Quote:
Originally Posted by Lurker
I've tried many supplements, but not really any psychiatric medicines and probably won't ever. I see nothing but risk and bad science in this arena. I won't go into it but I'm highly skeptical of these solutions except in fairly extreme cases. And look at history. Most of the currently illegal drugs were at one time psychiatric medicines.
Hmmm... still, there are two times one could say I've used them.
First, I had a minor procedure 20+ years ago. I'm pretty sure it was Valium that they gave me. It was enough to put me to sleep even though that wasn't the intent. I doubt I will ever feel so full of bliss as I did that day. CBD doesn't compare to that complete feeling of love, peace, and contentment. It's not even close. Yes... this makes benzodiazepines look very, very attractive to me, but I'm pretty sure I would be addicted in a heartbeat. I stay away... don't want the solution to become the problem.
Second, I had a fairly serious procedure done a couple of years ago. They gave me Vicodin for the pain. I only took it for two and one-half DAYS and I was already obsessing about my next dose. For several weeks after I couldn't stop thinking about taking some to help with anxiety even though Advil was handling the physical pain. No wonder people get addicted to that stuff. I did need it for those few days, so I'm glad it was there, but I minimized doses and quit taking it as soon as I could. During those few days I felt really clear and anxiety free. CBD feels different because Vicodin has a numbing quality and CBD doesn't. For anxiety, CBD isn't quite as effective for me as Vicodin was, but I think it can get close. Right now I don't have the money to test the theory. I eventually settled on 50mg per day but some of the recommended doses for various things go MUCH higher.
On to the supplements...
I think it was about 20 years ago that I was taking super-mega-vitamins for a while. My outlook during that time was pretty amazing. I'm pretty sure having all those B-Complex vitamins was removing stress and boosting my mood. Life was much easier back then and I had a lot more to look forward to so the vitamins had far less to overcome. Still, I think I might try this again once I can afford it.
I used 5-HTP 10-15 years ago. It worked pretty well for a while. I think it gave me more of a 'high' effect, at least in the beginning, than CBD does. 5-HTP seemed to lose effectiveness over time and something got me concerned about its health effects so I stopped. Life was still pretty easy back then so I'm reluctant to make direct comparison with CBD today.
St. John's Wort (pills) did nothing for me 10-15 years ago.
Melatonin did nothing for me 10-15 years ago.
About 5 years ago I tried Valerian root (pills). Anxiety was really bad. I think the Valerian helped a little bit some of the time. It was also probably some of the nastiest smelling stuff I've ever consumed. Just opening the bottle... ugh. Pill form made it okay to swallow, but it wasn't effective enough even without the smell. IIRC, I thought higher doses might help but was reluctant to try based on potential dangers I read about (or something).
Last year, I tried "Natural Calm" magnesium supplement, recommended dose. There seems to be a lot of smoke around magnesium deficiency and anxiety but I never fully explored it. Natural Calm is a powder you mix with water. I think it may have helped a little but not really sure. It's too inconvenient and I don't like drinking a full glass of very bad kool-aid all the time.
Last year I recently tried "Theanine Serene" pills, recommended dose. It may have helped a little bit, but I can't even remember. That means it wasn't effective enough to justify continuation.
I've been taking lots of Vitamin D for about a year. Doctor said mine was really low and gave me a prescription for 50,000 IU per week. Once it came in line I've still been taking 35,000 IU (I don't get ANY sunlight). It doesn't seem to affect my mood directly. However, overall outlook has been gradually improving. I suspect low Vitamin D was affecting me to some extent.
I'm watching the research on psilocybin, MDMA, and Ketamine pretty intently. If they ever become legally available in some form I'll probably do more research for consideration for use.
BTW, there's not much science to CBD right now, but common sense tells me CBD is harmless. Benefit of the doubt and hope led me to try it. Experience tells me it can be effective if you find the right dose and delivery mechanism.
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1) Remember that unless your supplements have a USP monograph, you can't be sure that what is in the bottle is actually what is on the label
2) Be wary of taking amino acids to enhance your mood. Almost no protein-based drugs (there are a few rare exceptions) have demonstrable bioavailability because the acidity in your stomach alters their structure. 5HTP can be absorbed, but has a very short half life meaning that it needs to be co-administered with another medication, or taken multiple times per day. There is also far, far less clinical evidence for its safety and efficacy than SSRIs.
3) St. John's Wort is a major inducer of cytochrome P450 enzymes and can lower therapeutic levels of many other medications you take.
4) Taking large amounts of magnesium will give you diarrhea. It's an easy blood test for a lab to run. Average levels run between 1.5-2.2.
5) 35,000 IU of Vitamin D is still quite high. Even those that have diagnosed deficiency only need between 800-2000IU/day after initial supplementation. As it is a fat-soluble vitamin, be cautious with long-term doses that high.
6) Large doses of B-complex vitamins can actually cause health problems (neuropathy, for example), so be careful with your supplementation
7) Good luck