Posted by bleauberry on January 15, 2014, at 8:14:34
This stuff has good potential to improve mood problems of all kinds. However, none of them are psychoactive. They do not directly influence mood in any way. Instead what they do is target, in blind shotgun fashion, many common causes of psychiatric symptoms in one punch. When the cause of symptoms is reduced or eliminated, psychiatric symptoms automatically and almost magically begin to fade away. But, with testing either non-existent or unreliable or confusing results, we are not likely to nail down exactly what our problem is. Thus the shotgun approach. The culprit will reveal itself in the process.
Paradise Herbs Resveratrol made from Polygonum Cupsidatum (Japanese Knotweed). Could write an entire book on this one. Anti-inflammation from various angles, as effective or more effective than inflammation prescription meds. Immune modulation....calm it down where it is too hot, spice it up where it is too cold....immune support....important because in my experience the immune system and the mood center are directly linked. This herb also suppresses a wide variety of bacteria and yeast, with special focus on the pathogens of lyme disease.
Cat's Claw, better is the version called Samento. Similar in outcomes as the above herb, except from different angles and different mechanisms, and it is stronger as an antibiotic. This one is very common and usually tolerated well. For some reason, it gives me a real hard time....which means it is hitting a bullseye. It is thus highly appropriate for me, but I have to approach it with tiny doses, and/or pulsed doses rather than daily doses.
Rhodiola Rosea. Entire books have been written on this one. Pro-immune, pro-energy, pro-endurance, antidepressant, antianxiety, hormone support and balance, and more. Tricky to dose though. Dose sizes change the effect. Over stimulation is a common start up side effect. It melts away into peace and calm in a few days or weeks. But because of the trickiness involved in exploring for the right dose for you, many people never get to give it a good trial. Too bad. This herb can do magic.
Thorne Research or Jarrow Formulas Rhodiola Rosea. My best dose is 100mg, and Thorne is the only one with that size available. All other brands are in the 400mg range. Jarrow happens to be the only one I've seen where the color of the powder is actually a rusty rose red....the true color of rhodiola. All the other brands are a grey-ish version of rust color.
Source Naturals Mushrrom Immune Defense. This has all the most researched healing mushrooms in it. The list of their humanly benefits is long. Most of them play into the mood stuff in one way or another, indirectly through the side door....inflammation, toxin, infection reduction.
Cholestyramine. The is basically a natural treatment but requires a prescription to get it. This anti-cholesterol powder serves the purpose of absorbing everything fat soluble in the gut....which includes all the unknown toxins likely contributing to our symptoms...preventing their reabsorption...and over time lowering the load. If 50 systems in the body are screwed up, this substance has the potential to get all of them back to normal.....simply by removing the neurotoxins that are causing them all to be screwed up. The number 50 is pulled out of pure air just for the sake of discussion. Could be any number.
Vit C minimum 250mg at each meal, increase to bowel tolerance. Loose stools will signal the dose is too high. Crucial not for commonly assumed anti-oxidant stuff, but because it is a major building block to making new collagen and new nerve connections, which are both probably under severe assault in our conditions.
Vit D 5000IU per day. Without even testing your Vitamin D levels, if you have been under the weather for quite some time, I would bet money it is very low. Bugs such as in lyme disease chew that stuff up like candy, so extra supplementation to make sure you get some is important.
Multivitamin/Mineral, but not the ones bought at the drug store or supermarket. I favor Pioneer 1+, because of all the fantastic cofactors in it that carry the nutrients, and because of the superior forms of B6, B12, and folate....they are in the already metabolized readily absorbed form, so if there is a malfunction in your body where you cannot metabolize the Bs properly....common in chronic illness, sometimes the actual cause....these vitamins bypass the roadblocks. Another good one is Thorne Research Extra Nutrients, which could be added to any vitamin you want, even cheap ones.
Fish oil. Start with high EPA. More expensive, but seems more effective for our type of population. Try regular fish oil too. Maybe do both. I do. For the longest time I could not take fish oil....bad reactions psychiatrically. If that happens with you....you have problems with fish oil....that all by itself is a pretty strong diagnostic clue that you got some infection or toxic stuff going on. Those types of situations will cause fish oil to be metabolized wrong, where the outcome is that one of its common neutral metobolites instead becomes a somewhat slightly toxic metabolite. That doesn't feel good. If that happens, you will likely have to do some anti-bacterial stuff and anti-toxin stuff before you can handle fish oil without problems.
Gosh, I could keep going and going. So many good plants and herbs.
The ones above work as a team. They are grouped together as they are because it creates a cohesive goal-oriented strategy that covers as many bases as possible with the least cost possible and the least side effects possible. The goal is not to improve mood. The goal is to remove the offenders and enemies of a good mood, the bad guys, so that mood can automatically on its own improve. The ultimate goal is to either live a happier life with a lowered dosage of meds or no meds at all. The above supps pave a fairly wide path to help make that happen.
poster:bleauberry
thread:1058591
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20131226/msgs/1058591.html