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GET YOUR VITAMIN LEVELS CHECKED! IT COULD CURE DEPRESSION...
7 years ago
I thought I should share this little personal story of my life, because I see so many people all over the online world constantly talking about depression, especially when they don't know why they are depressed.
As silly as this may sound, get your vitamin levels checked by a doctor ordered blood test. AND MAKE SURE YOU SEE THE RESULTS AND HAVE THEM EXPLAINED TO YOU!
Vitamin D deficiency is a MASSIVE cause of modern "misdiagnosed" depression.
I was on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds for YEARS dating back to before high school, and all they did was make me MORE depressed, almost to the point of being suicidal, or just left me a drooling zombie in the corner.
The most common side effect of anti-depressants is MORE DEPRESSION!
No amount of people saying "I care about you." or "Hang in there buddy." or "Here's some hobby that works for me, try something like that yourself." ever works...
You gotta take action in your own life.
So I got off those meds (even when my doctor at the time said I shouldn't) and things improved IMMENSELY for me when I got OFF the anti-depressants and weaning off ADHD meds near the end of highschool and beginning of college... I started making friends and going to parties for the first time in my life because I wasn't a drooling drugged out depression zombie in the corner any more. I was hyper and happy!... But I still was quite often feeling "kinda down" and having anxiety issues, without knowing why.
At this point I was and adult and decided I should start looking for new doctors.
Why should I be on anti-depressants if being off them not only made me feel better, but started making me more "stable"? So any doctor that said "Let me prescribe some anti-depressants-anxiety meds for you." was a doctor I wasn't going to stay with.
After 4 doctors all wanting to throw expensive medications at me WITHOUT so much as BLOOD TESTING for ANYTHING!
I finally found a doctor that simply asked me, "Do you spend a lot of time inside and away from the sun? Or do you get at least 30 minutes of sun every day? And do you take any sort of vitamins or dietary supplements?"
When I said, "Oh god no, I'm inside almost all the time on my computer! It's too damn hot and nasty outside during the day. The only time I am outside is when I'm walking to my car or from my car back to my house."
He then says, "Hummmmm... Let's do a quick blood test to check everything out."
I get the blood test done.
He personally calls me a day later with the results and says "You are severely lacking vitamin D... Almost dangerously so. You NEED to take 5000 to 6000iu vitamin D a day and let me know if there is any change in mood after 2 weeks." He also explained a bunch about serotonin and dopamine and certain brain and body chemistry that is dependent on, specifically, vitamin D levels, including IMMUNE SYSTEM STRENGTH... Which would explain why I was sick a lot more back then than I have been since.
I started taking daily and Vitamin D supplements. I went a little overboard with it but you just piss out what you don't use with vitamin D...
Well...
After the first week, hell within 4 days, I was feeling better and better. By 2 weeks I hadn't had a single bout of unfounded depression and was a shit ton less anxious too! I wasn't scared to answer the phone, I wasn't avoiding people online any more...
It was like a switch had been flipped for me...
Things finally felt STABLE for me.
All without expensive meds and their nasty side effects.
Apparently depression is one of the most over-diagnosed medical conditions in the US, because greedy doctors often get massive benefits from pharmaceutical companies to prescribe anti-depressants any time someone says they are feeling "sad" for any reason, and there is little to no oversight on what doctors do or do not prescribe to patients even when a diagnosis or prescription is insanely WRONG!
That old saying of "The Doctor knows best!" is pure and absolute dangerous BULLSHIT!
ALWAYS GET A SECOND OPINION!
Or third, or fourth...
I'm still amazed it took me 5 doctors to get one that wasn't just a shill for big drug companies.
You shouldn't have to be the one to tell the doctors how to doctor properly, but those seem to be the times we live in, outright DEMAND a damn blood test and then make sure they SHOW YOU THE RESULTS from the lab.
I believe the rate of serious vitamin D deficiency, 10 years ago, was 1 in 4 people, and it is likely even worse now with social media and people buried in their cellphones and computers all the time... The actual rate of chemical "clinical" depression (depressed for most your life for no reason) was something tiny, under 1.5% if I remember correctly, so odds are pretty good it may just be something simple like a vitamin deficiency.
Some of the other things that are a shit ton more common than actual "clinical" depression that cause depression like symptoms are hypothyroidism, low blood sugar, certain food sensitivities (GUYS NEED TO STAY AWAY FROM SOY!!! Not only can it grow "bitch tits" but can chemically fuck with male hormone levels and cause depression like symptoms and mood swings in high enough amounts as it is a natural estrogen, so for women it does the opposite and helps a shit ton for the ladies)... I'm sure there is more, but I'm going off the cuff from personal research and experience here.
But seriously, if you are feeling sad or strangely anxious for no real reasons, treatment may be a shit ton simpler than you may think..
I am still AMAZED at how my life changed for the better years ago when I finally found a doctor that wasn't just a legal drug dealer in disguise... And it was something so goddamned simple and cheap as taking a vitamin supplement!
P.S. Also...
QUIT SOCIAL MEDIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ANY online "social" media that involves "ratings" or "thumbs up and thumbs down" kind of stuff is DESIGNED TO BE ADDICTIVE!!! People post bullshit or only show you the good parts of their lives, causing you to compare their lives to your own aaaannnnnd DEPRESSION, or they post bad shit to try and get attention and sympathy aaaaannnnd DEPRESSION... Social media companies have been in trouble many times for UNETHICALLY MANIPULATING THEIR USERS IN UNSANCTIONED PSYCHOLOGICAL "EXPERIMENTS", some even causing suicides!
Everyone has a cellphone or email these days, call them or text them instead of involving random strangers in your life on social media for "likes".
Social media in general is the least social thing you can do.
PULL THE PLUG ON SOCIAL MEDIA!
Take your vitamin D.
Life may not be as shitty as you may think it is. ^_^
As silly as this may sound, get your vitamin levels checked by a doctor ordered blood test. AND MAKE SURE YOU SEE THE RESULTS AND HAVE THEM EXPLAINED TO YOU!
Vitamin D deficiency is a MASSIVE cause of modern "misdiagnosed" depression.
I was on anti-depressants and anti-anxiety meds for YEARS dating back to before high school, and all they did was make me MORE depressed, almost to the point of being suicidal, or just left me a drooling zombie in the corner.
The most common side effect of anti-depressants is MORE DEPRESSION!
No amount of people saying "I care about you." or "Hang in there buddy." or "Here's some hobby that works for me, try something like that yourself." ever works...
You gotta take action in your own life.
So I got off those meds (even when my doctor at the time said I shouldn't) and things improved IMMENSELY for me when I got OFF the anti-depressants and weaning off ADHD meds near the end of highschool and beginning of college... I started making friends and going to parties for the first time in my life because I wasn't a drooling drugged out depression zombie in the corner any more. I was hyper and happy!... But I still was quite often feeling "kinda down" and having anxiety issues, without knowing why.
At this point I was and adult and decided I should start looking for new doctors.
Why should I be on anti-depressants if being off them not only made me feel better, but started making me more "stable"? So any doctor that said "Let me prescribe some anti-depressants-anxiety meds for you." was a doctor I wasn't going to stay with.
After 4 doctors all wanting to throw expensive medications at me WITHOUT so much as BLOOD TESTING for ANYTHING!
I finally found a doctor that simply asked me, "Do you spend a lot of time inside and away from the sun? Or do you get at least 30 minutes of sun every day? And do you take any sort of vitamins or dietary supplements?"
When I said, "Oh god no, I'm inside almost all the time on my computer! It's too damn hot and nasty outside during the day. The only time I am outside is when I'm walking to my car or from my car back to my house."
He then says, "Hummmmm... Let's do a quick blood test to check everything out."
I get the blood test done.
He personally calls me a day later with the results and says "You are severely lacking vitamin D... Almost dangerously so. You NEED to take 5000 to 6000iu vitamin D a day and let me know if there is any change in mood after 2 weeks." He also explained a bunch about serotonin and dopamine and certain brain and body chemistry that is dependent on, specifically, vitamin D levels, including IMMUNE SYSTEM STRENGTH... Which would explain why I was sick a lot more back then than I have been since.
I started taking daily and Vitamin D supplements. I went a little overboard with it but you just piss out what you don't use with vitamin D...
Well...
After the first week, hell within 4 days, I was feeling better and better. By 2 weeks I hadn't had a single bout of unfounded depression and was a shit ton less anxious too! I wasn't scared to answer the phone, I wasn't avoiding people online any more...
It was like a switch had been flipped for me...
Things finally felt STABLE for me.
All without expensive meds and their nasty side effects.
Apparently depression is one of the most over-diagnosed medical conditions in the US, because greedy doctors often get massive benefits from pharmaceutical companies to prescribe anti-depressants any time someone says they are feeling "sad" for any reason, and there is little to no oversight on what doctors do or do not prescribe to patients even when a diagnosis or prescription is insanely WRONG!
That old saying of "The Doctor knows best!" is pure and absolute dangerous BULLSHIT!
ALWAYS GET A SECOND OPINION!
Or third, or fourth...
I'm still amazed it took me 5 doctors to get one that wasn't just a shill for big drug companies.
You shouldn't have to be the one to tell the doctors how to doctor properly, but those seem to be the times we live in, outright DEMAND a damn blood test and then make sure they SHOW YOU THE RESULTS from the lab.
I believe the rate of serious vitamin D deficiency, 10 years ago, was 1 in 4 people, and it is likely even worse now with social media and people buried in their cellphones and computers all the time... The actual rate of chemical "clinical" depression (depressed for most your life for no reason) was something tiny, under 1.5% if I remember correctly, so odds are pretty good it may just be something simple like a vitamin deficiency.
Some of the other things that are a shit ton more common than actual "clinical" depression that cause depression like symptoms are hypothyroidism, low blood sugar, certain food sensitivities (GUYS NEED TO STAY AWAY FROM SOY!!! Not only can it grow "bitch tits" but can chemically fuck with male hormone levels and cause depression like symptoms and mood swings in high enough amounts as it is a natural estrogen, so for women it does the opposite and helps a shit ton for the ladies)... I'm sure there is more, but I'm going off the cuff from personal research and experience here.
But seriously, if you are feeling sad or strangely anxious for no real reasons, treatment may be a shit ton simpler than you may think..
I am still AMAZED at how my life changed for the better years ago when I finally found a doctor that wasn't just a legal drug dealer in disguise... And it was something so goddamned simple and cheap as taking a vitamin supplement!
P.S. Also...
QUIT SOCIAL MEDIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ANY online "social" media that involves "ratings" or "thumbs up and thumbs down" kind of stuff is DESIGNED TO BE ADDICTIVE!!! People post bullshit or only show you the good parts of their lives, causing you to compare their lives to your own aaaannnnnd DEPRESSION, or they post bad shit to try and get attention and sympathy aaaaannnnd DEPRESSION... Social media companies have been in trouble many times for UNETHICALLY MANIPULATING THEIR USERS IN UNSANCTIONED PSYCHOLOGICAL "EXPERIMENTS", some even causing suicides!
Everyone has a cellphone or email these days, call them or text them instead of involving random strangers in your life on social media for "likes".
Social media in general is the least social thing you can do.
PULL THE PLUG ON SOCIAL MEDIA!
Take your vitamin D.
Life may not be as shitty as you may think it is. ^_^
Though, these days, I know some people actually LIKE being depressed because it gets them attention and pats on the back and sympathy from idiots online. To quote a person I grew up with, "I'd rather be depressed and on drugs than get skin cancer from the sun." This was said after a comment about me being "annoyingly happy too much" after shit in my life started getting batter. Though she is freakishly bipolar and there really isn't anything simple to fix that.
But yeah, all those people that are saying "Stop whining about being depressed, and go spend some time outside." are absolutely right. IT's just amazing at how simple it is to "cure" an over diagnosed "clinical" problem with something as simple as sunlight or a vitamin supplement.
Recommended Vitamin dosages are meant for healthy individuals, if someone is under stress, a little more than 100% is not a bad idea, especially with Vitamin C since it is well tolerated in excess and is very good at reducing stress hormones, and the recommended daily dose of it may be too low.
Another tip: pure calories such as from junk food (oils and carbohydrates) result in eating addictions and weight gain, especially for people who sit on their butts all day long. That is a symptom of protein deficiency. Active people get enough protein because they eat a lot of food and work off the energy. Sedentary people eat barely enough to avoid getting fat (if they try hard enough to avoid overeating), but don't get enough protein, so their body tries to make up for it and cause them to be hungry and eat more, thus weight gain. The 50 grams of protein recommended allowance (if you go by the Nutrition Facts percentages) is too low for an average adult, especially since people are taller now than they used to be 40 years ago when those guidelines were made. 75-90 grams is closer to the right amount.
Thank you for adding to this post.
Obviously sun exposure and vitamin levels are different for every person, and things like amount of exposed skin, height, weight, skin color all play a part, and agin, good point with the windows as they block a lot if not all of the UV rays, especially in cars since even clear windows will have a tint or UV coating.
As I have said before, it is amazing at how simple it is to fix what some people and even so-called "professionals", consider a "complex" problem, when it really isn't.
Be it laziness or just the way modern life is set up, there is no need to take heavy and dangerous drugs for many things, but many people don't think about it outside the box that pill-popping "direct to consumer drug advertising" society has stuck them in.
I never would have thought to go against my doctor's orders if it hadn't been for finding out that I got better OFF the drugs than I was on them. Been prescription drug free for over 10 years now.
There really is wisdom and a good reason parents and others always said "You need to spend more time outside and not in front of your computer/tv/book/videogames all day"... Though we don't realize this till we are full on adults and no one younger wants to listen, repeating the cycle over and over. *chuckles*
Doctor: I told you that you need to go for a 1-2 mile walk every other day.
Fat Ass Patient: That's too much, so I just watch videos of people walking while I edit photos of myself to look skinny on instagram for my "followers".
Doctor: *facepalms* So.... You'll be needing the extra large coffin then?
That bag of Doritos chips they just opened has winded them for the day...
They can barely do the heavy lifting with that two liter bottle of Coca Cola next.
Though the sunning thing has its own drawbacks with the fact you can't use sunblock lotion as it defeats the vitamin D creation, so it becomes a skin cancer risk to super white people if the sun is overly harsh.
I remember one time I was feeling all faint and tingly and shit before going to a friends party, and my boyfriend at the time was all worried he would need to call an ambulance, so I sit down in the sun for a bit to see if it would pass and after about 10 minutes in the sun I was already feeling better. Apparently that was yet another issue with extremely low vitamin D... But it was another one of those things where if I mentioned it to my doctor at the time, he wanted to give me hard drugs to treat.
What I absolutely love is that not only can vitamin D get rid of depression (and help with calcium absorption) but also helps with dealing with possible future depressing things. Like some shitty stuff has been going on in my life in the last few months that would have had me having a mental breakdown and rocking back and forth in in the shower years ago, and I'm just like "Well, we deal with this, and crap isn't as bad as we think" and even my husband is like "Dude... How can you not be depressed right now?"
Though my sleeping habits are another issue entirely... I swear I come from a line of humans that evolved from bats or something because I cannot function during the daylight hours. Yet another reason for the vitamin D need being so high. lol
And more are coming out almost every day.
It seems that "social media" as a whole has become a detriment to 1st world society in general.
People often feel now that if they drop a line to someone in social media that it means they don't "have" to hang out with said people in real life.
I used to have full on anxiety attacks over the littlest shit... The full on, rocking back and forth, unable to breathe, passing out, kind.
I'd get depressed over shit like literal spilled milk when I was still on anti-depressants.
I haven't had one since I got off the meds... Even big shit like a recent car collision that totalled my awesome little SUV didn't have me breaking down, I was more pissed than anything which is a lot more useful than rocking back and forth lol.
Here's hoping that is all it is for you too, just a vitamin deficiency. There are more and more reports and studies showing that even with the unbelievably small amount of people with actual real clinical depression (chemical imbalances or brain abnormalities) even they show improvements with "less" meds and more vitamin monitoring.
ANY online 'social' media that involves 'ratings' or 'thumbs up and thumbs down'"
*Standing ovation* THANK YOU!
It's one of many reasons (along with drama, bad site design, constantly crashing, being anti-privacy, etc) that I've since quit both Facebook AND Twitter. Even at the best of times they were stressful. At the worst? Well..., people say Tumblr is an SJW hive mind, honestly? I find Twitter/Facebook to be 1000x worse. And I'll just leave it at that.
Personally, I prefer Minds.com. Much better design, but to each their own.
Social media is fucking evil. Reddit is just as bad... Used to be very "anyone can post anything not illegal here!" and groups could self moderate... Then it succumbed to the same far-far-left politics, echo-chambers, site-wide censorship of anything the site owners didn't agree with, corporate sponsor posts, virtue signaling, and cancel culture that facebook and twitter have.
One of the things they ALL have in common is the layout design that involves scrolling for long periods of time to only get one video or post or such after another, especially the "popular" style sections, it is definitely set up to be psychologically addictive.
I checked out minds.com... I like that they are freedom of speech oriented but it is still too close to other social media, just without the Orwellian "big brother" feeling.
Strangely enough... I miss the "livejournal" days.
You too, huh? Glad I'm not the only one! :) I miss those days too. Knew a bunch of furries from LiveJournal. Including a ton of them from the old Road Rovers fandom. :)
And if twitter is being used as an art site it is HORRIBLE for that as well, because instead of a gallery view where you can see tons of thumbnails or such, you just gotta scroll down through everything one at a time.
Twitter is set up purely to be topical and superficial. The depression kicks in when you have, basically, two types on twitter the people that share the best of their life or make it look like they have an amazing life, and the people crying about feeling like they don't have a good life because they see so many people on twitter posting about their good lives. lol
Also, I just found out that Livejournal got bought by the Russians, sooo... That's sad.
Haha! I was on a ton of the old 90s toon pages on livejournal. God I miss the old toony side of the fandom, it's all become "fuzzed up anime" that is realistic humans with animal characteristics, instead of toony animals with human characteristics now.
QFT. I'm just waiting for the day when Twitter finally says, "okay, we're banning adult content." Some might say that wouldn't happen. I say, "And how many of you would have said the same about Tumblr? Or DA back in the day? Or SheezyArt? Or even Y! Gallery who up and banned all furry content on it?" Sooner or later that hammer WILL come down. Mark. My. Words.
And of course, the political shitstorms that happen very often there...
Yeah, I remember that. Dang.
IKR? Don't get me wrong, I like those newer, less toonier styles, but I do still have a softspot for the older, more retro stuff as well. I'm pretty sure that stuff was basically the ancestors of the current community, before politics and other crap infiltrated, co-opted and is now destroying things.
Oh god... The "sun scare" propaganda from the late 80s and most the 1990s for kids was terrible! I thought the ozone hole was going to suck all the oxygen out, and that if the sun touched my skin without spf 6million sunblock from *insert brand here* on that I would burst into flames.
For years I laughed when my grandfather said "you need to get out more, get some sun, you will feel better," There really was something to that. Same thing with getting fat, get a treadmill and walk or jog on it for 30 minutes a day, or walk around the block. It took me till I was well in my adult years to actually realize they had a point the whole damn time.