I've always had a proactive and persistent approach which helped me to find a solution to create balance and put an end to this depression that haunted me for years...

Date:   7/31/2005 6:03:11 PM ( 19 y ago)

I have been dealing with the spectre of depression in my life ever since I was a teenager. Going into the whole big story would probably bore you, so I won't. It's not necessary.

Pharmaceutical antidepressants never really worked for me, though there was a time when I patiently and hopefully tried every drug and combination of drugs that the doctors prescribed for me. It felt like they were experimenting on my soul. I felt so shattered when it was all over. Kind of like Humpty-Dumpty after the fall.

Fortunately, I've always had such inner strength, and I was able to put myself back together again after the shatterings.

Without any medication at all, and no other intervention, I was pretty much depressed most of the time. I was able to get through the days and nights of my life, but did not have much energy, and often felt sad. As I was doing the best I could (along with my husband at the time) to raise 2 children, being depressed much of the time was not tenable for me. I continued to seek balance. I wanted to feel better, and needed to find a way to do it without allopathic pharmaceuticals.

For a time, long bicycle rides and daily wheatgrass, beet, carrot, and cucumber juice were helpful. Colonic therapy every now and then seemed to get me closer to the balance I was seeking. This was many years ago, in the late 80s and early 90s.

As I discussed in a few prior blogs, a deep dip into addictive drug use involving various street drugs as well as anti-anxiety medications was part of my exploratory path, and could easily have been fatal for me at several turns. Certainly, this drug use was quite effective at quashing my depression beautifully, but only temporarily, and invariably I felt worse at the end of a high phase. Some of these drugs worked better than others, but the cost was tremendously high monetarily and psychologically. It's hard to measure exactly the impact of such drugs as heroin, cocaine, xanax, and such on one's psyche. No doubt plethoras of studies have been completed, but they don't speak to me of my experience. Each human being is different.

So, neither antidepressants, anti-anxiety medications, nor street drugs were antidote /answer for my depression. Fresh wheatgrass/vegetable juices and exercise were helpful but with my busy schedule not possible everyday, and the long period of addictive drug use got me off track with the healthy pursuits anyway.

I'm way more into the story than I had originally intended to be, but will keep it this way for now.

Through various processes, as I was still seeking something that would help me to better cope with this depression, I found SAMe. SAMe is available in supermarkets and health food stores, and drugstores. It is also available on multitudes of websites. There are so many brands of it available now, I've lost count. I found it in the late 90s. I prefer the Life Extension brand or Jarrow. Here is a link to a web page from a website about depression with information regarding SAMe:

http://www.healthyplace.com/Communities/Depression/ect/selfhelp/same.html

Really, SAMe was the first thing that really worked for me on any sort of a consistent, long-term basis, to quell my depression, and eventually to create within me the ability to experience pleasure in life's daily activities.

What a huge difference SAMe has made in my life! It's affordable, and easy to take. I have not ever had a problem with side-effects or interactions with anything.

Of course, I feel better when I am conscious about what I eat, and stay active. Cutting down on sugars and carbs is essential for me, too. Surrounding myself with positive, life-affirming people helps more than I can describe in words, as well as spending quality time ALONE. That is so rejuvenating. Meditation, something I've done for over 30 years now (I think my meditation practice helped me to survive that period of addiction in the 90s) remains a core daily focus.

Actually, this Curezone Blog cheers me greatly too. I enjoy reading other peoples' blogs, and writing and researching for my blog. I'm so grateful to my friend Deradune for letting me know about Curezone.

Then there are all the alternative health things that I do, mentioned here, there, and everywhere in this blog! All of them have been and continue to be helpful to me in attaining and maintaining balance. When I am balanced and my chi is flowing, I cannot be depressed, even if I try.

But when I stop taking SAMe, I do get depressed. That's how I know that it is probably the most important of all the stuff I do to make it so I can enjoy life and not be depressed.

So, that is the slice of my life I have chosen to share with you today. As always, thank you for listening. Blessings to you.




 

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