Topic Title: This time around....
| |  "This time around...."
, Mon 21 Jun 15:01
This is my second time around taking sjw, and this time it's very different.
Last time, I got manic on sjw, and had very bad insomnia. I wouldn't stop taking it because I felt soooo good. The initial mania soon wore off, and I was left feeling more balanced. However I came off sjw because it just didn't seem enough for me in the end, and maybe I had several deficiencies going on at the same time; I just don't know.
I spent a year going through other supplements. Some of them I've stayed with, because they help. Other ones were helpful to start with, then didn't work, and some made me very unbalanced.
Then a week ago I decided to give sjw another shot. I have gotten my diet under control, have sorted out a few vitamin/mineral deficiencies and am also on lithium orotate - which is working to keep me in balance emotionally. However all this was still not enough - although I was more balanced, I still felt depressed, and had a lot of symptoms of depression.
So I restarted a good brand of sjw. This time around, it is really working quite well. I am a lot more balanced than last time, and, wait for it.....I AM SLEEPING LIKE A ROCK. For the first time in my life, I am actually sleeping like a normal person, and not just getting a few hours here and there. I have my pills for emergencies, but I am not seeming to need them.
Loops
Posts: 111 | | Registered: Tue 15 Apr 2003 8:24 |
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| | "Re(1):This time around...." , Tue 29 Jun 14:56
Like you, Loops, I am taking an array of things in order to get my moods under control. For the past several weeks I have been taking a concoction of several herbs (valerian for anxiety, SJW for depression). After doing tons of research via the web, I have also been taking Omega 3, folic acid, vitamin C, and vitamin E. My anxiety and depression have definitely eased a bit, but I still feel that my moods are not what they should be. Today I will be adding Lithium Orotate to the cocktail in order to help stabilize my moods. I was diagnosed many years ago with Bipolar II. For a long time I had, what I felt, no symptoms. But for the past year I have been in a deep depression and have decided that that diagnosis may be correct after all. Not wanting to go on tons of mind-numbing, side effect driven medication again, I decided to try the natural route. I am hopeful that this all works. It's definitely worth a shot. And being that I've already experienced improvements, I am inclined to believe I'm on the right path. I felt the need to post my experience here because there seems to be little information out there regarding SJW and Lithium Orotate as a combination. I thought I'd post my results here, as I know them, in order to help those who might be searching for the same type of remedy.
Oh, I guess I should give the quick sketch of what my original symptoms were, just so everyone knows where I'm coming from...
I have severe anxiety episodes which sometimes lead to panic attacks. I'm 30 and have been experiencing panic attacks since I was 16. I also have had several episodes of depression that have lead to suicide attemps, hospitalizations, and being completely incompacitated to the point where all I am able to physically do is sleep. However, the depression and the anxiety usually occur in conjunction with each other. I have not been on medication for more than 7 years and have been fairly stable during that time, however life has gotten so out of control with stress levels lately, that I have found myself suffering from depression again. I do not want to be suicidal and hospitalized as I was once before, therefore I am determined to seek help, whehter it's herbal, natural, alternative, or traditional. So, the herbal path is what I am on now and I will update everyone with my progress here from time to time.
Posts: 0 | | Registered: Tue 29 Jun 2004 14:38 |
| | | "Re(2):This time around...." , Fri 9 Jul 05:28
Hi -
good luck with it all. How much lithium orotate are you taking? I am on 3 120mg pills a day and doing alright. I think 4 might be better in the long run, but I am wary as even very small amounts of lithium as in lithium orotate can produe apathy if you are sensitive. I am also concerned about possible slowing of thyroid function.
The last few weeks have been a bit emotional, but I am used to that, and I think the sjw has been easing up a few emotions that got suppressed by my depression. Sleep is still good, though I have a few nights each week where I still can't get to sleep. However, once I am asleep (with medication, or without), I am sleeping very deeply and not awakening through the night, or if I do, I go back to sleep pretty easily.
Note I am taking 5-htp in the evenings (2 x 100mg doses). I tried taking it in the day, but it was no good, it just made me very tired and a bit irritable. However I feel I need it or my sleep deteriorates, even with a good diet and supplements. This makes me think I do have a serotonin regulation problem which is probably long-term. Good thing I found 5-htp and sjw then, or I would be on some med cocktail with lots of side effects which none of us can afford!
My mother suffers from anxiety and my father I am convinced is also bipolar with obsessional tendencies. I am visiting them at the moment, I only see them once a year and every year this becomes more apparent to me. I am glad I have had time and inclination to do something about these tendencies I myself have.
Loops
Posts: 115 | | Registered: Tue 15 Apr 2003 8:24 |
| | | "Re(3):This time around...." , Mon 12 Jul 11:30
Hi Loops,
I have been on Lithium Orotate for 2 weeks now and have notice an improvement. I started out with 1, 120mg pill twice a day. I have slowly increased the dosage to 2, 120mg 3 times a day (for a total of 6 pills/day). Once I got to the 6/day dosage (4 days ago) I felt a noticable change. I am still taking the SJW/Valerian mixture, Folic Acid (400mcg, which helps the lithium be better absorbed), pharmacutical grade fish oil twice a day, vitamin E to help eliminate any toxic build up of the toxins that can be found in fish oil, and 1000mg of Vitamin C twice a day to help deal with adverse effects of stress (helps reduce cortisol levels in the body). It probably sounds like a lot, but at this point I an willing to do anything in order to help myself without having to go on traditional medications. Traditional antidepressants and mood stablizers tend to give me horrible side effects. Since I have begun the above regime, I have not noticed any weight gain, I'm sleeping better, my anxiety has been significantly reduced, less crying for no reason, less irrational thoughts that lead to further anxiety, and my sexual funciton has not been reduced in any way. I am not 100%, but I am definitely better than I was 3 weeks ago.
I just wanted to share my progress and will continue to share as I go.
Thanks.
Posts: 1 | | Registered: Tue 29 Jun 2004 14:38 |
| | | "lithium" , Tue 20 Jul 13:44
Hi -
just got back from England and read your post. Sounds like you're on the right track and a lot calmer now. I'm still on 3 lithium tablets a day, and boosted the sjw to 1200mg, which is working quite nicely. The lithium has really made how I react to the sjw very different - I don't get panicky or out of control, and I don't get manic. If I start to feel anxious I will add in another lithium pill, but I prefer to use niacinamide in conjunction with lithium for added anti-anxiety for the fourth dose if needed.
I'm very happy with my sleeping at the moment as well. Last night I had a few nightmares and night terrors (where I wake up and hallucinate), but I put that down to taking kava the day before as an experiment. The kava with the 5htp seemed to produce nightmares. 5htp at night alone produces lots of dreaming, but I can deal with that as long as I know what's what and what isn't real when I wake up.
As usual, proper nutrition with enough protein along with a few key supplements has really supported the effects of the sjw and lithium. I don't know where I'd be without my B vitamins - probably battling anxiety more than I am now.
Keep me informed - I think lithium orotate is very under-rated, and as it is so darn cheap it has really been worth it for me.
Loops
Posts: 121 | | Registered: Tue 15 Apr 2003 8:24 |
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