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Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

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Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#231

Post by zelphirkalt »

weird-eye-issue wrote: post #114
johnisgood wrote: post #95

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with "Just Google it" that you can find a lot of bullshit on this.

You can find scientific papers on Google if you know how to use it.

You can find scientific papers on a lot of search engines, not only Google.

The problem with that is, that you still need to know how to interpret any results and statements within the supposedly scientific papers. If you are not a statistician, you might overlook methodology mistakes. If you are not an expert in the matter of the paper, you might not realize some side condition, that makes some statement or result of the paper irrelevant for your individual situation.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#232

Post by nimonian »

sschueller wrote: post #87
r1ch wrote: post #4

Please do not take 5000mg/day of Vitamin D. The author confuses IU and mg which is very dangerous.

If you don't have an underlying condition it is way better to get the Vitamin D from the sun in 10-30min increments per day after which you are saturated for the day. Overdose is not possible via the sun (excluding sun burns of course). > A single, optimal sun exposure session might produce the equivalent of 10,000 to 25,000 IU from a supplement, but it will not keep increasing with more time in the sun. That's your…

Next time I get sunburn I'm calling it a vitamin D overdose

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#233

Post by tefkah »

johnisgood wrote: post #97
hshdhdhj4444 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All my nutrient numbers improved when I became vegan because nearly every one in the US/UK is deficient in VitD, Omegas and B12. Fortunately today’s vegan communities are much more aware of this so I started taking these supplements right up front and all my blood markers improved dramatically since when I consumed meat/dairy. It’s annoying to hear some push back against this when it’s as simple as taking relatively…

Why did you become a vegan if apparently even non-vegans are deficient in B12? Do you supplement B12? Since B12 is mainly found in meat, and B12 deficiency is irreversible.

why do you think the reason for them becoming vegan has something to do with B12 levels? likely they became vegan for different reasons, became much more aware of the importance of B12 and started taking a supplement.

every vegan should supplement b12, so they probably do too

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#234

Post by kyleblarson »

isoprophlex wrote: post #43

Because it's common to hate on antidepressants, I've always personally had a bias against them. For the past 15-20 years, november thru february are basically a writeoff due for me due to seasonal affective disorder. Cold showers, exercise, no alcohol, strict sleeping rituals. Vitamin d. I can still sleep 11 hours and feel like reheated cat shit. Enter citalopram. "It will take up to six weeks to dial in" they said.…

I had disk issues in my lumbar spine that caused nearly unbearable pain and terrible quality of life. Tried everything: PT, OTC painkillers, epidurals, massage, nothing worked. Was prescribed pragabalin and duloxotine. Duloxotine is an SNRI that also treats nerve pain. That combination helped some but I was sleeping 11+ hours per day and generally felt like my head was in a complete fog, was pretty much useless with work. I had been trying to avoid surgery but finally had 2 procedures in 2024 that helped immensely. Weaning off those 2 drugs was no fun: sweating constantly, anxious, headaches for about 2 weeks. Extremely happy I went the surgery route and stopped those meds. I can't imagine living day to day feeling like that.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#235

Post by tefkah »

serpix wrote: post #12
vegancap wrote: post #2

I found this to be the case. Tried Sertraline for a while, gave me headaches and made me feel sick. Then as part of a new gym plan, started taking Omega 3+VitD daily, and I just felt a sense of calm and peace after a few weeks. The massive uptick in exercise probably also helped. I also felt quite an extreme uptick because I was a vegan for 10 years, and found out I had basically zero Omega 3 in my blood. I suspect o…

Omega 3 comes from algae, which might be okay for some vegans.

Unlikely any vegan would have any moral qualms about algae, given that they’re not animals. Maybe you were thinking of oysters/clams/bivalves?

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#237

Post by ajross »

citrin_ru wrote: post #227
paufernandez wrote: post #198

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agree. But sometimes there is no "root cause", the brain is still a mystery. If you had been depressed even when you knew there was nothing to worry about, you would see it differently, because then you deduce that the black cloud is produced within. Chemistry trumps psychology. Good enough chemistry enables cognitive treatments. But to fix the wrong chemistry you need chemistry.

If you view a world at a certain angle there is always something to worry about: 1. World in not perfect, it doesn't confirm to how we want it to be (and could not even in theory given that different people want it to be different) 2. The future cannot be predicted with 100% accuracy so even if all is perfect today you can worry that it will turn bad in the future. When looking at the same reality one persons sees th…

This is the "people with anxiety should just stop being worried" attitude that failed to help for centuries. Whether or not you believe SSRI's are clinically effective, denying the existence of mental health disorders is not helping.

No, anxiety and depression aren't simply a matter of perspective.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#238

Post by deskamess »

sixtyj wrote: post #172
mvcosta91 wrote: post #121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“God, I see what you’re doing for others, and I want that for me.” I had a very similar experience, except it killed my libido, so I chose to endure the suffering of Winter rather than live with emotional numbness. Still, I strongly recommend it for people flirting with the abyss. It was life-changing for me while I was raising an autistic 2yo during the pandemic.

I have switched to lamotrigin, it helps to balance mood as I had bad mood in months with less sunshine. Lamotrigin is not an antidepressant, previously it was used for epilepsy stabilisation but now it is prescribed for mood swings. (This is not a medical advice.)

It is still prescribed for epilepsy. I am actually hoping for some medication stories if anyone/someone they know has ADHD and epilepsy. It's for a juvenile, but your stories can be for any age. Or pointers to any resources about the combo.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#239

Post by deltoidmaximus »

hermannj314 wrote: post #200
Xunjin wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Still it needs proof reading and definitely a BIG WARNING that anyone who reads the article should first talk with their doctor before trying any "recommendations". Some of these "recommendations" could literally kill someone.

I bought the once weekly 50,000IU bottle on Amazon and am currently taking 4 a day and I am ignoring all growing signs of vitamin D toxicity because I read this guys blog and never once ever decided to consult another source, including later paragraphs in that same blog because there was no warning. Without a warning, you should blindly follow all medical advice you read online. That is that pathway to death you are…

I was going to say, wouldn't following through on this mistake require you to not just spend a ton of money on pills but also take tons of them a day? I'd like to think this would give even the dumbest of people pause just because of the practicality aspect.

Re: Vitamin D and Omega-3 have a larger effect on depression than antidepressants

#240

Post by rollulus »

Anecdotal, and even meta-anecdotal, but hey: four months ago I started to supplement omega 3 thanks to this hyperbolic HN comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=45169875

Unlike the commenter, I didn’t suddenly turn into a chess grandmaster, but I did notice that my winter blues didn’t show up this year, the first time in a decade!

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