Topic Title: Bioforce hypericum complex
| |  "Bioforce hypericum complex"
, Thu 5 Aug 15:17
Hello everybody -
this is my first week taking the Bioforce sjw complex and things are going well. I switched to a tincture as standardized formulations seem to make me very anxious. Time will tell though....
What I have noticed in the short term is the effect from the liquid tincture is very different from the pills. I definitely feel more chilled out (could be the melissa and hops in the formulation) rather than 'driven', which is what I felt from Perika and GNC standardized.
I am not sure I would therefore agree with the hyperforin=more serotonin theory - Perika was worse than GNC for making me anxious and irritable - two things that do not happen to me when I take serotonin stuff like 5htp (although I can get tired and irritable with daytime 5htp). Also I think the GABA effect of the tincture is higher with the Bioforce - I feel less edgy round people than before, can joke around etc.
All in all so far positive. I may after this bottle runs out try a different brand of tincture though, as shipping to Chile costs a bit for this.
Loops
Posts: 128 | | Registered: Tue 15 Apr 2003 8:24 |
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| |  "Re(1):Bioforce hypericum complex"
, Mon 5 Dec 09:22
Hi Loops,
I don't know how old this post is but if you still check back in with this website I would love to know if you have anything more to say about your bioforce sjw complex. Are you still taking it? Did you find that it helped you in the long run? I just ordered for this tincture today and I'm desperately hoping that it will work for me - the standardized sjw seems to make me feel worse and not better. Thanks so much, samantha
Posts: 5 | | Registered: Mon 28 Nov 2005 10:22 |
| | "Re(1):Bioforce hypericum complex" , Fri 15 Oct 20:18
Hi - I used A. Vogel - tinture - I find I sleep really good. I have faith in "A Vogel" brand. I always buy the echinacea in this brand too. The lady in the health store told me that when European people come in the store for echinace they always want the A. Vogel brand as it is available in Europe. So when I deceided to try St. John's wort about 2 months ago, I knew I wanted to buy that brand, plus I wanted to buy it in the tinture. I feel tintures are better, they get right into the bloodstream and I often wonder with capsules, how old the herb is that is in them. They are probably just as fresh as the tintures, but I feel more confident taking the tintures.
Lenore
Posts: 2 | | Registered: Tue 12 Oct 2004 18:31 |
| | "Re(1):Bioforce hypericum complex" , Fri 6 Aug 20:14
Loops,
What are the advantages to taking a tincture over a standardized pill (other than the fact that some other things are added to your tincture)?
You said that Perika made you driven. Did it do that from the start? I just started taking it and it is making me tired. I was hoping it would do the opposite.
Posts: 14 | | Registered: Sun 20 Jun 2004 16:26 |
| | | "perika" , Sat 7 Aug 08:34
yes, well I always have seemed to find the opposite to people here on this forum. SJW has never been a sleep aid in the short term.
If it makes you tired to start with, this may even out, as sjw makes me less 'hyper' now than it did when I first started taking it. In other words, sometimes the short term effects wear off a bit whilst the long term antidepressant effects kick in after about 6 weeks.
The tincture is made from fresh st johns wort flowers - it's not standardized. I don't know why it works for me better - but I prefer to take the whole herb rather than a standardized pill, as no one seems to really know what the active constituent really is in sjw; my guess it is lots of different chemicals, not just one.
Perika did make me stressed from the start. But if you get tired on it, then take it at night (if it helps you sleep, like it does so many people on this forum). Just remember that the *real* effects take quite a while to get going, so be patient.
Loops
Posts: 130 | | Registered: Tue 15 Apr 2003 8:24 |
| | | "Re(1):perika" , Sat 7 Aug 10:39
Thanks and keep us posted as to how you're doing on the Bioforce sjw complex!
Posts: 15 | | Registered: Sun 20 Jun 2004 16:26 |
| | | "Re(2):perika" , Thu 8 Dec 06:00
Hi -
I'm not taking sjw at the moment - I've been taking high dose fish oil with lots of magnesium (and bit of calcium) at night and it's working wonders for my insomnia and also some for my depression. Mg works very well for anxiety but I can't really take it during the day as it has the opposite effect and makes me more depressed - but taken at night it helps me sleep and makes me feel more positive during the day.
I still occasionally take 5htp and lithium orotate but not every day. I take a lot less vitamins in general since starting the magnesium. Mg oxide is crap though and mg aspartate should be avoided (oxide doesn't get absorbed very much and the aspartate forms make anxiety worse).
I am starting to think most problems are caused by mineral deficiencies.
I also restarted a low carbohydrate diet, not particularly to lose weight but because it makes me calmer and more balanced emotionally. It has also sorted out my bulimia (I hope for good).
I still think sjw is a very good natural antidepressant and I may go back to it if things start to get very bad again, but for now getting my magnesium and omega 3 levels up seems to be suiting me much better.
Loops
Posts: 174 | | Registered: Tue 15 Apr 2003 8:24 |
| | | "Re(3):perika" , Thu 8 Dec 14:53
Hi Loops,
Thanks for the update. It's funny because I too am a big advocate of magnesium and just recently have started supplementing with omega 3s (I use flaxseed now but ordered for some fish oil the other day). I don't know how long you have ben using magnesium but I have to warn you that it is quite powerful (I take the chelate form) and I think that I actually created a mineral imbalance in myself by not taking it with calcium.
I went through a stage where I was suffering with irritability/anxiety due to a sjw withdrawal (I know sjw is not supposed to create withdrawal symptoms when you go off but for me unfortunately it does). Anyway, magnesium really helped me with these symptoms - it was so dramatic that it felt like a miracle. I was so impressed that I contined to take between 500-800 mg magnesium a day for a year and a half. Then I started getting very depressed. I have since started supplementing with calcium as well and it has helped quite a bit. I am now taking 200-300 mg magnesium a day and 600-900 mg calcium and am waiting for the imbalance to correct itself.
I don't know how much calcium you take and you mentioned that magnesium can make you depressed so I guess you are already aware of this but I just wanted to let you know about my experience - calcium deficiency can definitely cause depression and excess magnesium can actually produce magnesium-deficiency symptoms.
I know that you are not currently taking sjw, but do you remember if the bioforce hypericum complex continued to work for you beyond the first week of taking it? Would you still recommend this brand and did you suffer any side effects while taking it? I don't mean to hound you about this but as I said the standardized sjw brands tend to make me feel agitated or anxious or just generally worse and I am really hoping that this product can help me.
Anyway, thanks again for replying and good luck with your health regimen.
Posts: 12 | | Registered: Mon 28 Nov 2005 10:22 |
| | | "Re(4):perika" , Fri 9 Dec 05:04
Hi Samantha -
yes I am very aware of the dangers of not balancing magnesium with calcium - minerals are powerful things for us. I originally read the coldcure.com article on magnesium which seems to emphasize not taking calcium and taking lots of magnesium, which I think is wrong. Dairy products aside, I still think any supplemental Mg has to be balanced with Ca, although I do know some people who seem to constantly need more Mg and much less Ca.
Myself I find 1:1 ratio is good. I can't actually take very much Mg at one time anyway, as I get diarrhea, which needs to be avoided! Interestingly, I recently went travelling on long-haul flights (14 hours) and took a lot more Mg than normal to sleep - an amount that would usually give me the runs. However no runs and I actually felt quite good getting off the plane afterwards.
The other problem I found was candida - if I take too much Mg without Ca then this flares up, despite being on a no-sugar low-carb diet.
What chelate is your Mg? I have some Mg glycinate but I don't like it because I have to take taurine the next morning or I feel like crap (too much glycine reduces taurine I've read). I prefer to avoid taking single aminos, as in the past I've experimented and really got out of balance very quickly (glutamine is a good example - this is actually a good antidote if you've taken too much taurine).
I like the lactate form, and also the chloride form. I recently ordered some mineral drops which are basically seawater without the salt. You use a few drops to remineralize water and I quite like this idea. It has a lot of Mg in it. I recently had a look at the mineral waters of the world page and there are some bottled waters in Germany/Eastern Europe which have HUGE amounts of Mg per litre. Perrier and vichy (for example) have bog all Mg and pale in comparison.
It's funny you say about the Mg making you more depressed after awhile. I had a similar experience supplementing with borage/evening primrose oil (in addition to fish oil) for my eczema/anxiety. Initially I had great results - was calm, eczema cleared up etc. - after about a month I started getting really down and unmotivated - was tired all the time and was retaining water and wanting to eat all the time. Dropped the epo/borage and things went uphill again.
I know from punching into nutritiondata.com my diet is low in vitamin E, omega 3 and moderate in magnesium. Vitamin C - well I feel I need more of this, but I do eat a lot of red peppers which are the highest of anything in vitamin C. So I think these things are good to supplement.
Sorry to waffle on - I was just thinking of a past experience I had before I knew anything of vitamins etc. I used to go swimming and then come home and bathe in this seaweed powder I got from the health shop. For some reason I thought it would help my eczema (it did). Looking back I realize I felt much better during this period, and it could be the minerals I was absorbing from the seaweed (??).
My sister is having awful panic attacks presently - she recently came off her antidepressant and is having a bad time going back on it due to the panic attacks/insomnia. I'm trying to get her to buy some ca/mg but I know in England it's hard to get hold of something which isn't Mg oxide.
Anyway, about the bioforce sjw - I seem to remember that the feeling I got was a very nice one - nothing like the jittery driven feeling from pills. However the formulation I got was mixed in with hops and melissa - so it was hard to take enough to combat depression and not induce all day sleepiness. I would get the plain wort version.
Another brand I really liked was enzymatic therapy - which is standardized to both hypericin and hyperforin - this made me feel nice as well.
I discovered after about 7 months of taking high dose fish oil, any supplement, including sjw, would have a very pronounced effect on me. This meant that only 50mg 5htp was effective whereas I had to take 100mg at one time before. The same with the lithium orotate - these days I only have to take one every 3-4 days for it to be effective.
I didn't have any side effects from the bioforce apart from sleepiness - at the time I was a nervous wreck so it must have been quite calming. I felt it worked much better than the pills. One other thing I found was actually the sjw tea bags are very good for mild anxiety (2 tea bags at a time). Obviously you only get the water soluble part, but still, it seems to have a nice effect, albeit mild.
Enough waffle!
Loops
Posts: 175 | | Registered: Tue 15 Apr 2003 8:24 |
| | | "Re(5):perika" , Fri 9 Dec 15:26
Hi again,
Well you certainly have done your fair share of supplementing and seem to have learned quite a lot. And I didn't think anybody could top my endless experimental run with supplementation! I really appreciate you taking the time to talk about it - I thought I was going to have to make an outline for myself in order to respond to this post - it is so full of information!
First of all, thanks for the info. on the bioforce sjw complex -I'll probably try the straight sjw extract as you suggest but right now I think I'm going to go for the complex tincture when it arrives (I'm from the US and had to order it from a drugstore in England). I'm kind-of going through a rough time right now and sedation sounds rather appealing.
I'm glad you had the sense to take calcium along with your magnesium despite being advised otherwise in the article you read. I too read an article online a couple of years ago (can't remember the name) that said to load up on magnesium and avoid calcium. I do think that the desired cal/mag ratio varies from person to person but ingesting to much of either mineral in exclusion of the other does defy common sense - wish that had occurred to me earlier. I think balance is always a good principle to follow in regards to health and almost anything else in life.
I order my magnesium chelate from www.wellnesshealth.com and it says on the bottle that it is in the form of magnesium glycinate and magnesium lysinate. This kind of mag. makes you feel bad? As I said, it didn't used to make me feel yucky but it now does and I can't take nearly as much of it. It does not give me diarhea though like the oxide form can. Where do you get the chloride or lactate or mineral water form? And what is taurine?
We must have somewhat similar biochemical make-ups because I had the same exact reaction to borage oil when I took it several years ago - I bacame really bloated and down and lethargic. My doc told me that borage oil could not cause this but I went off of it anyway and immediately felt better. You do not get this reaction with fish oil?
What is your experience with 5-HTP and what is lithium orotate? Is it like the lithium used to treat bi-polar disorder?
Well, I guess that's about it...just as a side note, I have a couple of friends who struggle with bulemia both of whom were "cured" with antidepressants - one with zoloft and the other with prozac. I don't know how you feel about synthetic drugs though. You probably don't want to be on them since you are involved in natural supplementation and probably don't need to be since you now have things under control but I just thought I would mention it.
I myself was on 10 mg prozac a few years ago and while it did help me for a while, I did not feel like myself on it and going on it and going off of it was truly a nightmare - frightening really. I wish that I wasn't so sensitive to drugs and well anything that I put in my body.
Anyway, sorry to write a book here. I've just never found anybody who first of all takes the same stuff I do or reacts in any way similarly. I often have the exact opposite response to what I put in my body than the one I'm after or that other people report. And none of my friends have even heard of sjw or other supplements and for the most part don't need them so I have pretty much given up on talking to them about these things. Again, best of luck with maintaining your health and I hope your sister feels better soon. Keep in touch, Samantha
Posts: 13 | | Registered: Mon 28 Nov 2005 10:22 |
| | | "Re(6):perika" , Sun 11 Dec 05:24
Hi Samantha -
my entire family is a bit round the bend, and we all suffer from forms of emotional turmoil, so I was very interested in finding alternatives to conventional drug treatment, as I have seen how it effects my sister for some years now. My brother has OCD, my sister has deep anxiety, my other sister has all kinds of anx/dep but is terrified of ADs so won't do anything about it, and at one point I was thinking I have mild bipolar as my moods are somewhat extreme and up and down. We are all very creative as well, yet lack self-confidence, so that is not a good mixture for happinness in this world!
Ok, so the chloride form I buy over the counter at the pharmacy. It is really cheap and I buy a little packet of salts which I then dilute in water and take from a dropper bottle. I think this is an International thing - you should be able to buy it anywhere in the world, and as it's liquid it has instant effects.
The lactate form is from the US - it's called mag-tab and is 'slow release' - it has 85mg Mg per tablet - I found it here by accident asking for magnesium chloride one day. I also have tried a few magnesium/vitamin C fizzy tablets which seem to be very good, although the mg is carbonate, and I'm not sure how well this is absorbed (but seeing as it's liquid, don't see why not).
There's heaps of info on taurine on the web, and also lots of experiences regarding this on dr-bob.org (alternative section). I don't know if you've been at that site, but some people there really know what they're talking about regarding supplements - it has been a mine of info for me. Anyway basically taurine is an inhibitory amino and acts directly in the brain possibly as a neurotransmitter. It regulates electrical impulses in the heart and brain, and has been used by many bipolars and people with anxiety to calm. It seems to have a very stabilizing yet energy giving effect (don't take too much!). Taking too much for me resulted in feeling very 'flat' though. This was immediately remedied by taking l-glutamine (the balancing amino for both excess taurine and glycine). I sometimes take this for social anxiety or performance nerves - it completely anihalates adrenalin rush for me. However these days I eat quite a bit of meat (which is rich in taurine), so I don't take it normally. Taurine is found in Red Bull energy drink btw.
Fish oil has always had quite a good effect on my depression - but I wouldn't say it has been the answer alone for anxiety. I would say these days, that taking the Mg/Ca with the fish oil is the best combo for depression and anxiety. However I do try to eat fish despite the claims of mercury (which, some environmental chemist told me, have actually FALLEN over the last couple of decades not increased), as there are other things in fish, such as uridine which are important for depression etc. Fish oil never made me lethargic - quite the opposite - motivated concentration. The epa is really important though. High DHA made me very irritable and more depressed.
Lithium orotate was developed by Dr Hans Neiper. Due to the orotate form, only a tiny amount of lithium is needed (much, much less than conventional lithium treatment (carbonate etc)), as the orotate allows the lith to go straight to work in the brain instead of getting blood levels up first. Lithium should be part of our normal diet anyway in trace amounts(seaweed, seawater minerals etc, soil), but it is not. I seem to remember a study which found people who live in Arizona have much less depression due to the high lithium content of the water/soil there.
I don't take too much lithium orotate - it has a big steadying effect on me just after one pill. If I have fallen into crying fits and having a very bad time emotionally, one single pill of this sorts me right out. However if I take it too much, I fall into no motivation/mongedness.
5htp is great in small doses and not taken all the time. I initally took 5htp a few years ago 100mg 3x daily and although it sorted out my anxiety, I fell into a deep depression and was tired all the time. These days I take maybe 50-100mg a few days of the week. I think Dr Murray says that if it stops working for you taken all the time, adding in some phenylalanine makes it work again (balance once more I think).
I know what you mean regarding friends not really getting it - I am so embarrassed when people see me fishing around in my cupboard full of bottles. But they just don't seem to have the same problems as me, or if they do, they just have one pill from the docs they take and seem to be fine. I have a reputation here as the 'ginseng girl' because I used to dole out ginseng pills at parties.
However my husband used to be pill-shy and these days he is asking me for his fish oil or vitamin C. I think I may have got through to my sister, as she emailed saying she'd slept the last couple of nights so I assume she got hold of some ca/mg.
Well that is enough for now - got to go and make breakfast. The cloud has descended here so no sunshine today which is bad as it's the weekend!
Loops
Posts: 176 | | Registered: Tue 15 Apr 2003 8:24 |
| | | "Re(7):perika" , Sun 11 Dec 05:26
I forgot to say, the mineral drops I've ordered are trace minerals research drops - I got them from drugstore.com. They contain all the trace minerals from the salt lake in Utah plus a decent helping of magnesium. I'll let you know how I get on with them - bye for now
Loops
Posts: 177 | | Registered: Tue 15 Apr 2003 8:24 |
| | | "Re(8):perika" , Mon 12 Dec 14:21
My family tree is not exactly the picture of mental health either - almost everyone in my immediate family suffers from some sort of emotional/mental problem, at least occasionally. I was actually the stable one (despite my struggles with mild depression since adolesence) but I guess now my genes and stressful life are beginning to catch up with me as I've been having a hard time lately.
I'm still waiting on the bioforce and I found those mineral drops on drugstore.com so I think I am going to order for them. I've always thought the sea had great healing qualities and surely all those sea water minerals cannot hurt. I may order from some taurine at some point as well.
I wish I had some novel information to share with you as you've taught me so much but I can't think of anything at the moment. Other than suggesting yoga/meditation and prayer. I'm really bad at committing to a meditation regimen but one thing that I used to be really into and hope to get back into again soon is yoga. I do tapes/DVDs at home and find it very calming yet energizing. Even if you only do 20 minutes two or three times a week it makes a huge difference! Not to mention the added bonus of toning your bod. And this sounds so simple but sometimes good old fashioned rest is excellent medicine for a frayed nervous system. I'm usually one to run around all the more when I'm not feeling well just to distract myself but for the past couple of weeks I've been forcing myself to spend some time just lying in bed and watching tv or reading something light. And today I am feeling a little bit calmer/lighter.
I remember when I was young my mom would spend weeks at a time in bed (suffered from intermitant anxiety/depression due to no self esteem and a hellish life). To this day she still takes to her bed for a while when she needs to and she is now doing really great - she swears that she would not be sane if it were not for her "rest therapy." Well anyway, thanks again for all the info. and keep in touch, Samantha
Posts: 16 | | Registered: Mon 28 Nov 2005 10:22 |
| | | "Re(9):perika" , Tue 13 Dec 05:38
Oh I am so with you on many things you say -
I was the once the 'stable' one as well. In fact what happened was my sister started having problems when our family moved and she got school phobia. No-one understood, least of all my parents who ended up trying to bully her into the car to go. She ended up with awful depression and feeling worse due to lack of support. I ended up trying to be the responsable, thin, successful daughter (I was only 13), and partially succeeded in blocking things out and maintaining control, until I got so thin the school got worried. That was when my EDs began. University turned me to bulimia, drinking, smoking, everything. I still do two of those today, but thankfully, the bulimia has gone as I now no longer have to restrict food to maintain a normal weight (I'm 5'6 and weigh 65 kilos - I play a lot of tennis).
You're right, things do catch up with you. I was struggling for years - even after I'd married a wonderful bloke, moved to Chile (I love it here) and had tons of spare time to do what I wanted. Change of course is good (like moving country), but I've found that eventually the 'old demons' catch up and have to be worked through/dealt with, instead of trying to run away (by using change etc.). Ironically I am also very resistant to changes I don't want to do, which would be the best ones if that makes sense.
I've actually been taking some of the NOW capsules of trace minerals (from Utah lake as well) whilst I wait for the drops, and I must say, I'm quite happy with them. There are some minerals in there which are implicated in depression, but hard to get out of normal food/drink. Cesium is one, also indium, lithium, and probably many others. I have a book called The Brain Chemistry Plan by Michael Lesser and he talks a bit about taking a dose of cesium once every 6 months (in a much greater quantity than would be in a trace mineral product) - to 'cease' depression in his words.
I would love to have the motivation and patience to do meditation/yoga. Well, I suppost in a way my yoga is my piano/viola. I am a composer (well, I got my MA in composition years ago), but really what I love is improvising at the piano. I can spend hours just disappearing into sound this way, and this is my meditation. It kind of satisfies my need to be 'doing something' yet concentrating in a relaxed way as well.
I so agree with wanting to 'do more' when things get tough - I have tennis training every day here (a less boring way of keeping fit for me), and I really get impatient if I have to give it up for a few weeks (like accompanying my husband to conferences in other countries - I get to mong in the hotel all week). I actually go through withdrawal and get very moody/upset the first week with only a book and maybe a nice hotel/places to wander a bit - I get very bored. Then I get used to it and actually feel more relaxed by the time I get home and not so hard done-by (which I always feel bad about as it's not like I'm stuck in a hole in a backstreet somewhere!).
Good luck with the drops. I hope they help balance us both out!
Loops
Posts: 178 | | Registered: Tue 15 Apr 2003 8:24 |
| | | "Re(10):perika" , Fri 16 Dec 10:21
It's strange but we really have quite a bit in common! You just basically described my childhood/college years in a nutshell. I have a sibling who developed all sorts of mental/behavioral problems when I was about 7 and I took on the role of the "perfect child" to compensate. My parents were/are incredibly loving and supportive people but really were pretty immature and at times unstable themselves so they were not able to handle things well and often inadvertently made things worse.
I was pretty successfull at being close to perfect for many years - sweet, overachieved in school, had lots of friends and got into a great university. Unfortunately, I was pretty immature and insecure underneath it all so things did not go so well for me. My social drinking in highschool turned into heavy drinking and partying in college. I also smoked and got involved in several unhealthy relationships. I too moved around quite a bit, trying to escape into change/run from myself but that, as I guess you know, is only a temporary fix. And the most worthwhile changes that I could have made were the ones I simply couldn't bring myself to make.
I entered my mid-twenties with a great resume but absolutely no self-esteem or life skills or healthy means to handle my problems or take care of myself. But I think I'm finally learning and am hopeful for the future. I managed to quit smoking (had to quit drinking in order to quit smoking so my social life has taken a beating) and I have become more spiritual and I take much better care of myself. I'm sure that I have a long way to go but I'm thankful for the ground I've travelled.
That's wonderful that you can escape into your musical talents - I think that it is so important to have an outlet. As I said, I'm going through a funk right now but when I'm feeling more like myself I love to cook/decorate my home/exercise/read/shop and I thank God for simple pleasures.
Well, I'm still waiting on my mineral drops and the bioforce but I'll check back in if I have any news. I hope you are well and happy holidays! - samantha.
Posts: 18 | | Registered: Mon 28 Nov 2005 10:22 |
| | | "update on sister" , Sun 1 Jan 07:41
Hi Samantha -
how's that calcium going? I would think you can reassert the balance quite quickly if you take enough?
I was wondering also - when you started to get down again on just the Mg, were you eating cheese/dairy at this point? I eat quite a bit of cheese, and am wondering if I have to figure this into my Mg/Ca balance. Right now, after a week of 1:1 Mg:Ca I was starting to feel bad again, and insomnia was coming back. I adjusted the balance to taking just bits of Mg during the day, then quite a bit at night with a little Ca (300mg). Mg is around 400-600mg per 24 hours. This is suiting me very well right now - but I'm sure I'll have to refigure once more. I am also finding taking both Ca and Mg at the same time during the day doesn't do ANYTHING for me - makes things worse. I find the sustained Mg lactate is great for daytime - 1/2 tab every 4 hours but without Ca.
Anyway, it seems to be quite a complicated little 'dance' Ma and Ca play, but overall it's really suiting me very well. I am noticing I am much more at ease socially and can be relaxed talking to people I don't know very well. I also wake up feeling EXTREMELY relaxed - similar to how I felt when I was very young and slept well. I feel like I've been such a nervous wreck the past 6 years - really exciteable (or really tired and depressed) and never being able to just sit down and appreciate stillness.
Anyway - my sister rang me and is having really good results with her Ca/Mg. She managed to find the citrate forms and is taking 1:1 at night. She says she is sleeping more, and is feeling much happier in the day. It could be her AD is starting to work properly, but I'll bet the Mg is helping too. She has been very stressed out, and I know she is on a permanent diet so that doesn't help either. I told her to eat as many green leafies as she can, lots of fish and nuts etc.
Anyway I hope you're finding the sjw is helping. I am still waiting for my mineral drops (International shipping isn't too hot sometimes) - have you got yours yet?
Loops
Posts: 179 | | Registered: Tue 15 Apr 2003 8:24 |
| | | "Re(1):update on sister" , Wed 11 Jan 09:09
Hi Loops,
Glad to hear your sister is doing better. It is so wonderful when we can find some relief from our symptoms - and I'm sure it is nice for you not to have to worry as much about her.
Well, the bioforce came and I tried it but it unfortunately did not work out for me - it produced that same agitated feeling I hate. I was really surprised because I had expected it to be so much milder but I had just as powerful a response as I have had to standardized brands! Oh well, I was quite dissapointed but am not giving up. I have ordered for a different brand called remotiv from australia that contains no hyperforin whatsoever (I think it is the hyperforin in the sjw that I react negatively to but I am not positive) so I'm praying that this brand works out for me. If not, I guess I'll have to reconsider prozac (dread!).
I still take my calcium and magnesium and I agree with you that every day is a complicated little "dance" in regards to getting the doses right. I wish I could just take a set amount every morning/night or whatever but I take my supplements according to how I feel. Some days I take more, other days less....but I always take greater or equal amounts of calcium relative to magnesium. I guess I should, but I do not factor in dietary sources of either mineral. I think that I have a pretty balanced diet and I do not eat excessive amounts of dairy or magnesium-rich foods.
My mineral drops arrived but I have actually not tried them yet (I have been taking the bioforce and try not to take more than one new thing at once so I can know what to attribute any change in how I feel to). I also ordered for some magnesium chloride as you suggested - I got it in liquid form from an organic pharmacy. And I am trying to start up my yoga routine again which makes me feel much better. I know that you are very athletic and play tennis all the time but you might want to try a yoga dvd sometime if you are feeling wound up and see what does for you after a few weeks of practicing.
Anyway, I am glad you are sleeping so well and that the mag/calcium is suiting you well for the most part. (By the way, I sometimes take some over-the-counter benadryl to sleep and it works pretty well for me without much of a hang-over - I take half a dose of an American product called 'simply sleep'). Hope your sister continues to improve and happy new year!
Samantha
Posts: 22 | | Registered: Mon 28 Nov 2005 10:22 |
| | | "Re(2):update on sister" , Thu 12 Jan 06:43
Hi Samantha!
Happy New Year too!
Ok, just wrote to warn you, my mineral drops came today, and they are quite powerfully energizing, which might not be what you want. It might be just the effect they have on me though (and I'm taking a low dose at a time - 10 drops = 60mg Mg).
My sleep's still messed up this week - I either end up taking too little Ca or too much. However it's not as messed as before doing all this.
Sorry to hear the bioforce has such a pronounced effect - maybe more norepinephrine is not what you need (I know sjw has this effect). Sounds like you need more serotonin (you and me both!).
Have you tried B6 and zinc with magnesium? P5P (co-enzymated B6) works pretty good with zinc for me if I'm really feeling crap/anxious.
I really hope things start looking up for you soon. It's very frustrating to see people wandering around looking normal and me having to take lots of pills to feel ok!
Loops
Posts: 180 | | Registered: Tue 15 Apr 2003 8:24 |
| | | "Re(3):update on sister" , Thu 19 Jan 08:31:
Hi Loops,
How is everything going? How is your sister doing? I heard that Chile just elected its first women president - that must be exciting!
Things are about the same with me. I wanted to ask your opinion about something....I recently started taking a whole-herb sjw product (GNC fingerprint sjw). I know that everybody thinks that whole-herb sjw is worthless but I am so incredibly sensitive to drugs/herbs that I thought I might have a response to it. It's too early to tell if it will work for me but it is not making me feel worse (which is more than I can say for the last 3 brands of sjw I tried) and I think it might be having a slight mellowing effect.
What I wanted to ask you though is if you think that it would be safe to take a standardized sjw tablet along with my whole-herb capsules (I put a post in the general ?s section about this but nobody replied). I really need to feel better and I would like to know that I have a therapeutic level of sjw compounds in my system. Maybe this whole-herb kind would take the edge off of the effects of standardized dose? What do you think? I figure that it's probably safe considering some people have taken sjw simultaneously with SSRIs, etc. but I'm still a little nervous.
So that's my situation these days.....I'm hoping things turn around soon because I have so much to do and I feel like I'm falling behind on my life! I hope that you are in a good place and that all is well. Take care, Samantha
[this message was edited by samantha47 on Thu 19 Jan 08:33]
Posts: 27 | | Registered: Mon 28 Nov 2005 10:22 |
| | | "Re(4):update on sister" , Thu 19 Jan 11:10
Hi Samantha -
I've got some of those whole herb capsules too - I think they're great. Don't see why they shouldn't have an effect - I think they do have an effect on me when I take them. I'm still unsure about sjw and me generally. I seem to take it adhoc. However I can see you may need something fairly strong and mellowing without it being depressing, which is a tough one. I've been having a little success with taurine, but it's very dodgy - it's easy to take too much and then I'm tired and groggy/unmotivated. Sometimes I wonder if I'm doing more harm than good experimenting with all this stuff.
My sister is not so good, but still battling away. I think her sleep is a little better - but the Mg isn't helping quite enough. My sleep is very fragmented as well. Last night I avoided taking sleep meds by taking Mg/Ca, melatonin 1mg when I went to bed. However, bam, 4am and I'm wide awake. I had two choices - take 1/2 sleeping tab, or what? Take more Mg and another 1mg melatonin. I did the latter, with the result that I did sleep, but all day today I've had no energy and feeling crap (melatonin too late). I'm afraid I'm not so great today and getting frustrated with my life once more. I also have some quite dire and serious marriage problems right now, and I'm crap at coping with normal things, so hey!
Oh well, life goes on. I would say on a positive note, that although taurine is tricky with dose, it is very very good for if you're feeling very stressed out/anxious.
I may go take a lithium orotate cap and a B complex, although I had been trying to not take much stuff (i.e. just the fish oil, multivit, vit C, mg/ca).
Let me know how you get on with the sjw whole herb
take care
Loops
Posts: 181 | | Registered: Tue 15 Apr 2003 8:24 |
| | | "Re(5):update on sister" , Fri 20 Jan 10:13:
Hi,
Sorry to hear that you had a bad day. And I'm sorry to hear that your sister is currently battling. Did you say that she is taking an antidepressant? Does that not help her at all? I wish I could give you some inspirational words to lift you up but I'm having a bad couple of days myself. In fact, I can't really remember the last time that I had a "good" day. I get frustrated myself - everybody I know is out there living normal, healthy, productive lives (my friends are all impossibly well-adjusted or else they are on an antidepressant that works really well for them) and I'm home sitting at the computer, desperately searching for anwers to health problems that even the experts don't understand. It sounds horrible, and I am very thankful for my basic good health, but sometimes I wish that I had diabetes or some thyroid condition or something that I knew exactly how to manage instead of this depression.
And I too sometimes think that I've done more harm than good with all of my natural attempts to self-medicate.....I actually used to be much better off before I started down this winding and confusing road of natural supplementation. But I've always had the best of intentions and I do have legitimate depressive symptoms that require treatment so what is one supposed to do if they are frightened of synthetic ADs? I don't know, I guess good intentions often just aren't enough....they say the road to hell is paved with good intentions!
But we just can't give up because one of these days I know that both of us will discover our "magic bullet" - maybe we won't ever feel absolutely perfect but once you've been in a bad place with your health, less than perfect sounds delightful (that has been part of my problem over the years - I never knew when to leave well enough alone in regards to my health).
I think it would benefit us both if we could find something that we could take in a very regular way. I know that I go on and off things too much and jerk my dose around too much with my mag/calc. I am hoping that I can tolerate that australian brand of sjw that I told you about so that I can provide my body with a stable, even, therapeutic level of support. Even this whole herb sjw, while I do think that it can be helpful, really varies a lot from bottle to bottle or even capsule to capsule in regard to dosage of hypericum because it is not standardized.
And lastly and most importantly, I am trying to pray more and be more spiritual about my whole situation. I've never been a particularly religious person, but I do believe in God and I think that He wants us to ask for his help. Sometimes it feels like He's not listening but I know He is there, hopefully working to send us both relief from our symptoms/life problems very soon!
Well, I'm sorry about the rant here....hope you have a good weekend and that your marital situation improves soon. Take care and keep in touch, Samantha
[this message was edited by samantha47 on Fri 20 Jan 15:23]
Posts: 28 | | Registered: Mon 28 Nov 2005 10:22 |
| | | "How's it going?" , Thu 2 Mar 12:12
Hi Samantha -
how are you? I'm ok, but seem to have gotten worse with the insomnia. Also I developed some scary heart palpitations in the past month which don't seem to go away. Last night I only got 3 hours sleep and had to take the day off doing stuff- I really hate it when that happens.
I've been taking the 2:1 Ca:Mg but if anything things have got worse not better. I wonder what is going on?? Well I'm not depressed at the moment so that is something - just still suffering from really bad insomnia. I had very bad cravings for chocolate and sweet things today, which ironically is supposed to be due to low magnesium levels. This is the first time I've had such cravings in MONTHS. I'm going to do more research and see what I come up with. It could be I need to take the Mg and Ca at different times. I'm really worried about the heart palpitations though - I've never had a problem before with this EVER.
I hope you're doing better and have found something which gives you relief anyway! I would be happy just to get off my sleeping pills (which have now become a nightly occurrence despite all my relaxing supplements).
Take care
Loops
Posts: 182 | | Registered: Tue 15 Apr 2003 8:24 |
| | | "Re(1):How's it going?" , Tue 14 Mar 09:50
Hi Loops!
Well, I have finally given up on my desperate attempt to make st. john's wort or some other nat'l supplement solve my problems. Enough is enough already. I so wish that the sjw had worked out for me or that I could continue to function without taking any AD at all but this has not been the case. I am now taking a tiny dose of a synthetic AD every other day. So far I don't see much change in how I feel but it has only been a few weeks and I probably need to start taking it every day instead of every other. At least it is not making me feel tremendously worse as kept happening with the sjw - so that's something positive to report I guess!
I continue to take magnesium and calcium every day - these days I seem to be taking much more calcium than magnesium. I think I still have a lot of mag built up in me from my years of mega-dosing with it so I'm sure eventually my body will tell me I need slightly more mag. I also take b-complex and flax seed reguraly. I'll probably incorporate a good multivitamin at some point as well. But hopefully that will be it in terms of pills/supplements for me. I hope that I can now begin to get my health and life more balanced out and back on track. The past couple of years have been such a horrifying, difficult time, both health-wise and stress-wise. I'm just ready to put it all behind me and begin a new chapter. I pray that this antidepressant helps me to do that. I'm so scared to take it, but as I said, at this point I'll try almost anything to just feel better already!
Anyway, I hope your insomnia has improved since you posted your last message. I know I've mentioned this before, but have you tried taking some benadryl at night? It's not as strong as prescription sleep aids but it does help a little bit - I use it several times a week and I'm pretty sure that it is relatively safe. I really hope that everything is going well for you and you are feeling healthy! All the best, Samantha
Posts: 34 | | Registered: Mon 28 Nov 2005 10:22 |
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