best things for mood

R

ramakentesh

Senior Member
Messages
534
Hi guys
ever found anything that helps with your mood without having adverse consequences or at least those that arent that bad?

l-theanine?
SAMe?
Rhodiola rosea?

thanks in advance.
 
B

Bob

Senior Member
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Location
England (south coast)
I have often suffered from depression, and the only thing that has ever worked for me is anti-depressants.

Over the years I've tried almost every supplement to try to relieve depression, and nothing worked for me.

But mild mood problems are different to depression, and different things work for different people.

Please seek help from a doctor if mood issues are affecting your life, because mood issues can be undiagnosed depression, or can quickly become a bigger problem.

It's also a good idea to get medical tests for problems like iron deficiency, and low thyroid.
 
adreno

adreno

PR activist
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4,841
I have to agree with Bob. Even though some natural substances look good on paper, in my personal experience they didn't do much, long term. Only antidepressants has worked for me.

While amitriptyline and mirtazapine had too many side effects for me, I've found low dose fluoxetine to be very mild and devoid of any negative effects. I take 10mg.

Besides treating depression, SSRIs have other advantages, such as regulating the HPA axis, and being neuroprotective and anti-inflammatory.
 
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ramakentesh

Senior Member
Messages
534
Thanks guys. good advice at the bottom. Ive talked to my doctor already but I was just interested in other people's experiences. I tend to get mildly 'down in the dumps' when my Ankylosing Spondylitis (my comorbidity) flares up and in the past ive taken rhodiloa rosea but it actually makes the ank spond worse. Only really happens once or twice a month and otherwise I feel fine and usually upbeat. My rheumatologist said it was normal in Ank Spond and he said that it comes with inflammation but it sucks more than the pain sometimes.

Secondly stress has had a massive impact on my disease process - every flare up of POTS i have had was pretty close to either stressful events or long haul jet flight. And this has made me realise that I tend to respond to stress with anger and this probably contributes to the cycle of relapse - just wondering whether something to mildly improve mood might break that cycle?

I was resisting SSRIs primarily because so many CFSers report bad experiences. But I appreciate your thoughts. I will see what my doc thinks. I have done well on herbs that are MAO-Is in the past - Licorice, Rhodiola rosea, etc.

I had a shocking reaction to inositol years ago that a specialist suggested.
 
heapsreal

heapsreal

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if u decide to try ssri's, get the smallest dose possible and cut it into 1/4 to start with, for some even such a low dose has positive effects but may need to slowly taper dosages up some.

good luck,
cheers!!!
 
adreno

adreno

PR activist
Messages
4,841
In my view, the key to having success with SSRIs is:

1. Avoid the bad ones, especially those that have anticholinergic properties. The SSRIs worth trying are escitalopram, sertraline and fluoxetine.

2. Start low and go slow. SSRIs are often overdosed. 1/4 - 1/2 regular dose is usually enough for a substantial improvement in mood, while avoiding side effects.

Some side effects in the beginning is normal, even for people without ME, and include restlessness, gastrointestinal issues and insomnia. They usually pass after about 2 weeks.

I tried all three, but only tolerated fluoxetine. I started at 5mg, and after 8 weeks increased to 10mg. I have tried 15mg a few times, but do not tolerate that dose. The regular dose is 20mg.
 
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taniaaust1

Senior Member
Messages
13,054
Location
Sth Australia
ramakentesh said:
Secondly stress has had a massive impact on my disease process - every flare up of POTS i have had was pretty close to either stressful events or long haul jet flight. And this has made me realise that I tend to respond to stress with anger and this probably contributes to the cycle of relapse - just wondering whether something to mildly improve mood might break that cycle?
Click to expand...

When it comes to dealing with stress differently to the point where one tends to get less stress out things, this is an area in which counselling or some DBT may help (DBT includes CBT along with meditative, relaxation, body awareness and dealing with stress techniques).
 
T

taniaaust1

Senior Member
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13,054
Location
Sth Australia
These are the things which have helped for me

Mood swings - For me the most important thing was finding what was causing them and then using a treatment for the actual cause.

1/ Hyperinsulinemia and Hypoglycemia were giving me extreme mood swings, those ones were fixable by changing to a extremely low carb diet.

2/ Premenstal Dysphoric disorder was (and still does at times) severe mood swings. Taking 1000mg Calicum (a common treatment for PMS) daily worked some for it .. it seems to thou take a couple of months whenever I stopped it, for it to work in that way again. So expect to have to trial the Calicum for at least a few months if anyone has that issue.

3/ DBT (which is CBT, meditation, body awareness and stress reduction techniques)
.......

Constant anxiety due to hyper neuroexcitability
Rivotril (at the extremely low dose Cheney recommends to calm down our neuro system). Thou I didnt take Rivotril for depression... it not only removed my anxiety but also made me feel a touch happier (like glowing, it was very pleasant for me to take). (warning could be addictive)

Depression
St Johns Wort (I cant tolerant SSRIs or SNRIs at all)... thou it worked on the depression I did have at the time I had to stop taking St Johns Wort after a very short time (a few days? or a couple of weeks?).
It like sent me on a wild quite scary mood trip of mood shifting every second.. like if I'd taken some crazy drug. This "trip" only lasted a minute or two but was so scary to me that Ive never tried St John's Wort again.
 
B

Bob

Senior Member
Messages
16,455
Location
England (south coast)
heapsreal said:
if u decide to try ssri's, get the smallest dose possible and cut it into 1/4 to start with, for some even such a low dose has positive effects but may need to slowly taper dosages up some.

good luck,
cheers!!!
Click to expand...

adreno said:
In my view, the key to having success with SSRIs is:

1. Avoid the bad ones, especially those that have anticholinergic properties. The SSRIs worth trying are escitalopram, sertraline and fluoxetine.

2. Start low and go slow. SSRIs are often overdosed. 1/4 - 1/2 regular dose is usually enough for a substantial improvement in mood, while avoiding side effects.

Some side effects in the beginning is normal, even for people without ME, and include restlessness, gastrointestinal issues and insomnia. They usually pass after about 2 weeks.

I tried all three, but only tolerated fluoxetine. I started at 5mg, and after 8 weeks increased to 10mg. I have tried 15mg a few times, but do not tolerate that dose. The regular dose is 20mg.
Click to expand...

For safety, tapering the dose should always be done with the knowledge (and preferably the cooperation) of the prescribing doctor.
And for moderate to severe depression, tapering the dose might not be a good idea.
I'm just saying this in case someone who is reading this has more than mild mood problems.
 
B

Bob

Senior Member
Messages
16,455
Location
England (south coast)
taniaaust1 said:
Depression
St Johns Wort (I cant tolerant SSRIs or SNRIs at all)... thou it worked on the depression I did have at the time I had to stop taking St Johns Wort after a very short time (a few days? or a couple of weeks?).
It like sent me on a wild quite scary mood trip of mood shifting every second.. like if I'd taken some crazy drug. This "trip" only lasted a minute or two but was so scary to me that Ive never tried St John's Wort again.
Click to expand...

I'd never recommend St Johns Wort to anyone because it has potentially harmful side effects, and dangerous drug interactions. It also interferes with many other medications, including female contraception.
 
B

Bob

Senior Member
Messages
16,455
Location
England (south coast)
ramakentesh said:
Thanks guys. good advice at the bottom. Ive talked to my doctor already but I was just interested in other people's experiences. I tend to get mildly 'down in the dumps' when my Ankylosing Spondylitis (my comorbidity) flares up and in the past ive taken rhodiloa rosea but it actually makes the ank spond worse. Only really happens once or twice a month and otherwise I feel fine and usually upbeat. My rheumatologist said it was normal in Ank Spond and he said that it comes with inflammation but it sucks more than the pain sometimes.

Secondly stress has had a massive impact on my disease process - every flare up of POTS i have had was pretty close to either stressful events or long haul jet flight. And this has made me realise that I tend to respond to stress with anger and this probably contributes to the cycle of relapse - just wondering whether something to mildly improve mood might break that cycle?

I was resisting SSRIs primarily because so many CFSers report bad experiences. But I appreciate your thoughts. I will see what my doc thinks. I have done well on herbs that are MAO-Is in the past - Licorice, Rhodiola rosea, etc.

I had a shocking reaction to inositol years ago that a specialist suggested.
Click to expand...

Yes, I think that Rhodiola can increase autoimmune reactions/problems.

Anger can be a symptom of depression, or low mood.

There are a few herbal supplements that can help reduce short-term stress, but I don't know how reliable they are, and they can react with anti-depressants: Lemon Balm & Passiflora are a couple of mild ones.
 
SickOfSickness

SickOfSickness

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Also, anything that helps my mental abilities or physical energy. They let me accomplish more, and I have a better mood because of it. If I use more energy than I should or try and do mental tasks which I can't, I crash and have a worse mood.
 
heapsreal

heapsreal

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Bob said:
For safety, tapering the dose should always be done with the knowledge (and preferably the cooperation) of the prescribing doctor.
And for moderate to severe depression, tapering the dose might not be a good idea.
I'm just saying this in case someone who is reading this has more than mild mood problems.
Click to expand...

The problem with going into full doses is that many cfsers get terrible side effects from ssri's no matter how depressed one is. If i took full doses i woulnt sleep and be severly overstimulated until i got off them.
Also everyone react differently, personally i think tricyclics seem a better fit for cfsers as many arent overstimulating but can improve mood even with low doses as well. the best i have found was amitriptyline at 25mg, i had no side effects at all, no weight gain or increased sedation which are common with this. So i think it does come down to a trial and error thing with these meds and i would considered trying the 5 htp/tryptophan first and then tyrosine added later, if these dont work then look into ad's.

cheers!!!
 
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