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Treating the Untreatable

ocd anxiety

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#1 mealz13

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Posted 17 March 2015 - 06:06 PM


Hi everyone,

  Sorry in advance, this will be a long post.  After contracting Lyme Disease five years ago, I have had mental issues that I am hoping will go away with further treatment.  Yet, since I am at school, I have opted out of treating this illness as I have bad reactions to the potent medications that I am supposed to take.  In the interim, I have decided to experiment with various supplements to see if I can overcome some of my treatment resistant symptoms, so I hope this thread will be helpful for anyone who wants to treat anxiety/mood symptoms naturally, the way I hope to eventually.

 

   First, I should elaborate on what I am trying to treat.  My case is complicated, and even the premier diagnostician at McLean hospital, Massachusetts, does not know what I have, if anything, and I've been seeing this guy for almost 2 years now.  Before I contracted Lyme, I had no mental symptoms to speak of besides social anxiety (moderate) and a hard-driving personality (if that could even be considered a symptom).  Since contracting Lyme I, unfortunately, have had three psychotic episodes.  I do not have bipolar (Mayo Clinic ruled it out) and I do not have schizophrenia.  The closest thing anyone can tell me is that I had a psychotic reaction to the Lyme.  I do not know if this is true, but currently I am on an antipsychotic to prevent relapse when I treat the Lyme more intensely, and I plan to stay on it while I experiment with supplements as a safety net shall anything go south.

 

   It is hard to put my symptoms into words.  It is not typical OCD-- I do not really have any overt compulsions, besides making excessive lists and constant internet searching.  Although these things take up time and I would be more productive without them, they do not cause me distress.  I mostly just get intrusive thoughts, and do mental checking in my head.  It's no wonder I perplexed doctor's for years, as all my anxiety it completely internal.  It's hard for people to believe I even have anxiety, as I am always outwardly laid back.  Anyway, my obsessions go from topic to topic depending on what I am interested or most preoccupied with at the time.  It has gone from diet to exercise to astrology to sexuality to...well almost everything!  Even if I do not believe something is true, it will not stop me from obsessing over it, and I feel like a loser when I do.  Every time I think of something and there is uncertainty surrounding it, I do mental checking to reassure myself.  Reassurance; I never used to need any.  Now I require it constantly for even the most mundane things.

 

I do not have mood symptoms per say, and if anything, it would be a very atypical depression.  When I go off my SSRI (and I am on a very low dose), I get feeling of being overwhelmed, and I basically shut down.  I won't leave my dorm or finish my homework.  It is very distressing.  However, I never feel sad when this happens, just overwhelmed.

 

Luckily, my SSRI, as long as I am on a little bit, tackles my social anxiety and prevents the above from happening.  Yet, I have gone up to insane doses (200 mg of Zoloft), and my atypical OCD won't vanish.  It is very distressing and so time-consuming that I get depressed about it.  Apparently, Lyme can cause things like this, much like PANDAS, which is now being updated to be inclusive of diseases like Lyme.  However, I fear the Lyme will be completely treated and I will have residual symptoms.  Either way, I would really like to some off my SSRI at some point, and treat this treatment resistant OCD-like monster ASAP.  Even though the docs think Lyme made me lose my mind, I know the anxiety gets really bad just before I lose it.  The way I see it, I do not have bipolar with psychotic features; I have OCD with psychotic features.

 

I have done a lot of research: COMT, neurotransmitters, diet, etc., and have came up with these supplements.  If anyone has any other suggestions, please let me know, and please critique what I have.  I am planning to try all these separately so as to rule out any variables.  It would be great if someone could tell me which ones are not worth taking, as I will save some money from buying it :D  I am aware of ScieneGuy's thread on anxiety, yet I have included some things he says not to take, just because I am planning on taking them, if at all, for the short term, and am not wedded to them.

 

Bacopa--calm the mind?
 
Inositol--clinically good for OCD
 
Histidine--this one I don't know.  I know histamine is a neurotransmitter and I'm not sure if I even have an imbalance, but I heard it's good for joints, and mine ache
 
Tryptophan--This to me is better than 5HTP as I would also have to take carbadopa, and I really don't need another drug in my system
 
Lithium--the orotate version--have been on Lithium in the past but I was on clinical doses and it was too much.  Hoping a small little dose will help.
 
Glycine--calming?  That's what people seem to say.
 
Progesterone-- I always become psychotic the say before my period--too much estrogen?
 
Relora--I have high cortisol, like very high 
 
Phosphatidylcholine--I am not sure how choline will affect me, but I want to try 
 
Theanine--seems to be calming, although not much 
 
Sam-e--Probably made me a little manic in the past but I am thinking of a very low dose to boost serotonin 
 
NAC--I hesitate with this because of mTOR but it seems to really help OCD, if I even have that
 
Arginine--these two seems to help anxiety in the literature 
Lysine
 
Uridine--Per Mr. Happy's thread 
 
B3-- will not take this forever but it may act like a benzo for me when I get overwhelmed 
 
Rhidola Rosa--good for stress?
 
Garum Armoricum--good for stress?
 
Phosphatidylserine--seems good for the brain in general, yet super expensive
 
Racetams--possible anti-anxiety effects?
 
ALCAR--people seem to like it?
 
Beta-alinine--supposedly has anti-anxiety effects
 
Taurine--wary because it is a GABA agonist, yet LE seems to think it extends life, so we'll see 
 
 
DMAE--some say it has positive effects on mood, others that it is too stimulating.  Kind of don't want to try it but I know it exists.
 
 
 
*As a side note, I currently take general health supplements anyway, including magnesium malate, mussel oil, Vit C, all methly b vitamins, iodine, Vitamin D, etc.
 
 
Thank you for bearing with me and reading, and let me know what you think.

 



#2 β-Endorphin

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Posted 19 March 2015 - 12:21 AM

Glycine binds to and activates the NMDA receptor alongside glutamate. Both glutamate and glycine must bind to this receptor to activate it. Hypofunction(Deficient activation) has been implicated in schizophrenia. Especially because powerful NMDA receptor blockers(Like PCP and Ketamine), produces symptoms identical to that of schizophrenia(Paranoia, perceptual disturbances, hallucinations, intrusive thoughts, negative symptoms, cognitive impairments etc.) in humans and animals. So I imagine that glycine might help with your psychotic symptoms(as it increases activation of NMDA receptors). Though D-serine(Amino acid that works exactly like glycine) is not very effective in treating schizophrenia, Sarcosine(An agonist at the glycine binding site of NMDA receptors like glycine AND a glycine reuptake inhibitor) seems to be more effective than placebo in reducing symptoms in combination with an antipsychotic.

 

Sarcosine seems to also be very effective in treating depression as well, something that could help with your "atypical depression".

 

L-theanine has antidepressant, antipsychotic and sedative effects in people, all around good for you in your case.

 

Inositol would be the best for treating OCD IMHO, though I noticed it seems to have an "all or nothing" effect. If you find the right dose, it works great. If your dose is too low or too high, you will probably get 0 effect(IME).

 

ALCAR induces long term increases in serotonin and norepinephrine levels, and seems to have an antidepressant effect. So its always a good add on for your atypical depression.

 

Don't combine an SSRI with L-tryptophan or 5-htp, as you risk going into serotonin syndrome. I would recommend taking just the L-tryptophan, as its pretty serotonergic on its own already.

 

The strongest Benzodiazepine like herb you'll run across is Kava, though be wary of its various other pharmacological effects that might make your psychosis worse(Dopamine reuptake inhibitor, Norepi reuptake inhibitor, Cannabinoid CB1 receptor agonist, Mao-b inhibitor etc. etc.). So it could be useful for extreme bouts of anxiety, assuming you react okay to it.

 

I don't think there is anything necessarily not worth buying. All the stuff you listed has some therapeutic value, just depends if you react to it or not.

 

Either way, good luck with getting better.


Edited by β-Endorphin, 19 March 2015 - 12:30 AM.


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#3 sensei

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Posted 19 March 2015 - 01:50 PM

If you are sure it is Lyme related, I would caution you to resolve treatment of the Lyme disease before muddying up the waters with multiple psychoactive drugs and herbs.

 

Curious, you say you contracted Lyme's 5 years ago, but are still treating it.  Do your physicians believe you have active disseminated disease? If so, what antibiotic regimen are you on?



#4 tunt01

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Posted 19 March 2015 - 03:47 PM

You should look for posts and maybe directly msg a user named FunkOdyssey.  I believe he has Lyme and can probably add some input.



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#5 chemicalambrosia

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Posted 21 March 2015 - 03:53 PM

I believe that NAC, inositol, and lithium have the best evidence base for OCD. I would start with one of those. Some of the others on your list are good supplements, but are unlikely to help and are really just shots in the dark to help with your specific problems. Some supplements can have negative effects as well, so taking things with a low probability of working isn't necessarily a good idea.

 

You sound vulnerable to stress, and I would also recommend ashwagandha because of that. I don't think it will fix your problems, but might make you a little more less susceptible to them and more resilient. However, meditation or mindfulness training might be better for you than any supplement could be. Google mindfulness ocd, or meditation ocd. A multifaceted approach with mindfulness meditation and a one or more of the supplements above might work even better.







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