Re: A Few Questions Regarding OP...

Mantonia --

Dang I'm tired. I just responded to another poster about LF.

1. You are supposed to used organic (if possible) unrefined oil. Not sure what you get at the store, but that's the word. I can never keep the refined/unrefined pros and cons straight but let me say I had great results using the not-organic Extra-Virgin Olive oil I got at the local grocery.

2. Please look at other posts regarding anti-depressant use and any cleansing. My opinion is that they are toxic as hell and too much cleansing might bring stored toxins out too quickly. I wouldn't be scared away but I would proceed with caution. Good news: you might just not need them when OP. I have found a strong anti-depressant effect. I can't take Rx anti-depressants (they elevate my mood too much and make me manic -- nothing moral) and OP has been one of the most powerful anti-depressants I have found. Actually that statement is misleading: for me, OP is more anti-depressant than: Prozac. Zoloft. Paxil. Remeron. Sinequan. Celexa. Pamelor. Wellbutrin. Now, we are all different, and I know my Depression had to do with some things I was doing at the time I was taking those (over a period of) years -- i.e. a lot of Maker's Mark, some cocaine, etc., but. I had terrible Depression when I wasn't taking any other brain-alterers! Still. It (OP) made me get through my usual winter blues Depression (Oct.-Jan.) with no debilitation. A gray day would still find me a little low, but that i can handle...lack of sunshine and I just flatline a bit no matter what.

3. Complementary with liver flushing. You won't get stones except on a rare occasion (I think I have read about that once here) but your liver will still be stimulated to release toxins. As a friend says, if you have taken Rx drugs, you have liver stones .

4. I would advise, gien that you are taking medication that is stored in the body (this is why AD's don't work until after you have been taking them for a week or two or three...), to proceed with caution. Not with fear, but just OP once per day and please begin with a "light" oil -- originally recommended were sunflower and sesame. You may find you need to build up to a total of 20 minutes over time. See what reaction you have, report/ask back here, and proceed. Look at the "R" messages for an idea of what to expect in terms of reactions early on, and if you experience anything much different, slow down.

I don't want to knock your medication. I have a lot of friends who benefit from ADs. But not a lot is known about how they work and what they do when they are stored and what they effect neurologically. The brain is made of fat. Stuff is stored in fat. Oil Pulling draws out fat-soluble toxins. Just be alert to any changes in mood or physical stuff. I hypothosize that a recent poster may have drawn too much out too fast and had some severe symptoms of "detox." No matter how much those drugs help, they are toxins and are toxic to the body. If not on their way in, on their way out, too fast. That's not a value judgment -- they are tested for safety based on normal levels in the blood and normal methods of excretion, so we have to be careful when anything gets ANYTHING out more quickly!

Check out the Iodine forum for a neat post on lithium. An effective antidepressant (although not a profitable one, so its efficacy is low-profile), and a safer one IMHO than SSRIs and the older ADs.

Don't mean to sound bossy but I have a depression pedigree of sorts, and you can even read about it in Andrew Solomon's amazing book of 2001, "The Noonday Demon: An Atlas of Depression" (Scribner). It won the National Book Award and for good reason. It should be required reading for all depressives and contains a wealth of knowledge about depression. There is little Andrew and I don't know about depression....first hand or through the researchers he learned from. I can say without doubt I know more than your average psychiatry resident about depression. Both from research and my own field experiences...

Just an aside. Do e-mail if I can help.

Laura