Hi Nicki82,
Welcome to our support community. You've come to a great place. It's great to see that you've started working through the program. You've also brought up a great topic. The use of supplements/vitamins/perscription medication is completly up to the individual. They can all be beneficial to some people for different reasons. It's important to speak with your doctor about possible side effects, concerns and combinations with other medications.
It may also take some time before you find what works best for you.
Sylvie, Bilingual Health Educator
I read your concerns and since I work in healthcare I have a few things to say about supplements. There are benefits to certain supplements, but also dangers. St. John's Wort was touted to have benefit and I tried some years ago, but not long enough to day I saw benefit. Now after years out on the market it has been linked to liver damage. I hear people all day long talking about a "natural" cure and their fear of "drugs" and side effect profiles. ANYTHING you put into your body can have side effects. A cheeseburger can help clog your arteries and lead to a heart attack or simply make you obese and still lead to a heart attack. You can have a severe allergic reaction (rash or worse) from food, medications or supplements. Supplements are still drugs but unstudied in a formal setting so there is no side effect profile until years after the product has been on the market. Humans are the lab rats.
Drugs that are studied prior to the release on the market and have a side effect profile must include ALL side effects reported during clinical trials. So the side effects listed MAY happen but not necessarily. With medication from your doctor you are monitored for these side effects more closely than if you take supplements. Still if you wish to use a supplement do so with as much respect as for the prescription you are trying to avoid. Research it and know what others have found to be true about the supplement. There are some that have benefit and have been out for awhile so there are some study profiles on them.
I take a doctor prescibed medication and a mutli-vitamin supplement. This is helpful, but as Wildcat said it is only part of the solution. If there was a pill we could all take to make this stop, no one would be here right now. I think of my medicine as just another tool to help me deal with my "complexities".
Just another thought on the subject, one that I see everyday, and had to give my perspective. It ultimately must be something you are comfortable with doing.
I know that for moderate to light conditions something like st-john's wart has an 'effect' is it palcebo or the subject of a good study ... I do not remember. I remember that Market Place on the CBC had studies that showed that the major 'natural' suppliments do not have consistant doses of their active ingrediants ... so that posed many problems. Also the effect of one strain of 'plant' did not have the same effectiveness as others... here I can remember the differences in German camomille vs the Roman varity from a 'natural-heath journal'.
I saw the preliminary studies of omega fish oils on light and moderate mental health issues. Since I do not consume enough omega 3 and 6 fish oils this might be interesting for me as one part of a whole solution ... And usually this is how I tackle my health. Medication is one piece of the puzzle, lifestyle is another, nutrition, exercise, and therapy are others bits and pieces that make up the balance of my health maintenance - in normal times.
Have you spoke to your doctor concerning your idea of trying a holistic approach to wellness? My family doctor would just stare blankly and look at me as though a third head were growing out of my foot ... But again, i am not light to moderate depressive ... and am barely stable bipolar right now... Remember that medication is one part of a solution, CBT is another, your soutions will have to make the most sense to you and inorder for that you will need to talk to your doctor.
I am suffering from severe depression and started using the CBT program. My main goal is to get my life back on track and start feeling better about myself. I had my first session with a therapist almost a week ago and she suggested that I go see my family doctor about antidepressants. I've been doing some research on all the different medications out there and their side effects and I do not feel comfortable using meds. I understand medicine is useful to help treat many things but sometimes I feel doctors want to just shove medicine down our throats instead of suggesting alternative ways to cope with depression/anxiety. I've heard mixed reviews and wonder if anyone has had tried any natural supplements to cope with their depression and if it worked?
