Depression A journey... A patients perspective...

Christian · Jul 8, 2010

I found this thread on a private forum i am a member of and i found it interesting...

I know it is alot of information but there maybe something useful for you, no matter how small it may be...

OK, i have spoken with Dat briefly about this. This thread will document my 20 year struggle with depression and my subsequent nearly miraculous recovery. Forget everything you think you know about this disease, there is hope and there is a way to fix it. I will write it in parts which are summarized below. I wanted to get this up here to motivate myself to get started, it is a story that i hope will bring relief to someone out there.

part one - my history ... this will detail my struggle with the disease, it is important because those that did not know my condition often think "no way could you have been as bad as me, you are too happy". My recovery has been so astounding that those suffering have a hard time believing how bad i was.

part two - revelation ... this details my introduction to Dr Ralph Waldo, an expert in orhtomolecular medicine, board certified psychiatrist, nuerologist. i will detail how my desperation led to my discovery of his practice.

part three - my treatment ... i will detail the process including what was added, what was taken away, dietary changes, and all the reasons behind it. This will examine my particular treatment, please note treatment is specifically tailored to the individual.

part four - recovery...i will detail the rise from the darkness and my current situation including how the ongoing health monitoring works.

part five - helpful hints ... i will try to provide useful resources for those that wish to pursue this path

EDIT: THERE WILL BE MORE PARTS THAN ORIGINALLY ANTICIPATED

If i can help just one person beat this hell on Earth than the task will be well worth it.

* a quick note about me in general... i have been bodybuilding for 25 years. I am the VP of a small company and have an engineering background and a masters level business background. But mostly i am just a blue collar guy that likes to work on things, i won't be writing in the high level scientific jargon that dat and the really smart guys use. i will just be telling you the truth...as it happened to me...in my own words. i hope you find it interesting.

Part 1 – the darkness (please note this is somewhat summarized and represents many years, just want you to get a feel for the severity)

My first memories that I might have been a little off go back to childhood. I can remember not being very communicative as a child…very shy. I always had this odd feeling like I was on the outside looking in. I also had a tendency to think about things that a small child should just not worry about like world issues and crap. I would actually get upset watching the news when I was 5-6 years old. My teachers always said I was “wise well beyond my years”…but actually I was somewhat tormented with negative feelings (often referred to as ANTS these days, automatic negative thoughts).
As I went through childhood I didn’t really get a lot worse but just kind of survived. I always excelled academically, but socially I was awkward. I read constantly (still do) and first picked up weights in the third grade. I used these things as an escape, and at the time I thought if I was really big and muscular I would somehow be more popular and would magically develop proper social skills.
In middle school when other had started to “date” and things I was somewhat of an outcast, I could not talk to girls very easily. I wanted to but my topics of interest were books and science and …well…that just isn’t cool when your 13. I also was chosen at this age to be a part of the Midwest talent search for academic achievement. I took the SAT at the age of 12 and scored high enough to qualify for engineering school. My parents were thrilled…I could care less because the thought of leaving home was terrifying.
On to high school, I did a little better socially in certain groups, but I tended to hang around the outcasts I guess. By this time I was fairly muscular, I had never stopped working out since third grade (still haven’t). It did help a bit with my self esteem but the underlying feelings of life just not really meaning much were always present. It was my senior year in high school that I had my first breakdown (or major depressive episode as they call them now). Nothing seemed OK anymore; I just could not see any point in going on at all. I had a great stable family, was smart, had a great future ahead, and all I could see was death. The timing of all this is pretty interesting…the year was 1989 and Eli Lilly had just developed what many were calling a miracle…Prozac. So started the journey into psychiatric drugs…a journey I would eventually understand as the single biggest crime ever committed against humanity.
I stayed on Prozac for several years, mostly through the college years, at the time I thought it had healed me, my depression had lifted, I still wasn’t right but they don’t really care about that as long as you are not suicidal. At some point, I think around 24 years of age I dx’d the Prozac. No real difference, if there is one thing I can say positive about Prozac is at least you can stop it without major problems. So I went along OK for a few years, then for no apparent reason, my mind started to turn against me again. This time it was severe…horrible anxiety, constant worry, suicidal thoughts…I had no idea what was going on but I knew I needed help and fast.
Back to the doctor and back on the Prozac…this time no relief. Enter the most evil drug ever created by man…Cymbalta. The doc started me on this new “wonder drug” and thought it would work. Well I think I managed to convince myself that it would work for awhile and stayed on it for about two years. Then the real hell began. The anxiety started again…so of course they have a drug for that…started clonozapam at a small dose .5 mg per day. That kicked the shit out of the anxiety but I could not stay awake. Now I started having unexplained shaking and tremors. And as if that wasn’t good enough I started losing short term memory. So…on to the psychiatrists.
These jackasses really fixed me. Increase the cymbalta to 90mg per day…started having terrible dreams, memory loss, no sexual function whatsoever. Ok you know what that means …we need to add a drug. Over the course of the next year they managed to nearly kill me with cymbalta, abilify, klonipin, lamictal, more prozac, Zoloft. You ****ing name it and these fools tried it…what they didn’t realize it they were CAUSING most of the brain damage (which is exactly what they are doing to you with these drugs). At this point I had the great experience of auditory hallucinations, memory loss, sexual dysfunction, could not stay awake for more than two hours. Thank god I am the VP of my company and was able to somehow maintain my job. I design machinery, and manage the organization. There were literally machines that I had designed and built and I COULD NOT remember how they operated.
I had ****ing had enough…at this point my GF (bless her heart, now my wife) was driving me to my appointments because it was not safe for me to drive. She had read about a new method utilizing nutritional elements and diagnosis of deficiencies combined with balancing all the bodies systems. I had never heard of it but believe me at this point I was already planning my permanent exit. I will tell you this, anyone in this shape that says no I don’t think of suicide is lying…its all I thought about. So the next time I went she went with me, and we asked the following question. “ It seems like all you are doing is just throwing drugs at it and hoping without really knowing what is going to happen, do you have a plan?” Here was their answer, now remember this is the biggest psychiatric organization in the state. “NO, we have no idea…the truth is no one knows if these drugs work at all and if so how they work.” “ if you have a doctor tell you otherwise in reality they are lying”. Straight from the mouth of a psychiatrist that OFTEN speaks for Eli Lilly on their national circuit.
So we asked about this new approach that my wife had read about…and they said…”yes we have a person in our network that does this, would you like to talk to him”? WELL WHAT THE **** DO YOU THINK…NO LETS JUST KEEP DOING WHAT WE ARE DOING IT SEEMS ****ING GREAT!!! So this concludes part one…basically I owe my life to two people first my wife, second to the doctor I will next introduce…

Christian · Jul 8, 2010

PART 2

First off sorry for the delay, life just gets in the way some days (ok most days)

OK so at this point here is basically my condition just before seeing my current doctor

- constant overwhelming anxiety
- depression so severe it bordered on psychosis
- unable to drive
- could not stay awake
- auditory hallucinations when I tried to sleep
- constant “buzzing” in my head
- twitching and uncontrolled tremors
- suicidal

Upon arriving at the doctors office I had already made up my mind that this was the last go around, if this did not work I was not going to drag my family through any more of the hell they had been dealing with. I was DONE.

The first question he asked was “OK what labels are they putting on you?” I was barely coherent so he went on to explain “what have they diagnosed you with?”. Depression/anxiety/minor psychosis. “here is why I said labels, you see all of these terms they throw at you whether it be depression, anxiety, bi polar, whatever are all the same thing…your brain is not working properly. What meds are you currently on?” Cymbalta (immediate cringe from the doctor) , klonopin…that’s it right now. “ Here is the thing…first Cymbalta is the worst drug on the market it hits both serotonin and norepinephrine way too hard and most of the psychotic symptoms and head tremors and such are CAUSED by the cymbalta NOT FIXED.” Well but I have a chemical imbalance. “Yes that is true but WHY is the part they are not even trying to figure out, you see these drugs were meant to be used for ACCUTE relief of symptoms not long term therapy and doctors know this…they just don’t know what else to do. I know you will not believe this but give me one year and I GUARANTEE I will have you med free and stable, now let me show you how.”

At this point he began telling me about how his method worked. First off explaining how neurotransmitters are actually formed. He illustrated how just missing one critical element, for instance iron, can completely extinguish the bodies ability to produce certain neurotransmitters. We went through all the main neurotransmitters and he explained what elements have to be in place for the body to be able to synthesize these elements. It made a lot of sense (well as much sense as I had at that time) and I started to believe there might be something here…just a glimmer of hope. OK I said so how do we do this?

“Well you have to first understand its not quite as easy as just throwing in some vitamins and minerals and off we go. All of this has to start here (pointing to his gut). If this is out of whack it does not matter what we are taking in because it is NOT getting absorbed.”

He went on to explain how inflammation in the gut due to food sensitivities and the average American crap diet is what is causing almost all “mental” illness. Your brain is sick because your body is sick. But wait, I thought, I eat better than 90% of the population how can that be.

“How do you know what you are eating is healthy FOR YOUR BODY”…what? “You see just because a food is considered healthy does not mean it is healthy for everyone, you could have a severe food allergy to fish for instance and never know it but it could be causing severe gut inflammation and preventing the absorbtion of critical elements.”

OK…whatever I thought, at this point just tell me what to do and I will do it…I have pretty much given up…where do we go from here. This was the start of the process and here is what he started me with.

1. don’t give up…I will fix this I promise you , please read the book THE ULTRAMIND SOLUTION by Dr Mark Hyman it will explain a lot of this process and give you hope.
2. cut the cymbalta dose in half for now…I won’t lie to you eliminating that drug will be hell but it is causing BRAIN DAMAGE
3. take the klonipin if you have to have it otherwise suspend it
4. add glutamine 8 grams per day (to help begin healing the gut and reduce inflammation)
5. add multi (orthomolecular solutions alpha bases caps)
6. add fish oil 2 grams per day (again helping inflammation)
7. add probiotic 2 caps daily (metagenics ultra flora plus df)
8. add pantothenic acid (methylation factor)
9. add zinc 50mg daily
10. add magnesium glycinate 400mg daily
11. eliminate dairy (most common food allergy in population)
12. eliminate high fructose corn syrup (this crap is in everything and is straight brain poison)
13. avoid wheat and gluten as much as possible (again just common allergens)

Ordered EXTENSIVE blood work…. I will try to get the whole list posted tomorrow…they drew 40 tubes of blood the first round. Scheduled my appointment to review the labs six weeks later.

So off I went , with just a glimmer of hope that at least someone is going to try to FIX this and not just treat it.
SIDEBAR (MISC COMMENTS) 1

A quick little sidebar here just Something i have been thinking about. An illustRative difference between the psychiatric medicine approach and the functional medicine approach to treating "mental illness". Picture three 5 gallon pails...lets call these pails dopamine, norepinepherine, and serotonin. Now lets assume each of these pails works together to create a lovely balance in our brain that keeps us stable/happy/functional. GoinG into each of these pails are 3 ingredients that maintain the proper soup, each ingredient is critical. In the serotonin bucket we have a/b/c (ya i know original huh) ; in the dopamine bucket we have d/e/f ; and in the norepi bucket we have g/h/i. OK there is also one other trait that all buckets share they have a slow drip from the bottom which represents the metabolism of the contents. Each bucket if maintained at 3/4 full makes everyone happy, so the rate at which the ingredients go in to form the soup must match the rate of the "drip". Also oddly enough each bucket "knows" how full the other buckets are and tries to maintain the same total volume all the time. Ok so imagine this scenario...for whatever reason (usually diet/inflammation etc) components a and h are missing. So our serotonin bucket and our norepi bucket start to get low on "good stuff". Along comes our traditional psychiatrist...OH no problem he says i will just block the drip on those two buckets with my wonderful little SNRI. So the drips slow and the buckets start to fill back up...yay we are all happy again....but are we? Unless the rate of metabolism blockage can somehow mimic EXACTLY what the shortage is minute by minute guess what...you just took a small imbalance and created a HUGE one...thus the side effects of psych meds. Also notice one other thing about this method...yes you blocked metabolism but guess what YOU STILL DON'T HAVE COMPONENT A OR H GOING INTO THE BUCKETS SO YOU STILL DON'T HAVE MANUFACTURE OF SEROTONIN OR NOREPI!!!!!!! What these jackoffs have done to us is taken a fairly small issue and turned it into MAJOR brain malfunction....YAY.

Now how does functional medicine solve this problem....first extensive blood analysis determines what components are missing, here being A and H. Next we determine why they are missing, are they missing from the diet or do we have a absorbtion issue. Then we treat the absorbtion issues , we add A and H and guess what? THE BRAIN TAKES CARE OF THE REST...IT IS THE PERFECT MACHINE IT JUST NEEDS YOU TO SUPPLY IT WITH WHAT IT HAS TO HAVE. Now you tell me...what makes more sense and WHY THE **** are these doctors continuing to cripple our brains every chance they get...i will give you one hint it starts with M and ends with ONEY...ok so that wasn't that hard.

OK AGAIN SORRY FOR THE DELAY...i wanted to get this part up here it is a basic run down of the tests utilized ny functional medicine practitioners. I ahve described most of the tests and wil edit in the rest. This seems very extensive i know...but i prefer the term thorough...they really leave no stone unturned in drastic conrtrast to traditional psychiatry where they basically guess and see what happens.

Christian · Jul 8, 2010

PART 3
The Comprehensive Functional Medicine Assessment

Below is a list of labs that are run for a complete Functional Medicine Assessment, I have made and effort to explain them to some degree but please be aware I am no phd.

5-hydroxyindoleacetate (5-HIAA) –

5-HIAA may be ordered by itself or along with a blood serotonin level to help diagnose and monitor carcinoid tumors. A 24-hour urine sample is preferred for the 5-HIAA test because the metabolite level in the urine can vary during the day. A random urine sample is sometimes tested, usually along with a urine creatinine level, when a 24-hour sample is not feasible. The random sample is not as accurate, however, and if the excess 5-HIAA is released intermittently, then it may be missed.

In this case used to test for presence of serotonin metabolites to ensure proper serotonin level and metabolism.

Amino Acid Analysis (plasma LC/MS) –

fairly straight forward…tests for levels of critical amino acids

Carnitine level (serum lc/ms/ms) –

This test is indicated for patients with:
lethargy/hypotonia
myopathy (cardiac/skeletal)
clinical suspicion of a fatty acid oxidation defect and an organic acidemia
renal dysfunction
positive newborn screening result with decreased free carnitine and/or abnormal acylcarnitine profile

Catecholamine level (plasma, fractionated) –

Catecholamines are sympathomimetic [1] "fight-or-flight" hormones that are released by the adrenal glands in response to stress.[2] They are part of the sympathetic nervous system.
They are called catecholamines because they contain a catechol group, and are derived from the amino acid tyrosine.[3]
The most abundant catecholamines are epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and dopamine, all of which are produced from phenylalanine and tyrosine.
That last part is important…note “all of which are produced from phenylalanine and tyrosine.” Now imagine what would happen if tyrosine or phenylalanine were not present??? Well your doctor would end up sticking you on a dopamine boosting anti-depressant…again not really fixing a damn thing.

c-reactive protein –

CRP is used mainly as a marker of inflammation. Apart from liver failure, there are few known factors that interfere with CRP production.[2]
Measuring and charting C-reactive protein values can prove useful in determining disease progress or the effectiveness of treatments. Blood, usually collected in a serum-separating tube, is analysed in a medical laboratory or at the point of care. Various analytical methods are available for CRP determination, such as ELISA, immunoturbidimetry, rapid immunodiffusion and visual agglutination.

copper level –

Serum Copper levels are useful in determining contributing factors to symptoms of depression, ADHD, hallucinations, and to determine copper/zinc ratio. It is used, along with serum ceruloplasmin and urine copper to test for Wilson disease.

DHEA –
As almost all DHEA is derived from the adrenal glands, blood measurements of DHEAS/DHEA are useful to detect excess adrenal activity as seen in adrenal cancer or hyperplasia, including certain forms of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Women with polycystic ovary syndrome tend to have elevated levels of DHEAS.[5]

DHA –

Of all the fatty acids, DHA has the largest effect on brain PUFA composition.[5] DHA is found in three phospholipids: phosphatidylethanolamine, ethanolamine plasmalogens, and phosphatidylserine (PS). It modulates the carrier-mediated transport of choline, glycine, and taurine, the function of delayed rectifier potassium channels, and the response of rhodopsin contained in the synaptic vesicles, among many other functions.[6]
DHA deficiency is associated with cognitive decline.[7] PS controls apoptosis, and low DHA levels lower neural cell PS and increase neural cell death.[8] DHA is depleted in the cerebral cortex of severely depressed patients.[9][10]

Fish oil is widely sold in gelatin capsules containing a mixture of omega-3 fatty acids including EPA and smaller quantities of DHA. Researchers have found that fish oil high in DHA and low in EPA lowered inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6 and IL-1β, associated with neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases. They note that the brain normally contains DHA but no EPA. ***PLEASE NOTE THIS, ALMOST ALL FISH OIL YOU BUY HAS THE EPA DHA RATIO SCREWED UP, BE SURE WHAT YOU USE IS HIGHER IN DHA THAN EPA FLAMEOUT BY BIOTEST IS EXCELLENT. THE “DANG DUDE I JUST BOUGHT 40000 CAPS FOR 2 BUX” BRANDS ARE CRAP DON’T KID YOURSELF
**ALSO NOTE THE REOCCURRING THEME…REDUCTION OF INFLAMMATION**

EPA -

SEE ABOVE

Estradiol (e2) –

Estradiol (E2 or 17β-estradiol) (also oestradiol) is a sex hormone. Estradiol is the predominant sex hormone present in females; however, it is present in males, albeit at lower levels, as well. It represents the major estrogen in humans. Estradiol has not only a critical impact on reproductive and sexual functioning, but also affects other organs including the bones. E2 fluxuations in males (as seen in heavy androgen usage) can cause mood swings/depression/anxiety sometimes quite severe

Estrone (e1) –

Another estrogen element, in males not normally as critical to monitor but the levels of all three (e1,e2,e3) in relation to the total estrogens can tell a tale in terms of estrogen metabolism

Estrogen (total) –

See above

Estriol (e3) –

See above

Ferritin level –

A ferritin blood test is done to:
Find the cause of anemia, especially iron deficiency anemia.
See if inflammation is present.
See if too much iron (hemochromatosis) is present.
Check to see if iron treatment to raise or lower the iron level is working.

Free fatty acids

Tests for levels of critical fatty acids

Gamma linolinic acid

GLA is sometimes prescribed in the belief that it has anti-inflammatory properties lacking some of the common side effects of other anti-inflammatory drugs[citation needed]. Herbal medicine advocates recommend GLA for autoimmune disorders, arthritis, eczema and PMS with noticeable results not expected for months. Research is ongoing, investigating GLA as a potential anticancer agent.[5] GLA is unique among the omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic acid, GLA and arachidonic acid) in its potential to suppress tumor growth and metastasis.[6]

Growth hormone

Self explanatory

Helicobacter pylori UBIT

This unusual name identifies a specific bacteria that can cause infection of the stomach. This infection can contribute to the development of diseases, such as dyspepsia (heartburn, bloating and nausea), gastritis (inflammation of the stomach), and ulcers in the stomach and duodenum. It will be useful to know some things about the upper digestive tract to understand how and where Helicobacter pylori infection can occur.

Histamine whole blood

Whole Blood histamine levels are a marker for under methylation, and to determine the presence of histadelia, or histapenia.

Homovanillate (HVA)

Diagnosis and monitoring of neuroblastoma and ganglioneuroma

Interleukin-1 beta

One of a group of related proteins made by leukocytes (white blood cells) and other cells in the body. Interleukin-1-beta, one form of interleukin-1, is made mainly by one type of white blood cell, the macrophage, and helps another type of white blood cell, the lymphocyte, fight infections. It also helps leukocytes pass through blood vessel walls to sites of infection and causes fever by affecting areas of the brain that control body temperature. The other form of interleukin-1, interleukin-1-alpha, acts the same as interleukin-1-beta. Interleukin-1-beta made in the laboratory is used as a biological response modifier to boost the immune system in cancer therapy. Interleukin-1-beta is a type of cytokine. Also called IL-1-beta and IL-1B.

Interleukin-6 highly sensitive

See above

Iron and TIBC

Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) is most frequently used along with a serum iron test to evaluate people suspected of having either iron deficiency or iron overload. These two tests are used to calculate the transferrin saturation, a more useful indicator of iron status than just iron or TIBC alone. In healthy people, about 20-40% of available sites in transferrin are used to transport iron.

Kryptopyrorrole level

Pyroluria," "Pyrroluria," "Pyrolleuria," "Pyrrole Disorder," "Elevated Kryptopyrrole," "B6 Deficiency" and other similar terms are all used to describe variants of the same basic condition: Most commonly called Pyroluria, the root cause is the production of too much "kryptopyrrole" (KP) or "hemepyrrole" (HP) in the blood.

Kynurenate

In enzymology, a kynurenate-7,8-dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.1.18) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
7,8-dihydro-7,8-dihydroxykynurenate + NAD+ 7,8-dihydroxykynurenate + NADH + H+
Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are 7,8-dihydro-7,8-dihydroxykynurenate and NAD+, whereas its 3 products are 7,8-dihydroxykynurenate, NADH, and H+.
This enzyme participates in tryptophan metabolism.

Magnesium (RBC)

This test is used to evaluate magnesium deficiency

Magnesium (whole blood)

Tests for magnesium presence in whole blood as opposed to RBC only

Homocysteine

Homocysteine is an amino acid in the blood. Epidemiological studies have shown that too much homocysteine in the blood (plasma) is related to a higher risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease.

Progesterone

Selenium

T3

T4

Tsh

Testosterone , free

Testosterone total

TNF alpha

Vanimandelate (vma)

Vitamin D 25 hydroxy (D3)

Vitamin b1

Vitamin b2

Vitamin b3

Vitamin b5

Vitamin b6

Vitamin b9

Vitamin b12

Vitamin c

Zinc

**Note , not all tests are run every time, the first round the doctor bases his tests on what he or she deems most likely based on your current situation. I will go into my specifics in the next post.

Christian · Jul 8, 2010

PART 3
The Comprehensive Functional Medicine Assessment

Below is a list of labs that are run for a complete Functional Medicine Assessment, I have made and effort to explain them to some degree but please be aware I am no phd.

5-hydroxyindoleacetate (5-HIAA) –

5-HIAA may be ordered by itself or along with a blood serotonin level to help diagnose and monitor carcinoid tumors. A 24-hour urine sample is preferred for the 5-HIAA test because the metabolite level in the urine can vary during the day. A random urine sample is sometimes tested, usually along with a urine creatinine level, when a 24-hour sample is not feasible. The random sample is not as accurate, however, and if the excess 5-HIAA is released intermittently, then it may be missed.

In this case used to test for presence of serotonin metabolites to ensure proper serotonin level and metabolism.

Amino Acid Analysis (plasma LC/MS) –

fairly straight forward…tests for levels of critical amino acids

Carnitine level (serum lc/ms/ms) –

This test is indicated for patients with:
lethargy/hypotonia
myopathy (cardiac/skeletal)
clinical suspicion of a fatty acid oxidation defect and an organic acidemia
renal dysfunction
positive newborn screening result with decreased free carnitine and/or abnormal acylcarnitine profile

Catecholamine level (plasma, fractionated) –

Catecholamines are sympathomimetic [1] "fight-or-flight" hormones that are released by the adrenal glands in response to stress.[2] They are part of the sympathetic nervous system.
They are called catecholamines because they contain a catechol group, and are derived from the amino acid tyrosine.[3]
The most abundant catecholamines are epinephrine (adrenaline), norepinephrine (noradrenaline) and dopamine, all of which are produced from phenylalanine and tyrosine.
That last part is important…note “all of which are produced from phenylalanine and tyrosine.” Now imagine what would happen if tyrosine or phenylalanine were not present??? Well your doctor would end up sticking you on a dopamine boosting anti-depressant…again not really fixing a damn thing.

c-reactive protein –

CRP is used mainly as a marker of inflammation. Apart from liver failure, there are few known factors that interfere with CRP production.[2]
Measuring and charting C-reactive protein values can prove useful in determining disease progress or the effectiveness of treatments. Blood, usually collected in a serum-separating tube, is analysed in a medical laboratory or at the point of care. Various analytical methods are available for CRP determination, such as ELISA, immunoturbidimetry, rapid immunodiffusion and visual agglutination.

copper level –

Serum Copper levels are useful in determining contributing factors to symptoms of depression, ADHD, hallucinations, and to determine copper/zinc ratio. It is used, along with serum ceruloplasmin and urine copper to test for Wilson disease.

DHEA –
As almost all DHEA is derived from the adrenal glands, blood measurements of DHEAS/DHEA are useful to detect excess adrenal activity as seen in adrenal cancer or hyperplasia, including certain forms of congenital adrenal hyperplasia. Women with polycystic ovary syndrome tend to have elevated levels of DHEAS.[5]

DHA –

Of all the fatty acids, DHA has the largest effect on brain PUFA composition.[5] DHA is found in three phospholipids: phosphatidylethanolamine, ethanolamine plasmalogens, and phosphatidylserine (PS). It modulates the carrier-mediated transport of choline, glycine, and taurine, the function of delayed rectifier potassium channels, and the response of rhodopsin contained in the synaptic vesicles, among many other functions.[6]
DHA deficiency is associated with cognitive decline.[7] PS controls apoptosis, and low DHA levels lower neural cell PS and increase neural cell death.[8] DHA is depleted in the cerebral cortex of severely depressed patients.[9][10]

Fish oil is widely sold in gelatin capsules containing a mixture of omega-3 fatty acids including EPA and smaller quantities of DHA. Researchers have found that fish oil high in DHA and low in EPA lowered inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-6 and IL-1β, associated with neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases. They note that the brain normally contains DHA but no EPA. ***PLEASE NOTE THIS, ALMOST ALL FISH OIL YOU BUY HAS THE EPA DHA RATIO SCREWED UP, BE SURE WHAT YOU USE IS HIGHER IN DHA THAN EPA FLAMEOUT BY BIOTEST IS EXCELLENT. THE “DANG DUDE I JUST BOUGHT 40000 CAPS FOR 2 BUX” BRANDS ARE CRAP DON’T KID YOURSELF
**ALSO NOTE THE REOCCURRING THEME…REDUCTION OF INFLAMMATION**

EPA -

SEE ABOVE

Estradiol (e2) –

Estradiol (E2 or 17β-estradiol) (also oestradiol) is a sex hormone. Estradiol is the predominant sex hormone present in females; however, it is present in males, albeit at lower levels, as well. It represents the major estrogen in humans. Estradiol has not only a critical impact on reproductive and sexual functioning, but also affects other organs including the bones. E2 fluxuations in males (as seen in heavy androgen usage) can cause mood swings/depression/anxiety sometimes quite severe

Estrone (e1) –

Another estrogen element, in males not normally as critical to monitor but the levels of all three (e1,e2,e3) in relation to the total estrogens can tell a tale in terms of estrogen metabolism

Estrogen (total) –

See above

Estriol (e3) –

See above

Ferritin level –

A ferritin blood test is done to:
Find the cause of anemia, especially iron deficiency anemia.
See if inflammation is present.
See if too much iron (hemochromatosis) is present.
Check to see if iron treatment to raise or lower the iron level is working.

Free fatty acids

Tests for levels of critical fatty acids

Gamma linolinic acid

GLA is sometimes prescribed in the belief that it has anti-inflammatory properties lacking some of the common side effects of other anti-inflammatory drugs[citation needed]. Herbal medicine advocates recommend GLA for autoimmune disorders, arthritis, eczema and PMS with noticeable results not expected for months. Research is ongoing, investigating GLA as a potential anticancer agent.[5] GLA is unique among the omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids (linoleic acid, GLA and arachidonic acid) in its potential to suppress tumor growth and metastasis.[6]

Growth hormone

Self explanatory

Helicobacter pylori UBIT

This unusual name identifies a specific bacteria that can cause infection of the stomach. This infection can contribute to the development of diseases, such as dyspepsia (heartburn, bloating and nausea), gastritis (inflammation of the stomach), and ulcers in the stomach and duodenum. It will be useful to know some things about the upper digestive tract to understand how and where Helicobacter pylori infection can occur.

Histamine whole blood

Whole Blood histamine levels are a marker for under methylation, and to determine the presence of histadelia, or histapenia.

Homovanillate (HVA)

Diagnosis and monitoring of neuroblastoma and ganglioneuroma

Interleukin-1 beta

One of a group of related proteins made by leukocytes (white blood cells) and other cells in the body. Interleukin-1-beta, one form of interleukin-1, is made mainly by one type of white blood cell, the macrophage, and helps another type of white blood cell, the lymphocyte, fight infections. It also helps leukocytes pass through blood vessel walls to sites of infection and causes fever by affecting areas of the brain that control body temperature. The other form of interleukin-1, interleukin-1-alpha, acts the same as interleukin-1-beta. Interleukin-1-beta made in the laboratory is used as a biological response modifier to boost the immune system in cancer therapy. Interleukin-1-beta is a type of cytokine. Also called IL-1-beta and IL-1B.

Interleukin-6 highly sensitive

See above

Iron and TIBC

Total iron-binding capacity (TIBC) is most frequently used along with a serum iron test to evaluate people suspected of having either iron deficiency or iron overload. These two tests are used to calculate the transferrin saturation, a more useful indicator of iron status than just iron or TIBC alone. In healthy people, about 20-40% of available sites in transferrin are used to transport iron.

Kryptopyrorrole level

Pyroluria," "Pyrroluria," "Pyrolleuria," "Pyrrole Disorder," "Elevated Kryptopyrrole," "B6 Deficiency" and other similar terms are all used to describe variants of the same basic condition: Most commonly called Pyroluria, the root cause is the production of too much "kryptopyrrole" (KP) or "hemepyrrole" (HP) in the blood.

Kynurenate

In enzymology, a kynurenate-7,8-dihydrodiol dehydrogenase (EC 1.3.1.18) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
7,8-dihydro-7,8-dihydroxykynurenate + NAD+ 7,8-dihydroxykynurenate + NADH + H+
Thus, the two substrates of this enzyme are 7,8-dihydro-7,8-dihydroxykynurenate and NAD+, whereas its 3 products are 7,8-dihydroxykynurenate, NADH, and H+.
This enzyme participates in tryptophan metabolism.

Magnesium (RBC)

This test is used to evaluate magnesium deficiency

Magnesium (whole blood)

Tests for magnesium presence in whole blood as opposed to RBC only

Homocysteine

Homocysteine is an amino acid in the blood. Epidemiological studies have shown that too much homocysteine in the blood (plasma) is related to a higher risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and peripheral vascular disease.

Progesterone

Selenium

T3

T4

Tsh

Testosterone , free

Testosterone total

TNF alpha

Vanimandelate (vma)

Vitamin D 25 hydroxy (D3)

Vitamin b1

Vitamin b2

Vitamin b3

Vitamin b5

Vitamin b6

Vitamin b9

Vitamin b12

Vitamin c

Zinc

**Note , not all tests are run every time, the first round the doctor bases his tests on what he or she deems most likely based on your current situation. I will go into my specifics in the next post.

Christian · Jul 8, 2010

Part 5
My initial lab follow up

OK I won’t hit every single detail because it would take forever and I mainly want to emphasize the heavy hitters.

First off neurotransmitters.

Even though I was on probably the strongest SNRI on the market (Cymbalta aka the devil) both my serotonin and norepinepherine were undetectable. Hmmm whats this tell us. Well go back and re-read my side bar on the subject…it doesn’t do shit to slow the metabolism of something that your body is not producing anyway.

Dopamine detectable but low. Basically my neurotransmitters were a ****ing wreck.

Vitamin d3 – low end of the range…now remember he had already started me on 5000 iu per day…for what ever reason I metablozie this VERY fast

Ferritin – way high….points to severe gut inflammation and helps to explain why nutrients are not getting through (on the surface this can lead the standard GP to believe that iron is too high when in reality it is just being “backed up” due to inability to absorb)

Magnesium – low

Zinc – low

Testosterone total – horrible (I had intentionally come off hrt because we wanted an unbiased picture of where my body was at) believe me the day after I got the blood draws we started back up on that

Testosterone free - severely low as well

CBC looked ok, good cholesterol could be slightly higher and bad lower but nothing alarming really. Probably due to my fish oil intake.

Basically once we saw the level of obvious inflammation he knew that was step one. With my gut that out of wack there is not a lot you can do except get it cleaned up and take it from there.

At this point we had reduced Cymbalta by ½ to 30mg daily, that plus the supps I was already on had me back to at least coherent. But he assured me the best was yet to come. He did not recommend any med reductions at this point he wanted to give it a little more time to get the gut working so we knew we could get proper nutrient absorbtion.

So this time I left with a little more hope a some more supps:

1. Ditch the klonopin unless absolutely necessary
2. glutamine 8 grams per day (to help begin healing the gut and reduce inflammation)
3. multi (orthomolecular solutions alpha bases caps)
4. fish oil 2 grams per day (again helping inflammation)
5. add 1 tablespoon olive oil daily
7. probiotic 2 caps daily (metagenics ultra flora plus df)
8. pantothenic acid (methylation factor) 500mg
9. double zinc 100mg daily
10. double magnesium glycinate 800mg daily
11. add candibactrim AR one bottle as directed until gone
12. add candibactrim BR one bottle after completion of AR
Note: two supps above kill off candida and other nasty gut junk
13. olive leaf extract (pure encapsulations) again helps clear gut
11. eliminate dairy (most common food allergy in population)
12. eliminate high fructose corn syrup (this crap is in everything and is straight brain poison)
13. avoid wheat and gluten as much as possible (again just common allergens)
14. double d3 to 10000iu per day

NEW lab orders for follow ups on testosterone/d3/mag/ferritin/nueros/etc

New lab order for IGG food allergy testing – my gut inflammation was bad enough that he felt like we needed to firmly indentify the main culprits and get them out of the diet.

So off I went … I was about to do something “not so smart”

OK so here we go, I tend to be a little too practical some days so I reasoned well I am going to have to cross this bridge at some point so screw it I am ditching the Cymbalta. Now again my doctor DID NOT recommend this he told me we would have to wean VERY slowly because the withdrawal is severe. UMMM yeah understatement of the century. There are no words to explain what this poison does to your brain when you try to stop. Approx 30 days of hell….head spinning , nausea, vomiting, auditory hallucinations, NON_STOP suicidal urges. I don’t mean like man I wish I could die , I mean like your brain telling you you need to die every minute of every day for about one month. I often tell people now I have seen Hell I have no intentions of going back. During this time my wife contacted my doctor and he said “do you think he can tough it out?” to which she said I don;lt know but he refuses to go back on the meds. He advised her to stay close, keep me alive and that it should pass in time, if I became violently suicidal to call the police. It was that bad.

At about 30 days…my head started to clear and I knew that there was hope. I can still literally remember the first day I woke up and my head was not crawling with what felt like insects inside my brain. YAY.
So there I was…med free..albeit in a very dangerous manner that I DO NOT RECOMMEND. Taking my supps religiously, eating clean, and waiting on my next appt.

If for one second you think man it can’t be that bad I invite you to google Cymbalta withdrawal…the stories are real.
Part 6
Third appointment second lab review

First thing of course the doc asked me … “are you doing okay’ somewhat tentatively due to the fact that I had cold turkeyed the meds. “yes I feel better than I have felt in years” and I did. His reaction was I guess you would say pleasantly shocked. He said he had never seen anyone cold turkey cymbalta after being on that long successfully.

I was feeling pretty good really still a few lingering head issues (a little foggy etc) but compared to where I was…paradise.

The labs

Testosterone free and total – in normal range but on low side…remember that I had started back on my hrt at 100mg weekly.

Ferrritin – way down…huge reduction in inflammation which explained exactly why I was feeling better….things were starting to work on their own now.

D3 – perfect …now this is an interesting one…ask any traditional doctor and they will tell you that 10000 iu per day is WAY too much. But labs don’t lie, for whatever reason this is what I require to put me in optimal range. I would soon realize that this element alone was HUGELY responsible for my crippling bouts of depression in the fall and winter. But that revelation had not quite sunk in yet. Mentally I was starting to fear just a little the return of fall because that is where I traditionally hit rock bottom. I talked to the doc about this and he said “I know you are worried about that, its ok to be, but trust me this year will be very different.” I wasn’t quite convinced but at this point I certainly trusted him.

Nueros – still kind of out of wack for obvious reasons (discontinuation of cymbalta and brain not quite up to speed yet on getting back in gear)

IGG FOOD ALLERGY SCREENING

I will start by telling you a lot of people don’t believe in these, they say they produce false readings. I can’t speak for everyone but for me, eliminating the worst offenders changed my life, so I am a believer.

Basically they pull blood and test it for reaction to common food allegens (I don’t know the whole process but you can look into it at genova diagnostics).

They then rate them on a 0-3 scale with the 3’s being severe. Well it became pretty clear to me very quickly why my gut was so inflamed.

The 3’s

Beef – NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I was used to eating 1 lb of red meat daily

All fish – So much for the eat as much fish as you can theory. This goes back to the beginning of all this, just because a food is generally considered healthy does not mean it is healthy for you.

Peanuts – very common

Turkey – never liked it much anyway

Cow’s milk

Wheat -again very common

The 2’s

Casein protein

Oats

Misc grains and seeds none of which I consumed anyway

So what could I eat (especially WTF do I do for protein)

Chicken, eggs, most protein powders avoiding casein, pork

I could still eat beef and fish but had to limit to 1 or two servings per week max

I cut out ALL beverages except water

My diet became and still is basically around the following parameters:

Meal one - 60 grams protein with a serving of fruit or two along with morning vitamins also if I am gong to eat and crap (ie starches etc) this is where I do it

Meal two – 60 grams protein with green vegetable of some sort (partial to raw broccoli)

Meal three – basic whole food protein (either chicken or eggs) , lots of leafy green stuff (salads) and lots of veggies

Meal four – 60 grams protein and some fruit with afternoon vitamins
WORKOUT TIME

Meal 5 – Pretty much open…whatever wife makes….NO JUNK CARBS

Meal 6 – 60 gram protein shake …go to bed

For me this is easy…I don’t really have to prepare anything and I have been living on protein powders ever since the original MET-Rx back in the day when it was in two cans.

NO- its probably not the ULTIMATE bb diet or anything but for me, it avoids my food allergies and I feel good.

OK that was the end of that day with the doc:

So we hold everything on the supps except:

Having finished candibactrins and the olive leaf extract, we started on capryllic acid, again to assist in gut health.

All others were pretty much held steady.

Oops one more…and one reason I love my doc…he asked how I felt about my testosterone , I said well I know I would feel a lot better at 200mg per week, he said OK, I am not here to satisfy some arbitrary set of statistical data I am here to get you healthy and make sure you feel that way…YAY.

This appointment was in June, I had apprehension about the Fall coming up but other than that was doing pretty good.

Part 7
Updates and ongoing treatment

Well obviously I could keep going forever since I intend to continue seeing this doctor periodically forever. But I will just summarize a few things and leave it at that then if anything cool comes up I will fill you in.

First…Bingo on the d3 and my winter depression…sail thru winters now like they don’t even exist…truly amazing…remember it took 10000 iu per day to get me where I needed to be…make sure you are tested…don’t take this amount on your own…I would say 5000iu is perfectly fine though.

Physical condition – Just a great surprise…getting my gut working properly and fine tuning my nutrient levels has skyrocketed my physical condition…crap I think I can see abs! wasn’t sure I had them. I am now starting to believe that a lot of the “androgen bloat” we have is more to do with our toxic guts than the drugs we take, at least it is for me.

Current lab status – still slight inflammation present according to ferritin readings but still going down slow but surely…things just keep getting better, its kind of like race tuning your car…a little tweak here and there at this point.

Current physical status – before my severe episode that led to this treatment I was 295 and bloated like a pig , standard “look at me I’m a BB look”. At my worst (bad as you know) I dropped all the way to 235, and way out of shape….pretty much walking death. Now…265…fairly lean (working on that now) and holding more quality muscle than ever before. My legs took a beating, all the down time caused some spinal issues and I have some nerve pain that makes it hard to squat heavy. So I have to live on light squats, leg press, ext/curls etc. but I will take it, life is good.

Best wishes to you all, and remember it is truly darkest just before the dawn. God Bless you all.
Part 8
Retrospective

I knew I would think of something else to say, mainly stemming from questions asked by others.

1. I now know that my depression and “mental illness” stemmed all along from simple nutrient deficiencies that should have been caught and treated as a child but our ****ed up reactive medical system would rather “treat” than “heal”.

2. The decision of my GP to put me on prozac was the beginning of the real brain damage and the start of what would turn out to be a 20 year spiral into hell. Functional medicine should have been the FIRST approach, not the last.

3. I now see the reality of health care, there are no coincidences, why did prozac do from being the “wonder drug” to “not very effective on certain types of depression”? THE ****ING PATENT EXPIRED, THAT’S WHY!!

4. VERY IMPORTANT – while my story centers around depression the main point I want to hammer home is this…functional medicine as an approach treats the whole body/mind as a system…all disease originates from sub body subsystem failing for some reason. 90% of the time it is due to chemical imbalances or missing enzymatic reactions….DUE TO VITAMIN AND MINERAL DEFICIENCES …. NOT A ****ING LACK OF THE NUMBER OF MEDS YOU ARE TAKING.

5. Do not underestimate the importance of gut health , everything truly starts there, no vitamin/mineral/protein/medicine….NOTHING will ever work period if your gut does not work.

Take care…that’s it for now

dave · Jul 10, 2010

Intermeresting... Will have a full read through when I have the time.

Edit: Good Read

Darth76 · Feb 7, 2011

Okay, so I am doing this search for a supplement that a new Dr. I found in Indiana told me to take (and an entire list of 25 other supplements) and I find your blog and realize we have similar situations (including the part about being a VP for a small company).

Although I do not suffer from depression, I suffer from anxiety. Then I wonder how many Dr. Ralph Waldo's could there be in this world? I mean you live in Austriala and I live in the US. It is possible that there is more than one Dr. Waldo who is practicing psychiatry and treats issues with supplements and drains your body of blood to find out what is missing?

Is your Dr. Waldo the same as my Dr. Waldo?

I enjoyed reading your story. My journey is just starting. I would like to ask you more questions, but want to understand if there is a mirror image Dr. Waldo practicing medicine in your part of the world.

Be Well.

Christian · Feb 7, 2011

Darth76 said:
Okay, so I am doing this search for a supplement that a new Dr. I found in Indiana told me to take (and an entire list of 25 other supplements) and I find your blog and realize we have similar situations (including the part about being a VP for a small company).

Although I do not suffer from depression, I suffer from anxiety. Then I wonder how many Dr. Ralph Waldo's could there be in this world? I mean you live in Austriala and I live in the US. It is possible that there is more than one Dr. Waldo who is practicing psychiatry and treats issues with supplements and drains your body of blood to find out what is missing?

Is your Dr. Waldo the same as my Dr. Waldo?

I enjoyed reading your story. My journey is just starting. I would like to ask you more questions, but want to understand if there is a mirror image Dr. Waldo practicing medicine in your part of the world.

Be Well.

Hi there this isn't my case.. This is taken from another forum I am a member of and is their experiences.

I too suffer from anxiety and my research has lead me to believe it is related to cortisol and pregnenolone production.

brendon · Feb 7, 2011

good read.. i have a relative that was on prozac and somethin else for depression. it messed him up heaps more. the gut health thing is very interesting

kindred · Feb 8, 2011

It makes a lot of sense. Im sure my gut health is fucked without a doubt. I should really get some allergy tests done.

Bazza20 · Feb 8, 2011

Interesting read. Ive only skimmed through it so far and will read in full later. From my skimmed read noticed his solution contains some unproven and interesting theories but still an interesting read.

TTT · Feb 8, 2011

dude.. you posted part 3 twice instead of part 4..
can you get it please? cheers

Depression A journey... A patients perspective...

Christian

Active Member, June10MOTM

Christian

Active Member, June10MOTM

Christian

Active Member, June10MOTM

Christian

Active Member, June10MOTM

Christian

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dave

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Darth76

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Christian

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brendon

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TTT

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