by heartandsoul
(Missouri, USA)
I began taking SAMe, (Nutralife), 9 MONTHS AGO, after I QUIT..(tapered off gradually) my psychiatric medications...(antidepressants, antipsychotics, sedatives), AGAINST my psychiatrists' orders, following 2 episodes of serotonin syndrome, and being so overmedicated for several years, that I was barely functional, and had fallen several times, (one resulted in a concussion), and my family had threatened to put me in an assisted living center.
BUT, I have to say here though, that the depression that I experienced going off of the drugs until I was sure that they were out of my system, was S0 severe that I checked myself into the psych ward for the weekend...It was dangerous..and I wasn't safe alone, I realized that.
I have waited this long to tell my story anywhere, because I wanted to be sure the SAMe worked, continued to work, and didn't have side effects I couldn't tolerate.
Here's my history:
I have been on total disability for mental illness, fibromyalgia, and arthritis for 13 years.
I am (female), almost 60, and have NEVER, since I was in grade school, NOT been on some kind of medication for psychiatric symptoms. EXCEPT when I was pregnant or breastfeeding.
Let me repeat that:
More than 50 years of psychiatric medication non -stop except for those episodes of time.
Due to 3 generations of mental illness preceeding me, I have been treated for Major Depression with Psychotic Features, OCD, and anxiety disorder, and bi-polar disorder.
OKAY... 9 months have passed, and ALL my symptoms of depression are gone (the SAMe started to work within a week), and have stayed gone, as long as I have stayed above 800mgs. daily, of the SAMe.
Getting relief from my symptoms of fibromyalgia and arthritis, have necessitated a higher doseage. I have had to take 1200 mgs. daily, and still have needed occasional doses of steroids during the occasional flare up..but I am off of 80 percent of the narcotic pain meds. and muscle relaxers for those conditions. I am however, taking Lyrica 225 twice daily, and Arthrotec.
BUT: ALL OF THE PSYCHIATRIC SYMPTOMS THAT I HAD BEEN TREATED FOR THROUGHOUT MY LIFE ARE GONE...GONE!!!
No depression, and none of the very mild and occasional disassociation or hearing voices that had continued to plague me) For 9 MONTHS!!
I have not been free of these symptoms ever, in my entire life...EVER...even when TAKING THE PSYCHIATRIC MEDICATIONS that I have always taken.
SO...That is my testimony for SAMe!
I am AWARE that people with bipolar disorder shouldn't take SAMe....my only explanation as to why I have not had any mania with it is that that diagnosis was not definite or shared by every doctor I saw.
So, what am I doing now that I am free of depression and my fibromyalgia and arthritis are more manageable?
I am enjoying my family, planning to begin to work again, (part time to begin), and maybe even meeting someone!
That's my testimony...I hope it helps someone else!
And I would like to say also, there is no guarantee, since everyones' brain chemistry is different, that you will have the same miraculous results. And, PLEASE, PLEASE, be careful!
Going off of medication alone is DANGEROUS, and only a lifetime of receiving counseling as part of my treatment for depression, a masters degree in counseling other people, constant contact with my close friends AND checking myself in to the psych ward for the weekend, got me thru the suicidal (!) depression that I experienced while I was waiting for the drugs to get out of my system so I could start the SAMe...
But I hope and pray that you will be helped by my testimony...SAMe has changed my life, or rather given me one.!!!