Depression.

Are you, or someone you care about, living with depression?

Depression can mean moving through your day, completing tasks, fulfilling responsibilities, but having trouble smiling or finding joy. It may mean using all the energy you have just to get up in the morning and face another day.

For some depression is apathy, indifference, nothing to look forward to. Some feel sad much of the time. Even being with, or caring for, those you love can just be too much. Never glimpsing those little bursts of energy, hope, enthusiasm, optimism that should come from time to time.

Depression means different things to different people. But everyone who lives with depression can tell you… it is awful. A deep, dark hole that is hard to climb out of.

It can have multiple root causes. The good news is that the “there’s just an imbalance in your brain” theory is finally loosing steam.

More recent research finds that inflammation, gut dysbiosis, leaky gut, insufficient methylation, thyroid dysfunction, poor absorption of nutrition, insufficient fats, protein, vitamins or minerals, can all be a factor in depression, and other mental and cognitive disorders.

There are physical factors contributing to your depression… ones that can be identified and reversed. It’s not that you just got a lemon brain.

Gut dysbiosis can be insufficient beneficial bacteria, or too many “bad” or pathogenic bugs. Often the two go together.

Beneficial bacteria will crowd out the bad guys in the gut when present in sufficient amount. They have many other very important jobs too. 

Beneficial bacteria regulate many of our bodily functions from creating vitamins to controlling our immune system, our brain function, our appetite and our weight. They are critical to our long-term health.

With insufficient beneficial bacteria your health will not be optimal. This includes your mental health.

The brain is affected by the gut in a couple ways. The vagus nerve is a bi-directional highway that carries messages back and forth between the brain and the gut. 

In addition, certain “bad” bugs in the gut shed harmful substances. These can enter the bloodstream via leaky gut and travel to the brain. When the gut is leaky, the blood brain barrier tends to be leaky too, allowing these substances in to cause damage and inflammation. 

Malnutrition is something we think about happening in less affluent countries and populations. But malnutrition can happen even when you are eating well.  Low levels of beneficial bacteria in your gut can mean insufficient production of Vitamins K, B12, and folate. 

SIBO can also cause malnutrition. SIBO stands for small intestine bacterial overgrowth. It occurs when bacteria from the large intestine migrate north and begin to flourish in the small intestine. 

These bacteria don’t belong in the small intestine. The small intestine is where the majority of nutrient absorption needs to happen. Bacterial overgrowth there interferes with the uptake of nutrients. This results in poor nutrient absorption, and malnutrition. 

This malnutrition contributes to a myriad of troubles, including depression.

Methylation is a fairly simple chemical reaction that happens literally zillions of times a day throughout our body. It is critical to liver detox, neurotransmitter synthesis, immune system function and many other essential processes.

The problem is that the methylation cycle must occur properly for homocysteine to get recycled so it doesn’t build up. A buildup of homocysteine is associated with heart disease, Alzheimer’s, and a number of other inflammatory conditions, including depression. 

Some of us have a genetic tendency to poor methylation. But beware that some with the gene still methylate well, whereas some who don’t have the gene do not. It is NOT prudent to treat just based on genetics. It is important to assess YOUR methylation and support it IF indicated.  

So, what would we do from a functional medicine perspective to reverse depression?

I would start by assessing where you are. I would look at your history and your family history. I would look at what you eat, how you sleep, what your days look like and any medications or supplements you are taking.

We often get initial results just by tweaking diet and lifestyle. I am not going to tell you to stop taking medication that someone else has prescribed for you. If however, you are interested in working toward not needing anti-depressants I am here to help you accomplish that.

A few women really benefit from anti-depressants. That said, I’ve seen a lot of women over the years who did not want to take them or did not like the way they felt when they did try them. Everyone is different. 

There are also many things we can do in the supplement world that will produce similar effects with fewer risks and side effects of prescription anti-depressants.

But, the main point is that we want to identify what is driving your symptoms and remove that culprit. 

Stool and blood testing are a huge help in this realm. This type of testing will tell us if gut dysbiosis, leaky gut, malnutrition, poor methylation, thyroid or other factors are underlying contributors to your symptoms.

Know that you can enjoy life again. You can smile. You can get those little bursts of energy and optimism. You can live without the heavy weight of depression. 

The first step is to reach out. Let me help you feel better now. 

Email me at carol@13thmoonfmw.com. Or go here to see how getting started works. Or simply contact me here.

Together we can help you to live joyfully again.