<p>I haven’t posted here in a while (am not a parent, but a college student looking for advice from wise parents), but was wondering if any of you have had experiences with seeing naturopathic doctors? </p>
<p>I have been working with a psychiatrist nearly six months now to find a medication that will help with my OCD. It has been a frustrating process and both SSRIs I have tried have had horrible side effects. I am not sure if it is because I am young or maybe my body just does not react well to the SSRIs, but both times I have had to stop cold-turkey because of worsening depression (which was nonexistent before I started trying to get help with the OCD symptoms). </p>
<p>I’m very frustrated now and willing to try anything, but wary of any more drugs prescribed by my psychiatrist. It is very scary for me to feel the depression worsening and the withdrawal symptoms from stopping cold turkey are not fun either. I was hoping a naturopathic physician might be able to help me find some treatment that does not require modern medicine, but I’m not sure what to expect.</p>
<p>I was hoping some of you might be able to share your experiences.</p>
<p>Naturopaths can be very helpful. But be sure that you check them out thoroughly. Your best bet would be a naturopathic MD, which gives you the best of both worlds. Or you could try a Doctor of Osteopathy (D.O.). Osteopaths tend to be more “whole body” centric, and are taught natural healing methods as well.</p>
<p>However, don’t believe that just because something is “natural” that it may not have side effects. “Natural” doesn’t always mean “harmless” or “safe”. Naturally occurring drugs are still drugs.</p>
<p>A course of treatment from a naturopath or an osteopath can include supplements, dietary changes, exercise regimens, yoga, meditation, etc. If you go in with an open mind, ready to change things in your life, and willing to suspend disbelief, you may find what you need.</p>
<p>The one non-SSRI approved for OCD is Clomipramine. It is a tricyclic antidepressant, and so, it will have many side effects. Normally with OCD, therapy should be included with the medication.
Plenty of people get side effects even if they eat something while taking it.</p>
<p>If you do decide to go naturopathic, as stated above, investigate all possiblities, and be proactive in your treatments. Some people do have horrendous times with prescription meds, and others do wonderfully. The trick is finding what is driving your OCD. </p>
<p>One of my younger children developed PANDAS from a strep infection, and for 2 years anytime he was exposed to Strep he would have boughts of OCD. Once we got to the bottom of it, it was GONE. </p>
<p>I have no experience with naturopathic treatment for OCD, but was very happy with homeopathic treatment for my son’s ear infections and pink-eye when he was young. We have a local MD who is also trained in homeopathy and osteopathy. My son got almost instant symptom relief for the ear infections and very rapid results for the pink-eye. I had also tried the antibiotic approach many times and homeopathy was definitely more effective.</p>
<p>I would suggest that you do some research on any non-traditional medical approaches before you pursue them. Don’t just rely on anecdotal reports from people who tried it and had good results. Look into whether the method or drug has actually been subjected to scientific study or not. Many alternative methods have not been tested, and many of those that have been tested have not shown any efficacy.</p>
<p>I’m reading a book called “The Brain That Changes Itself” and it mentioned OCD, briefly, but suggests an approach that is similar, I think, (maybe the same as) to cognitive behavioral therapy. Interesting book, at any rate.</p>
<p>zpmqxonw - I have used a naturopath exclusively for about the past six years. My traditional medical practioner kept insisting I should try an anti depressant. Keep in mind this MD was not trained in psychology or psychiatry - but thought I should “try” the medication to see if it would help.</p>
<p>The first step the naturopath took was to support my adrenal glands which help manage the body’s stress. My ND compares her process to that of peeling an onion - it’s an apt analogy. </p>
<p>My ND is also an accupuncturist. She uses homeopathy, Chinese herbs, herbal tinctures, etc. My health now is comparable to when I was a teenager or 20 something.</p>
<p>I don’t know anything about naturopathy, but fish oil supplements have been shown to be effective in a number of diseases, including depression and ADHD. I don’t know whether they’ve been tested for OCD, but it seems worth a try, since they are completely benign. If you do this, be sure to use a brand that is free of toxins and has the right amounts and ratios of the various fatty acids. I use omegabrite - it completely cured a painful and stiff shoulder. I had not been able to raise my arm above shoulder level for almost a year. After about 6 weeks of fish oil, my range of motion was 99% restored and the pain was gone.</p>
<p>The new studies on fish oil in a remarkable range of areas (including psychiatric) are downright stunning.</p>
<p>Last week, I was at a presentation of a double-blind, placebo-based study done among 600 violent offenders in British prisons. They gave half 1 mg of fish oil per day for six months. The other half got a placebo (the biggest cost of the study was formulating a placebo that looked, smelled, and tasted like fish oil, but wasn’t.) The result? a 37% reduction in violence offenses over the control group over one year.</p>
<p>We are now beginning to discover the mechanisms by which fish oil works - mainly by replacing Omega-6s, both in the brain and elsewhere. (It is said that fish oil takes about three weeks to have its first effects, and two years for the replacement of stored Omega-6s. Cutting Omega-6 intake - which includes virtually all vegetable oils - may be as important as adding Omega-3s - it seems that it is the ratio between the two that counts. And we really know very little about optimal dosage. It is estimated that among native people’s in the Northwest, who if not killed in combat seemed often to live to 100, the ration between Omega 3/Omega 6 was 1/1.5 or 1/2. Now in their diet, with health ravaged, it appears to be perhaps 1/25. It would require an enormous amount of fish oil to reach the old ratio with cutting Omega 6s which are prevalent in all prepared foods. My wife and I are taking 6 mg of the Vitaminshoppe fish oil - which has the DHA/EPA equivalent of the prescription Lovasa/Omacor daily dose - which is contained in 4 1mg capsules.)</p>
<p>There was a bit on Oprah last week about fish oil. They had taxi drivers eat fish three times a week for several weeks, did a stress test before and after and their cortisol levels went down 20% or something like that after eating the fish (which showed that their stress levels were down). So, I’ve jumped on the fish oil bandwagon, and have been taking fish oil now too, to see if it helps me feel calmer, less stressed.</p>
<p>My daughter has struggled with depression, anxiety and OCD for about 3 years. We tried going the naturopathic route firsrt…about 1 year of naturopathic supplements that, unfortunately, did nothing for her. Last year she started on Lexapro which seems to be working for her. I really wish the naturopathic stuff had done the trick but I am just happy that she is now feeling better.
Good luck to you.</p>
<p>Very interesting, mini. I had read somewhere that canola oil, which I thought was good for you, had the wrong kind of fatty acids. Is olive oil all right?</p>
<p>I started taking the fish oil on general principles, not even thinking that it would help my shoulder injury. But, to my surprise, the shoulder got better. I remember that when I realized this, I read the box to see what the beneficial mechanism might have been. My guess is that it was inflammation reduction, that after almost a year there was still inflammation in the joint. This is probably the source of the cardiac benefits, too, right?</p>
<p>I second mstee’s comment about fish oil. A friend of mine with bipolar disorder who is very good at keeping up with the latest research learned about some recent studies on using Omega-3 supplements for bipolar and anxiety disorders. She checked into the different protocols used in the studies, ran her proposal by her various practitioners, and started taking Omega-3. It has been very successful. I think she takes 4-6 capsules a day - she followed what the studies said, and you could check on them by looking for the articles in Medline. Although Omega-3 hasn’t been studied specifically for OCD, it sounds like some people are beginning to try it and are getting good results.</p>
<p>As someone said in another thread, fish oil often has efficacy treating various diseases because humans need it and it is very under-consumed in the average American diet.</p>
<p>Olive oil and avocado oil are primarily Omega-9 (believed to be neutral as far as these things go.) Surprisingly, walnut oil is also rich in Omega-3s. Virtually all the rest, including Canola, are Omega-6. As noted, no one really knows what optimal doses are, and it likely has to do more with the ratios of 3s to 6s than to absolute quantities. But they do likely have to be significant, and longer term. I went with the Lovasa/Omacor ratios originally because of their proven efficacy in bringing down hypertriglyceremia, but now the evidence is mounting for the other uses. And yes, the major benefit seems to be inflammation reduction.</p>
<p>I’ve started my kids on 2mg/daily. And we cutting way back on the canola, etc.</p>