tried all this diet stuff. helps slightlyNot trying to derail the thread and make it all about diet, like I have a tendency to do lol, but this is a great vid, imo, for anyone struggling with psychiatric issues, including depression/ anxiety. It’s an interview where a psychiatrist, after many years of practicing, found that she can actually do more good for her patients by helping them with their diets, vs medication. She still prescribes medications, if absolutely needed, but uses them more as a last resort, compared to using them as the go to method of treatment, like she did throughout most of her career.
As far as medications go, SSRI’s just don’t seem like an optimal long term solution. I know they can help, and possibly be life saving, for some people, but the mechanism of action just doesn’t make a ton of sense. But I can see how they can have their place, at the same time. Obv this might not be everyone’s experience with increasing seratonin levels, to a moderate/ high degree, but it seems like increasing seratonin too much leads most people to feel somewhat emotionally flat/ numb. I actually experienced something like this personally one time. It was back before I knew that all SSRI studies are either flawed or corrupt, and that increasing serotonin levels have actually never been proven to improve mood to any significant degree. At the time, I genuinely believe that increasing serotonin levels were one of the best ways to improve mood. So I started taking a few supplements that are known to increase serotonin levels. I started taking tryptophan and 5-htp. I don’t remember exactly how many days it took to feel this way, but I just remember feeling very emotionally flat/ numb. Like I wasn’t really happy, but I wasn’t sad either. It was very weird. I kind of felt like a walking zombie emotionally. So I stopped taking them both after realizing the effects they were having on me. And obv that’s just an N of 1 experience, but from everything I’ve read over the years, it seems like it’s actually very common for people on SSRI’s to experience something similar. Again, I can see the benefit in this tho. For instance, if a person is suicidal, due to their depression, I can see kind of feeling nothing/ being emotionally numb/ flat, being better than feeling so depressed that u want to kill urself. So I can see this being a very viable short term solution, in situations like that. Or just if a person is experiencing very bad depression/ anxiety, on a regular basis, I can see feeling emotionally flat/ numb, being better than feeling those ways on a day to day basis. Again tho, based on the way high serotonin levels make most people feel, SSRI’s seem like a poor option, imo, if improved mood/ well being is the ultimate goal. But obv if some people experience this on them, and feel better than they do without taking them, I definitely think they should just continue taking them.
What makes a bit more sense to me, as far as medications and mood go, is medications that increase dopamine. If u look at the symptoms of increased dopamine, and what most people experience when increasing their dopamine levels, it just seems like these meds would give a person a better chance at success, if improved mood was the ultimate goal. Medications that increase dopamine also have the added benefit of improving sexual function, in a lot of males that take them, vs SSRI’s that have the reputation of hurting things in the bedroom. Obv not all males experience this, but it does have that reputation for a reason. Not sure about medications that increase dopamine and anxiety tho. Not sure if they would help or hurt someone that already has some level of anxiety regularly. Based on what I know about meds that increase dopamine, my assumption is that they would probably not be ideal for people that struggle with anxiety regularly. I could totally be wrong about that tho
At the end of the day, I fully believe food equals mood tho. I experience it within myself, and have seen hundreds, if not thousands at this point, of anecdotes where people reported having life long/ treatment resistant depression, and ended up completely resolving it through diet. Again, don’t want to make this all about diet, cuz I know that can be very annoying for some people lol, but I’ll just link a few good examples of what I’m referencing above.
(psychiatrist that helps her patients by assisting them with their diets, mainly)
(38 mins to 38:30 into it guy talks about being on every SSRI known to man throughout his life, but then having zero depression while doing carnivore)
(16 mins to 18 mins guy talks about thinking he just got dealt a bad genetic hand and was just destined to be on pills for his depression and anxiety the rest of his life, until he found carnivore)
And just so people don’t think I’m like this carnivore diet zealot lol, and aren’t open minded, here’s a vid where from 3:50 to 4:50 a woman that’s now on a high fruit raw vegan diet, talks about how food equals mood, and that she now wakes up as happy as can be, and prior to doing this diet, she was so depressed that she would sometimes contemplate suicide.
anyone take TRT alongside mental health medications like Prozac(SSRIs) and Adderall or vyvanse?
tried all this diet stuff. helps slightly
If u feel like u’ve fully exhausted the whole diet/ nutrition route, when it comes to ur mental health issues, I won’t push it. But I’d be a very rich man if I had a dollar for every person that’s said they either eat healthy, or have tried to eat healthy, and then proceed to report that while eating “healthy” they were consuming foods like whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans/ lentils, vegetables, free range eggs and farm raised fish, for some examples. Anyone that understands diet/ nutrition will know that it’s absolutely insane to include any of these foods and healthy eating in the same sentence. I rarely ever come across someone that’s actually eating healthy, that says they’re eating healthy. 99.99% of people that think they’re eating healthy, aren’t. Ime at least. So my advice is to not completely rule out the nutritional aspect of ur mental health issues. Some people just don’t realize what foods are causing them issues. For example, I can show u an anecdote where a person with ALS figured out that they can basically completely resolve their ALS symptoms by going on the lion diet. Just ruminant animal meat and water. They found out that even adding herbs/ seasonings to their ruminant meat caused their ALS symptoms to return. That might sound impossible to some, due to 99% of people thinking there’s no way herbs and seasonings could cause issues for a person when consumed, but the reality is that they can. However, the only people that are going to notice any immediate negative effects are gonna be people that are extremely sensitive to foods they consume that are insulting the body. Another example is Jordan Peterson. He found that only strict carnivore keeps his severe lifelong depression away. He found that even consuming a salad will bring his severe depression back. Again, something most people think is impossible. His daughter can’t even consume any other animal products other than ruminant animal meat, while doing the carnivore diet, without her depression and joint issues returning. I could go on and on with examples of how “benign/ healthy” foods cause many people issues when consumed. But point being, u probably think u’ve tried eating healthy, and didn’t see enough positive effects, in regards to ur mental health, while doing so, but u most likely were still consuming many many foods that cause issues for u once consumed. It’s just extremely difficult for most people to make the connection between a food, and a negative effect, due to the negative effect usually not being immediate and/ or obv
Belekas
nobody
Better then ever brother, Thank You! Glad to see you back and hope you're killin' it as well! Been very busy and 100% tunnel vision so not much time on the forum lately
aloetard
Unofficial Disciple of Cataceous
Awesome! Smart man.Better then ever brother, Thank You! Glad to see you back and hope you're killin' it as well! Been very busy and 100% tunnel vision so not much time on the forum lately
Kill it Brother!!!!!
Just wanted to say Hi and am so pumped you are doing well.
Charliebizz
Well-Known Member
I wonder if some guys are just affected more by the shut down of the upstream hormons. I know my pregnenolone levels are flat lined. But I do not do well on preg supps. So who knows
Ya same. I don’t have mood issues, well maybe some irritability when my mental energy is low, but never have any depression or anxiety, luckily. But my preg levels are always super low, any time I get them tested, but never seem to feel good or experience any positive effects from taking preg. Have tried taking it a bunch of times. But definitely think HPTA shut down, leading to a decrease in downstream hormones, is a piece to the puzzle that’s going to be considered/ talked about more and more, as time goes on, in regards to HRT
Charliebizz
Well-Known Member
Yeah so might be unrelated for me also.
Possibly. Everyone’s different obv. But historically, I do have bottom of the barrel preg levels, every time I check them, but never suffer from depression or anxiety
Mathew_Lane
New Member
Hey, is there any exercise to reduce mental stress? I've heard about grounding that it reduce mental stress. What do you say?
Hmmm, I mean there’s plenty of deep breathing exercises that definitely work to reduce stress. I’m sure u can google or YouTube plenty of them
Lifting weights is one of the best things I’ve personally found to decrease mental stress, and just stress in general
But I think eating a healthy diet, full of the foods/ micronutrients ur body and brain need, without putting anything into ur body that messes with it, is probably the best thing, overall, a person can do to decrease mental stress, and just be able to deal with stressful things better
Grounding is definitely healthy for us, just not sure if u’d notice any differences while doing it
Deleted member 42882
Active Member
I know aloetard is gone (for now), but for anyone interested in mirtazipine, it is supposedly less sedating at higher doses.
phalloguy100
Active Member
To answer OP’s original question- yes, I have been on TRT while on antidepressant medication and ADHD medication. It definitely takes a while to find what works. Generally speaking, I think extended release versions of each worked best for me.
Some general advice would be:
* Find a good psychiatrist to manage your meds. Family physicians are a good start but if not responding well, psychiatrists have more expertise and help you find what works.
* Sleep - do you have sleep apnea? Sleep affects both mental and physical health. TRT can make sleep apnea worse. If you snore or wake up feeling like you are gasping, definitely see a sleep medicine physician to get tested for sleep apnea in a sleep study.
* Healthy Lifestyle - I’m sure you heard this a lot. Clean eating, exercise, good sleep habits, healthy friendships, faith, family…
* Counseling / psychotherapy can be tremendously helpful. It’s hard to take that first step, but not impossible.
And finally, I would say not to listen to all the naysayers who will tell you to “snap out of it”, or that psychiatry meds are bad for you, or who perpetuate mental health stigma. Your struggles are real. Your mind and your body are connected. It’s your mind, your body, after all.
Some links you might find useful:
Depression Toolkit
depressioncenter.org
ADHD Resources:
add.org
Some general advice would be:
* Find a good psychiatrist to manage your meds. Family physicians are a good start but if not responding well, psychiatrists have more expertise and help you find what works.
* Sleep - do you have sleep apnea? Sleep affects both mental and physical health. TRT can make sleep apnea worse. If you snore or wake up feeling like you are gasping, definitely see a sleep medicine physician to get tested for sleep apnea in a sleep study.
* Healthy Lifestyle - I’m sure you heard this a lot. Clean eating, exercise, good sleep habits, healthy friendships, faith, family…
* Counseling / psychotherapy can be tremendously helpful. It’s hard to take that first step, but not impossible.
And finally, I would say not to listen to all the naysayers who will tell you to “snap out of it”, or that psychiatry meds are bad for you, or who perpetuate mental health stigma. Your struggles are real. Your mind and your body are connected. It’s your mind, your body, after all.
Some links you might find useful:
Depression Toolkit
Depression Center Toolkit
Information, tools, support, and resources to guide you through your mental health journey.
ADHD Resources:
Helpful Resources for Adults with ADHD - ADDA - Attention Deficit Disorder Association
Websites, organizations, services, information, products and social networking sites dedicated to ADHD on the Internet. Attention Deficit Disorder Association ADDA Twitter Page ADDA ******** Other Organizations and Resources: About.com – ADHD Information ADDclasses – ADHD Support and Education...
add.org
Belekas
nobody
I'm all about minimizing chronic stress on the daily basis. If you need any advice just let me know. Have you done a 4pt Saliva Cortisol test to see how your adrenals are looking? I can tell you exactly what the best US adrenal docs are thinking and how they are managing it, given you have adrenal fatigue or CFS, but we need some data first. Working on stress is 24/7 and hard work and most people never bother and better take a pill, eat like shit or/and push higher AAS levels, which in return is messing them up. I always treat the root cause as much as I can and never try to mask the fire, if you know what I mean. I haven't read the thread as have no time these days so sorry if I missed anything just trying to spread awarness for stress mitigation as its a "silent killer" that most people have no idea how strong it is, till the damage is done. Theres been some great advice above- eating healthy- that is numero uno. Watch your weight and bad habits, smoking, drinkins, these are a bitch and will fuck your stress levels up just like that. Watch your circle, stay away from toxic people, optimize sleep hygiene, supplement smart only what you need and go for quality vs quantity, etc ,etc, etc. Meditation, singing (vagues nerve activation) are so very very powerful tools. Best US CFS docs agree that Meditation is 50% of treatment success, you believe it or not. I know it sounds funny but it absolutely works and works miracles. Ofc you gotta get some proper supplements, increase salt, because ranked adrenals cant hold salt, thats why we get dizzy sometimes and so on. It's a process but def worth exploring. Ofc I say one must get lean and work his ass off, then the results will be 10x better, trust me. But also there is a fine balance and pushing too much also gets you stressed but differently and so on and so forth...And damn i forgot how to compose a normal post as its been some time so please forgive me for trying to write lots in a few sentences lol
and so on. It's a process but def worth exploring. Ofc I say one must get lean and work his ass off, then the results will be 10x better, trust me. But also there is a fine balance and pushing too much also gets you stressed but differently and so on and so forth...And damn i forgot how to compose a normal post as its been some time so please forgive me for trying to write lots in a few sentences lol
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