Alternative Treatment for Clinical Depression ?
Q.Several years ago, after being treated with Paxil for clinical depression, I started doing some research. I was not happy with the effects of Paxil. Altho it did help my depression, it did nothing for other symptoms I was having, and I started thinking about cause and effect.
A.I came to the conclusion that my depression was a symptom, not a root problem, of a problem that was basically electrical in nature. I didn't "have depression," I had a nervous problem and the mistakes it caused me to make then made me depressed. Paxil just made me feel good about making bad decisions (could this explain the incidents of anti-depressant users becoming homicidal/suicidal?). I came across the Dreyfus Medical Foundation, which publishes two books. One is the story of Jack Dreyfus (financial guru, for those of you old enough to remember the TV commercials for the Dreyfus Mutual Fund) and his discovery of Dilantin (he had the same electrical problem as I do) titled "A Remarkable Medicine Has Been Overlooked" and the other is a compilation of s tudies on alternative uses for Dilantin and gets quite technical, titled "The Broad Range of Clinical Use of Phenytoin." I've read/skimmed his book afew years ago. I cant say I liked it very much, but it was more his writing style than topic that I found abit lacking. There's a few anticonvulsant drugs used as a "last resort" when more typical antidepressants do not appear to help. I've had docs try a few on me. Unfortunately, offhand I can only remember one of them. Depakote (Valproic Acid). I was on depakote for a couple months and didn't notice any effect or even a real side-effect? Then again, I appear to be a difficult case... or so docs like to tell me. ;) The anti-convulsants are often used as a "mood stabilizer" in bipolar disorder. This is nothing new. You may want to investigate trying Tegretol instead of Dilantin. Dilantin causes gum tissue to overgrow ("gingival hypertrophy") and can ruin one's dental health. The gum surgery is very painful and expensive, i've heard.
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