HealthBeat News

Category: Mental Health

  • Depression, Prozac, And Neurotransmitter Precursor Questions

    Depression, Prozac, And Neurotransmitter Precursor Questions

    By Nurse Mark

     

    Neurotransmitter, neurotransmitter balance, and “what herb should I take if I’m depressed?” are common subjects for those who contact us here at The Wellness Club. Unfortunately, though it all looks like it should be fairly simple it really isn’t – the hormones that regulate and control our thoughts and moods are many, with complex inter-relations and balancing mechanisms. Too much, too little, or the wrong ratio of any one neurotransmitter (brain hormone) to another and our mood can be seriously altered or our thought processes badly deranged.

    Despite the fact that our brains and the electrical and chemical circuitry that affects, guides, and regulates everything that we do is far more complex than even the largest super-computer many folks feel they have no alternative but to fiddle with these delicate balances themselves; trying this herb or that with little more to guide them than medical urban legend and suggestions from well-meaning friends: “My aunt Effie’s next door neighbor’s husband was depressed so he took St. John’s wort and that fixed him right up!”

    Were it only so easy… Here is an example of the sort of questions we receive:

    Kimberly writes:

    I am slightly confused. I was on Prozac for a few months and it was like a miracle drug for me. I moved and don’t have a PCP, so I started taking 250 mg L-5-HTP and 500mg L-Tyrosine (after HTP didn’t seem to work). Neither the combination or HTP alone seemed to have any effect (battling severe depression). Doctors in FL surprisingly aren’t up for prescribing Prozac for me again, so I just wondered if you had any suggestions or ideas. Thanks!

    Prozac, and other SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) drugs can indeed seem to provide miraculous relief for depressive symptoms – for a while. Unfortunately, since they do not address the cause of the problem, a lack of the “feel-good” neurotransmitter serotonin (or other neurotransmitters), and because they actually cause further depletion of serotonin and launch many people into a miserable spiral of depression, drugs, returned depression, more drugs, worse depression, stronger drugs, and so on. While this is great for the drug companies, it is a terrible existence for the poor victim who is left to wonder if they will ever be normal and happy again.

    To answer Kimberly’s question – yes, Prozac undoubtedly did offer great relief for those few months. This is good news as it gives you some very strong clues to how you might find more permanent, non-drug relief. It is also good news that no one seems willing to prescribe this drug for you again since this means that you will not be further depleting what must be a limited supply of neurotransmitters. While L-5-HTP and L-Tyrosine  are indeed neurotransmitter precursors that the body may use to rebuild it’s supply of neurotransmitters it is difficult to say if these are the right precursors for someone without knowing more about their Neurotransmitter status and balance – this can only be accurately determined by Neurotransmitter testing. Using this information a skilled and experienced practitioner can make effective recommendations and provide prompt and welcome relief.

    Here is my suggestion Kimberly: Please read through our information about restoring neurotransmitters. When you have read through all of this information you will probably know more about neurotransmitters and how conventional “head-meds” and how natural neurotransmitter precursor supplements work than many conventional doctors! You will certainly be in a much better position to knowledgeably decide what is best for you.

    Then, for more concrete suggestions with which you can develop your own protocol for overcoming your depression please see our page discussing Mental Health and then our page discussing Depression specifically.

    If you still have questions or need more specific guidance, consider a Brief Telephone Consultation with Dr. Myatt – the 15 minutes you’ll spend with Dr. Myatt could well be life-changing, and certainly the best money you’ve ever spent!

  • On Tegretol, Retaining Water, And Needing Help…

    Carla writes:

    Dear Nurse Mark,
    I’m in desperate need of help!! I take Tegretol, which causes anti diuretic hormone excess but it’s the only medication that works for me, so I’m forced to continue taking it
    I’ve put on well over 20+ lbs. of water retention that I just can’t get rid of! I know that there are prescription drugs that work as “vasopressin antagonists” but they can be very dangerous. I’m searching night and day, for hours on end, for an alternative treatment for myself but I am really confused, I mean, I’ve read about aquaretics, osmotic diuretics and urea, all as natural treatments for the disorder but I need a professional’s wisdom and guidance. I can’t afford your full fee of $450 for the full telephone consultation but I’ve been told that you’re the best and was advised to contact you.
    Can you please, please help me??
    Thank you so much,
    Carla

    Hi Carla,

    We will do what I can for you, but I’m sure you’ll understand that our advice must be limited – it is neither legal nor ethical for us to provide detailed medical advice to someone who is not an established patient – that is, someone for whom we are not in possession of full medical records and related medical information. We have written about this several times before, and we have written to explain why we do not work for free.

    As you probably know, Tegretol, a drug which is approved as an anticonvulsant and specific analgesic for trigeminal neuralgia – is also often prescribed for the conditions of bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. According to Novartis, the patent-holder and maker of the drug, it comes with some very serious and even life-threatening side effects. Water retention is one of the least-serious of it’s side effects!

    Just as Tegretol is a very serious drug, so too are any of those conditions for which it might be prescribed. Without knowing a lot more about you, about your medical history and condition, and about your living circumstances and lifestyle we would simply be shooting with our eyes closed – and that’s not a good thing!

    Since you say you cannot afford Dr. Myatt’s New Patient Consultation fee (which actually works out to somewhere between $27 and $41 per hour given that there usually 8 to 10 hours of research work done on your case before your hour-long consultation, and then 2 to 6 hours of research and report and recommendation preparation following your consultation – would a plumber work that cheaply?) I must assume that you are not likely to be able to afford vitamins or other supplements either. That is too bad, because an investment in Dr. Myatt’s skills and advice, and some carefully chosen supplementation could possibly save you from a lifetime of the expense, the risk, and the unpleasant side effects of a very toxic drug – to say nothing of perhaps actually correcting the condition that “requires” you to take this drug.

    Neurotransmitter testing might be a good idea – but it is not inexpensive, and the results are not easy for the layperson to interpret accurately so interpretation could be yet another expense.

    Corrective supplementation for neurotransmitter imbalances is not cheap either – and not likely to be covered by insurances like your Tegretol may be. Still, there might be something to be said in favor of a treatment lacking Tegretol’s potentially lethal side effects…

    So, what can we suggest that could be low-cost or no cost?

    A ketogenic diet has been demonstrated to be highly therapeutic for epileptic conditions. We have also had clinical success with the use of a ketogenic diet in other neurologic and psychiatric conditions and would certainly recommend this diet for someone suffering either schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. The Atkins diet is an example of a ketogenic diet. Dr. Myatt has improved upon Atkins, and places her patients on The Myatt Diet which in addition to being ketogenic is also corrective of a number of dietary deficiencies and resulting hormonal imbalances. (You did know that neurotransmitters are hormones, right?) Either way, you will be in ketosis when you are turning your ketosticks pink or purple.

    The ketogenic diet tends to act as a natural dieuretic and so is very effective at clearing the body of excess water.

    Another low-cost or no-cost corrective technique we have found is vigorous exercise – an hour a day of good, vigorous exercise such as gym-work, weight training, dance, vigorous hiking, biking, or swimming just to name a few examples has worked wonders for a number of Dr. Myatt’s patients.

    Patients with bipolar disorder (one reason that Tegretol might be prescribed) often benefit from taking the mineral lithium. Unfortunately the commonly prescribed form of lithium is lithium carbonate which must be given in large and potentially toxic doses since it is poorly assimilated. For this reason many patients do not tolerate it at all well and refuse to take it because of it’s side effects. A much safer alternative might be lithium orotate – it is much better assimilated, can  be used in far smaller and safer doses, and therefore tends to create fewer unpleasant side effects.

    For further information about neurotransmitters and corrective supplementation, please visit our webpages here

    More information and treatment suggestions for mood disorders can be found here

    We understand that money is tight – and that Dr. Myatt’s New Patient Consultation fee may seem steep. That is why Dr. Myatt has begun to offer her Brief Telephone Consultations at only $40. Many people find that even this brief time with Dr. Myatt can help them to clarify and focus their self-help efforts and to cut through the noise and misinformation of the internet that may be confusing them. For many folks even this Brief Telephone Consultation has been life-changing.

    I hope this has been helpful for you, and we wish you every success in your efforts to deal with your challenges.

    Cheers,
    Nurse Mark

  • Are You Headed For A Nervous Breakdown?

    By Dr. Myatt

     

    Every day, each of us have a number of simple choices to make. Those who consistently make good choices tend to stay emotionally and physically healthy. Those who consistently make poor choices lose physical and mental health much faster than the expected “aging” decline of the body. Some consistently poor choices can make a person downright crazy — what we call “certifiable” (as in “certifiably insane”). Even if one doesn’t drive them self to total insanity, anxiety, depression, anger and dissatisfaction with life are still mild symptoms of emotional imbalance.

    You may be surprised to learn that these choices are everyday “little things” that really add up — for good or for ill. Everything from high blood pressure, overweight, heart disease, diabetes and increased cancer risk to mood disorders, emotional instability and even a complete “psychotic break” can result.

    Here are the disaster-driven lifestyle choices that sick (or going to be sick) people consistently make:

    1.) Stay up late at night (no consistent bedtime). The healthiest choice for weight control, normal blood pressure and balanced hormones is a regular sleep/wake cycle. Since melatonin, a potent antioxidant produced in the body, is made during dark hours, sleeping at night is far more beneficial than sleeping during the day time.

    The unhealthy choice: stay up until 11, 12 or even the early hours, then sleep in late in the morning.

    The healthy choice: try to get to bed by 10 p.m., or 11 p.m. at the latest. And keep your bedtime consistent each night.

    2.) Find every excuse not to exercise. Consider that “running around” all day counts as good exercise (it doesn’t). Make excuses based on the weather, lack of gym membership, too tired, [put your excuse here].

    Interestingly, the people who “don’t have time to exercise” always seem to have time for less important activities, like playing games on the computer, watching mindless television shows, or yakking endlessly on the cellphone.

    It also amuses me that many of these same people who “don’t have time to exercise” have plenty of time to worry about their blood pressure or diabetes or overweight. They also have time to run to the doctor for check-ups for these illnesses.

    The unhealthy choice: continue making excuses for why you can’t exercise for 15 minutes every day, and count all your “running around” as exercise.

    The healthy choice: exercise for 15 minutes every day, and do something “brisk” (push yourself a bit until you sweat and breathe heavy). Read “Why Aerobic exercise is a Waste of Time” to learn how to maximize your 15 minutes per day:

    3.) Spend plenty of time doing “mindless’ things. Granted, everyone should have a relaxing hobby or two or three, ways to “switch gears” from “work mode” to pure “enjoyment mode.” Hopefully, these hobbies are ones that  enrich mind and/or body. Not every hobby falls into this category.

    For example, a game or two played on the computer can be enjoyable. For most people, however, there is little redeeming “nutritional value” from such games (exception: older folks can benefit from improved reaction times depending on what type of game they’re playing).

    For others, computer gaming becomes almost addictive, with little benefit to recommend it. Combine that with someone who stays up late at night to play (see health-destroyer #1), and computer game addiction can be some serious “junk food” for the mind.

    Likewise, watching more than one or two television shows per night — especially the “new breed” of comedy or inane dramas, often becomes a royal waste of time and mind.

    The unhealthy choice: spend lots of time playing computer games, watching mindless T.V. shows and reading “junk food” books.

    The healthy choice: engage in uplifting and nutritionally “rich” hobbies like gardening (good exercise), photography, sewing or knitting (at least you’ll produce something to show for your time). Watch uplifting movies and television shows (not to excess), and occasionally include a true story or geographical or historical adventure — something with redeeming mental “nutritional value.”

    4.) Eat a fast-food, junk-food diet. You know, the kind with high fat and salt, low in essential fats, protein and nutrients.

    Instead of cooking at home for nutrition’s sake, always order take-out. Hey — that neuron-destroying MSG, artery-clogging trans fat and diabetes-inducing high carb junk food will help your cause (which is to lose your health and your mind, as quickly as possible).

    The unhealthy choice: eat out, order take-out or buy fast food “heat and eat” from the grocery store often.

    The healthy choice: fix more home-cooked meals, including non-starchy vegetables, whole proteins and garden-fresh ingredients. (This is where a gardening hobby comes in healthy!)

    5.) Take a pill for everything that ails you. High blood pressure? Don’t bother to lose weight, exercise, get regular sleep and eat better —- take a pill to fix the problem instead. Even better: ignore the problem altogether.

    Diabetes? Don’t lose weight or exercise — take pills instead.

    Depressed? Everyone knows that mood disorders are caused by a Prozac or Effexor deficiency. Don’t bother to get regular bedtimes to regulate your hormones, or eat right to provide essential nutrients, or exercise to create those “feel good” endorphins. No, by gumpy! Just take a pill instead.

    The US ranks somewhere around 43 in the world for life expectancy. Over 200,000 people are killed each year by correctly prescribed medications. (It boggles the mind to think how many are harmed or killed by incorrectly prescribed drugs).

    The unhealthy choice: take a “pill for every ill.”

    The healthy choice: correct your little “everyday choices” and allow your body the opportunity to bring you back into healthful balance.

    Unfortunately, people who are making the worst lifestyle choices are often the ones least likely to recognize themselves in this report. Many people will simply experience poor health and mild states of mood disorder over these poor choices, but some will go so far as to have a “psychotic break” (a real “disconnection” from reality). Here are some warning signs of advanced mental instability:

    I.) Paranoid. Is everyone out to get you? Your spouse is mean and doesn’t understand you when he/she tries to make a suggestion? People who are “losing it” almost never recognize their part in their troubles.

    Instead, they blame everyone around them, their circumstances and “bad luck” for their miseries. Introspection, the art of self-examination, eludes them. Life is bad, and it’s everyone else’s fault.

    II.) Grouchy. No matter what friends or family try to do, the person headed for a breakdown seems perpetually grouchy.

    They get angry easily. They take offense easily. They go into a “rage” and do dumb things — like get in the car and drive (usually too fast) to nowhere.

    III.) Dissatisfied. Whatever they’ve got, it’s never enough. Happiness is always “just around the corner,” after more money has been spent and more things acquired. Spending is often out of control, and the headed-for-trouble person would drive him/herself and family into deep debt with the misplaced belief that a new car or a bigger house will buy happiness.

    If you see yourself in any of this (which you won’t if you’re “far gone”), I encourage you to start making some consistently better choices each and every day. The little things — like sleep habits and choices of hobby — have a much greater impact on mental and physical health than most folks realize.

    And by all means be sure to get a physical evaluation from a doctor, preferably an holistic doctor who isn’t just a “pill pusher.” This is to rule out hormone imbalances, circulation problems and other physical abnormalities that could account for your symptoms. Most times, however, nothing significant will be found.

    My bottom line? Make better choices more consistently so you can keep your health and your sanity.

  • Senile Dementia Linked to Common Nutrient Deficiency

    Senile Dementia Linked to Common Nutrient Deficiency

    Here’s something Big Pharma hopes you never learn: simple nutrient deficiencies are at the root of most diseases.

    Did you know that a single nutrient deficiency can cause everything from miscarriage and birth defects to cancer, heart disease, depression, hearing loss, osteoporosis and senile dementia?

    In the case of the above-mentioned maladies, the missing nutrient is folic acid, a B complex vitamin. You’ve probably read in the news about recently completed studies that link folic acid deficiency to senile dementia, but these are certainly not the first studies to make this connection.

    Folic acid, a water-soluble B vitamin, gets its name from the Latin “folium,” meaning foliage, because dark green leafy vegetables are a rich source of the nutrient. Folic acid is needed for nucleic acid (RNA and DNA) and red blood cell production. It is also required for energy production, especially in the brain and nervous system. Pregnant women have been advised to take folic acid because it is necessary for normal development of the spinal cord and central nervous system of the human embryo. This connection is so well-known that the U.S. government has mandated that foods be “fortified” with folic acid. In spite of this fortification, studies show that as many as 61% of the population may still be folic-acid deficient.

    It’s not just pregnant women and their developing babies that need folic acid.

    Folic acid, along with vitamin B6 and B12, keep homocysteine levels normal. homocysteine is an “intermediate” metabolic product that increases the risk of heart disease and premature brain aging when it occurs in high concentrations. Premature brain aging was the subject of this recent study, which continues to show a connection between folic acid deficiency and senile (age-related) dementia.

    In one more recent study, researchers in the Netherlands evaluated the speed of thinking and memory, two functions known to decline with age. Over 800 subjects, ages 50 to 70, took 800 micrograms of folic acid daily for three years. At the end of the study, re-testing showed that the subjects who took folic acid had “significantly improved domains of cognitive function that tend to decline with age.” In other words, mental function of the folic acid group didn’t just remain the same, it actually got better over the course of the three year study. This is not the first study to connect folic acid with preserved mental function, but it is one of the largest and longest studies.

    Folic acid deficiency is widespread in our culture due to the processing of grain and vegetables. Although it is found in green leafy veggies, cooking destroys folic acid. It is also present in organically-raised (grass-fed) beef liver, brewer’s yeast and asparagus. (And how much of these foods do YOU eat?) Many experts feel that it is nearly impossible to get a recommended daily dose of folic acid from food alone, and several population studies have confirmed this. Big Government obviously agrees with this assessment since they have required fortification of our food supply with folic acid.

    Supplementation is an easy an inexpensive “insurance policy” against the dangerous effects of folic acid deficiency, but most “one per day” vitamins contain too small a dose to do any good. The recommended optimal daily dose (NOT the “RDA” minimal daily dose), is 400-800mcg per day. Remember that folic acid is a B complex vitamin, and when one B vitamin is low, the rest of the B complex is also usually low and should be supplemented.

    Is it any wonder that Big Drug Companies support the “push” to outlaw vitamin supplements, given how many drug-treated diseases are actually caused by nutrient deficiencies? You’ve been warned while vitamin supplements are still legal: Don’t let a simple nutrient deficiency like low folic acid sneak up on you in the form of failing memory or heart disease. Supplement now, or face the prospects of declining years filled with prescriptions for (insert name of dementia Rx du jour / cardiac Rx du jour here) as answers to the effects of folic acid deficiency, brought to you by Big Pharma. Face it: there’s a real reason they hope you’ll never learn about this important nutrient…

    P.S. My Maxi Multi Optimal Dose daily multi vitamin/mineral/trace mineral/antioxidant formula has always contained 800mcg of folic acid, because the importance of higher levels of this vitamin is not “new news” in spite of yet another study. Learn more about Maxi Multi’s here >>>

    References

    1.) Effect of 3-year folic acid supplementation on cognitive function in older adults in the FACIT trial: a randomized, double blind, controlled trial. Lancet. 2007 Jan 20;369(9557):208-16. Su7mmary: Folic acid supplementation for 3 years significantly improved the types of cognitive function that typically decline with age.
    2.) Effects of folic acid supplementation on hearing in older adults: a randomized, controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2007 Jan 2;146(1):1-9. Summary: Folic acid supplementation slowed the rate of hearing loss (speech frequencies) in aging population.
    3.) Low folate status is associated with impaired cognitive function and dementia in the Sacramento Area Latino Study on Aging. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Dec;82(6):1346-52. Summary: Low folic acid levels are associated with cognitive decline and food fortification with this vitamin is not sufficient to correct the problem.
    4.) High homocysteine and low B vitamins predict cognitive decline in aging men: the Veterans Affairs Normative Aging Study. Am J Clin Nutr. 2005 Sep;82(3):627-35. CONCLUSIONS: Low B vitamin and high homocysteine concentrations predict cognitive decline.
    5.) Homocysteine versus the vitamins folate, B6, and B12 as predictors of cognitive function and decline in older high-functioning adults: MacArthur Studies of Successful Aging. Am J Med. 2005 Feb;118(2):161-7. CONCLUSION: In high-functioning older adults, low folate levels appear to be a risk factor for cognitive decline. The risk of developing cognitive decline might be reduced through dietary folate intake.
    6.) Homocysteine, folate, and vitamin B-12 in mild cognitive impairment, Alzheimer disease, and vascular dementia. Am J Clin Nutr. 2004 Jul;80(1):114-22. CONCLUSIONS: Relative folate deficiency may precede Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia onset.
    7.) Homocysteine and B vitamins in mild cognitive impairment and dementia. Clin Chem Lab Med. 2005;43(10):1096-100. Summary: Subclinical folate deficiency appears to precede dementia.

  • Some Questions We Just Can’t Answer!

    Here’s a good one! See if you can guess our what our answer will be after reading this question that was sent anonymously to us – no name, no "Hi, How are you", no "Thanks for your time":

    Anonymous wrote:

    It has been a month and three weeks now since I have started taking Lucidal.  I started twice a day and then three a day . After two weeks I sufferred an acid reflux, so I took Prilosec for 14 days as instructed in the box and during the 14 days I was in Prilosec I was taking Lucidal once a day, a week after that I sufferred another acid reflux.  Should I continue   taking Lucidal ?

    Okee-Dokee… Let’s see now…

    First, this is not a product that we sell here at the Wellness Club. In fact, given the amounts shown in the supplement facts box that I found after some searching on the Lucidal sales website, we would not even consider offering such an incomplete, low potency vitamin mixture for sale.

    Here is a challenge: find the Supplements Facts Box on the Lucidal Sales website, and compare it with that of Dr. Myatt’s Maxi Multi. As a multiple vitamin, Lucidal is a lightweight – an expensive lightweight, but a lightweight all the same.

    Second, without knowing an awfully lot more about this person, how can we possibly say that the "acid reflux" has anything to do with Lucidal? Is this person old? Young? Healthy? Ill? Using other drugs?

    Third, who are we to say whether or not this person should continue to take this product? We know nothing about this person, we did not sell this person the product, and we are not the formulators of this product. While we have a general idea of the ingredients in the "proprietary" formulas listed on the Supplements Facts Box, we do not know amounts – that is the beauty of "proprietary" formulas – exact amounts need not be listed.

    Perhaps this person should pose these questions to the "certified neurosurgeon and expert in brain biochemistry" that formulated this product – Dr. Larry McCleary.

    Folks, this is a classic example of the sort of questions that we see all too often, and that we simply cannot answer.

    As for Lucidal, I would not want to say that this product is a waste of money for if the testimonials on the Lucidal sales website are to be believed at least some people are finding it helpful. But looking at the Supplement Facts Box reveals vitamin and mineral dosages that we here would refer to as "Pixie Dust". Lots of "stuff" to make the product sound impressive but not enough of any one thing to do much good. A lot of people like products with "lots of stuff" in them – it feels like they are getting a better "deal".

    It is certainly better than no vitamin at all…

    But, at the price that is being asked for this product (someone has to pay for those "free" bonuses and the expensive "as seen on TV" infomercials!) we still believe that as a multiple vitamin Lucidal is a very expensive lightweight.

     

    For a truly effective multiple vitamin, try Dr. Myatt’s Maxi Multi.

    For some straight, honest information about neurological disease, see our webpage: Neurological Disease.

    For help with "acid reflux" see Dr. Myatt’s article What’s Burning You and see our webpage on Indigestion.