Eight Months and Still Depression Free

August 12, 2012 By GeoNotin Leave a Comment

Eight months and depression free!  I can’t believe that my problem for the last dozen years has been low Vitamin D.  Wow!  Who knew?  Obviously,  not my doctor.  I started this journey to antidepressant freedom after reading an article on SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder).  SAD can be brought on my low levels of Vitamin D.  At first I didn’t think this was me because SAD is generally a winter issue for those affected but my condition was year round.

Then it hit me!  I work in my basement!  I exercise at night when its cool.  I am not a sun worshiper.   So I put my self on a regiment of Vitamin D and I have not looked back!

The medical community is learning that Vitamin D deficiency is far more common then was once believed.  Also the level of Vitamin D needed by your body is much higher than once thought as well, although the RDA has not changed.

If you are suffering from depression (or even if you aren’t suffering from depression), take my challenge and ask your doctor to test your vitamin D level.  The “normal” range is 30-100 ng/d-l.   Newer studies are finding that 30 is still too low. If your results come back in the low 30’s and your doctor tells you that you are fine, don’t believe it.  Do you feel fine?  You won’t win the argument that 30 is too low, so don’t try.  However, it is difficult for your health care professional to refuse a request to be positioned midrange. Ask your doctor to put you on a regiment of Vitamin D elevating your range to 50-60.   They may tell you it is a waste of money, but you be the judge; being on ineffective antidepressants – that’s a waste of money.

 

For reference, my wife and I are on 5000 mg of Vitamin D3 per day and both of us are midrange.

 

The downside of the new me, is I am no longer enthused about blogging about depression because I am not depressed.  Most of what I wrote was first hand experience so if I’m still depression free when it comes time to renew my URL, this is going to fade into oblivion.

Filed Under Antidepressants

Happiness is Being Depression Free

June 16, 2012 By GeoNotin Leave a Comment

Happiness is sitting on my patio late at night with Tikki torches blazing and everything on my Saturday to-do list crossed off.  Wow! it has been a long time since I’ve been depression free and have tackled so many things in one day.  My depression blog has suffered of late because I haven’t had depression ever since I dumped my anti-depressant in favor of a 5000 mg/day Vitamin D regiment.  It has been six months which is the longest spell I’ve gone without falling back into the depression pit.

My daughter, who has been on heavier depression med’s than mine for the last nine years saw her doctor last week.  I told her to ask him to check her Vitamin D level and it came back this week at 26 ( ng/dL ) which is low – hey no surprise there.  The doctor put her on 2000 mg per day but highly suggested she stay on her anti-depressants.   I agreed because when she was in the pit I almost lost my little girl and the thought of going down that path again is more than my heart can take.  However, once her level gets above 50 I’m going to push for slow reduction.

I related this story to my sister and she said her Vitamin D was low also at 22!  ( your doctor will tell you 30-100 is normal ) and he put her on 1000 mg/day and after 3 months it is only 26.   I told her to bump her dose up to 5000 mg/day for 90 days and go see her doctor for a retest.

Conventional wisdom says you don’t need a Vitamin D supplement because your body makes it own by being in the sun.  However as we shun the sun with SPF 50 sunscreen the UV light the body needs to make Vitamin D is reduced.  We as a society are also more indoor oriented with air conditioning,  computer games and other distractions.   This all takes a toll.

My journey to Vitamin D supplements started late last October when I read an article on SAD – Seasonal Affective Disorder which affects many people in the nothern higher latitudes during the winter.   It sad that people with SAD normally feel better in the summer, but that was not me.  I felt bla all year round so I dismissed the idea that I really had SAD.   Then about 4 days after reading the article I had an epiphany!   I don’t feel better in the summer because I work out of my home and my office is in the basement!   I can go three or four days before I go so stir crazy I leave the house!

Even my normal exercise routine is riding my bike through the nearby developments at night around sunset.  The air is cooler, the traffic is light and the sun doesn’t get in my eyes!   Well that sad (pun intended) realization lead me to seek out a Vitamin D dosage since Vitamin D is the common recommendation for SAD.   This lead me to the Vitamin D Council and a lot of extra reading.   Without the advice of my family doctor (bad george! ) I started 5000 mg per day along with my anti-depressant.  It took about 2 weeks for me to think I was feeling a change.   By Thanksgiving I decide to try to ween myself from 150 mg of Effexor that I was on.  I think I blogged about this earlier so I won’t repeat myself except to say by Jan 1, 2012 I was “Free at last!  Free at last!” and I haven’t looked back since.

Now that summer is here I’ve been moderating my Vitamin D dosage based on my sun exposure.  Today I skipped my dose becasue I went topless all day in the full sun as I cut the grass and worked around the yard.   If the literature is correct that exposure to more than half my body should hold me for sometime, so I will throttle back over the next couple days to 1000 mg.  Next week I spend 5 days at a trade show so my sun exposure will be nil, except for the taxi ride to and from the convention center in the morning and late afternoon.

Note:  Depression is a serious condition.  Do as I say, not as I do.  Follow your doctors recommendations.   Read, be informed, get your Vitamin D level tested and follow your doctors advise – not mine!

 

 

Filed Under Antidepressants, Depression

Can a Placebo Reduce Your Depression?

February 22, 2012 By GeoNotin Leave a Comment
Placebo Man

Would a placebo make you happy?

Coming off my Effexor XR has made me wonder if antidepressants work at all.  My basic gut instinct says they do work, but there has been a body of evidence over the last decade stating antidepressants are as effective as a placebo.   My left brain says, “say it ain’t so!”  However I have to admit that over the years I have tried many solutions for my depression and in the beginning they all seem to work.  I get a burst of energy; I feel great and the new stuff keeps going for a while.

Maybe some depression is really about hope?  When things feel hopeless we feel depressed?   Perhaps “hopeless” is too strong an idea.  How about, when we don’t have anything to which to look forward; we get depressed.  It is when we take action, any action, be it a new pill, new diet, new exercise program we bubble with enthusiasm and…uh…hope!  Hope that this is it; the big fix!  I’ve been there so many times I don’t want to think about it.

We look for hope in the little pill.  We Americans spend over $10 billion dollars on “happy camper drugs”.  Wow!  Just think of what the economy would look like if most of us pill poppers decided to increase our consumer spending?  (That would be a real boost and a different blog! )  Doing research on a new gizmo to buy always give me a lift.  I think it’s the sense of purpose I get.   Then with the purchase I get another kicker as I figure out the gizmo and learn something new.  Why is that?  I think again, buying a new gizmo gives me a sense of purpose.   Volunteering gives me a sense of purpose as well.

A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that for mild or moderate depression, the placebo effect explains the benefit for most of us.  The study confirms that the people most affected by depression get the greatest effect from the drugs, but for the rest of us just about anything will work as good.

So this brings me back to my last two blogs.  I have now come down from using Effexor XR in favor of using Vitamin D (D3) having boasted the wonders of Vitamin D and how I am now free of prescription drugs.  Even though the Effexor was “working” for me, I changed to Vitamin D (D3).  So maybe what I am experiencing is the placebo effect.  I wasn’t clinically depressed enough to actually need the Effexor and in the absence of a real need, any thing will lift my spirits.

Drop me a note and let me know what you think of an antidepressant placebo effect.

Filed Under Depression
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