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[Guest guest]

Hello,

 

My name is Anna. I'm originally from the Bay Area but have recently

relocated to Connecticut. After 8 years of most unsuccessful psychiatric

treatment I decided to look for alternative ways to treat my illness.

 

The so-called professionals can't even agree on what's wrong with me. I've

lost track of how many different psychiatrists I've seen and each one

changed my diagnosis. First it was clinical depression, then it was bipolar

disorder, then borderline personality disorder, then back to bipolar

disorder. I've also at various times been told I have agoraphobia,

generalized anxiety disorder, and social anxiety disorder. I've been on

pretty much every antidepressant and mood stabilizer there is plus a few

antipsychotics. None relieved my symptoms for more than a few weeks at a

time, the side effects were debilitating (I lost a great job because I was

sleeping 18 hours a day and the only man I've ever loved ended our

relationship because I became sexually dysfunctional), and paying for the

drugs nearly bankrupted me. When I was first prescribed antidepressants I

was assured they were non-habit forming, but when I tried to go off Paxil,

the withdrawal was so extreme I had to be hospitalized. And during this

" treatment " I had to hospitalized five times and attempted suicide three

times.

 

At the beginning of this year I started reading about treating mental

illness naturally. I'm currently using flaxseed oil, St. John's Wort, and

exercise. I'm also trying to maintain a healthy diet, but seeing as I have

60 cents to my name, that's a little difficult right now. I've just started

a Master's program and moving here drained my savings; my university won't

give me my financial aid refund until October at the earliest and my new job

won't start paying me until October. I can access my financial aid only

through my school ID card which can only be used on-campus and at approved

restaurants. There are some vegan options available through these

retailers, but one can only eat so many salads with vinaigrette and drink so

many Odwallas. And I seriously doubt the veggies at the salad bar are

organic.

 

Anyway, I'm dong pretty good so far. I suffer from nausea if I forget to

take my St. John's Wort. Once I have some more income I plan on trying

something that hopefully won't cause this.

 

I've enjoyed the posts I've read so far and look forward to learning more.

 

Love,

Anna