Karen is right about
this, Cancan81, in my view. Your doctor needs to know partly because one of the B vitamins in the series (which is excellent for nervous system strength) needs to be tested in you before you begin a regimen of the Bvitamins. It's folate.
Ask him about
the test to determine if you have a missing enzyme in
your digestive system that prevents you from converting Folic Acid, Vitamin B9, into folate for use in the brain. He will probably know that you can't determine that by blood tests, because the brain level of B9
can be low while the blood system maintains a steady supply. You need genetic testing for that enzyme.
70% of depressed people are low in folate. Some of them may be missing that enzyme.
Otherwise, unless you do not manufacture enough hydrochloric acid
to utilize B12 from meats, you would probably be okay to take
a high-quality multiple vitamin. (If you lack sufficient hydrychloric acid,
you could always take a Betaine hydrochloride supplement to provide
adequate B12 in your system.) Be sure to ask your pharmacist about
which high-quality vitamin he recommends.
I don't know that I would rely solely on vitamins for stability in depression. I would be more inclined to take a smaller dosage of medication (with my doctor's approval) and add the appropriate vitamins to boost the system's strength.
Diet also plays a significant role in your well-being. I've posted about
this before, and it's somewhere on a page way back in the Depression Forum called something like "This is the Information You Regested on Diet Recommendations". Please see the website called western diet promotes depression in women.com
I wish you real success with your efforts; you are to be admired for wanting to take control of your illness in a very positive way.
I.G.
Post Edited (It's Genetic) : 10/25/2011 4:25:29 PM (GMT-6)