The Mood Cure: Take Charge of Your Emotions in 24 Hours Using Food and Supplements. Julia Ross
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The above directions apply to taking tryptophan, if you take it instead of 5-HTP, except that a tryptophan capsule contains 500 mg. It’s available only by mail order or on-line. Call my clinic at 800–733–9293 (www.dietcure.com), look at the Resource Tool Kit section on page 289 or Bios Biochemicals at 800–404–8185 (www.biochemicals.com) in the US.
Saint-John’s Wort
Take 1 capsule (300 mg) three times a day. This is the dose used in over twenty-five successful studies on Saint-John’s wort and mood. Use a glycerin tincture if you prefer drops. Drops seem to be more effective, as are all supplements that get absorbed through the mouth. For sleep problems, take your last dose by nine-thirty P.M.
SAM-e
If you get no improvement after one bottle, discontinue. If you do get improvement, you may be able to cut your dose in half after one or two bottles.
*AM=on arising; B=with breakfast; MM=midmorning; L=with lunch; MA=midafternoon; D=with dinner; BT=at bedtime.
Melatonin
Take 1 to 6 mg at bedtime. See chapter 12 for more on melatonin dosage.
When to Stop
Stop if you have any adverse effects from your supplements. Otherwise use your original part 1 score from the Four-Part Mood-Type Questionnaire as a baseline. Review your symptoms regularly to make sure they’re disappearing. If some, but not all, symptoms disappear, increase your dose of 5-HTP or try tryptophan or Saint-John’s wort. Check for a thyroid problem (page 65) or pyroluria (page 303) if no supplement is totally effective. Stop after you’ve finished each bottle of 5-HTP, tryptophan, or Saint-John’s wort to see if your low-serotonin symptoms come back. If not, you do not need to take any more of the supplements. Your serotonin buildup may be complete for now, but keep your supplements around for the occasional low day, especially in winter.
RECOMMENDED READING
Murray, Michael, N.D. 5-HTP (New York: Bantam Books, 1998).
Mathews-Larson, Joan, Ph.D. Depression-Free, Naturally (New York: Ballantine, 2000).
Norden, Michael, M.D. Beyond Prozac (New York: Regan Books, 1996).
Seiden, Othniel, M.D. 5-HTP: The Serotonin Connection (Rocklin, Calif.: Prima Publishing, 1998).
Sahelian, Ray, M.D. 5-HTP: Nature’s Serotonin Solution (New York: Avery, 1999).
Rebuilding Your Energy, Motivation, and Capacity to Focus
Our clinic has had a major impact on the local coffee merchants. Because of us, they’ve lost hundreds of their former hard-core customers. Our secret? Being able to restore animation, energy, and focus naturally. If you can’t get going in the morning without caffeine, if you can’t remember the last time you were genuinely excited about things or able to concentrate easily, this chapter is for you.
In “Lifting the Dark Cloud,” I described a type of depression known for its symptoms of negativity, irritability, anxiety, sleeplessness, and obsessive behavior. That syndrome arises from a lack of the neurotransmitter serotonin. In this chapter, I talk about a different brand of depression (although you could have both)—a state in which, rather than too little sleep, you may get too much sleep and have trouble dragging yourself out of bed. One in which you may often wish you were obsessive, because you don’t seem to have enough focus and concentration to get things done. Rather than feeling emotionally agitated, you may not feel much of anything. Rather than getting angry or upset at people, you may just nod and give in because you can’t summon up the energy to react. Rather than being full of dark clouds, your mental sky may be colorless. I call this type of depression “the blahs.”
There are two obstacles that could be at the root of your problem, and their mental and emotional effects can be almost identical: one is a lack of a group of vitalizing brain chemicals called “catecholamines.” The second is a lack of vitalizing thyroid hormones. Since, like many people, you could be lacking in both, be sure to read this entire chapter to sort through each of the possible causes of your blahs, as well as each set of solutions I propose. But don’t be discouraged. Even if you have the double blahs, you’ll find that getting revved back up on a permanent basis is quite doable.
THE THREE CATS: HOW BRAIN SLUMP HAPPENS
Let’s start with brain stall. If your brain is producing lots of the catecholamines, you should feel energized, upbeat, and alert. If your system is underproducing any one of them, you will suffer from some form of the blahs. There are three kinds of catecholamines: dopamine, norepinephrine, and the best known of the trio, adrenaline. Since there are more similarities than differences among the three, and to spare you repetition of these awkward names, I’m going to call them collectively the “cats.”
Your sparkle—the feeling of zest and excitement that may be missing from your life—is derived from this trio of supercharged brain chemicals. All three cats can arouse and excite you emotionally, mentally, and physically if they’re working up to speed. Dopamine, the parent cat, produces the other two and is the most prolific in your brain. Its two offspring, norepinephrine and adrenaline, are very active in your brain as well, but they’re also famous for their activity in your adrenal glands, where they provide the jolts of energy that help you respond to stress.
“Attention!” is the cats’ marching call. Cats are intended to make you alert to all of the important events taking place around and within you, so that you can act on them quickly and decisively. They enthuse you in the face of positive news and alarm you in the face of threats. They prime you to take action and even program your physical movements. They are your internal cheering squad and drill sergeant combined.
The extent to which you are extroverted or introverted likely depends on how much cat activity your brain is producing. If you tend to be the quieter one—more the listener than the outgoing conversationalist—it could be a cat issue. Watch and see if you don’t start taking up more verbal space, sharing more of yourself, when your biochemistry becomes more extroverted.
The cats are particularly active under high-stress conditions, but any exciting prospect can elevate their levels: the anticipation of a meal, a run, or a vacation, for example. If you’re low in the cat department, though, you may not react strongly to anything. Having too few cats is also why you may have trouble with focus and concentration. Are you deficient in the number one cat function: attentiveness? Even when paying attention involves being physically still, extraordinary mental activity may be required. For example, the cats should be very busy while you read a book. If you find yourself rereading paragraphs, your distractibility probably has to do with having too few cats on duty.
Easily distracted people have sleeping cats. The areas in their brains that contain the most cats may work pretty normally until they turn to a project that requires concentration. Then the cats can get strangely quiet, and quiet cats can’t get your attention.
If you’re low in any of your cats, you’re almost guaranteed to be drawn to stimulating substances of some kind. How much do you like cat boosters like coffee, chocolate, or NutraSweet? Are you one of the people for whom tobacco, alcohol, or marijuana acts like an “upper”