All Natural?? WHo's kidding Who?

[russ939]

Anyone taking herbs and such should be very careful with what they take; There can be drug interaction, For example St; Johns Wart should never be taken with Prozac.
You run the risk of a ceritonin over dose, (so to speak) and you do not want to have to go throuh that, believe me. Also the danger with so called, NATURAL SUPPLMENTS, is that the dose can very from too high or not enough. They sneek alot of this stuff in through the Food and Drug Act so they don;t have to worry about things like dosage or potency as it is considered a food in te eyes of the law.

AND PLEASE DO NOT LET THESE MONEY HUNGERY  SUPPLIMENT DISTRIBUTORS CON YOU INTO THING THAT JUST BECASE IT IS SO CALLED
>>>ALL NATURAL<<<<< DOES NOT MAKE IT SAFE. ...POISON IVY IS :ALL NATURAL......

Just do your homework with every drug you are on and talk to your pharasist. They know a lot more aboutmeds then any doctor ever will.

90% of all this stuff is harmless because it does nothing to or FOR you. It's called the placebo effect. Like braclets and magnets or a rabbits foot.

All medication is a small, controlled amount of poison. \don't get too ALL NATURAL, crazy. It costs you plenty of REAL money.

[russ939]

Hello American Bro,

In reality it is bad for us in Canada to have our dollor higher.Many American Companys are closing in Canada and 1000's are losing work. Sure a Televison . is cheaper but how will they buy it with no job?
The only reason it went high is because yours went low. Things are no better in Canada than before.

But we are great friends and will always help each other when things get tough.

Hope your doing better

[Hensley258]

Actually you are correct, there are many good programs here in the States for people with very low income levels. Unfortunatly these programs are not in reach for me because I fall into a "middleclass" income bracket.

Some would say, "oh great then you make good money so no problem." This is not true at all. In fact because I am in a middleclass bracket there are no free programs avalible for me. I must pay and pay big time.

You see that's the screwed up thing about health care in this country. It favors two class brackets, either the Wealthy or the poor. The family in the middle get's spit on and has to pay thru the nose. Can't work because your too sick? too bad! Move down an income level and we will help you. Sink or swim baby!

So you see? it's like swimming upstream for the Middleclass in America. We pay like the Wealthy pay, but after the high cost, we are only middlclass income on paper, not in reality.

I love my Country, but I see an end to American dominance as a financial and world Super Power. Our Government has beat up the Middleclass for too many years now and it's time to pay the piper. The Wealthy do not make America strong. It's the Middlecalss masses in America that do this.

There is no "real" middleclass anylonger in the States. This is not a Recession or set back. The Genie is out of the bottle. We have given all our good paying jobs away to other countries and have been financially destroyed by Health care costs.

Mark my words and watch what happens over the next decade. America will lose it's place as the "oppertunity capital of the world."

It's a snowball effect that is already halfway downhill and no new president or government official can derail it. The damage is done and we will all pay the price, from poor to wealthy.

Our little house of cards is just one small jolt away from complete collapse.

As Americans we mostly live on Debt, unlike many of our European counterparts. When the masses can no longer pay this trillions of dollars of mass personal debt then banks fail. When banks fail business fails and companies go out of business.

Now do you see our big house of cards? It looks very pretty from the outside. It is shiny and appears to be sturdy, but in reality it is all built on debt. Just like a nice home that is built on unstable and weak supports. Just one kick to one supporting beam causes the whole house to fall.

Did you know that tha Canadian Dollar is now worth more than the American Dollar?
LOL! Man, living across the river from Windsor Canada, I never thought I would see the day when their money would be worth more than ours! (No offence to Canadians. I love our Canadian partners to the North and have a lot of respect for them)

I know people with masters degrees that now can not even find a job making $35,000 a year, much less a fair wage career.

I figure that the United States has been kicking *** for the past 100 years, now I fear it's our turn to get our *** kicked. Yes our house of cards is falling and there is no stopping it now.

[Lizz67]

I am in the states with no insurance. I am working full-time, but I'm poor - I live check-to-check.
My salvation has been the community mental health agency in my area.  I don't know why I've had such good experience with them.  I'm in a small town rural area.  But  a nearby university may be why.
I've been a client there for 20 years and in various programs depending on my level of functioning.
For the last 3-4 years I've seen a good counselor weekly, a nurse who monitors me about every 3 weeks, and a psychiatrist every month to two months, depending on how I'm doing.  There is a turnover rate for both doctors and counselors but I've had mostly good quality in both. My current and last counselors were excelent and I've had that going for a long time.  My favorite psych left recently, but I've liked the two interim people.
Not to sound like Pollyanna here, but I want to remind people that these services are available in most areas in the US.

Otherwise, I have to totally agree - being sick in the states ***** if you don't have insurance. ***** isn't even a bad enough word.  I feel very angry that disorders like bipolar or unipolar depression often lead to being unemployed or underemployed, and things that are supposed to be helpful cost so d*** much.  
Meds and blood tests, and other tools, as well as things like healthy foods, supplements, classes for things like Yoga, gym memberships, when you can't get it together to excercise  by yourself, etc.  I could use a massage and some relaxation tapes.
Pets are also shown to be good for depression, but include a lot of their own expenses.

Sorry to sound bitter, but sometimes I feel bitter. (but I'm lucky I have a counselor I can share this stuff with, too).

[russ939]

by the way, your explanation of how you feel and what your pdoc is saying is a carbon copy of my story. I pray the story ends like mine did.

[russ939]

My God man, You sound exactly like my dad. He is a pretty smart fellow too. We have to hit thes baserds where they are sensitive. I can't afford an exray and that causes me to puncher a lung with a broked rib. Time to sue the pants of these arofgant morons.

There is no compassion in the world anymore. Like you say. I get sick I aM JUST FAKing it. Some people I just want to go up to and bust uptheir arrogant face. Imagine a 14 yr old boy standing up infrount of a commitee as they tell him they will not pay for his heart transplant. Mr Big Shot sending a kid to his death. It happens. IF THAT SMUG FACE was in reach of my fist I would only be too happy to spend the ight in the slammer for pulverizing that dickhead. I am sure anyone with any integrity woud do the same.

I get too worked up man. I need to break.

Before I go I want to say that I spent a very long time taking many drugs just like you did.
Nothing even showed the hint of helping my depression. This thing just had to run it's course and it was hell for a year. Finally all ythese drugs were now working. No one knows why but smething just had to played out. If you start feeling better stay with the current drug and give at least a few months to start working. SOund stupid but it did work for me. Every one I know has noticed how good I am doing now.

Well God luv ya brother, call anytime

And thankyou so much for your info. Thiis stuff is a real eye opener.

[Hensley258]

So what was this break through?

I'm having a really rough time. It's been almost 6 months since my Depression hit back hard and I have not been able to put it back in a remissive state since.

I'm trying Remeron now (already burned out on most SSRI, SNRI and Tri-cyclic meds)
Hope this Remeron works. It's been 5 days on it now and I still have not noticed a difference in my Depression and Anxiety level. I'm also taking Eskalith 450 and Prozac (have been on them for a while now)

That's a pretty stout three med combo and I'm still not responding. At least not fully. I would say that the symptoms of my depression now are only being helped about 40% by this three med Cocktail. My comfort level is 90% or higher, but I just can't seem to get there this time.

16 years with this condition and I have never had this much difficulty getting it back in a remissive state.

About how it is for us in the States, Let me tell you..... It's sink or swim russ. If I don't find a way to get my *** in remission soon, I may be out of a job. There is no safty net here in the States. You can't work? Your *** goes out in the street here. No joke.

60 million people in the States do not have insurance, and 98% of those that do have it still have to pay huge fees for each visit and insane prices for meds.

I have good insurance russ, even with that you want to know how much my condition has cost me to get treated over the last 16 years........ Tens of thousands dude! That's with good health insurance. With none I would easily be in the $100,000 range for treatment over that time.

This is America baby! "I got mine, you get yours." "You can't make enough money then you must be weak or lazy." "You can't affort treatment? To bad work harder." You can't work? screw you now give up your home."

You get laid off at your job here, it means your ***. Oh sure you can get unemployment checks for about 6 months, but they only pay a max of $260 per week no matter your previous job income.

It's sink or swim here my friend. I am sinking now and I can't plug the holes fast enough.
If I can just get feeling better then I can keep things going at least a bit longer.

My P-doc is stumped. It's like he is out of options for me. It's been 16 years with this condition and perhaps at 38 years of age it has just progressed past a point of no return for me.

My head feels like a swurling Tempist and my hands and body tremble all the time. I'm filled with irrational fear and darkness. I have to take Xanax at night just to sleep like a normal person, but when I wake the horror starts another day. Must fight to stay at work, no matter how much I am being tortured inside my head.

Every minute is like an eternity as I can't think beyond 30 minutes at a time.

I hope this Remeron works or it will be my *** for good this time.

[russ939]

I was in the same boat as you find yourself in. Nothing was working for me and I was getting much worst. hundreds of dollars later and a full 2 years of total clinical deppression I FINALLY HAD A BREAK THROUGH. But how long will it last. And when does the next train to hell leave? I hope neither of us are on it,

Try a Penny in your pocket, it works for sadness too. lol.

Did you look into EST to reset the brain? It works well for many people and you don't ever need meds again,, for most. I almost went for it but then a thousand dolar a month **** tail started to work fo me. I pay cash for these meds as I am self   employed.

I would better off on welfare at these prices. I hear it a lot worst for the people who live in the States and have no insurance. I guess I am lucky. I don't know.

[russ939]

Thats right, I did mention Prozac but what else can it do to you, I wonder. A lot of Naturals work because of the Placibo Effect. You don;t have to be nieve to fall for this, just in a lot of distress. And they all tell you that first you must' load up' before you can start a regular regiment of their vitimin" hoak uspoke us". ALL that does is give you a very  expensive pee to flush away with your money.

A great scam are those braclets with magnets for arthritus. I once convinced myself that if I put a penny in my back pocket ( and it had to a 1967 penny) that my arthritis would feel less painfull. It worked and I knew it was all made up by me and I also knew it was fake and had no place in reality. That just proved that the body and mind work well together, But a bigger realization was that scam artists rely on our bodys to feel better as a way to scam us. Magnets, now there is a pile of bull sh!t if I ever heard it.

So I would love to hear about other scams that make us sick people part with our much needed money.....anyone???

[Hensley258]

I also read many years ago that one should never take St. Johns Wort while taking ANY antisepressant medication. It can have toxic effects.

As for all these, "Natural remidies for Severe Depression." Hey you don't have to convince me. I have literally tried every natural suppliment known to God and science that "should" have helpped my cronic depression. Took most of them for a good long while too. I can honestly say that they did absolutly nothing to modify or change the severe symptoms of my depression.

Maybe they work for some people and I say good for them, but I know a whole lot of people with Very severe Uni-polar and many with Bi-polat dossorder that have NEVER experienced even a hint of relief from taking "naturals."

Perhaps they are designed to help people that just have a touch of the blues or very minor temporary depression.

And yes you are correct, synthetic AD medication, actually any synthetic medication, is simply a controled poison. This is because our bodies are designed to view any chemical substance ingested by us as a threat that must be destroyed.

That's why we have people like me that are refractory. I have been taking AD meds so many years that my body has had a lot of time to build a defence against them. This is why my body is very good now at destroying any AD meds it encounters very fast, thus robbing me of the theraputic effects the drug may offer.

Now I have to find creative ways to trick my body, I do this with random med changes before it can destroy my theraputic effect.

Most people don't really understand what great little destroyers of poisons our bodies can be.

I don't care who you are, if you take any medication long enough (it may take years) your body will eventually find the key to destroying it.