I have fibromyalgia and probably mild depression. I also have chronic migraines. I've been researching new natural options to try for mood lift, pain relief, and relaxation. I'm interested in these three, but I can't seem to decide which one to try. The doctors have me on gabapentin, sumatriptan, and fioricet. They want me to try yet another antidepressant, but so far the insurance isn't covering it and I can't afford it. I'm not clinically depressed. Just stressed a lot, have a hard time relaxing and just enjoying myself, and my sex drive is no where near what it used to be. First it was amitryptaline, then savella, and now prozac, but the insurance won't cover prozac. I have nearly constant migraines at least 2 weeks out of the month and my legs feel achy and uncomfortable. I also experience back and joint pain on a regular basis. Does anyone have any suggestion on which one of these I could try? Or any other suggestion?
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H&R Moderators: VerbalTruist
Kava vs. Kanna vs. SamE
- Thread starter ra1ndrop
- Start date
I want to preface this with the fact that i have never tried SamE, but i am well experienced with kava and kanna.
Kava, although good for relaxation, doesnt seem like it would help you all that much unless you only used it on rare occasions.
Kanna, however, is pretty helpful when it comes to depression and mood lifting. I like to take it for 5 days, and not use it over the weekends and this has worked for me at a dosage of 400mg for over a month now. Kratom has also helped in this area as well, especially when it comes to pain management, but can sometimes cause headaches, so watch out for that aspect if you want to try it.
Also, i would advise switching from gabapentin to pregabalin (if your insurance can cover it) because it works much better overall
Kava, although good for relaxation, doesnt seem like it would help you all that much unless you only used it on rare occasions.
Kanna, however, is pretty helpful when it comes to depression and mood lifting. I like to take it for 5 days, and not use it over the weekends and this has worked for me at a dosage of 400mg for over a month now. Kratom has also helped in this area as well, especially when it comes to pain management, but can sometimes cause headaches, so watch out for that aspect if you want to try it.
Also, i would advise switching from gabapentin to pregabalin (if your insurance can cover it) because it works much better overall
I've been on the same dose of gabapentin for about a year. It helped some at first, but does absolutely nothing now. I agree about the Lyrica, but for some reason my doctor would rather use me as a guinea pig for antidepressants rather than give me that. I would love to try Kratom, but Tennessee is one of four states where it isn't legal. Too much money in pill mills, meth labs, and pot busts here so they can't have kratom cutting into their profits.
Erikmen
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The migraine alone would drive myself crazy. I used to have them and I must confess that I'd tell my colleagues to back off. I imagine that being depressed could be related to the fact you are constantly feeling pain and there's nothing that annoying. It's like our body telling our mind to shut down. I'm really sorry to hear you are going through this.
Well, first I think you should be able to get these migraines resolved by using one medicine as prescribed by doctor. If this is a painkiller it will make you happy mostly because the pain will go away and if you stick to the medical prescriptions and follow the routine I believe you'll be okay.
Something else, have you done an exam to see if you are allergic to gluten or flower -- colouring ingredients, lactose etc?
Some of most of our chronic physical problems can be solved with food. By also caused by them.
Since the title suggests, I've had experiences with large amounts of Kava Kava and it had actually made me feel good. I took our of sturburness just to make a point nothing natural works but it actually did -- quite lightly but very refreshing.
Take care, hope you feel better
Erik
Bonch
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Kava is a wonderful plant. I suggest buying ground root from the internet. Message me if you need a good website. Then cold brew in a blender with a dash of milk to help extract the kavalactones. Start with a 1/4 cup of kava with 1 or 2 cups of water. It may not effect you the first time. But too.much can give you the spins. I have used kava over the years for depression and anxiety. Also try to connect with the spirit of the plant and give thanks to it. I love kava and it has helped me feel good when I was feeling horrible.
Insurance finally covered the prozac today, so maybe that will help. I'm not really depressed so much just stressed a lot and kinda lost my passion for life. It's not like I don't want to get out of bed, but I do realize I don't enjoy life as much as I used to. A lot of that stems from the chronic pain and frustration over not being able to get it under control. Running my own business from home with a two year old doesn't make things any easier. I also don't have the energy levels I would like to have. I've tried tramadol and didn't find it helpful at all. I know I can't take the SamE with the prozac, but I believe the other two are safe. I've also lost some of my passion in the bedroom. I have some desire, but what used to be incredible is now just ok. I'm wondering if either of these could help me in that department. Feels like it isn't just a bedroom problem. It feels like the same kind of I'm ok but I'm not great feeling I have about the rest of my life. I used to be happy go lucky and laid back, and I would like to find that again. As for my migraines, they seem to be tied to my monthly cycle because I'll have them for about two weeks at the same time every month. Then horrible stomach cramps for about a week, and a slight reprieve before the cycle starts all over.
Serotonin syndrome was my problem with the last antidepressant I tried savella. My migraine medicine sumatriptan also affects serotonin. So eventually I had to stop the savella which didn't help much anyway. Serotonin syndrome is supposed to be pretty rare, so I suspect I'm more sensitive to it than most people. It has to reach very high levels to be really dangerous, but the severe nausea I experienced was no picnic.
Just wanted to update. I'm on my third day with kava and this is truly an amazing plant. It's helping some with pain relief, and my stress and anxiety are down so much. It makes me feel relaxed and happy. Like when you first fall in love and you spend time together. We just had a family member die, and kava is really helping me keep myself together without resorting to pharmacueticals.
I'm still curious about Kanna even though I'm on Lexapro which is also an SSRI but I remember a while back I asked Sekio the mod about the combo and he basically said that in low doses you'd probably notice some form of discomfort BEFORE you'd just get serotonin syndrome and that would clue you in to stop dosing.
I'm really not sure how high a risk there is for SS combining an SSRI with Kanna and I'm not sure anyone knows but in spite of myself I am really curious about trying a small amount of Kanna and just seeing how it feels.
I wish more people who have combined Kanna with an SSRI could speak up and let me know whether or not they were ok.
Has anyone else on here ever combined Kanna with an SSRI and what was your experience like??
Did you get serotonin syndrome??
Unless you take an incredibly high amount of something you should experience mild serotonin syndrome. It will make you sick long before it kills you if it affects you at all. Many people are prescribed drug combinations that can cause serotonin syndrome without a problem. My suggestion is to know your body and know all of the symptoms so if you start having symptoms you know you need to stop. Serotonin syndrome is still very poorly understood, and it seems to be very individualized. Meaning a combination that one person is fine with can give another person serotonin syndrome.
Thanks.
But by the bolded statement do you mean you think I WOULD get serotonin syndrome?
Your next comment "if it affects you at all" makes me think you suggesting that might NOT happen??
Would you steer clear of the combo if you were me?
Like, would you consider this a safer combo than me downing a bottle of Robutussin which is STRONGLY contraindicated with SSRIs?? (I am NOT EVER going to do that...)
For me personally I've discovered that I am more sensitive than most to serotonin syndrome, so I would steer clear of it myself. If I didn't know I was sensitive to it I would probably try it. I got horrible nausea when I got serotonin syndrome, but it was by no means life threatening or truly dangerous. If you start off small and listen to your body, you should be ok. Just read up on the symptoms of serotonin syndrome beforehand if you do decide to try it and understand that these substances build up in your body. I started having problems 3 months after starting a drug combination, so you should always be aware of potential serotonin syndrome symptoms. IMO a lot of the serotonin syndrome fear is the assumption that people have no common sense. Of course some people don't. But assuming that you do as long as you use it you should be ok.
The most interesting thing about my experience was I was taking Savella (SNRI) and sumatriptan for migraines. Sumatriptan also has SSRI activity. After a few months any time I would take the sumatriptan and Savella I would get really sick to my stomach. Phenegran seemed to make me even sicker ( I know know that it also has mild SSRI activity). Now I'm taking prozac and sumatriptan with no problems. I've even taken a certain stimulant with definite SSRI activity a few times with no adverse affects other than ones you could expect from said stimulant. Many doctors prescribe antidepressants and tramadol together even though they both have SSRI activity. Some people can't take the combo, but many people can. Serotonin syndrome is still very poorly understood even by the medical community, so the only real way to know is to try it. Just use that wonderful brain God gave you and be aware of the risks.