Herbal Zoloft?

[johnjohn320]

Spurred by another thread...

A good friend of mine was not too long ago in the same boat as me: A bit depressed, not suicidal or anything, but just kind of discontent with life. His parents noticed, took him to the doctor, he's been on Zoloft for two weeks now. Since then, he's been much happier. Perky, even. He says he's much more content, just satisifed with life.

I don't want to go through the whole embarassing doctor thing, and if I tell my parents I'm depressed my mom will start to cry and everything, and I just don't want that (it's happened before). So, is there an alternative "happy" med? Any particular foods, or something I can pick up at an organic store or something?

 

[tweakmm]

Must resist.....
must resist.....

 

[bandXtrb]

I don't know much about these herbal things. But I'd suggest if you still feel this way, go see a doctor. Trust me, this is not something you want to go untreated because it can get a lot worse. There must be some way to explain it to your mother so as not to cause her too much anguish.

 

[johnjohn320]

besides pot.

 

[tweakmm]

<< besides pot. >>


you said it, not me

 

[tweakmm]

I have heard that St. John's Wort works for depression, but I suspect that the affects are only placebo affects.

 

[rahvin]

Go to a fvcking doctor and get a real prescription. If she gives your the niagra treatment just tell her she's making you more depressed. God.

 

[HappyPuppy]

Quit smoking dope. Maybe that will cure your problem.

 

[apoppin]

Depression is serious. Everyone gets depressed at times but if it does not go away it needs attention.

Make sure you are eating properly (cut down the sugary and fried foods), exercise regularly and get sufficient sleep. NO drugs (including alcohol).

St. John's Wort definitely works for some people. But is no panacea.

It also seems that you may be having family problems if you cannot confide in your parents. If your are in school or college, seek counseling.

 

[johnjohn320]

<< Quit smoking dope. Maybe that will cure your problem >>



Nope, I was depressed before I ever tried it, since the first time I tried it, I've gone over 12 months without ever touching it (just not really having an urge to do it really) and guess what? still depressed.

 

[gopunk]

frankly, i would not trust any herbal medicine... "all natural" or "herbal" just means they don't know wtf is in it. you should really get some professional help, from a real doctor, not some quack herbalist.

 

[Yo Ma Ma]

Some of the herbal 'potions' effectiveness are fairly well documented in other countries such as Germany. I have used SJW (works, but not as quickly as the prescription meds), and on occasion another one called Sinupret (for sinus, nothing to do with depression).

If you really want to try something w/o prescription then I don't think you'd do any harm to yourself with the SJW, try to stick with it long enough (approx 2-6 wks I think? It should say on the bottle or do a lookup) to see if it is of any help.

 

[apoppin]

<< frankly, i would not trust any herbal medicine... "all natural" or "herbal" just means they don't know wtf is in it. you should really get some professional help, from a real doctor, not some quack herbalist. >>


Well, China has 5,000 years of experience with herbal medicine. Just because you - or Western medicine - doesn't understand it, don't knock it . . . it is very cost effective and works for over a billion people.

 

[RU482]

ZOLOFT ROCKS

 

[Nocturnal]

ok well, i would recommend you just going to the doctor. but if you are low on funds and have no insurance or cannot go at all, i would suggest a herbal medicine called 5-htp.

basically 5-htp is pre cursor to serotonin. serotonin is what makes you happy, sad, sleep well, sleep junk. 5-htp turns into serotonin and it's extremely similar to SSRi's (zoloft, celexa, paxil).

you can buy them at any health and herbal store.

hope this helps!

but i would definately get on the paxil or zoloft.

 

[Nocturnal]

that isnt true about them not knowing what is in the herbal medicine. its just medicine that cant be patented so the medicine companies cant make any money off of it. they know what is in it, or else they wouldnt be selling it in the stores.

 

[apoppin]

<< but i would definately get on the paxil or zoloft. >>


First, you have to know if you are really depressed. And be careful - some MDs are really "prescription drug happy",

My MD prescribed Paxil for me (even though I only had a temporary bout with depression after my accident). I refused to take it (used St. John's Wort instead for a couple of weeks).

That same MD also put my mother on Paxil (she has very mild depression) and she had a very severe allergic reaction to it - another MD took her off of it right away when I took my mon to him . . . she now gets by fine on St. John's Wort.

Paxil takes about 1-2 weeks to even start to work and there ARE side effects.

EDIT: Don't confuse depression with "unhapiness". Counseling from a professional is "safer". And I'd even go for a 2nd opinion before I reached for a bottle of pills to make me "feel better".

 

[Nocturnal]

paxil isnt your only option out there. if your mom had a allergic reaction to it she can try various other ssri's. there is celexa, paxil, zoloft, and about 3 more that i cant name off the top of my head. and they arent the same exact thing either. yes, of course there is gonna be side effects. that is the down side to the medication. and you should take the medicine for roughly 4-6 weeks to feel the full effect of the drug.

maybe it didnt work for you, but there are tons of success stories of it working for a lot of people.

thats good that SJW works for you.

you should see a PSYCHOLOGIST or a PSYCHIATRIST, not a MD to see if you're depressed or not.

Good luck!

 

[Beau]

<< I have heard that St. John's Wort works for depression >>

 

[rahvin]

<< << frankly, i would not trust any herbal medicine... "all natural" or "herbal" just means they don't know wtf is in it. you should really get some professional help, from a real doctor, not some quack herbalist. >>


Well, China has 5,000 years of experience with herbal medicine. Just because you - or Western medicine - doesn't understand it, don't knock it . . . it is very cost effective and works for over a billion people. >>



Herbs are drugs where all the poisons are still there. Any herb that has an effect on people is generally tested in a clinical double blind "western" test to see if it actually does do what people say it does. (ever heard of a placebo effect?) If after a test it is determined that there is something there having an effect a drug company will isolate the chemical responsible from all the other poisons and then conduct drug studies to verify side effects and reliability. Taking a herb that varies in properties per dose and contains numerous poisons when in fact there exists in a purer form of that drug (without the poisons) is stupidity.

See those that proclaim chinesse medicine as advanced as western medicine frankly has no understanding of western medicine and the scientific proof requirements it imposes on it's products. Without the scientific method it's no better than witch doctoring.

 

[vi edit]

I'm more fond of the cognitive/behavioral schools of thought when it comes to handling depression.

The mind is a very powerful thing and suggestive thing. Learning how to ignore the deceptions that it feeds you is a very important step to overcoming it.

 

[apoppin]

<< See those that proclaim chinesse medicine as advanced as western medicine frankly has no understanding of western medicine and the scientific proof requirements it imposes on it's products. Without the scientific method it's no better than witch doctoring. >>



Nonsense.

TCM has been tested and proved. Over thousands of years herbal combinations efficacy was proved on testing on thousands of people.

I did not say it's superior to Western medicine - just proven and cost effective.

EDIT: You're a med student, right?

 

[phantom309]

Depression is just another word for weakness. You and your friend are pussies and should kill yourselves to thin the herd.








...just trying to stay in the spirit of the other thread.......

 

[johnjohn320]

Well, that brings me to another question (everyone's saying ARE YOU REALLY DEPRESSED?) etc. I don't know if what I have is something with me that's unusual, or if it's just natural, teenage, fvcked up inbalances that makes me dissatisfied with life. I know I've been blessed with my mother's insomnia, which doesn't help, but I'm not sure if I'm unhappy because everyone is or if there's something really wrong.
I'm confused.

 

[rahvin]

<< Nonsense.

TCM has been tested and proved. Over thousands of years herbal combinations efficacy was proved on testing on thousands of people.

I did not say it's superior to Western medicine - just proven and cost effective.

EDIT: You're a med student, right? >>



If thousands of people all through history jumped off a bridge and claimed it made them feel light and happy I wouldn't place any faith in it. The scientific method exists to prove fact from fictionional nonsense. It's called a Placebo effect and it's well documented. People get better taking sugar pills. You can drink your tea of powdered yarrow root and extract of goat testicle but don't think for a minute it because 1000's of people claim it makes them stronger and more intelligent that it actually does.

And no I'm not a med student nor do I have any desire to be one. But unlike a vast majority of people in this world I have a science background that helps me spot quakery and "TCM" is quakery.

What you may fail to realize is that substances that have the actual ability to effect people and are known to the herbal community have already been researched, purified and processed into the prescription drugs we use. Things like willow bark tea yielded asprin, deadly nightshade, saw palmeto and others have yeilded the drugs we use today. Know what the difference is? The dosage is controlled, it doesn't vary with every plant. The poisons of the plant have also been seperated from the drug that has a use.

Herbs are fvcking dangerous.