Posted by bleauberry on April 21, 2011, at 16:37:05
In reply to Need to figure out meds to take for OCD and SA, posted by Chris2011 on April 21, 2011, at 14:20:53
Just a couple thoughts.
I understand you've tried all of the natural supplements and nothing was good. If you didn't try several of the potent anti-infection herbs or the OTC med DMSA and/or Alpha Lipoic acid for detox and various anti-inflammation meds, then there are still important areas to rule in or rule out. Your symptoms are consistent with those things. And of course things that support adrenal glands. The symptoms are consistent with an irregularity there too.
For anyone else reading I think it is important to note that most herbs and other supplements work on a gradual basis over months. There might be some bumps or bright spots early, but it's really hard to make a good judgement unless several months have passed. While many of them can accomplish equal or more than meds they generally take a while.
There is a percentage of people who are exquisitely sensitive to just about all supplements and meds. Side effects are generally intolerable with these people. Paradoxical reactions can be common. My Lyme doctor said most of his patients were like that. With those people, normal doses do not apply. The strategy requires extremely tiny doses. In the same way a supplement or med can be too powerful with too many side effects with these people, it works the other way too....it doesn't take much to get good effects. In the Lyme doctor's examples, 1mg of Lexapro or less (as low as 1/10th mg) were starting doses and sometimes the final ending doses as well.
I'm one of those people.
Parnate....in my opinion you should do this one again. But different. Cut the pill in 4 quarters. Since they won't be exact sizes, take the smallest one. The next day, or even skip a day, take the next larger size. Ok now after 4 to 8 days you've actually taken a full dose of 10mg. To someone that has the frustrations of sensitivities and side effects, that is a huge victory.
I had the same worries as you with Parnate. It would be too stimulating. I was already a wreck I couldn't take the chance on a med making that any worse. To my surprise, 2.5mg a day had me grounded and comfortable in my own skin in just a few days. I was even comfortable and relaxed in a crowd. The first day was weird. In the first few hours it kind of made me feel more depressed and blah. After that I couldn't really feel like it was doing anything. The next morning I woke up though and knew something was different in a promising way. Had started at say 10mg or 20mg, forget it, I'm sure it would have been a failure. Maybe that would have had the stimulation I feared. I don't know. All I know is I did decent on 1/4 of the smallest pill. So I don't pay much attention to what the dosing directions on a bottle say. Those directions are appropriate for a general sample of a population, but not every single person. Some people need extremely high doses while others need extremely low.
I've been through periods of symptoms like yours. I can sure relate. That is pure hell. Definitely the kind of stuff that totally strains the adrenals, which makes the whole thing even worse, sort of like a spiral that feeds on itself. For me I found Lemon Balm tincture (not pills) was immediate relief without any negative side effects. Other decent ones were Skullcap and PassionFlower....all tinctures not pills. These medicinal plants helped through some really tough times.
But the real progress was made with a combination of all the things I mentioned....
Assume infection and assume both bacterial and fungal. Treat them with appropriate botanical medicines, or meds.
Assume metals, plastics, chemicals, and take clinically proven detox substances (DMSA, ALA, NAC).
Assume the adrenal glands are fried and do things to support them, which involves trying some adrenal specific herbs and buying specific foods at the grocery store while avoiding others.But most important with any or all of them, and anything you might do going forward, make the starting doses ridiculously low and ramp it up slowly. Get too aggressive and all potential for that substance to help you goes down the drain.
Allow me to say it again.....parnate.
My experiences and opinions anyway.
poster:bleauberry
thread:983447
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20110418/msgs/983449.html