Re: Depression Explored - for Kim and everybody

[Guest guest]

Oh how true this all sounds, I am happy to just waffle to myself for

a while because it is very late. I have been poorly with a bad throat

all over Christmas and now have a cold. I can remember a couple of

years ago telling my renal consultant that I had a strange craving

for salt in my food. He said it wasn't a problem but I hadn't used

salt in cooking for over 20 years and then all of a sudden I couldn't

stand the taste without salt.Now knowing salt is harmful I use low

salt but still use it in cooking. My other craving is for sweet stuff

and I feel this as a burning hunger only satisfied by the right sort

of food such as chocolate...now I know that has something in it that

is akin to serotonin or happy hormone as I call it. My GP has had me

on and off antidepressants quite alot in the last 10 years. I took

myself off Seroxat as it was making me feel horrid and the withdrawal

was terrible. So I wasn't keen to go back on SSRI's this time I am on

Fluvoxamine and Amitryptiline (this is only 30mgs to help me sleep).

I sweat most nights still have hot flushes despite stopping my

periods 3 years ago. Cannot remember simple things and feel I am

losing my marbles. I am a young 50 with 5 kids 23, 21, 16, 11 & 8 I

have to be, but I cant be bothered doing stuff and feel my life

wooshing past at a fair old pace. Sometimes I feel as though I am

waking up after a long sleep and cannot believe so much time has

passed by, its a strange feeling.

So yes I am due to see the psychiatrist 7th Jan and will try to get

her on board. I am due to see the doctor in my occupational health

department who is very supportive in trying to get my employer to

accommodate my OCD at work - I mean where did all this come from?? I

did my nurse training with two young kids of 4 & 2 and finished it

will an RGN qualification and a new baby!! I did a diploma in higher

education at Uni, and ended that with baby no 4. Started my midwifery

and ended that training with baby no 5 -are you starting to see a

pattern here?? ha ha. But now I cannot cope with 2 shifts per week

unless they are nailed to the ground.

So as Sheila says 2008 is going to be the year I get myself well in

all ways and start to rejoin the human race at the moment I am just a

spectator!! if you know what I mean.

love to you all and Happy New Year.

-

-- In thyroid treatment , " sheilaturner "

<sheilaturner@...> wrote:

>

> Depression Explored

> with Dr. Barry Durrant-Peatfield

> Having just read the tragic news item from India about the

depressed thyroid lady who committed suicide and preparing as I am at

present a lecture about thyroid and depression, which I shall shortly

give to London's Institute of Optimum Nutrition's Mind Conference, I

felt it might be appropriate to remind people of the strong link and

frequency of depression and hypothyroidism...

>

> Depression causes untold misery and destroys lives. Perhaps one in

five people will suffer from it sometime in their lives. A huge

industry has arisen around the treatment of depressive illness and

psychiatrists are gainfully employed in their thousands. Whether it

is more widespread than it was is perhaps difficult to answer. There

are more of us to be depressed; we have more to be depressed about,

and we are more likely to seek help. But there certainly seems to be

more people troubled by depression and the great panoply of

antidepressant medication tells its own story.

>

> Before having a look at thyroid deficiency and its link to

depression, we should learn a bit about it, and how it is caused and

why. People who are depressed are sad, unmotivated most of the day

and are usually worse in the morning. They sleep poorly, and wake up

tired; they feel worthless, they have a poor self-image. They may eat

more or less and put on or lose weight. Sir Winston Churchill used to

call it his Black Dog. In his case, as with many, it was self-

limiting: probably an extra cigar and brandy banished it!

>

> There are two sorts of depression fundamentally: the exogenous

kind, which is the result of circumstance, and the endogenous form,

an illness from within ourselves. It is the second form we are to

deal with. Maintenance of mood resides in part of the brain called

the hippocampus. Here brain cells release neurotransmitter hormones,

which are taken up by receptors; the amount released and the number

of receptors responding, governs whether we are depressed or not.

>

> Probably the most important of these mood neuro transmitter

substances are serotonin and noradrenalin, and treatment is directed

at preventing the decay of these substances at the receiving nerve

endings. This is what Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs)

antidepressants, Tricyclic antidepressants and Selective Serotonin

Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) do. However, thyroid hormone deficie ncy

acts on the receptor sites and hastens the recycling of these

neurotransmitters at the nerve endings or reduces the amount being

secreted. The result is that the neurotransmitters that are

responsible for maintaining mood do not work at optimum efficiency.

Depression then takes over.

>

> It has been estimated that more than one third of people suffering

from depression are hypothyroid. Some are in hospital. They receive,

over long periods, antidepressants of one sort or another when

actually the problem is deficiency of thyroid hormones. It is simply

that no one thought of thyroid deficiency as a cause when their

illness began; or the simplistic tests failed to reveal it.

>

> Any patient suffering from depression should be routinely assessed

for hypothyroidism. There should be no exceptions; half to one third

will be found to be hypothyroid, and as a result of treatment, their

depression will begin to lift in weeks. Conventional medicine will

turn with little thought to psychotropic antidepressants. The problem

with these is that they are sometimes difficult to stop taking. Of

the SSRIs, Seroxat in particular has a poor reputation in this

respect; Prozac has attracted unfavourable reports and moreover

contains a fluoride compound. Tricyclic antidepressants (eg

Tryptizol, Imipramime) often have unpleasant sedating side effects,

and the MAOIs (eg Parnate, Nardil) clash with a number of drugs and

foodstuffs. St 's Wort is an altogether simpler and safer

alternative.

>

> Hypothyroidism should not be considered in isolation. It is more

than likely that there are other deficiencies at work and cortisol,

testosterone,

>

> oestrogen, DHEA and progesterone deficiencies should be looked for

and corrected. It is now clear that nutrition plays a much greater

role in mental illness than conventional medicine would have us

believe.

>

> The brain and its neurotransmitters simply don't work properly

without the proper raw materials. An obvious one is that there should

be a constant, even supply, of its fuel glucose. Hypoglycaemia is

certainly associated with depression. The essential amino acids must

be provided for the manufacture of the protein neurotransmitters; so

must essential fatty acids, especially the omega 3 group, which make

up the structure of the brain and the neurones releasing the

neurotransmitters. The vitamin B complex, folic acid, vitamin C are

needed to allow the amino acids to form complex proteins and the

other mineral micronutrients have to be there.

>

> Get the nutrients right (also ensuring thyroid manufacture and

uptake), provide thyroid supplementation if required, perhaps as

naturally as possible from glandular extracts, and we can fight the

black tide of mind altering drugs that threatens to overwhelm so many

of us.

>

> Kind regards,

>

> Barry Peatfield

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Kim

I can remember a couple of > years ago telling my renal consultant that I had a strange craving > for salt in my food. He said it wasn't a problem but I hadn't used > salt in cooking for over 20 years and then all of a sudden I couldn't > stand the taste without salt.

This comment alone is screaming that you have compromised adrenals. I too had this problem and every morning on waking, I needed a cup of OXO - another cup mid-morning and another cup in the evening, with lots of salt on my food inbetween. You really should get tested to see where your cortisol and DHEA levels are and get them appropriately treated. Many people do well on adrenal glandulars such as Nutri Adrenal Extra. You will be amazed how much better you will feel once these have been sorted.

My other craving is for sweet stuff > and I feel this as a burning hunger only satisfied by the right sort > of food such as chocolate...now I know that has something in it that > is akin to serotonin or happy hormone as I call it. My GP has had me > on and off antidepressants quite alot in the last 10 years.

....and this comment is screaming Candida Albicans. Tonight, when you go to bed, take up a glass tumbler of cold water. When you wake tomorrow morning and before getting out of bed, cleaning your teeth or having a drink, work up a lot of spit in your mouth and then spit it out onto the top of the water in the glass. If you see thin tendrils going down towards the bottom of the glass, or if the water goes cloudy, this is a sign you have Candida Albicans.

I took > myself off Seroxat as it was making me feel horrid and the withdrawal > was terrible. So I wasn't keen to go back on SSRI's this time I am on > Fluvoxamine and Amitryptiline (this is only 30mgs to help me sleep). > I sweat most nights still have hot flushes despite stopping my > periods 3 years ago. Cannot remember simple things and feel I am > losing my marbles. I am a young 50 with 5 kids 23, 21, 16, 11 & 8 I > have to be, but I cant be bothered doing stuff and feel my life > wooshing past at a fair old pace. Sometimes I feel as though I am > waking up after a long sleep and cannot believe so much time has > passed by, its a strange feeling.

I bet the majority of sufferers have experienced these feelings Kim.> > So yes I am due to see the psychiatrist 7th Jan and will try to get > her on board. I am due to see the doctor in my occupational health > department who is very supportive in trying to get my employer to > accommodate my OCD at work - I mean where did all this come from??

Having OCD is a very, very difficult disorder and one that is difficult to understand by the sufferer and by the therapist. If your psychiatrist is up to the mark in treating OCD, that's great, but if not, hopefully she will know of somebody who specialises in this therapy and will refer you. There are not many around who have the proper training to do this, so it is worth looking around. What form of OCD does yours take Kim?

> > So as Sheila says 2008 is going to be the year I get myself well in > all ways and start to rejoin the human race at the moment I am just a > spectator!! if you know what I mean.

You are no longer a spectator, you are now a member of our happy little band of Thyroidians ~ determined to get well again.

Luv - Sheila> > love to you all and Happy New Year.> > -> > > > -- In thyroid treatment , "sheilaturner" > sheilaturner@ wrote:> >> > Depression Explored> > with Dr. Barry Durrant-Peatfield> > Having just read the tragic news item from India about the > depressed thyroid lady who committed suicide and preparing as I am at > present a lecture about thyroid and depression, which I shall shortly > give to London's Institute of Optimum Nutrition's Mind Conference, I > felt it might be appropriate to remind people of the strong link and > frequency of depression and hypothyroidism... > > > > Depression causes untold misery and destroys lives. Perhaps one in > five people will suffer from it sometime in their lives. A huge > industry has arisen around the treatment of depressive illness and > psychiatrists are gainfully employed in their thousands. Whether it > is more widespread than it was is perhaps difficult to answer. There > are more of us to be depressed; we have more to be depressed about, > and we are more likely to seek help. But there certainly seems to be > more people troubled by depression and the great panoply of > antidepressant medication tells its own story. > > > > Before having a look at thyroid deficiency and its link to > depression, we should learn a bit about it, and how it is caused and > why. People who are depressed are sad, unmotivated most of the day > and are usually worse in the morning. They sleep poorly, and wake up > tired; they feel worthless, they have a poor self-image. They may eat > more or less and put on or lose weight. Sir Winston Churchill used to > call it his Black Dog. In his case, as with many, it was self-> limiting: probably an extra cigar and brandy banished it! > > > > There are two sorts of depression fundamentally: the exogenous > kind, which is the result of circumstance, and the endogenous form, > an illness from within ourselves. It is the second form we are to > deal with. Maintenance of mood resides in part of the brain called > the hippocampus. Here brain cells release neurotransmitter hormones, > which are taken up by receptors; the amount released and the number > of receptors responding, governs whether we are depressed or not. > > > > Probably the most important of these mood neuro transmitter > substances are serotonin and noradrenalin, and treatment is directed > at preventing the decay of these substances at the receiving nerve > endings. This is what Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs) > antidepressants, Tricyclic antidepressants and Selective Serotonin > Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) do. However, thyroid hormone deficie ncy > acts on the receptor sites and hastens the recycling of these > neurotransmitters at the nerve endings or reduces the amount being > secreted. The result is that the neurotransmitters that are > responsible for maintaining mood do not work at optimum efficiency. > Depression then takes over. > > > > It has been estimated that more than one third of people suffering > from depression are hypothyroid. Some are in hospital. They receive, > over long periods, antidepressants of one sort or another when > actually the problem is deficiency of thyroid hormones. It is simply > that no one thought of thyroid deficiency as a cause when their > illness began; or the simplistic tests failed to reveal it. > > > > Any patient suffering from depression should be routinely assessed > for hypothyroidism. There should be no exceptions; half to one third > will be found to be hypothyroid, and as a result of treatment, their > depression will begin to lift in weeks. Conventional medicine will > turn with little thought to psychotropic antidepressants. The problem > with these is that they are sometimes difficult to stop taking. Of > the SSRIs, Seroxat in particular has a poor reputation in this > respect; Prozac has attracted unfavourable reports and moreover > contains a fluoride compound. Tricyclic antidepressants (eg > Tryptizol, Imipramime) often have unpleasant sedating side effects, > and the MAOIs (eg Parnate, Nardil) clash with a number of drugs and > foodstuffs. St 's Wort is an altogether simpler and safer > alternative. > > > > Hypothyroidism should not be considered in isolation. It is more > than likely that there are other deficiencies at work and cortisol, > testosterone, > > > > oestrogen, DHEA and progesterone deficiencies should be looked for > and corrected. It is now clear that nutrition plays a much greater > role in mental illness than conventional medicine would have us > believe. > > > > The brain and its neurotransmitters simply don't work properly > without the proper raw materials. An obvious one is that there should > be a constant, even supply, of its fuel glucose. Hypoglycaemia is > certainly associated with depression. The essential amino acids must > be provided for the manufacture of the protein neurotransmitters; so > must essential fatty acids, especially the omega 3 group, which make > up the structure of the brain and the neurones releasing the > neurotransmitters. The vitamin B complex, folic acid, vitamin C are > needed to allow the amino acids to form complex proteins and the > other mineral micronutrients have to be there. > > > > Get the nutrients right (also ensuring thyroid manufacture and > uptake), provide thyroid supplementation if required, perhaps as > naturally as possible from glandular extracts, and we can fight the > black tide of mind altering drugs that threatens to overwhelm so many > of us. > > > > Kind regards,> > > > Barry Peatfield> >>