Saturday, February 28, 2015

Week Two: Essential Oils & Herbs VS. Antidepressants

Hey y'all! I've been using essential oils & herbal supplements for 14 days now!  Things have been going decently well.  Life is sort of stressful at the moment, so that doesn't help.  Crafting by Knight is going very well, so well in fact that I can hardly keep up.  And Kevin and I just have a lot to pray about our future, and that has been weighing pretty heavily on me.

This week I got little roller bottles and defractionated coconut oil to mix in the roller bottles with my oils.  It is a ton easier to regularly apply oil on my back and feet when I can just roll it on.  

The only consistently odd thing that I've been experiencing this week is being hot when I logically should be cold. I'll go to sleep with all the blankets and sheets thrown off of me and still wake up sweaty and heated.  Kevin says my body has been crazy hot when he gets home in the middle of the night too.  It doesn't just happen at night either, I was driving around in 36 degree weather with the window down and my sleeves rolled up.  I finally bought a thermometer.  I've been waking up with a lower than usual body temperature even though I feel super hot.  Fortunately, it's not really a big deal and I think it will go away in time.

Thursday I took my last 50mg of Zoloft.  Now that 2 days have gone by without it, I've started having some side effects tonight...  In November 2012, I switched from Lexapro to Zoloft.  Both are very addictive SSRIs.  Weaning off Lexapro was awful because I got these things that people in the antidepressant community call "brain zaps."  They are common in antidepressant discontinuation syndrome, particularly in lexapro and zoloft.  



Brain zaps are basically what they sound like.  It's like an electrical shock shoots through your head causing dizziness, blurred vision, pain, and fatigue for a few seconds.  It so far is only happening when I walk around, but it happens every few seconds while I'm standing.  When I sit or lay down it seems fine.  If I recall, when withdrawing from lexapro, it got to where it happened while sitting and lying down also, but only lasted a week or two.  So I'm on day 2 of withdrawal I suppose.  I'm going to try taking extra GABA plus because it supports brain function and see if it helps at all.  

Week 3 here I come!

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Week One: Essential Oils & Herbs VS. Antidepressants

A little background: I've been taking antidepressants on and off for close to ten years.  Now that my sweet hubby and I will be wanting to start having babies in the next couple years, I really want to get off of them.  I need to find a way to manage my depression and anxiety without harsh chemicals.  There is nothing wrong with antidepressants and I am so very thankful for all that they have helped me over the years.  I just don't want anything that could be possibly harmful for my future baby.  And I'm very intrigued by natural remedies.  I want to get to know my body better before I grow a human.  :P 

Medicines I've been taking for a year(ish):
Zoloft 100mg daily
Welbutrin 150mg daily

New herbal/oil regimen:
Serenity (Calming blend) essential oil
Elevation (Joyful blend) essential oil
Lavender essential oil
Natures Sunshine Mood Elevator TMC Concentrated 
Natures Sunshine 5-HTP Power
Natures Sunshine GABA Plus
Natures Sunshine Prenatal Vitamin
A generic probiotic

For the last 10 days, I've halved my zoloft and taken the same amount of welbutrin at usual.

For the last 7 days, I've been taking 1 mood elevator, and 2-3 HTP, GABA, probiotic, and prenatal each day.  Elevation I put on my heart, Serenity on my wrists and big toe, and Lavender on my spine and big toe.  I am trying to put the oils on every 4 hours, but I haven't been very disciplined about reapplying the oils to my feet and spine throughout the day.  I've ordered some roller bottles and coconut oil to hopefully help me reapply the oils throughout the day.  

I also am trying to memorize Psalm 23.  I read it this week and felt like it should be the scripture I cling to during this time of weaning off pills and finding out how my body responds to this new all natural regime.  I also plan to change my diet to more whole, natural foods, and cut out a lot of sugar... but as diet has always been a major struggle for me, I'm going to let this process take time.  Anyways, my first week went pretty well, and I'm excited to continue on in this journey!  

Here is Psalm 23!

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.
    He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters.[a]
    He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness[b]
    for his name's sake.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,[c]
    I will fear no evil,
for you are with me;
    your rod and your staff,
    they comfort me.
You prepare a table before me
    in the presence of my enemies;
you anoint my head with oil;
    my cup overflows.
Surely[d] goodness and mercy[e] shall follow me
    all the days of my life,
and I shall dwell[f] in the house of the Lord
    forever.