Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

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

blog.ncase.me

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

471–480 of 669 posts

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

#471

Post by __turbobrew__ »

b800h wrote: post #10

Can I just add: In addition to this, if you struggle with anxiety or have some sort of ADHD, then try cutting out caffeine entirely . Not just switching to "decaf" (which isn't), but cutting out tea and coffee, and switching to an alternative like Barleycup. Doing this has had a massive positive effect for me, and combined with decent nutrition and daily exercise, has been wonderful.

I am in the middle of trying this out. When I first stopped caffeine I had better sleep and very vivid dreams every night. I also feel better as I think coffee was making my stomach too acidic which was causing me other indigestion problems, not to mention that coffee was nuking my teeth as well with acid.

Im on week 3 of no coffee now, I will maybe give it a month or two more to make a judgement call if I want to continue with coffee or not.

It is unfortunate as I really enjoy coffee, but it causes some issues for me with anxiety and stomach problems.

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

#472

Post by 16bitvoid »

trilogic wrote: post #430
16bitvoid wrote: post #405

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who said I'm looking for meaning? I'm not. It's not as liberating as you might think. A joyless existence is either suffering or nothingness. A life without meaning, either internal or external, is one where nothing is meaningful with no motivation thus one of crippling catatonia til death. All I can say is just that it doesn't feel good and if you can't feel good about anything, your calculus of your life inevitably…

There is only one cure/hack for Nihilism or similar... Go somewhere where you need to work physically you az off to afford daily food. You will be so exhausted eventually that: 1 you will not have any energy left for thoughts. 2 If you have any energy left, you will give it to angriness which will lead to other circumstances which are none related to find the meaning of life. Ignorance may lead to happiness and frien…

I think a lot of people are conflating depression with "bad thoughts". That's just one possible symptom, usually as a result of a combination of both anxiety and depression.

I didn't have anxiety, just depression. I rarely thought. I existed on autopilot. I was physically exhausted on a daily basis as a division 1 athlete in college. Often went days without eating either because I simply forgot to eat or forgot to make time for it between classes and training. Didn't change anything.

I think something people are forgetting is that motivation is either driving you toward something you want or driving you away from things you specifically don't want. A complete lack of motivation means I wasn't motivated to do anything to get something, but also I wasn't motivated to anything to avoid something either. I wasn't motivated to eat to avoid hunger pangs. I wasn't motivated to quit my sport to avoid routine physical exhaustion. Instead, my empty autopilot existence just freely acted on the expectations of those around me as a proxy for motivation.

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

#473

Post by temp0826 »

quietsegfault wrote: post #403
corv wrote: post #365

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve heard this before that common doses are unnecessarily high but why is that? Patents?

> why is that Why buy 1mg pill when you can buy 100mg pill?

Even funnier is that often 0.25mg or 0.5mg is closer to the correct dose, and those sizes tend to be hard to find.

There actually is a condition that calls for extremely high (100mg+ doses), but it is a very rare thing, no one should ever consider that much without instruction from a doctor. But you'll find it right next to the normal <=5mg doses without any explanation.

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

#474

Post by MisterTea »

kranner wrote: post #458
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.…

Similar story here but for ADHD and Atomoxetine. I finally went and got diagnosed at age 46 for what had been an childhood-onset issue in retrospect. All the signs were there: inability to start work until enough challenge or novelty or a state of crisis had come about, etc. When I spoke to friends about considering treatment, they said they thought of me as a hyperfocus kind of person. But they didn't see how many s…

Similar. I was on stimulants as a kid and hated them as they did nothing but make me feel high then taper off leaving me exhausted. Nevermind the total loss of appetite. Later on as an adult I obtained adderall from a friend and experimented with it and it seemingly worked for a few days but it never stopped the intrusive thoughts or help with the anxiety. In fact all I did was chase a high with cup after cup of coffee when coming down. That put me off to meds for a long time.

More recently I was on a vacation where I took mushrooms and had a nice trip. Two days later at work I felt very relaxed driving in and sat at my desk BUT something was wrong, my head was dead quiet (the GP explained this exactly like I would.) So quiet that for a second I had a bit of panic as I thought something was wrong. Then something wonderful happened: I realized I was able to just do my work. There was no stress, no worry, no nothing. Just a calm quiet confidence to get the job done. Best day of my life.

After that I called a mental health center and connected with an ADHD specialist who has been working with me. I am also on Atomoxetine myself and while it has not brought me back to that zen head space it brings me close enough. My only gripe is at a higher dose it gives me sensations in my head. However, I learned that eating a proper breakfast helps a lot as I was taking it on a near empty stomach. Overall my life has been slowly improving and I feel more confident at work.

> So yeah, please don't avoid medication based on internet reading.

This - 100%

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

#475

Post by qxxx »

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.…

and then the effects wear of. You just feel "normal" or the same as before. I used to take ssri meds too. It was nice in the beginning. Stopping was a nightmare, I needed to taper down foe like half a year..

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

#476

Post by jollyllama »

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.…

Do you take the citalopram year round, then?

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

#477

Post by johnisgood »

pseudalopex wrote: post #396
johnisgood wrote: post #262

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.

Yeah but that sentence does not refer to why the person switched to being vegan, the first one does. In any case, let us not beat the dead horse there. :P Supplement B12 and it is fine.

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

#478

Post by ifyoubuildit »

dghlsakjg wrote: post #411
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.…

As someone that falls on the side of “depression is real and antidepressants can help” it is very clear that there are people in this thread that need to hold their tongues because they know not of what they speak. (Not you OP) There are some forms of depression that you cannot think or act your way out of. If you haven’t experienced that, I promise that you do not understand what it is like. You cannot really unders…

A: The same is true for people that say that antidepressants are mostly placebo. They are not.

B: When people say that antidepressants saved their life, they aren’t joking or exaggerating in the least.

Are placebos unable to save lives?

Not claiming antidepressants are or are not mostly placebo, and don't mean to minimize the pain of depression in anyway. I just don't think whether or not they saved a person's life is an indication either way. The placebo effect is real, right? As in the subject actually gets better after taking it.

> Keep your pet theories to yourself if you are not a subject matter expert or someone who has experienced it first hand.

This is the internet, friend. I wish you the best, but maybe don't put too much hope into that one. I think you'll have better luck cultivating the ability to be comfortable having your own beliefs while others have different (possibly wrong!) ones.

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

#480

Post by lazarus01 »

I’ve personally found meditation, exercise and healthy food intake are more effective for self regulation and coping with tough emotions over medication and supplements.

Each human being is unique, as is the recipe for sustained positive metal health.

I think it’s helpful to consider and experiment with different ideas and strategies.

I strongly disagree there is one single solution that can provide significant lift for a large population.

Post reply on HN