and fear that if I go on big pharma meds I will never come off them.

perhaps you should try and go for a walk or read a nice book

Apples are great, but you might want to change your mantra to "a banana a day." Did you know that they can help with this major health issue...

****
Eat a banana, get happy, according to Dr. Caroline Longmore, author of The Serotonin Secret. She says depression could be blamed on lack of serotonin, the "happy hormone," and that you can boost your body's serotonin levels by eating foods rich in the amino acid tryptophan like cottage cheese, turkey--and bananas! She recommends eating at least four bananas a week.
i hope this helps, when im feelinhg down i watch a funny movie or if you have a pet go play with it

I've been battling it for a while as well and constantly have sheeple acting as if all my problems will just go away if I start taking the crazy pills. No thanks, I choose to believe for the most part that I am depressed for valid reasons. Not exactly waking up in a mansion with the perfect life and choosing to go cry in the corner all day. I need to find the motivation to work on my diet and get active again and find better people to surround myself with, as I have much more faith in that than getting into the mess of medications.
I just don't believe in pills for emotions, no matter how much people try to preach to me that it can be considered an actual medical condition or "chemical imbalance". Again, maybe my chemicals need re-balancing through diet or environment, but I don't believe my problem is a deficiency of Zoloft or Prozac. I laugh at the side-effects you hear on anti-depressant commercials, and I laugh even harder that now there are new medications to take on top of your existing a-d marketed as "is your anti-depressant not working well enough? Add this!"
OP I don't blame you for being hesitant to the medication idea and I think we should explore other options. Have you heard that your gut has more to do with serotonin production than your head? I've heard the stomach referred to as the "second brain" because it has a lot to do with neurotransmitters. Is your diet clean? Plenty of fresh air and sunlight? If not I would look into those long before even thinking about some awful pharma pills.Best of luck!

TimeLord1965  Wrote:

perhaps you should try and go for a walk or read a nice book

Apples are great, but you might want to change your mantra to "a banana a day." Did you know that they can help with this major health issue...

****
Eat a banana, get happy, according to Dr. Caroline Longmore, author of The Serotonin Secret. She says depression could be blamed on lack of serotonin, the "happy hormone," and that you can boost your body's serotonin levels by eating foods rich in the amino acid tryptophan like cottage cheese, turkey--and bananas! She recommends eating at least four bananas a week.
i hope this helps, when im feelinhg down i watch a funny movie or if you have a pet go play with it

Yeah. Eat good stuff, and stop eating junk. No more candy bars or cupcakes or coke. Fruit juice and fresh fruit will make you feel like a new man.

Are you using sunblocker?

I was too, so the doc described me prozac.
6 weeks building up the the dose, and i told the doc that the side effects were worse than the medicin. Another 6 weeks to slowly reduce.

Repeated it with 5 other antidepressants, never took it, but it gave me a year rest.
Enough to get me back on my feet.

LoP Guest  Wrote:

TimeLord1965  Wrote:

perhaps you should try and go for a walk or read a nice book

Apples are great, but you might want to change your mantra to "a banana a day." Did you know that they can help with this major health issue...

****
Eat a banana, get happy, according to Dr. Caroline Longmore, author of The Serotonin Secret. She says depression could be blamed on lack of serotonin, the "happy hormone," and that you can boost your body's serotonin levels by eating foods rich in the amino acid tryptophan like cottage cheese, turkey--and bananas! She recommends eating at least four bananas a week.
i hope this helps, when im feelinhg down i watch a funny movie or if you have a pet go play with it

Yeah. Eat good stuff, and stop eating junk. No more candy bars or cupcakes or coke. Fruit juice and fresh fruit will make you feel like a new man.

.. Try and talk to someone you trust about this...(Face to Face)

ashesandsackcloth  Wrote:

Are you using sunblocker?

Yes? For the first time in my life, I started using sunscreen when I run. Why do you ask?

depressed  Wrote:

ashesandsackcloth  Wrote:

Are you using sunblocker?

Yes? For the first time in my life, I started using sunscreen when I run. Why do you ask?

Oh just another way they are killing people. Get rid of the sunblocker.
Make your own Vitamine D. That or take 10 times what they say you should have. Should come out of your depression. Also I'd get a RBC Mag count done. Magnizium most folks are deficent in.
Not like thier isn't alot to be depressed about. Showes someone that cares imo.
Back to sunblocker and such. Don't put anything on your skin you wouldn't eat. Great rule of thumb that will serve you well.Booner

Thank you all for the suggestions. I wish it was as easy as cleaning up my diet. I eat as clean as possible and drink lots of water. Working out is my passion. This is why I am so scared, feeling this way when I am already taking everyones suggestions.

I.just want to feel happy again.

KeLiy  Wrote:

me too. it's the only normal reaction to this skanky world...if you are aware.
if not, ignorance is bliss, who can blame them?
well, you're not totally alone anyway.

to you both..