Posted by ROO on June 25, 2003, at 8:44:42
Just wanted to share that I've been in a terrible
depression for a long time (very suicidal for about a year)
and it's finally starting to lift and I'm feeling normal
again. I was losing hope that it would ever happen. Actually
I had lost hope. I think part of my problem was being on Topamax
for so long, and suspecting that maybe it was making me feel worse,
but doubting myself and trying to be a "good" patient and stay on
the drug to please my pdoc, who feels I never give things a chance.
Anyway, I finally said "I've had it with this" and went off the topamax
and feel much better....but the thing that I think really might be
helping me is this Amino Acid program I started with a medical doctor who
is also into alternative treatments. He tested my neurotransmitter levels
so we could see exactly what I was low in, which was very interesting--I didn't
even know there was such a test. I was very low in seratonin, and also low
(but not quite as low) in epinephrine and norepinephrine was "suboptimal"....dopamine
was slightly elevated. I just started taking these amino acids--it hasn't even been a
month and I feel more energetic (I don't have an urge to nap), my appetite seems
more regulated, and I feel more confident. Right now, I'm in what they
call "The conditioning phase", taking this stuff called NeuroReplete-S which
"contains precursors for the catecholamine and seratonin system with an
emphasis on seratonin system"...I noticed it's active ingredients were
phenylalanine and 5htp and some vitamins, I guess to make those 2 things work more
efficiently. Later, we're going to add this stuff called "Balance D" which is used to balance
dopamine....and there's 2 other phases with different amino acids that work
on epinephrine....I won't go into it all because it takes too much time.
I basically wanted to share that amino acids are helping me a lot, in a short amount
of time, and that anyone out there interested in alternative treatments might
want to check them out. I hope to continue to feel better and better. I still take
5 mg's of lexapro...but I think the supplements are allowing me to take a lower dose
and I don't get hardly any sexual side effects that way, which is great. Phenylalanine,
I've read, can also be a sex booster for some people. It's very interesting to read about
phenylalanine on the web.
poster:ROO
thread:236910
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030624/msgs/236910.html