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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by LOOPS on January 12, 2005, at 13:49:40
Hello everybody -
just wanted to update you on my experiment with fish oil (3-6g omega3/day).
I had dropped most other supplements, apart from a multi, a B complex, occasional zinc and vit E/C.
I was doing very, very well on the fish oil, with the odd bad day. Today has been one of those really, really awful high-anxiety days where I am pacing the floors and feel scattered and at a loss what to do etc. I can't bear feeling like this - it feels like I want to tear my hair out.
Did my journalling etc. and had a go at the world in it - specific people, why I'm so pissed off at myself etc. etc.
My eating's been a bit all over the shop as well (I am a 'partially' recovered bulimic - in other words, I haven't thrown up in quite a few months).
I am a little disappointed, as I was doing excellently on the fish oil alone, feeling very calm, at peace with the world etc. and NOW THIS!
So I got out my box of 'emergency anxiety pills' - i.e. picamilon, lithium orotate, magnesium orotate, l-theanine, P-5-P vitamin B6, st johns wort.
The picamilon works immediately for me, and with a dash of l-theanine works even better.
I really thought I had found my holy grail of supplements with the fish oil, and now I feel like it is not going to be enough for my present situation.
I may have to restart the wort if I keep on having bad days now. It's not perfect but it does work with the fish oil and lithium orotate very well (as I seem to remember). It's just I hate taking so many pills. Oh well, back to the drawing board.
So I just thought I'd vent here, if that's alright. Thanks for reading.
Loops
Posted by Glydin on January 12, 2005, at 16:28:32
In reply to Suddenly not doing so well...please read!, posted by LOOPS on January 12, 2005, at 13:49:40
about your bad time.
You can vent here, for sure.
Don't throw out all your good days out over one bad one... I know that's easier said than done as I've done that myself.
Hope it gets better for you.
Posted by Ktemene on January 12, 2005, at 20:59:03
In reply to Suddenly not doing so well...please read!, posted by LOOPS on January 12, 2005, at 13:49:40
Hi Loops,
Sorry to hear you're not feeling well. Have you tried adding Taurine or Niacinamide to your anti-anxiety war chest? I had a super stressful day today and found both of them helpful.
Also, remember that a few bad days does not mean that you are not still being helped by the fish oil. All that any of our medications is supposed to do is to bring us into the normal/healthy range of variation in anxiety and depression. But normal healthy people do have days when they are tearing their hair out. A friend of mine told me a great story about her baby that I have often found it useful to remember. She was worried because on some days her baby would be fretful and cry a lot and she asked the doctor what could be wrong with her baby that the baby just wanted to be held and rocked all day. The doctor gave her a funny look and said, "There is nothing wrong with your baby. I'm forty-five years old and sometimes I just want to be held and rocked all day."
Anyway, I hope you feel better soon. And I do recommend you try Taurine and Niacinamide if you haven't.
Posted by LOOPS on January 13, 2005, at 8:15:57
In reply to Re: Suddenly not doing so well...please read!, posted by Ktemene on January 12, 2005, at 20:59:03
things did get a bit better yesterday; the picamilon was a lifesaver and lithium orotate always seems to calm me down immediately (I am very sensitive to things). It was an effort to get up and go do something, but I did manage to get out and do something useful at last.
Things just made me flip out yesterday. We live in Chile, and most of the time I love it here, but sometimes I just feel so damned isolated. I speak the lingo, walk the Chilean walk etc. but I am still blonde/blue-eyed and stand out like a sore thumb. We've been here for 3 years now, but all the close friends I make seem to move away; the rest I don't have much in common with. And being a bit of a loner anyway, it is very easy for me to get completely isolated from people.
Didn't help that my husband went off suddenly up the mountain (he is an astronomer) for 5 days. I am used to this (don't mind it usually), but this time it was unexpected, and I wasn't mentally prepared. I know he'd rather be here, but that's the price you pay for having a great job/lifestyle.
I'm not allowed to work here (but I secretly teach the piano sometimes), and I always wanted the lifestyle we have - have lots of time to do my music composition etc. etc., but sometimes the isolation gets to me.
You see I am so desparate I am writing this to lots of people I don't even know.
Well, today looks to be a little brighter. I at least am feeling a little less scattered.
I do have taurine and niacinamide in the cupboard, and do use them now and then, but have found the taurine to make me a bit angry, and the niacinamide can make me more depressed (but only if I take too much). Picamilon is stronger I have found, more like a benzo without the sedation, but I can only take it for a couple of days at a time or it stops working so well.
Thanks for the support and reading this though - it helps a lot to know I can at least be heard by somebody!
Loops
Posted by Glydin on January 13, 2005, at 8:52:44
In reply to Thanks -, posted by LOOPS on January 13, 2005, at 8:15:57
Hi LOOPS,
First of all, I'm glad things looks a bit better for you. Isolation is a problem for me, too, so I can relate a little bit.
You mentioned Taurine and anger--- Have you always noticed this? I took it daily for months and slacked off dosing and restarted several weeks ago. I like the calmative effect, but I do feel it's making me irritable - to the point others notice with a: "Why are you so "b*thchy?". This seems to happen about an hour after a dose and lasts a while. I didn't notice this before - I don't think (?). I didn't take it for the past few days and I don't feel like things are getting to me and causing me to bark back as badly.
I feel badly posting this as I don't want to intrude on your post, plus I was recently trouting it's great calmative effects - which is true. Calm and irritated seem opposite to one another, it's really weird.
I would appreciate knowing your experiences.
Take Good Care,
Glydin
Posted by LOOPS on January 14, 2005, at 16:23:54
In reply to LOOPS - a Question, posted by Glydin on January 13, 2005, at 8:52:44
Hi Glydin -
yes, it's definitely odd about the taurine. My original guess was that supplementing for a long period of time (whatever that is) with any individual amino acid might lead to imbalances; after all, there is no food that contains just one amino acid. Then I thought this couldn't be it, as if you are eating a decent amount of complete (say animal) protein throughout the day, then you are still getting all the other aminos in abundance to balance things back out.
I think it is just a side-effect, and there is probably an 'opposing' amino to taurine in the brain (glutamine?) whose effects might be dampened by so much taurine at once. I did once take some glutamine after I'd taken too much taurine and was feeling very 'flat'. Low and behold, I felt 'normal' again after about a half hour.
Ironically l-glutamine actually makes me irritable too if I take it on it's own.
Another guess wuld be that taurine is having some kind of effect on dopamine/norepinephrine/serotonin. We know it seems to prevent over-release (?) of norepinephrine - but no-one seems to know its effects on the other neurotransmitters involved in mood.
Maybe Larry knows some more, or one of the other well-researched people on this forum.
Today has been much better, but I did get to let off a bit of steam last night and had an old friend round who doesn't mind listening to my whingeing! I felt much more relaxed today, like before when I started the fish oil.
Please, you are not intruding on any thread - this is what the forum is for!
Loops
> Hi LOOPS,
>
> First of all, I'm glad things looks a bit better for you. Isolation is a problem for me, too, so I can relate a little bit.
>
> You mentioned Taurine and anger--- Have you always noticed this? I took it daily for months and slacked off dosing and restarted several weeks ago. I like the calmative effect, but I do feel it's making me irritable - to the point others notice with a: "Why are you so "b*thchy?". This seems to happen about an hour after a dose and lasts a while. I didn't notice this before - I don't think (?). I didn't take it for the past few days and I don't feel like things are getting to me and causing me to bark back as badly.
>
> I feel badly posting this as I don't want to intrude on your post, plus I was recently trouting it's great calmative effects - which is true. Calm and irritated seem opposite to one another, it's really weird.
>
> I would appreciate knowing your experiences.
>
> Take Good Care,
> Glydin
Posted by Glydin on January 14, 2005, at 17:34:47
In reply to Re: LOOPS - a Question, posted by LOOPS on January 14, 2005, at 16:23:54
Thanks LOOPS!
I've gone without Taurine for two days and I've done fine. My irritability is improved - at least I think so - no one has inquired what the h*ll is wrong with me. (smile) So, it may be a PRN thing for now.
I'm glad things look a little better for you. Isn't it nice to have someone to vent to? I think that blessing has truly saved me at times.
Hope things continue upward for you...
How's Chile's weather this time of year? I hear it's a beautiful country.
Posted by LOOPS on January 15, 2005, at 7:32:37
In reply to Re: LOOPS - a Question » LOOPS, posted by Glydin on January 14, 2005, at 17:34:47
We live in La Serena, which is North of Santiago, and it's pretty mild here. Right now the sun comes out in the afternoon, but there is an annoying cloud which is famous for hanging over La Serena (ha - like me); it disappears as soon as you go into the valley (I live by the sea) - where the weather is more like Greece in the Summer.
Yes it is very beautiful - the sense of space is amazing with the huge mountains on one side and the huge beach/sea on the other. The valley here is like a paradise - it is very arid with a lush strip running both sides of a river. Many fruit trees grow here and of course, the famous Chilean wine grapes and vineyards.
Right now though I wish this cloud would just shift as it dampens things down quite a lot.
Glydin strikes me as being a Scottish name - are you Scottish by any chance? I am half Scottish/half English.
Loops
Loops
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