Omega 3 for depression??
 

Hi everybody!!!! I just wanted to know if someone is taking Omega 3 and if so, Does it help you to deal with depression? I am asking because I have
a tendency to suffer from depression and I do not want to take antidepressants again.... Two years ago I took fluoxetine( Prozac) for 4 months and I gained like 10 pounds because I felt very very hungry ....During the first month on Prozac I did not feel hungry at all but then I was hungry all the time...As far as I know some antidepressants may increase or decrease basal metabolic rate without changing caloric intake and They may affect hormonal changes and increase appetite....

I am wondering if omega 3 really works to deal with depression because I am afraid of regainning weight...

I have never noticed it being a help with depression or don't remember reading about it helping for that either. I take SAM-e and others take 5HTP for help with depression and anxiety. Maybe Google these and see what you think. Good Luck! :)

I have heard that it does. I started taking it with my new diet two weeks ago for cardiac support. I don't think it would hurt to try it. There are other benefits you can reap so go for it.

Try Vitamin D. It definitely has a positive effect on mood, and there is some interesting new research suggesting it may improve blood sugar and decrease insulin resistance.

1000 IU is a good dose.

I started it because my endocrinologist recommended I try it, and I immediately noticed the mood effects.

When I began experiencing symptoms of depression due to low thyroid, one of my doctors told me to increase my Omega 3 fish oil to 4000 mg/day. I don't know if it helped the depression or not, because soon after, my other doctor increased my dosage of supplementary thyroid.

I've heard that St. John's Wort relieves depression just as well as drugs like Prozac and Paxil except for one difference: it does not give you the negative side effects! So if none of the nutritional therapies seem to work or even if you want to supplement them with the corrective action of an antidepressant then you may want to look into St. John's Wort rather than jump into a synthetic medication regimen.

Early morning sunlight can help. If you are on shift work or surviving the winter solstice you can get a Day Light. Fish oil (at the 1000 mg EPA level) and regular exercise can also help. Tryptophan may be of small benefit.

yes it does help me i take 2000 in the am then 2000 pm before bed.

Nothing has no side effects
 

St. John's wort has a LOT of side effects and can, for some people, be even more trouble than prescription meds. It makes me wickedly sun-sensitive, for one, and it affects some liver enzymes that shift how other substances are metabolized and can thereby affect blood levels of several different maintenance medications. Plus, it's not covered by insurance.

Fish oils may support mood. 5-HTP affects one of the mood biochemicals. D3 helps. Exercise helps. Sunshine probably helps, but I can take that for granted in NC. People north of here have to work at getting sun more than I do.

But OTOH, depression is a disease, with long-term secondary effects such as cardiac problems, that appear to ride on the depression itself. Not treating it effectively is not much different from hoping tuberculosis will go away, except that depression is not currently believed to be contagious (but who knows what we will learn before we're all dead). If OTC and "natural" stuff doesn't work, please reconsider your stance before giving away too much of your life to a disease you don't necessarily have to suffer from.

That's some good information cs_carver. I guess one always needs to remember that just because something is more natural rather than a competing refined extract of pharmaceutical quaility doesn't necessarily always make it harmless or even better than a pharmaceutical drug. I would still consider it a worthy competitor to some of the synthetic drugs put out by big pharma though...haven't really done much research on antidepressents myself yet. Maybe I will now just to have the knowledge in reserve.

Fish oil is often use as an adjunct to anti-depressants. I have a close family member who was told to take 3000 mg a day to help them get through until their lamictal kicked in (it takes quite a while to get it up to a therapeutic dose). It does work for many people, it is inexpensive, and has lots of other good health benefits. It is definitely worth a try.

Just keep in mind that if this doesn't help, there is nothing wrong with trying a different anti-depressant. There are quite a few on the market now that don't have the side effects. The main thing is to take care of yourself.

Fish oil supplementation can definitely help with depression. Read here for a bunch of research on it:
http://www.oilofpisces.com/depression.html

I haven't noticed any difference from my fish oil supplement, but I get a HUGE benefit from Vitamin D in generous amounts and plenty of B6.