Depression help needed

I was wondering if anyone could possibly answer some questions I have. Just a bit of background. 55 year old male, 5'8" 195 lbs with some decent muscle mass from lifting. Need to drop about 10-15 lbs. I suffer from a lethargic depression. I'm not low seretonin...I'm low Dopamine/NE. Stimulant type substances help me the best for my depression. I have no anxiety and have no sleep issues. Don't have a problem getting out of bed every morning but the Depression lives on. I am also low cortisol but not to a great degree. I'm not currently on any antidepressant. Years ago I tried plenty and Wellbutrin seemed to help the best. I don't want to do the antidepressant route again. Tried in the past SAM-e, and SJW with no real effect. Also did DLPA and L-Tyrosine before..helped some but didn't want to do long term because of down regulation issues and having to take either L-Trytophan or 5HTP at night along with it. Both of these make me feel worse. Many years ago I intentionally sleep deprived myself and it DID "lift" my depression..albeit only temporarily until I fell back into regular sleeping patterns and my Depression returned. Obviously sleep deprivation is not a longer term solution. We need our sleep. Actually the past 2 years it seems I also have SAD. Didn't notice it was a problem before until it started a couple years ago. This year I noticed it happening only a few days after we turned the clocks back..so I'm thinking SAD is also an issue.

Currently these are the supps I'm doing -

Multi Vit/Mineral liquid
ACV with baking soda
Borax
Malic acid 2400-3200mg per day and does seem to give me a bit more energy and seems to sustain more energy when I workout.
Rhodiola from New Chapter. 2 caps 300mg each per day.
Mehtylene Blue - diluted properly according to earthclinic instructions.
Vit C- 2000mg's per day that I get taking it in water with my MB


I tried MB on it's own and Rhodiola on it's own before. Each helped some but still no antidepressant effect from either so I decided to try together which I am doing now. I am seeing "somewhat" of a combined effect but I feel like I need to "push it" higher..not with the Rhodiola but with the MB. Actually I have gotten an added effect with the Rhodiola with losing 5 pounds in just a little under 2 weeks. Dropping another 10-15 would be ideal for me. Currently I have worked myself up to 16 drops of MB in the morning and 12 drops no later than mid-afteroon. I suffer no adverse effects from this kind of dosage with no "being wired" effects and no effect from keeping me from sleeping. It might be a very high dose for others but it doesn't seem so for me. These are my questions....

1) Does anyone know if I am getting any MAOI effects from the MB at the 16 drops dosage? And if not..how high would I have to push those drops to get desired MAOI effects and if so, would it be safe to do so? Taking also into account the other supps I am taking.

2) Currently I am cycled off of licorice root extract. This does seem to help me some with keeping cortisol in my system longer. Would it be better to add this into my stack of MB and Rhodiola for an added effect rather than going higher on the MB drops, and..is licorice root extract even safe to take with MB and Rhodiola? I also have tried Rehmannia before because I heard it also might have the same effects as LRE but the LRE seemed to do better for me but I do know I need to cycle on and off with it.

3) OR can anyone suggest maybe adding something else other than the LRE to my stack of MB and Rhodiola?

I don't know if any of you have taken any of these combo's to even comment on it but I'm just throwing it out there to see if any of you have any comments on this.

One last thing. I am also doing a light box in case SAD is playing a big part in this. It is a goLITE model Philips brand and only maybe 7" wide by 7" tall. Does anyone know if this is a strong enough unit for me or do I maybe need more of an "industrial strength" model? Atleast it is small enough that I can put it next to my computer when I hop on it in the morning. That's all I got. Thanks for listening.

Brian

 

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