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Re: TCM » Prozac Pro

Posted by Hombre on September 10, 2010, at 21:55:03

In reply to Re: TCM, posted by Prozac Pro on September 7, 2010, at 9:28:28

> Just in my personal experience, Western medicine/psychiatry is far more effective at treating major depression than is TCM. I am under the impression that has been the experience in China, as well. However, I think that TCM potentially has promise in treating the side effects of psychotropic meds, much as it has been used to alleviate the side effects of chemo. I wonder if any work has been done in China on the use of TCM to treat, e.g., SSRI side effects?

TCM will treat the pattern regardless of the origin. In terms of treating SSRI side effects, they are classified in terms of TCM patterns and treated accordingly. This is sort of the nice thing about TCM in terms of helping people, but it makes it unsuitable for rigorous studies.

I take chinese herbs for my SSRI and AAP side effects:

- apathy
- tiredness
- urinary hesitancy
- sexual dysfunction
- weight gain
- anxiety
- brain fog
- fatigue
- trouble concentrating

These may be exacerbated by my own constitutional idiosyncracies or may also be symptoms of depression. I categorize my patterns as:

- deficient kidney yang
- deficient kidney yin
> the apathy, urinary, and sexual SEs, maybe trouble initiating actions

- liver stagnation
> apathy, or just feeling "stuck", anger

- spleen deficiency
> general fatigue and trouble concentrating or remembering

The danger of supplementing yang and qi is that I run the risk of depleting yin - so I drink chrysanthemum and goji fruit tea, eat fruits, drink plenty of water and electrolytes, eat pork, do tai chi, go to bed early and avoid too much spicy food and stimulants. If I feel like yin is deficient I'll feel sort of hot and dry, especially with thirst. If I feel like yang is deficient, I feel a little too relaxed and calm, won't feel like doing as much activity.

It seems simplistic, but I can totally adjust my mood, energy and mental function by using herbs, food and activity/rest to maintain balance. The proof is in the pudding, especially with symptoms like urinary hesitancy and sexual function.

 

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