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Treatments for Lyme while on SSRI


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I was just wondering if anyone has experienced using multple herbals or natural treatments while on prescription drugs that recommend not to be? I ask, because my ODD and I are both on 2 psychiatric drugs for anxiety and depression OCD, Tics, etc. They all (1 especially) say not to mix with herbals due to potentially deadly side effects.

 

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Edited by jenbug
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I was just wondering if anyone has experienced using multple herbals or natural treatments while on prescription drugs that recommend not to be? I ask, because my ODD and I are both on 2 psychiatric drugs for anxiety and depression OCD, Tics, etc. They all (1 especially) say not to mix with herbals due to potentially deadly side effects.

 

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Not sure either of which you're referring to: SSRI's and/or herbal supplements. My DS takes low-dose Zoloft (an SSRI), and we have also successfully used certain herbs alongside for many months now. I'm sure it depends on which meds and supplements specifically you're referring to, and in what combinations. For instance, you wouldn't want to use both an SSRI and inositol because they both act as serotonin reuptake inhibitors and you could become "activated" by too much serotonin as a result, or potentially even suffer Serotonin Syndrome. I have heard, too, of some interactions with regard to some herbal remedies like St. John's Wort.

 

It would seem to me that the key would be to not "double-down" on the primary mechanism. So, while taking a prescription SSRI, you might want to focus on supplements that, say, address inflammation but not serontonin or dopamine, necessarily.

 

In addition to the Zoloft, my DS14 currently also takes magnesium, zinc, calcium, NAC, curcumin, quercitin, Vitamins B, C, D3 and E, taurine, milk thistle, coconut oil, fish oil and, on occasion when the anxiety is higher than average, valerian root. He also takes melatonin at night, and he's still taking abx, as well. At his last physical (April), all of his labs came back in the normal range, and he seems to suffer no ill effects from the combos.

 

Hope that helps!

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I agree...make sure you are not taking anything that gives the same effect as the current drug....

 

also nancy...i just wanted to find out how your son is doing with those supplements...i know we are in the same boat w/ the ocd....is it managed pretty well and you take the valarian root when needed?....i feel like my daughter is managing herself and learning how to cope....i just wish she didn't even have to try to cope and not even have the fears/anxiety over the thoughts (if that makes sense?).......also, i don't know if i ever asked...but, did you ever opt for the ivig?

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The main thing they're worried about with that is Serotonin Syndrome. I was unlucky enough to end up in the ER for it the first time I mixed Adderall & Celexa. If you consult your doctor on starting at a low dose of both & then working your way up you can avoid the toxicity because your body has time to compensate & effectively get used to the excess Serotonin.

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My husband is pushing to try SSRI's as well for my son's ocd as it really does interfere with all of our daily lives. ds10 is only two months into lyme treatment though and has a lot of health issues that I think warrant further time to see if treatment for them helps. He has heavy metal issues, marcons, low msh, and I'm currently looking into HPU/mold.

 

I'm not completely against SSRI's, just feel like they treat the symptoms vs. the underlying health problems and have a lot of scary side effects, BUT, if the underlying health problems can take months-years to treat, I would be willing to try them if they could offer my son relief from his ocd.

 

We've tried CB Therapy w/out success as my son's anxiety is too high to participate with any real success. His therapist (who also suffers from OCD) recommended anafranil and luvox combination for OCD, but, we have yet to go to psychiatrist to try these as he's in the middle of lyme treatment and I'm hopeful that it will help.

 

I just started ds on inositol, 5HTP, Passion Flower, and GABA supplements hoping maybe these will have some positive effect on reducing the ocd and I'm considering adding in St. Johns Wort. I worry about the serotonin syndrome though and haven't added the SJW yet because I haven't had time to see if all of these things together could cause this.

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I agree...make sure you are not taking anything that gives the same effect as the current drug....

 

also nancy...i just wanted to find out how your son is doing with those supplements...i know we are in the same boat w/ the ocd....is it managed pretty well and you take the valarian root when needed?....i feel like my daughter is managing herself and learning how to cope....i just wish she didn't even have to try to cope and not even have the fears/anxiety over the thoughts (if that makes sense?).......also, i don't know if i ever asked...but, did you ever opt for the ivig?

 

Yes, I hear you . . . and it makes perfect sense to me! Our kids have their whole adult lives for anxiety and worry; why should they have to deal with it at such young and tender ages? I'd love to see that dissipate entirely for my DS, as well; I just don't know if that's realistic, given his age, especially. But hopefully, giving him support and training and tools to deal with it and maybe even habituate to some of it will serve him well as he grows and matures. There is a flip side; he's extremely conscientious, accountable, empathetic and responsible, so if we can engender those reactions to a managable level of anxiety and help him learn to "throw away" the negative components/responses, then I expect he can have a very fulfilling adulthood!

 

Yes, we use valerian on an "as needed" basis; at times, it's been twice a day. Now, it's once a day or less, even, depending on what's on the calendar. His biggest triggers today (and pretty much always have been) are transitions; it just takes more effort for him to shift gears. The valerian helps.

 

We have looked preliminarily into IVIG but have decided against it, at least for the time being. He has no immune deficiencies and is actually hyper-immune, so the efficacy of it in his case is something I have not seen demonstrated. Also, he's doing quite well overall, so pulling out the "big guns" is something we hold in reserve.

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My husband is pushing to try SSRI's as well for my son's ocd as it really does interfere with all of our daily lives. ds10 is only two months into lyme treatment though and has a lot of health issues that I think warrant further time to see if treatment for them helps. He has heavy metal issues, marcons, low msh, and I'm currently looking into HPU/mold.

 

I'm not completely against SSRI's, just feel like they treat the symptoms vs. the underlying health problems and have a lot of scary side effects, BUT, if the underlying health problems can take months-years to treat, I would be willing to try them if they could offer my son relief from his ocd.

 

We've tried CB Therapy w/out success as my son's anxiety is too high to participate with any real success. His therapist (who also suffers from OCD) recommended anafranil and luvox combination for OCD, but, we have yet to go to psychiatrist to try these as he's in the middle of lyme treatment and I'm hopeful that it will help.

 

I just started ds on inositol, 5HTP, Passion Flower, and GABA supplements hoping maybe these will have some positive effect on reducing the ocd and I'm considering adding in St. Johns Wort. I worry about the serotonin syndrome though and haven't added the SJW yet because I haven't had time to see if all of these things together could cause this.

 

I totally agree that the SSRIs are only capable of treating the symptoms/responses and not the underlying illness driving the OCD; the goal is to eventually get to a place where the SSRI is obsolete for our DS. Our DS, also, couldn't participate in ERP until the abx had gotten in there and done some of the heavy lifting.

 

Unfortunately, we just didn't have much luck with non-prescription responses to the high-level OCD and anxiety like inositol. Perhaps he would require it in doses so high that we just couldn't imagine building up to. I don't know. I'm quite certain, on the other hand, that the NAC is helping him, but that works on glutamate rather than serotonin, so perhaps the mechanism is what makes the difference in our DS's case.

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