Antidepressents don't do jeebers for mild depression

[Svartalf]

well, vit D in winter can't be a bad thing can it?

[Sælir]

Medication does work well for many people. Some people--many--won't 'come back' without it.

It's all very well saying pills don't work as a solution (nobody says there are anything but Part of a solution anyway ) but exercise ,fresh air, friends etc ,all the things that help you not be depressed are often almost unattainable when depressed .

[Svartalf]

Frack, even friends (or whatever I have that passes for them) isn't of much uses against SAD

[Aos Si]

well, vit D in winter can't be a bad thing can it?

Sunlight causes your skin to produce Vit D, and so will light boxes incidentally, as long as the wavelengths are in the UV spectrum. It's actually the omega oils that are supposed to be good for your brain. Unless you are Vit D deficient for whatever reason you are probably going to get no benefit from taking supplements. Vit D deficiency in healthy, non pregnant and young people is pretty much non existent in the Western world.

[Svartalf]

yeah, right, a friend of mine whose last pregnancy was like 3 years ago was recently diagnosed with complete D avitaminosis.
or she lied to get an excuse to go on a tropical cruise that she currently is on... though I don't see why she'd lie when it's her money and her leave allotment.

[Aos Si]

yeah, right, a friend of mine whose last pregnancy was like 3 years ago was recently diagnosed with complete D avitaminosis.
or she lied to get an excuse to go on a tropical cruise that she currently is on... though I don't see why she'd lie when it's her money and her leave allotment.

Yes I did mention people who are pregnant?

[Svartalf]

and she's in deficit now when the baby will be 3 at the end of the month.

[Aos Si]

and she's in deficit now when the baby will be 3 at the end of the month.

Oh right lol. Hmm I get you now. My bad. Sounds a bit unlikely, misread.

[hadespussercats]

Fish oil has been shown to help with depression and even severe disorders like schizophrenia in some patients. I suffer with SAD so this winter started taking vitamin D suppliments, fish oil, and exercising and I felt much better. I think drugs are a last resort. I've had my rounds with zoloft and it made me into a sleepy zombie with no zest for life.

Well I have a very severe form, I cannot leave the house in winter, I get very paranoid and at its worst I couldn't find the energy to get out of bed and get a drink of water even, and when talking to people my voice was slurred. I really don't think vit D is going to help for cases like mine. I minimise the side effects by weaning myself on and off them. Still get decreased libido/impotence, but then without them my libido was practically non existent anyway so meh.

What do you think of OTT lights? Have you ever tried them for SAD?

My MIL offered to buy me one, but I'm skeptical (plus, I have another pole to watch out for, and OTT lights have gotten mixed reviews for my diagnosis.) Still I'm curious.

[hadespussercats]

If your husband is a doctor, he should be well aware that a single aberrant result does not prove a trial. The claims made for fish oils are varied but, as yet, there are no conclusive trials showing its efficacy in the treatment of depression.

Read this for more of the bollocks that has been spouted about this 'miracle food'. http://www.badscience.net/category/fish-oil/

Read your link and others. Totally true that the studies of ADD in children showed no proof fish oil works and that the trials were crap. But here are a couple of links about depression and schizophrenia. There is some statistically significant improvement for both disorders with fish oil in adults.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/02/ ... QQ20100201
http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Health/story?id=129498&page=1

Sorry I didn’t back up my crap right away. I should know that here, as it was at RDF, you always have to be ready to back your claims up.

I have a friend whose husband takes fish oil (in addition to other meds) to treat bipolar. He thinks it's helpful. I haven't tried it, but it does seem like even if it's a placebo, its full of other nutrients that do good things for your body, so where's the harm?

One thing that I'm curious about is a connection between birth-control pills and mood. Since I found out I was pregnant, I haven't been on medication, and according to both my psychiatrist and my own experience, there's something about pregnancy hormonal levels that keep me on an even keel. Honestly, I feel... well.. happy. Not over the moon, or anything loony ecstatic. Just content.

And I know some bc pills with progesterone essentially mimic pregnancy hormonal levels as they counter conception. So I'm curious if going on that kind of pill would keep me feeling like this after I have the baby.

This is counter to most of what I've heard anecdotally about bc pills, though-- if anything, women who report bc-related mood shifts tend to feel depressed.

But I don't know of any real hard science that's been done to look into these ideas.

[hadespussercats]

Well I have a very severe form, I cannot leave the house in winter, I get very paranoid and at its worst I couldn't find the energy to get out of bed and get a drink of water even, and when talking to people my voice was slurred. I really don't think vit D is going to help for cases like mine. I minimise the side effects by weaning myself on and off them. Still get decreased libido/impotence, but then without them my libido was practically non existent anyway so meh.

My sympathies, my symptoms are nowhere as bad as that. I just have no motivation, decreased libido, and the extreme desire to "hibernate". I hope that you find effective therapies.

Well going for 16 years without any effective therapy at all probably gave me all I needed when I did finally get anti depressants. There effectiveness was quite obvious. I also find a light box helps to make me less cranky as well.

Ah! Disregard my earlier question, then!

[Aos Si]

Fish oil has been shown to help with depression and even severe disorders like schizophrenia in some patients. I suffer with SAD so this winter started taking vitamin D suppliments, fish oil, and exercising and I felt much better. I think drugs are a last resort. I've had my rounds with zoloft and it made me into a sleepy zombie with no zest for life.

Well I have a very severe form, I cannot leave the house in winter, I get very paranoid and at its worst I couldn't find the energy to get out of bed and get a drink of water even, and when talking to people my voice was slurred. I really don't think vit D is going to help for cases like mine. I minimise the side effects by weaning myself on and off them. Still get decreased libido/impotence, but then without them my libido was practically non existent anyway so meh.

What do you think of OTT lights? Have you ever tried them for SAD?

My MIL offered to buy me one, but I'm skeptical (plus, I have another pole to watch out for, and OTT lights have gotten mixed reviews for my diagnosis.) Still I'm curious.

According to the clinical trials from NIMH they are as affective as anti depressants, although the most effective current treatment, which is probably still in trials is Melatonin injections and light therapy.

http://www.nimh.nih.gov/science-news/20 ... thms.shtml

[JimC]

well, vit D in winter can't be a bad thing can it?

Sunlight causes your skin to produce Vit D, and so will light boxes incidentally, as long as the wavelengths are in the UV spectrum. It's actually the omega oils that are supposed to be good for your brain. Unless you are Vit D deficient for whatever reason you are probably going to get no benefit from taking supplements. Vit D deficiency in healthy, non pregnant and young people is pretty much non existent in the Western world.

There are cases of deficiency in people with little exposure to the sun. My wife has the sort of skin that burns easily in the Australian sun, so she has gone to great lengths to minimise her exposure, which has been great for her skin. However, tests last year showed low levels of Vitamin D, so she now takes a supplement...

Swings and roundabouts...

[Aos Si]

well, vit D in winter can't be a bad thing can it?

Sunlight causes your skin to produce Vit D, and so will light boxes incidentally, as long as the wavelengths are in the UV spectrum. It's actually the omega oils that are supposed to be good for your brain. Unless you are Vit D deficient for whatever reason you are probably going to get no benefit from taking supplements. Vit D deficiency in healthy, non pregnant and young people is pretty much non existent in the Western world.

There are cases of deficiency in people with little exposure to the sun. My wife has the sort of skin that burns easily in the Australian sun, so she has gone to great lengths to minimise her exposure, which has been great for her skin. However, tests last year showed low levels of Vitamin D, so she now takes a supplement...

Swings and roundabouts...

Well yeah if you are a day walker or you have no soul then your not going to benefit from the sun as well as a Namibian.

I did say healthy, include people who have intolerance to sunlight amongst various detrimental conditions I wouldn't categorise as healthy, I presume she has gingervitis? I mean there are some people who are "allergic" to sunlight and blister horrifically with mild exposure. In perfectly healthy people there is a very low incidence of Vit D deficiency in the Western world, I'm not trying to make that a blanket term to say that no one has vit D deficiencies. Although why quite so many people pop Vit D supplements, minus the omega oils, is beyond me unless they have some underlying condition or they are pregnant. The juries out on fish oils.

Sorry about the Southpark Jokes.

[Feck]

Day walker, No soul