Suggestions for those suffering from clinical depression, also known as major depressive disorder or dysthymia


        SUGGESTIONS FOR THOSE SUFFERING FROM CLINICAL DEPRESSION, ALSO KNOWN AS MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER OR DYSTHYMIA
Major depressive disorder and dysthymia are officially recognized conditions. By definition major depressive disorder disrupts one's capacity to function and enjoy one's life. It is reasonably severe and lasts for at least two weeks. Dysthymia is less severe in terms of the number of symptoms required for its diagnosis, but is by definition rather chronic and, as such, also exacts a toll of one's life.
The directions for getting started on St John's Wort are the same as those described above. If you experience no response within five weeks, however, and are experiencing no unacceptable side-effects, you may consider pushing up the dosage to eight, 11 or even 13 135-mg tablets per day. Maintain the three times a day dosing schedule, remembering to take St John's Wort with food, and wait at least three or four days between dosage increments. There is a range of effective dosages for all other antidepressants and there is no reason to believe that such a range would not apply for St John's Wort as well. Sometimes a full clinical response to an anti-depressant will not be observed until the dosage is pushed into the higher levels of the accepted therapeutic range. So far there has been only one published clinical trial in which 1,800 mg (about 13 Kira™ tablets) of St John's Wort were given per day. According to the researcher in charge of the study, levels of side-effects were not noticeably higher for the 1,800-mg per day dosage than he has generally observed when treating people with the more conventional 900-mg per day dosage.
Unless the depression is really severe, it is quite reasonable to use St John's Wort as a first-line treatment, in combination with other methods of promoting an anti-depressant lifestyle. Monitor your symptoms as described above. Since it is a daily log, as opposed to the weekly log provided above, it enables you to get a more fine-tuned sense of your mood control and helps you to recognize influences that may have an adverse or beneficial effect on your mood. Subtle mood cycles can also become apparent, and their pattern may suggest certain specific types of treatment.
Once again, allow five to six weeks for the treatment to work. If it doesn't work by that time, consult your doctor about either adding an anti-depressant or switching to a more conventional anti-depressant. On the other hand, if you have detected a partial response and your symptoms are not too severe, you may want to wait a further few weeks before deciding on making any other medical changes.
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Anti-Depressants/Sleeping Aid
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