3 ms·

Yeah, on the one hand I'm strongly against drive-by one liners, on the other hand vitamin D cured me. I was already taking magnesium, B6 ... everything else.

Yeah, on the one hand I'm strongly against drive-by one liners, on the other hand vitamin D cured me. I was already taking magnesium, B6 ... everything else. 8000 to 12000IU of Vitamin D a day for four weeks weeks cured me of my suicidal ideation / depression / emotional instability / irritability. I went to the doctor and got a prescription for antidepressants a couple of times, drove to the pharmacist and sat in the carpark in my car crying for half an hour before I drove home without getting the medication. Vitamin D was the keystone that's made all the other supplements work way better. Now I'm on a much lower maintenance dose, a few hundred IU a day average taken as larger random doses throughout the week. I guess it makes sense if I think about it, I get almost no sun exposure, and when I am outside I'm covered in long sleep and pants because the sun here in Tasmania is either too low in the sky to warrant shorts and a tshirt, or it's summer and the sun here cooks my pale skin in minutes. Your millage may vary. Vitamin D and magnesium are considered very non-toxic even at stupendously high dosages for short periods of time. And they're both fairly cheap. Disclaimer: this does not constitute medical advice, do your own research, and all of that. I'm not insured to give nutritional advice.

tayo42 8y ago
did you get tested for having low vitamin d or something? how did you end up deciding to take that much?
- TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
  I didn’t bother with a test, the symptoms, when I finally connected the dots, were indicative enough for me to give it a go. It’s not uncommon for doctors around these parts to prescribe pharmastist depended 20,000IU gel caps, after a test of course. Also, there was an article doing the rounds a few months back indicating we neee way more vitamin D than the current guidelines. I’ll see if I can dig it up. Edit to add: here we go https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15867918 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15867918
  - fpoling 8y ago
    One is strongly advised to measure D to get the levels of both D25 and D1,25 forms of D when one suspects D deficiency. Normally only D25 is tested, but that may miss the case of low D25 and high D1,25. This happens with some chronic infections when the body shifts D towards D1,25 to rise immune system activities. Taking D supliments then suppresses immune system. As a result one may feel better as there is less dead bacteria or viruses that the body needs to get rid of and that may cause allergic reactions and even depression. But then the underlining infection continues unchecked and long-term effects can be bad.
    - TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
      I haven't heard of this axis before. Can you point me to some further reading, thanks. I'm not in any high-risk categories for asymptomatic chronic infections, so I'm not sure this is a concern. There remains a question: should health, asymptomatic, fit / active, non-smoking, non-drinking, individuals, undergo a barrage of tests at Medicare's (public health insurer in Australia) expense? Also, I studied nutritional medicine in a formal setting for four years, so I consider myself sufficiently qualified to make that call. Otherwise, you're probably right, it makes sense, in general, for people to have tests for nutrient deficiencies, especially if there are comorbidities.
      - fpoling 8y ago
        See [1] or just search for “vitamin D immune suppression”. I very much agree that a healthy person should not do random tests. But when there is a suspicion of deficiency, one should investigate thoroughly before taking big doses of a steroid hormone that may suppress immune system otherwise known as “Vitamin D”. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4160567/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4160567/
        TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
        Thanks for the link, will have a read tonight.
DanBC 8y ago
> , on the other hand vitamin D cured me. That's what my aunt says about homeopathy.
- TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
  Amusing. On the one hand, homoeopathy is just expensive water, so it probably can't do much harm. Except that people might substitute it for actual medicine, or other therapies, that do work. On the other hand, placebos work, so <shrug>. On the other-other hand (you make me wish I had three hands), vitamin deficiency is a real thing.
  - dragonwriter 8y ago
    > On the one hand, homoeopathy is just expensive water, No, it's not, homeopathic remedies have been recalled multiple times for having serious harmful ingredients, most often dangerous levels of things on the official ingredient list that would not be possible with the claimed dilution. The thing to realize with homeopathy is that it claims to be made by a process that would leave only expensive water, but because of that it is not subject to the kind of controls which would provide any advance assurance that anything like the claimed process is actually used. So, effectively, homeopathy could be just about anything.
    - TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
      Yikes! Right, well, that's none good.
mabbo 8y ago
Yeah, I added the vitamin D after spending most of a winter in Edinburgh. Lovely city- but it's 56 degrees north. That city will get less than 7 hours of daylight today.
- TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
  At the winter solstice, the city I live in, at 41 degrees south, gets 9 hours and 10 minutes of daylight. I spend 10 of those indoors at work. It's not feasible for me to get enough sun light most of the year.
  - mabbo 8y ago
    What I learned from my time in Edinburgh was to make time in the winter. Go for a post-lunch walk when possible. And of course take supplement too.
cimmanom 8y ago
Hypothesis: lots of different micronutrient deficiencies (as well as factors unrelated to nutrition) can cause or exacerbate depression. For a lot of people, supplementing with a specific vitamin/mineral will help. For many others it will have minimal to no effect.
- TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
  I agree. Vitamin D deficiency can be tested for, and the symptoms are well know. It's probably worth having a test for Vitamin D if you have any depressive tendencies.

tayo42 8y ago

did you get tested for having low vitamin d or something? how did you end up deciding to take that much?

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
I didn’t bother with a test, the symptoms, when I finally connected the dots, were indicative enough for me to give it a go. It’s not uncommon for doctors around these parts to prescribe pharmastist depended 20,000IU gel caps, after a test of course. Also, there was an article doing the rounds a few months back indicating we neee way more vitamin D than the current guidelines. I’ll see if I can dig it up. Edit to add: here we go https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15867918 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15867918
- fpoling 8y ago
  One is strongly advised to measure D to get the levels of both D25 and D1,25 forms of D when one suspects D deficiency. Normally only D25 is tested, but that may miss the case of low D25 and high D1,25. This happens with some chronic infections when the body shifts D towards D1,25 to rise immune system activities. Taking D supliments then suppresses immune system. As a result one may feel better as there is less dead bacteria or viruses that the body needs to get rid of and that may cause allergic reactions and even depression. But then the underlining infection continues unchecked and long-term effects can be bad.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
    I haven't heard of this axis before. Can you point me to some further reading, thanks. I'm not in any high-risk categories for asymptomatic chronic infections, so I'm not sure this is a concern. There remains a question: should health, asymptomatic, fit / active, non-smoking, non-drinking, individuals, undergo a barrage of tests at Medicare's (public health insurer in Australia) expense? Also, I studied nutritional medicine in a formal setting for four years, so I consider myself sufficiently qualified to make that call. Otherwise, you're probably right, it makes sense, in general, for people to have tests for nutrient deficiencies, especially if there are comorbidities.
    - fpoling 8y ago
      See [1] or just search for “vitamin D immune suppression”. I very much agree that a healthy person should not do random tests. But when there is a suspicion of deficiency, one should investigate thoroughly before taking big doses of a steroid hormone that may suppress immune system otherwise known as “Vitamin D”. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4160567/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4160567/
      - TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
        Thanks for the link, will have a read tonight.

DanBC 8y ago

> , on the other hand vitamin D cured me. That's what my aunt says about homeopathy.

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
Amusing. On the one hand, homoeopathy is just expensive water, so it probably can't do much harm. Except that people might substitute it for actual medicine, or other therapies, that do work. On the other hand, placebos work, so <shrug>. On the other-other hand (you make me wish I had three hands), vitamin deficiency is a real thing.
- dragonwriter 8y ago
  > On the one hand, homoeopathy is just expensive water, No, it's not, homeopathic remedies have been recalled multiple times for having serious harmful ingredients, most often dangerous levels of things on the official ingredient list that would not be possible with the claimed dilution. The thing to realize with homeopathy is that it claims to be made by a process that would leave only expensive water, but because of that it is not subject to the kind of controls which would provide any advance assurance that anything like the claimed process is actually used. So, effectively, homeopathy could be just about anything.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
    Yikes! Right, well, that's none good.

mabbo 8y ago

Yeah, I added the vitamin D after spending most of a winter in Edinburgh. Lovely city- but it's 56 degrees north. That city will get less than 7 hours of daylight today.

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
At the winter solstice, the city I live in, at 41 degrees south, gets 9 hours and 10 minutes of daylight. I spend 10 of those indoors at work. It's not feasible for me to get enough sun light most of the year.
- mabbo 8y ago
  What I learned from my time in Edinburgh was to make time in the winter. Go for a post-lunch walk when possible. And of course take supplement too.

cimmanom 8y ago

Hypothesis: lots of different micronutrient deficiencies (as well as factors unrelated to nutrition) can cause or exacerbate depression. For a lot of people, supplementing with a specific vitamin/mineral will help. For many others it will have minimal to no effect.

TheSpiceIsLife 8y ago
I agree. Vitamin D deficiency can be tested for, and the symptoms are well know. It's probably worth having a test for Vitamin D if you have any depressive tendencies.