the oils are getting more to the bottom of my mental problems/anxiety. If things get bad again, I may give the sjw another shot - but I never find it a totally smooth ride with that stuff, and I have to be careful of hypomania. Also I tend to slouch into apathy after a few months, although I can't be sure this was entirely the sjw as I was taking lithium orotate at the same time.
>
> So for me sjw can be a bit hit and miss. Also it has differing actions on my sleep. It seems to help after a few weeks, but at first it does somewhat interfere with my sleep and occasionally raises my heart rate as well (which isn't conducive to getting to sleep).
>
> Well, the 5htp I still take at night, and occasionally in the day when I recognise signs of very low serotonin. I only take it at night usually, but have to take a sufficient dose to get the benefits (150-200mg). I am not convinced of its effectiveness in keeping me asleep as it seems to wear off early in the morning (4am?) and I have to either take another dose, or take something else (valerian etc) to get back to sleep. I sometimes wonder if adding back in the sjw will help with this, as it did seem to help with 'keeping the serotonin levels up' as before. I love my sleep and feel getting plenty is a big step in recovering mental 'normality'.
>
> I also feel with 5htp it can upset the serotonin/dopamine balance if taken in big doses all the time, throughout the day etc. I don't know if this is a fact of course, but my guess is that things can also get bad if dopamine is low (thrill-seeking etc). Now I really think the fish oil has done a lot to help me with low dopamine. I am an addictive person, and find bad habits very hard to break, but recently have been noticing subtle changes in my 'attitude' towards these habits; not giving up smoking yet, but I can go for more extended periods of time without one, and not be feeling deprived.
>
> Anyway that is a bit off track. As regarding panic - yes, I have suffered from this on and off since my teenage years. I once got to the point where I was obsessing about 'thinking about thinking' to the point I could not do anything else. I got so anxious and upset I started having panic attacks. NObody understood or wanted to help me. I think high stress and family problems really set me off. So I totally sympathize.
>
> I don't know if the sjw would help you with panic - I think it might 'eventually', but if you're anything like me, it might increase anxiety to start with (I think this is because it raises norepinephrine). I think in this respect, 5htp might be better for immediate calming, but again, for me the initial effects of 5htp were VERY DIFFERENT to those experienced after taking it awhile.
>
> I noticed at first with 100mg pharm-grade 5htp it made me a bit hypomanic. This stopped after awhile and now I can take 100mg no probs and it calms me.
>
> Other things I really have found most useful for panic, are lecithin combined with B vit complex (with fish oil even better), and surprisingly Holy Basil extract (blocks cortisol) - surprising because it seems to have quite a powerful effect on me, even with one cap. Lecithin in big enough doses can calm down mania, but I have also found it useful in anxiety. I don't take too much because it can make one depressed after a while of taking it all the time. Eggs of course might have the same effect - and combined with B5 (which they contain a bit of anyway) works even better for stress.
>
> SJW will work on GABA to some extent and this may help you - probably why so many people feel a bit 'spaced-out' on it.
>
> LoopsLOOPS,
Thanks so much for taking the time to go into so much detail on this. I really appreciate it. Anxiety problems can be so crippling. It sounds like you know exactly what I mean. I'd like to be able to control the anxiety naturally - at least eventually. Right now I'm taking a small amount of doxepin and it is helping but it isn't a long-term solution for me. I will eventually try the 5-htp. I didn't like that the articles I've read said to take it 4 times a day but it sounds like you're able to take a larger dose at one time and avoid that continuous dosing schedule. (Wish it came in sustained release form!) I think you said in an earlier post that you get the pharmaceutical grade stuff from either biosynergy.com or another place starting with "bio" that is out of South Africa (but Dr. Bob xxxed out the full name). Do I have that right?
I'll be upping my fish oil amounts and will look into Holy Basil. I'd actually never heard of the latter but if it can get to the cortisol (which is the root of the problem) then it's a great solution to know about.
Thanks again.
Kara
poster:KaraS
thread:445077
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20050131/msgs/454421.html