When Natural's Not Enough

Thank you for sharing your story. A while back, I shared about (some of) my journey through depression /anxiety. I take meds for Hashimoto's and have felt that there can be judgment in the holistic health realm for that, too; I am a Holistic Nutritionist. My anxiety and overall symptoms pre-meds were so horrible and I am very grateful for my meds but also take many natural measures to support my health. While I respect everyone's right to choose and will have the back of anyone who chooses anti-depressants for themselves, I have suggested before (to a sister and a friend) that an individual give themselves a chunk of time to TRY nutritional changes, get some blood work done (ex TSH, sex hormones), do some counselling, etc. to see if these will get to the root issues- often doctor's do not even explore these options before offering an anti-depressant. If not, the meds are still an option.

Thank you for sharing your experience on this important topic that needs to be discussed more in the holistic world. "Conventional" medicine isn't an enemy to avoid at all costs.

Thank you so much for this story and I just want to give you a digital hug. Thank you.

Thank you so much for sharing this. I also suffer from GAD and started to take prescription for it. I am a strong believer in natural and holistic life, however with a disorder like this, it was the only way to go. Thank you again for sharing.

Finally! This is great to read. I am very into the natural remedies world and am planning to go to school for holistic nutrition- and I am on anti depressants. I have tried two times to come off of them and got so severely depressed I went right back on. Sometimes we need something stronger than natural. I believe in integrative medicine where sometimes pharmaceuticals and western medicine are beneficial. I always try natural remedies first but sometimes they just don't work. I would love to come off anti depressants one day and I may try again at some point but In the meantime they help-a lot, and I don't want to be scolded about that because until you've been severely depressed you have no right to tell me how I should handle my own health concern. Really good to see an article about balance and that sometimes you just don't have any other choice, and being happy is ultimately more healthy than anything in the end.

I just have to thank you for sharing your story! I've moved over to treating almost everything holistically, however I still take antidepressants, and the same as you - I have no intention going off of them anytime soon as I've tried all the alternatives and still ended up absolutely consumed by anxiety and depression. It's hard because I still sometimes feel guilty about taking them, even though I've seen what the alternative is and that is no way for me to live life. Thanks again! xx

Thank you so much for sharing this! I’m sure it has been no easy road, to not only find a treatment that works for you but also to find the support you need from the community. I agree wholeheartedly that holistic health is about ALL types of balance, including seeking pharmaceutical help when and where necessary. And I fully agree that you have to be your own advocate for your health, including telling well-meaning people that you appreciate their concern but fully intend to continue on the path that you feel is right for yourself based on the conversations you’ve had with your medical/healthcare team. Taking medications doesn’t mean a person can’t still practice holistic health in other realms of their life. And living a healthy, balanced lifestyle will only help the efficacy of the drugs you do take. Bravo and good luck on your journey!

This is not everyone's experience though, depression for me was caused by being neglected and unloved by family members but when I found true friends that really cared about me it did lift my depression. That's just my experience. I didn't have something wrong with my brain just never experienced love and trust. I would always choose a natural route. What I am bothered by is that people take like 12-30 drugs to counteract the side effects from the other drugs and the problem is still not solved. They are still as depressed as they were before. I wonder sometimes if the person is treated as a whole and I believe that their is a lack of love in our society. I also think that problems in the brain are real and not made up, so if a medication is working than that person has the right to decide for themselves if they are able to function with the help of medication.

I also suffer depression and on anxiety pills. How do I make the change the holistic route. I've been on pills almost a year and feel it's time now to make the life change. Thanks for posting definitely making me re think my life paths.

Brave post. Bravo! I've been a fan for a long time, and was sorry to read what you've gone through. Glad your immediate entourage is supportive. Interestingly, I had a very small scale situation of the same kind today. UTI, despite taking all the precautions, ugh! I'm holding out and trying super doses of Vit C, Oil of O, and a bit of baking soda....but if it's not gone by tomorrow, antibiotics it is! Sometimes the medicine is necessary, period. Stay healthy my dear, Louise

What a perfect way to remind us that to be "mental" means to be "human" and that conventional medicine is just that: conventional. Everything you have listed above, I have also heard in one way or another. Both my daughter and I experience depressive disorder. It has taken me 30 years to find the right combination of medication with many, many failures. It has taken my daughter two. My own education has helped her immeasurably, because...the medication combo that works for a parent, typically works also for a daughter or son. Genetics play a major role in mental health; it follows that response to treatment would also be similar. The wonderful thing about natural medicine and nutritional therapies is that there ARE answers. You can't access them, though, until you are no longer depressed and have achieved some balance! 1. You don't care. 2. You don't have the energy. 3. You can't concentrate. 4. You can't retain new information. 5. You can't execute even the things you desire most. And, 6. If you are also anxious, the amount of information out there will completely overwhelm you and make you want to hide. Through reading and referrals, I found an "integrative M.D." who helped ween me off SSRIs and replaced them with 5HTP. (You cannot take both at the same time because 5HTP does the same thing that the pharmaceutical does, thereby increasing your dosage.) The Xanax I took for anxiety has been replaced with GABA. And, my diet is nearly devoid of processed sugar. In addition I still take medication, but I take two, not four. And, I take nothing to help with side effects such as sleepiness, yawning, dry mouth, constipation, low (no) libido - because I don't experience side effects anymore. There are both conventional and alternative answers. In the case of mental health, conventional is the way to start to get better. When you are ready, you can look elsewhere. Good luck to you, Kate!

Great post and oh so true! You've got to do what you see fit FOR YOU and sometimes natural methods just are not going to cut it (as much as I wish they would). Sometimes I feel the same way about the hollistic community but it doesn't have to be all or nothing and not every solution works for each individual.

I am so glad you posted this piece. I find myself doing the same balance between conventional and holistic approaches and I truly believe that the answer often lies somewhere therein between. I went through chemo and radiation 8 years ago for breast cancer and felt so conflicted going from my Holistic Dr. to my Conventional Dr., both with completely opposing (and often sarcastic/harsh) views of the other. Why can't East meet West?!!! There are extremes with both. Thank you so much for posting this and for taking care of YOU without feeling the need to compromise the care you needed.

Hi Kate! I am very interested to your blog. I agree to your one piece of advice: You are the boss of your healthcare team. Absolutely Yes! You are the one who decide about what you really need to your health.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Hi Kate I'm new to the Joyous health website. I found this article you've written interesting and somewhat reassuring I guess. Im really struggling at the moment. I was diagnosed November last year with possible psoriatic arthritis. I've always been very healthy and passionate about nutrition and optimising your own health, so i was absolutely gutted and shell shocked to find myself with a possible auto immune disease. I had spent much time trying to prevent such a diagnosis like this ever happening in my life through addressing diet and lifestyle. I continued to look further into what i could do to help myself and amazingly over a month my symptoms got much better. The rheumatologist was impressed, said id gone into voluntary remission and didn't need to prescribe me anything. However 2 1/2 months later in the depth of winter i had a flare up. I thought i'd control it myself with the help of a naturopath. Things were mild but frustrating. Then suddenly i found myself feeling inflammation in other areas and i got scared. Inflammation wasn't going down. I'm still not taking any medication as I haven't seen my rheumatologist again yet as here in England on the nhs it takes a while to get an appointment. However what I'm saying is, no matter how committed i was to eliminating toxins from my body to heal myself, and adopt a positive approach to holistic healing, restricting my diet to an extremely anti inflammatory one, i find myself facing the most dreaded prospect of going down the conventional route I hadn't wanted to, and accepting i may need medication to help prevent the progression of my auto immune condition. I feel I've failed in some way, and especially as i had signed up to start a nutritional therapist course. I feel i can't join that "group" now despite the fact i'm not totally giving in. I will always approach my life using holistic principles via diet and lifestyle, alongside any medication i might need to take. It's very scary when you have young children too that depend upon you day and night to be the strong supportive parent when you feel less than strong when suffering pain and extreme fatigue. I DO believe, medical research has brought us a long way.There are medical specialists who DO know their stuff, more so than, say, a naturopath. I'm sorry to say that, but if things are out of hand and symptoms escalating, like they are for me at the moment, despite my utterly committed holistic approach, then it would be a mistake to not consider what conventional medicine has to offer, even if it's just to get back on track.