3 replies to this topic

[Douggers]

I'm a 17 year old male and I want advice on dealing with depression. My depression seems to stem from a year of anxiety (after occasional marijuana abuse) that then went away but was replaced with feelings of sadness when my father was diagnosed with terminal cancer (the middle of last year).
I lead a good life, play sports, am in shape, have a great social aspect, and do well in school.
I won't go into detail, but having a sick parent is very difficult. And it's even hard to be at home a lot of the time. I cope by focusing on friends sports school, my family, talking to the school counselor about everything and taking some supplements.

This September I began to grow tired of feeling depressed (Even though I was told by many, that it is completely normal when in the situation my family is in) I decided to go to a naturopath who told me I could try St. John's wort and supplement a few things.

Fast forward to today. I take:
-St. John's wort Kira 300mg 2x a day which honestly helps me feel not so numb to the situation of having a sick parent. It decreases the bluntness of my emotions, and overall has made me feel a little better.

-Vitamin D 2000 UI daily
(Haven't noticed anything here, but I'm not sure Vitamin D is palpable)

-1300mg EPA, ~700mg DHA (through around 4 grams fish oil daily)
Can't say I've noticed much from this, but I have been supplementing this for over a year before any of these issues)

-B complex 100 daily
Which really helped with energy and anxiety

-melatonin 0.5-3mg (depending on awareness) per night for the past week or so, because my sleep was thrown off a little after winter break

I have also tried Rhodiola which helped for a short time, and I occasionally take L.Theanine, which works sometimes when I need a mood lift or need to calm down. I also once tried SAM-e and only around 100mg of a split 200 pill (after being told by my naturopath to try it for its energy and antidepressant effects. Anyways, I had a terrible experience to even 100mg and had horrendous anxiety all of that day (Some
SAM-e is very potent apparently..)

Sorry for the long post.. And I understand that this situation is very tolling to anyone in it, but I am wondering what I can do to continue to move forward and not be pulled down by all of this. My main issues right now seem to be not being in a good mood all the time, and not having a lot of energy. Sometimes the situation really gets to me and I have very negative days.
I know nothing will 'cure' all of these ailments because feeling better with a sick loved one is just a process of time, but I want to see what I can do to make it better for my body and mind.

So my request to this board is,
Tell me what you think about my current lifestyle and 'stack' and give me any advice on what I could do to improve both.

Thanks

[Logic]

It seems to me that you can best help yourself by swatting up on cancer and helping your dad.
It may not be as terminal as you have been lead to think.

http://www.longecity...ncer-knowledge/

http://www.longecity...y-kills-cancer/

Good starting point:
http://www.lef.org/p..._therapy_01.htm

http://www.google.co...iw=1140&bih=506

[Sir Chugalot]

I can't imagine what you're going through, I'm not surprised you feel depressed, in fact I'd be surprised if you didn't feel depressed.

I think you're taking an intelligent approach, it's far too easy to throw the kitchen sink at these kind of things, I'm sure there's a few other chemicals that could be added to the stack to help a little and others will be along in a bit with the names of those.

I'd personally look at trying to stick to the lower end of the melatonin dosages, .5mg should be enough, the less you take, the earlier before bedtime you need to take it. I speak from experience when i say the higher dosages can exacerbate mood swings.

You may also find meditation a useful tool as well, for some it comes easily for others it's quite difficult but it's worth a shot, for me personally if i take just 10 minutes out a day to think about nothing at all, then it helps me 'compartmentalise' my emotions and focus only on what i really need to do at a particular moment in time.

Cancer's such a devastating disease to those affected and those around them, you have my total sympathy.

[Douggers]

Thanks so much @Sir Chugalot
It really is such an awful disease, that no one should wish even upon the worst of people. Thanks for your advice on melatonin. I will definitely try that out! as for the meditation thing, I completely agree. I can't say I do every day, but the days I spend 10-15 minutes, feel much 'lighter' in a sense.
Thanks again. and @Logic, thank you too, but sadly my father is not one to follow things outside of what his doctor prescribes.. (aka, extremely stubborn, ha)