Sam-e Supplement

Well, no food supplement can subsititute the effect of any medications. However, some people with very mild anxiety issue may find some relief from certain food supplement in the beginning of the regimen but its effect will slowly get subsided either from getting used to it or finishing placebo effect. Your chiropractor is, not a medical internist, nice to suggest you an alternative means of coping anxiety but the final decision is rested on you whether you want to take a chance from the possible placebo effect of taking such food supplement and affect your relationship with your children or taking properly adminisitered prescription for the well being of your mood and benefits for caring your little ones.

Be prudent! Continue your routine medical check up.

Hello D.,

If you can try something natural first, I think is the best approach. Of course there is a time and place for everthing. If a natural suplement will help you that's great. Also evaluate your nutrition habits. Are you getting enough B-vitamins, enough calcium, magnesium, zinc, enough vitamin D, etc. are you consuming something that agravates your anxiety? by looking at the whole picture you can decide what's better for you. You don't want to use a cannon when a fly swater would do the job. Also you did not mention if you were already on anti-depressant drugs and switching to natural alternative.

I'm glad you're getting chiropractic treatment. Are your kids getting adjusted too?

here is a link about sam-e:
http://arthritis.about.com/od/same/SAMe_Sadenosylmethioni...

Another thing to take in consideration, some over the counter meds/pain killers will cause depression/anxiety, etc.
Good luck and find the treatment that's right for you. And like with everthing, natural /homeopathic supplements/meds do not have the same effects on everyone (just like meds). In other words, there is no silver bullet (or I just have not found it <smile>).
~Carmen~

I haven't taken it myself (I'm always pregnant or nursing so I don't take much besides a multi, probiotics and fish oil)- but I have heard good things about it. My husband is a homeopath and he doesn't have anything negative to say about it- worth a shot!

I have always noticed a huge boost in mood when I am taking cod liver oil.... fish oil is full of Vit D which we're not getting much of since the sunlight hours are fading.

I have to note- regarding those pushing pharmaceuticals- your body is not suffering from a lack of anti-depressant medication. Depression and chemical imbalances are not some freak occurrence, they are the result of your body, your NATURAL body, being out of balance. If you have the desire and passion to work on bringing it into balance in a world where you will have to be your own Sherlock Holmes since very few people KNOW how to bring a body into balance since we all just reach for pills, GO FOR IT! If you have too much going on in your life and not enough drive to search out a solution, or a lack of confidence in your ability to understand/get informed on all the options in the natural health world, you can go the pharmaceutical route and no one will think worse of you. Just remember, it is also an experiment- because it's not like they measure you and tell you exactly what chemicals are out of balance and in what proportions, then give you the exact remedy- I state this because people often act like prescription drugs are tailor made for you and always work. EITHER WAY, you will have to go by trial and error- and unfortunately not all supplements are alike! Some brands are sub-par and others are excellent.

I was diagnosed with clinical depression in high school and it lasted until my early twenties... I have worked hard with both pregnancies to supplement so I didn't go through post partum depression.

What I've found on my journey that helped was info in the following books: The Fourfold Path To Healing, Nourishing Traditions, The Garden of Fertility, and, for emotional support, Non-Violent Communication which gave me the tools I needed to talk myself through negative internal dialogue.

BEST OF LUCK!

Dear D.,

I agree with Queenie about keeping your medical appointment. I suffered from anxiety when my kids were smaller. I was in my mid thirties (now 49)and it hit me out of nowhere. I tried everything from SAM-E to vitamins to birth control pills and nothing helped. I was to the point of not functioning it was really affecting my health. I found a wonderful doctor who didn't ask the same stupid question WHATS GOING ON AT HOME? lets see two kids, a sick in law, maintaining a house, a business. Trust me that was not it. I was very accustomed to a hectic life. This was something that I could not control nor get a handle on. I finally gave into the stigma of going on to medication and it gave me my life back. It drives me crazy when people label people for getting help. Anxiety and
depression are real. I look at it as if I were a diabetic I just couldn't go to the health food store and take a supplement to make it go away. I definitely had a chemical imbalance going on and there was no vitamin or natural product that was going to help. I was only on medication for around a year and weened off gradually to see how I was feeling. That was around ten years ago and I am taking nothing now. I keep busy (that is key) and am at a different phase of my life PERIMENOPAUSE I do get anxious some days but I am able to control it differently now. I really think if you need to try medication there is nothing wrong with helping yourself just not Zanax it can be highly addictive. I took an anti depressant. Good luck to you. Feel Better!!