Ok thanks.

I have depression, clinically diagnosed. Before I was diagnosed I did not know that I had it. I felt the way you are describing a lot of times, I also was paranoid that people talked about me all the time, that takes a toll on having any real friends. When I started to realize something might be wrong I did try St Johns Wort. It did not work. When I got on the prescription meds from my doctor they did amazing things for me. You know before then I always worried about what they would do to me and about being dependant on a pill for the rest of my life.

Now that I have taken them (and have for about 6 years) I can tell you, I would not trade them for anything. They did not alter who I was, they just altered how I felt all the time. So, I need a pill everyday to ward off bad feelings, it is better to take one everyday then to go back to being depressed and paranoid all the time.

When my husband and I were dating and I told him about the medication. (By the way I was scared of his reaction.) He said something very wise that I still think a lot on to this day. He said, "So you need a little pill everyday, that is no different than a diabetic needing insulin."

So if you are just scared of being diagnosed with it, I am here to tell you that any discomfort that you feel about it will be well worth it in the end if that is truly your problem.

I know I rambled but... I wish I could tell everyone how much better life is when you are not consistenly depressed. Yes sometimes I still get depressed but I am not always depressed.

Hope this helped.

Trish

My friend who was on meds for cholesterol for YEARS and couldn't get the #'s to come down started taking omega 3 and with in a few months, her cholesterol levels were almost normal...her doctor was amazed.

I've also read that taking to much is dangerous.... its almost like taking a blood thinner:

Blood-thinning Medications
Omega-3 fatty acids may increase the blood-thinning effects of aspirin or warfarin. While the combination of aspirin and omega-3 fatty acids may actually be helpful under certain circumstances (such as heart disease), they should only be taken together under the guidance and supervision of your healthcare provider.

http://www.umm.edu/altmed/ConsSupple...tyAcidscs.html (excellent article) read the precautions at the bottom.

Here's another article:
http://www.americanheart.org/present...dentifier=4632


So, with that, make sure you check with your doctor on the amount and I also read that you should not take them on day basis, days when you are eating oily fish such as tuna.


.

About 6 years ago I was diagnosed with depression (which is VERY common in my family) and went on prozac for about 2 years to help with it. In-between then and about 6 months ago I was doing pretty well and then it hit me again. I'm currently a student and have no health insurance so I tried the st. johns wort, and for me it works quite well. There are a couple of studies on it's effectiveness in peer-reviewed journals and it's cheaper than sam-e, so it might work.

The ones I take you just take 2 per day in the morning (what's with that 3x/day thing?????), and are about multi-vitamin sized. They have a slight smell but it doesen't really bother me much and is worth it as I'm having much less trouble since starting. HTH