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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 15 of 15. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by danjya on November 11, 2003, at 18:23:21
greetings everyone,
i hope that some of you here will be able to advise me regarding any possible alternatives to drug therapy for depression. my wife have been given by her doctor 200mg of zoloft/day + 50mg of trazodone. since last week, the doct prescribed an additional 150mg of wellbrutin/day - THAT she hasn't started yet, because I PANICKED!
she has lost more than 25 pounds in these 4 months, although she is eating..not much, but she never did eat too much anyway. to understand the situation, she is 5.8 tall and 96 pounds at this time.....
I know that she must stop this nonsense medication, but can't find someone to understand the huge problem here. she is depressed indeed, but functional, and ALL of her blood works have come back perfect. slightly tiroid hyper activity, but nothing alarming.
while all this goes on, I see these drugs taking my wife away. anybody has any ideas, please?
thank you.
Posted by McPac on November 11, 2003, at 19:10:25
In reply to alternatives to zoloft drugs in general?, posted by danjya on November 11, 2003, at 18:23:21
tryptophan....but NOT while on that much Zoloft!
Posted by EscherDementian on November 12, 2003, at 3:09:45
In reply to alternatives to zoloft drugs in general?, posted by danjya on November 11, 2003, at 18:23:21
danjya, hello again!
i'm going to try to put together a list of good suppliments and nutrition considerations...
but it might take a couple days~ i've got alot 'on my plate' right now ;-)Am hoping one of 'the experts' here will rescue us and take this on... and they'll know the right questions to ask you too.
In any case, help is on the way
Escher
Posted by EscherDementian on November 12, 2003, at 3:12:42
In reply to alternatives to zoloft drugs in general?, posted by danjya on November 11, 2003, at 18:23:21
Posted by tealady on November 12, 2003, at 11:32:10
In reply to alternatives to zoloft drugs in general?, posted by danjya on November 11, 2003, at 18:23:21
slightly tiroid hyper activity, but nothing alarming.
>
Could you please stae exactly what the test results were
test neme, her result, lab range
for all tests she had that make you think this?
Thanks, Jan
Posted by danjya on November 12, 2003, at 19:50:56
In reply to Re: alternatives to zoloft drugs in general? » danjya, posted by tealady on November 12, 2003, at 11:32:10
here is the TSH value: 0.42
the test were done by a very good lab and bio-chemist, dr. schandler, here in florida. he also recommended a bunch of vitamins/minerals/supplements. i mean..A BUNCH. but it is better than these chemical drugs, i suppose.
thank you all for doing this.
Posted by tealady on November 12, 2003, at 20:14:39
In reply to Re: alternatives to zoloft drugs in general?, posted by danjya on November 12, 2003, at 19:50:56
> here is the TSH value: 0.42
>
> the test were done by a very good lab and bio-chemist, dr. schandler, here in florida. he also recommended a bunch of vitamins/minerals/supplements. i mean..A BUNCH. but it is better than these chemical drugs, i suppose.
> thank you all for doing this.The TSH is not too bad. Did you get a FT3 (free T3) or FT4 level done? or a TBII or TSI anti TPO or even ANA test?..antibody tests?
Jan
Posted by tealady on November 12, 2003, at 20:24:03
In reply to Re: alternatives to zoloft drugs in general?, posted by danjya on November 12, 2003, at 19:50:56
Meant to add:
Doesn't matter if you have not got them, just any would give a better pictureAlso what is her skin colouration like? any darker brownish knees, elbows or skin creases?
Did she have a cortisol test?Jan
Posted by danjya on November 12, 2003, at 21:57:22
In reply to Re: alternatives to zoloft drugs in general? » danjya, posted by tealady on November 12, 2003, at 20:14:39
jan,
she had all the possible blood work done. all is within the good parameters. i still believe that the zoloft is damaging more than helping.
we'll see after she takes the supplement program recommended by this bio-chemist
Posted by tealady on November 12, 2003, at 23:10:45
In reply to Re: alternatives to zoloft drugs in general?, posted by danjya on November 12, 2003, at 21:57:22
> jan,
>
> she had all the possible blood work done. all is within the good parameters. i still believe that the zoloft is damaging more than helping.
>
> we'll see after she takes the supplement program recommended by this bio-chemistI didn't go well on Zoloft either. No rapid weight loss though.
Personally I'm about to try St John's wort as an antiD. I've been reading and it seems like about half the people go well with it and half don't out of the sample I've found on the net.
I wish your wife good luck with the new supplement program from the biochemist. Most on this alter board take a wide array of supplements for support. Sorry no help.
Jan
Posted by JLx on November 13, 2003, at 9:11:21
In reply to alternatives to zoloft drugs in general?, posted by danjya on November 11, 2003, at 18:23:21
Welcome to the board, I hope you find some help here, but just fair warning -- we probably can't suggest an "exchange this for that" remedy. In my experience, the natural/nutritional approach as opposed to medications, is very education...that is LABOR, intensive. :) I suspect everyone here has clocked long hours on the Internet and elsewhere trying to sort things out and then there's the trial and error. It's been well worth it though in my case. My worst days now are better than my best days on meds were.
Neurotransmitters come from food and what our bodies do with it so this is a good first step to sort out, in my experience, and it sounds especially important in your wife's case as she's obviously not eating much. The "usual" health advice re increasing exercise, cutting down/out sugar, smoking, caffeine, etc. is especially important to those of us with sensitive brain chemistry, imo. If your wife doesn't already know what kind of a diet makes her feel better, then a book like "The Metabolic Type Diet" might be helpful or she could simply experiment with either a high protein, or high carb emphasis, with the former increasing dopamine, and the latter, serotonin (broadly speaking). I'd also be alert for food/allergies addictions -- sugar, wheat (or grains in general) and dairy often times being the culprits contributing to our malaise. Or such things as MSG or aspartame. Or yeast.
Then it's good to make sure the basic nutritional needs are being met in terms of vitamins and minerals, the need for which of certain things like magnesium or B vits, will probably be exacerbated by stress. So, the RDAs are likely not going to be sufficient. But it sounds like you've got that covered by the supplement regimen from this biochemist. Otherwise here's a comprehensive list that someone posted recently: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030728/msgs/247312.html
I've found this Brain System Check List to be quite helpful in sorting things out: http://www.brainplace.com/bp/checklist/ The final results page has advice based on category revealed by the questionnaire, and there's also a general supplement page on there: http://www.brainplace.com/bp/supplements/default.asp
Also helpful to me was the free e-book on this site of a nutritional-approach-practising psychiatrist: http://www.thewayup.com/
Another site that I've liked is on magnesium that also includes lots of other info related to depression: http://www.coldcure.com/html/dep.html
I spent hours and hours online researching medical sites before I found that one, which ultimately led me here. (And check the archives, you'll find a wealth of info here.) I'd experimented with many natural supplements in the past and found they "didn't work" or that I couldn't tell if they worked at all. I suspect now that that was because I was magnesium deficient (despite taking a multi-vitamin/mineral!) and without magnesium, NOTHING about my body/brain was working very well. So, my prejudice is to advise you to get some magnesium into your wife ASAP before you do anything else. :)(A long relaxing bath in Epsom Salts is one good way to do it, btw.)
Good luck, keep us posted.
JL
Posted by McPac on November 13, 2003, at 15:19:15
In reply to Re: alternatives to zoloft drugs in general? » danjya, posted by JLx on November 13, 2003, at 9:11:21
GREAT Post JLx!
Posted by danjya on November 13, 2003, at 19:03:25
In reply to Re: alternatives to zoloft drugs in general? » danjya, posted by JLx on November 13, 2003, at 9:11:21
JL,
many thanks. I will research the websites you've sent and forward all the info to my wife.
thank you again for your very detailed answer.
danjya
Posted by byron on November 21, 2003, at 0:03:42
In reply to alternatives to zoloft drugs in general?, posted by danjya on November 11, 2003, at 18:23:21
> greetings everyone,
>
> i hope that some of you here will be able to advise me regarding any possible alternatives to drug therapy for depression. my wife have been given by her doctor 200mg of zoloft/day + 50mg of trazodone. since last week, the doct prescribed an additional 150mg of wellbrutin/day - THAT she hasn't started yet, because I PANICKED!
>
> she has lost more than 25 pounds in these 4 months, although she is eating..not much, but she never did eat too much anyway. to understand the situation, she is 5.8 tall and 96 pounds at this time.....
>
> I know that she must stop this nonsense medication, but can't find someone to understand the huge problem here. she is depressed indeed, but functional, and ALL of her blood works have come back perfect. slightly tiroid hyper activity, but nothing alarming.
>
> while all this goes on, I see these drugs taking my wife away. anybody has any ideas, please?
> thank you.Couple of things to consider:
1) Hypo (low) thyroid, not hyper is sometimes a contributor to depression.
2) Be sure you are seeing a psychiatrist, not a family doc.
3) Consider seeing a psychotherapist who has a good understanding of depression. There are many types of depression and many ways to treat them.
4) Research shows that most people with depression respond better to a combination of psychotherapy and meds over either alone.
5) Your wife may be Anorexic as well as depressed. Again I'd suggest a good therapist to assess what is going on. Psychiatrists are not much help in that area.5-8 and 96 pounds is becoming a serious medical hazard.
6) The drug combo you described is not out of line in and of itself. However, I'd get a second opinion and I'd seriously consider a therapist.Hope this helps.
Byron
Posted by danjya on November 21, 2003, at 14:42:02
In reply to Re: alternatives to zoloft drugs in general?, posted by byron on November 21, 2003, at 0:03:42
thank you very much for answering. we are considering all possible options of course. the weight loss has stabilized for now. i hope she will start gaining some soon.
thank you again,
danjya
This is the end of the thread.
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