XPost: sci.med.psychobiology, sci.med.pharmacy, sci.med   
   XPost: bionet.neuroscience   
   From: dalton@nfld.com   
      
   In article ,   
    David Dalton  wrote:   
      
   > Since yesterday afternoon I've been at the low end   
   > of normal mood range, and if it lasts much longer   
   > I will say that I am mildly depressed.  But I hope   
   > to nip this in the bud.   
   >   
   >      Bob Officer on misc.health.alternative   
   > suggested I consider light treatment for SAD, but   
   > I haven't usually had problems with SAD since   
   > returning to Newfoundland from Vancouver in late 1995.   
   > Also the last time this happened and I posted about   
   > it was in the summer.  But if it lasts much longer   
   > I will try to get more light exposure early in the day.   
   > I also make sure to get enough Vitamin D.   
   >   
   > Luckily lithium has mild antidepressant effects in   
   > addition to its strong mood stabilizing effects, and   
   > olanzapine has mild antidepressant effects in   
   > addition to mild mood stabilizing effects and   
   > strong antipsychotic effects.   Otherwise I might   
   > be in a more severe low.   That is one thing I   
   > will have to watch if I switch from lithium to   
   > an antiepileptic type of mood stabilizer, since   
   > they do not have the mild antidepressant effects.   
   >   
   > Does that sound correct?   
   >   
   > Also I will see my family doctor later in the   
   > week and am in the queue to see a new psychiatrist   
   > (since my usual psychiatrist's office is closed   
   > for an extended period due to his illness).   
   >   
   > One thing I will have to watch is if this is   
   > a dip before a high (I am bipolar).   I hope   
   > it is a dip before I come out of the low years   
   > (low in terms of creativity and delusion and   
   > occasionally in terms of mood and energy)   
   > into a period of steady creativity, but not   
   > a mania or strong hypomania (but a weak manageable   
   > mystic hypomania like that of Jan. 5--9, 1994   
   > wouldn't go astray).   
      
   Also this low is not just in my head, it seems   
   a bit related to a queasy feeling in my gut.   
      
   --   
   David Dalton  dalton@nfld.com   http://www.nfld.com/~dalton (home page)   
   http://www.nfld.com/~dalton/nf.html Newfoundland&Labrador Travel & Music   
   http://www.nfld.com/~dalton/dtales.html Salmon on the Thorns (mystic page)   
      "Here I go again...back into the flame" (Sarah McLachlan)   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)