Fats, Vitamins and Minerals

I’m taking an anti-depressant (an SSRI) but it seems to have strong side-effects. I get knocked out within a few hours taking it (or is that what it’s supposed to do?). Good thing the doctor asked me to quarter the tablet. Strangely, eating has also lessened a bit. Getting to sleep is easy as before but now I tend to wake up more often in the middle of the night. So it’s harder to do some writing because I can’t focus long enough. Actually, I realize, the way anti-depressants work (keep serotonin from being easily reabsorbed into the brain)*, my writing is my anti-depressant. So if I can’t do my writing then there’s a problem. I suppose what these medications do in general is to keep people from “thinking too much.” At least for a while. They don’t really solve the problem. Writing doesn’t solve many practical problems, and medication doesn’t the root problems.

* Regarding SSRIs, there is a growing body of medical literature casting doubt on the serotonin hypothesis, and this body is not reflected in the consumer advertisements. See Serotonin and Depression: A Disconnect Between Advertisements and the Scientific Literature.

Actually, I remember, when I went to a doctor (a psychiatrist) I was really just in need of somebody to talk to and somebody to check if my physical condition (body weight for instance) was deteriorating. So I was rather surprised of being prescribed an anti-depressant, when I said that taking vitamin B complex solved some problems (prescribed by my cardiologist) and that I don’t have any sleeping or eating disorders.

Considering the way my body is responding to the medication now,** at least it seems that my body is being very honest with me, and that any of the marketing done by pharmaceuticals to sell SSRIs hasn’t gone into my brain.

**The headaches I get when I was crying seem to be around now even when I am not crying. I sleep easily because I get dizzy and feel very tired by around 8-9PM but I can’t seem to rest properly (i.e. I get woken up several times at night and I have sudden nervous feelings). I am now taking an anti-depressant but things don’t seem to be improving (which also makes it hard for me to focus, thus writing is harder than before). Eating is also starting to get more difficult.

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