 Sometimes clients ask what I think about a particular selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) medication that you're considering taking for anxiety or OCD. More often, you tell me you want to come off your SSRI. Clients who say this have usually been taking SSRIs for 10 years or longer and frequently share that "It helped me at the start but it's not helping anymore."
As a nutritionist, I can't tell you to take or not take medication because this is out of my scope of practice. I can tell you that you may benefit from taking specific supplements alongside your SSRI, *and* that research shows when you come off an SSRI, you need to do so very, very slowly. I'll share more on this below. Because I've seen some questionable claims and culture around SSRI medications on social media recently, I'm going to share some facts and thoughts for you to consider.  The following blood tests are worth requesting from your family doctor/GP if you have been struggling with health conditions such as...
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) anxiety or depression fatigue mental health changes or maternal mental health changes (OCD, anxiety, depression). If your doctor wont order all or some of these tests (sometimes there are public health funding reasons for this), I believe it’s worth investing in having them done via a private lab. It will cost more but then you have a baseline to work from as you work on your health. And as you focus on improving your health, blood tests only need to be repeated once every six to 12 months at most.  People sometimes tell me they wouldn’t have thought there was a link between nutrition and mental health. I believe that by growing our awareness of the link between nutrients, mental health and mental health problems, we might reduce the stigma of mental health problems. We might create a shift where more people seek and find answers to their mental health struggles and go on to live happy and productive lives.
Nutrition builds your physical foundations right down to your cells. Cells that make up your brain and nerves, your hormone-secreting ovaries and testes. Cells that make up your heart and lungs, your complex, amazing digestive system. Cells that make up your blood. Immune cells that fight infections and keep you well. |