depression Archives • Avoiding Rx

30Oct 2018 by Marjorie 2 Comments

Revisiting the gluten thing

diets, self-experiment, symptoms and conditions

I've been gluten-free since April of 1998, when I discovered that my decades-long crushing depression lifted considerably 12 hours after I stopped it. I now believe my quick recovery was due to a major reduction in brain inflammation due to the elimination of gluten *** IN ADDITION TO *** the accidental, inadvertent, and very strict mold avoidance I'd been practicing for five months, the latter of which I will cover in a later post. Why gluten can be unhealthy In terms of the dangers of gluten itself, I have concluded that its already-inflammatory nature is magnified 3.62 gazillion times by being coated in glyphosate like no other food staple in the US. The combination is a disaster when added to the dozens of inflammagens we've all been ingesting and…

25May 2013 by Marjorie No Comments

Bright light therapy requirements changing over time

treatments

I've mentioned this in passing a few times on the site -- the exposure length and timing of the bright light therapy I use to control carb cravings, insomnia, low mood, and zombie brain changes over the years. I used to need it only from October to April, for 30 minutes, and it wouldn't work after 9 am. Then I switched to 60 minutes for quite a while, until it started to make me antsy. Now I'm down to 20 minutes, it won't work after 7:15 am, and I seem to need it all year. I consider this further proof that some chicks are not meant to live further north than a palm tree. Here are a few references I've used to figure out timing and "dosage." Chronotherapeutics for Affective…

27Sep 2012 by Marjorie No Comments

A non-prescription approach to managing depression: debauchery

treatments

A version of this post first appeared on my older, now-defunct blog, Blessed Depth. Reading Nancy Mitford's bio of Louis XIV, I came across this description of Louis' cousin, the Prince de Conti, who had the misfortune to outshine the King's son and heir in just about every way. The King got jealous and threw roadblocks in de Conti's career for the rest of his life."...as the years dragged on uselessly and his hopeful youth was succeeded by a disillusioned middle age, the Prince de Conti became embittered and gave himself up to debauchery." Which led me to wonder: why don't mental health professionals ever suggest this? What depressed patient wouldn't want to hear his therapist say, "We've found that wallowing in all the vices at once has had promising…

30Jun 2012 by Marjorie 3 Comments

Things that still mess up my mood

symptoms and conditions

August 13, 2017: My theories on this subject have changed. Until I can get my act together to update this content, please see this post. This was adapted from a post on my old blog, Blessed Depth. I've written elsewhere about how I threw off the yoke of my decades-long depression about 15 years ago, but a few things still trip me up. Some are culprits familiar to most sufferers, but some were a bit of a surprise. Insufficient calorie intake. If I undereat for more than two days in a row, my mood will fall. A day of normal eating corrects it. Vicodin. I don't know what I'll do if, heaven forfend, I'm ever in a long-term pain management situation, because even a modest dose makes me feel lousy…

30Apr 2012 by Marjorie 2 Comments

Moronic assumptions about depression

symptoms and conditions

I originally started down the alternative medicine path out of desperation for a cure for my decades-long, god-awful depression. (Here's my April 2011 post about how I got rid of it over a period of two years with a diet change and by correcting nutritional deficiencies and thyroid and adrenal wackinesses.) Adding to the burden of depression and mental illness is having to deal with the very large percentage of the population who cannot relate to experiences they haven't had themselves.* Like feeling effing horrid all the time. So you learn not to tell anyone about it. For a year two friends and I wrote about our experiences with this and other frustrations of the illness on our (now-defunct) blog Blessed Depth. Here's a list we compiled of assumptions about…

28Apr 2011 by Marjorie 5 Comments

My depression and what I did to end it

nutritional therapy, symptoms and conditions

Update July 2022: My theories on this subject have changed. Until I can get my act together to update this content, please see this post. The only items listed here that I still take are zinc and beef spleen supplements. The content below was originally published in February 2012, I think. Updates are in italics. The subheads are new cuz that's what the internet expects of us now. Basically a crushing depression till 31 My depression lasted from junior high until I was about 31. I realized by ninth grade that it was not event- or environment-based. At around 30, after 18 months on antidepressants, I realized they were a disaster for me and I looked elsewhere for solutions. Gluten-free like a miracle A few months later, and after two…