well, i did some reading and thought long and hard about whether i should take the zoloft. i also suffer from sleep apnea and more recently nightmares that keep from being able to go back to sleep once i'm awakened, since i believe my depression/anxiety are being triggered in a major way by the untreated sleep apnea (lack of oxygen getting to my brain when asleep, only sleeping 2-4 hours at a time so always tired and susceptible to dozing off, mental fog, forgetfulness, memory gaps, difficulty concentrating and comprehending new information at times) i decided to hold off on the zoloft for a little longer until my sleep study the day after black friday and follow up in mid december when i'll get my new c-pap machine. while i wait i'll try a natural alternative, st. john's wort. all of the afore mentioned symptoms are familiar to me, and also the reason, i forgot that i actually tried st. john's wort before, with good results. this is what i was reduced to the last time i neglected to have my sleep apnea treated, it make me feel like i can't think my way out of a paper bag at times, difficult to advocate for myself and make decisions at times, i withdraw from social activities. i really hate living like this right now. i reached out to a close friend for advice about the zoloft, she's been prescribed a few different anti-depressants over the years and while she said the low dose of zoloft was gentle and standard to start with, she warned me about side effects and the possibility of having to switch to different antidepressants to find the right one if zoloft is not effective for me. she heard my concerns about my untreated sleep apnea playing a larger role in how i'm feeling and suggested taking a natural approach and use st. john's wort. i'd forgotten i'd used it before, and that conversation reminded me. i talked with my older brother and best friend and they confirmed they both gave me some positive feedback of what they remember about my behaviour when i'd taken st. john's wort before.
i did some more reading to refresh my memory on the effectiveness of st john's wort. there are clinical studies that state it's been proven to be as effective as prescribed SSRIs at 900mg daily (300mg 3x a day or 450mg 2x a day).
i've been taking 300mg 3x a day for the past 9 days....and i feel a slight improvement....i have a few weeks to go to see anything drastic. but for the moment, i don't feel quite as sad, overly emotional and hopeless as i'd been feeling previously so i'm going to stick with it.
