Inositol sideeffects (used for OCD, Anxiety, dp)

[guido]

hi there,
my name is guido I am from germany and I found some very interesting postings in here.
I prefer to put my question on this board rather than a german webside since my question will be about inositol,
which is known here but not used very often and disregarded by psych.-dr. I hope my english will not be to strange. I am suffering since childhood
from reocurrimng ocd, anxiety.in times I suffer from this (my ocd and anxiety is on and of, sometimes with 3 years complete remission)
I also suffer from moderate depersonalisation which is quite annoying. However I guess ocd, anxiety and dp are related closely together.
I used to take three times in my life ssri which always helped my by week 6 or so, up to the point of complete remission. However the side effects
sucked to the point I had to discontinue medications (decreased libido, weight gain, numbness of feelings and so on…).
I was 4 years free of any ocd symptom but after some weeks of stress in my job and in my marriage ocd turned again on. this time
I decided taking inositol due to some quite encouraging studies on english websides. I am taking since three weeks 2 X 4 grams (powder).
I have come to realize that my ocd and dp sypmptoms are getting better since three days, however also since three days I have some
irritating side effects: moderate headache, I am feeling a little aggitaded (a feeling of strange, nervous power), I only need 6 hours sleep, and some kind of
dazed feelings, just like I felt the first time when I was taking an SSRI. The side effects of inositol are much less severe however.
Is it possible that these side effects emerge from only 8 gr. of inositol, studies stated to take up to 18 gr.?
is it likely that these will dissapear as my system gets more and more uses to it?
Or is it best to decrease the dosage to 5 gr / day? I am quite confused because I feel it is helping me but I do not want to have strange side effects
or something like serotonin syndrome.
One thing is sure, there's something about inositol and serotonin, it is enhancing something in my brain and it suppresses my violent unwanted and repetetive thoughts.
my best wishes
guido

[suzy-sue]

Hi Guido .I would try cutting down your dose to 4 mg and see how you feel .Give it a week and if its not so effective gradually build up ..Everyone reacts differently .They seem to work for you ,so thats a good sign .You cant get serotonin syndrome from it .The side effects with anything can dissapear with time but its always advisable to start on the lowest dose of anything and build up slowlyif needed , to avoid these from being troublesome .Good luck I hope this helps you .Sue

[white43]

Oddly enough, I've tried Inositol once and it had some strange effects.

I bought 'Pure Pharmaceutical Grade' from Blackburn Distributions.

As per PsychoPoets guide, I put a quarter of a teaspoon in some water and drank it down with a multivitamin, 100MG Vitamin B complex(high strength) and Cod Liver Oil.

30 minutes later, I experienced profound euphoria. I was elated, almost giggly.

That evening, I had a heavy drinking session and still felt very chatty and giggly.

The next morning - I felt awful. Not the usual hangover, but much lower in mood. So much so, that I haven't touched Inositol since.

I would not have expected such a small amount of Inositol to effect me that profoundly - but then, I can't take SSRI's and even Kalms make me feel strange.

I don't see anything out there about Inositol and Alcohol perhaps causing low mood.

I'm going to try a much lower dose.

[NoPoet]

Hi Guido - you can't get serotonin syndrome from inositol. You can only get serotonin syndrome if you take more than one medication which increases the amount of serotonin in your body - so if you took two different types of SSRI together, which delay the body's re-absorption of serotonin, then you would be at risk.

Inositol is a naturally occurring substance found in the human body. Repeated studies show that people who are depressed or anxious tend to have lower amounts of inositol in their spinal fluid. These studies also show that increasing the amount of inositol in your body is a non-harmful way of reducing the symptoms of anxiety and depression.

The studies showed that inositol is effective against clinical depression in doses of up to 12g. That's UP TO 12g - in other words, lower doses were shown to be effective as well. I would not recommend jumping straight to a high dose of inositol.

18g doses were given to people suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder which is different from anxiety and depression. Personally I would not want to put 18 grams of anything into my body without medical supervision so I wouldn't recommend going this high.

White43 - I'm sorry you had a bad experience with inositol - it's possible you had some kind of reaction to it, or suffered side effects that are not listed. On the other hand your dose was probably the equivalent of a couple of grams and I haven't read anything about inositol actually making people feel worse or triggering a blip.

I think what it could have been is a sense of relief from taking the inositol (which could have been the inositol working or just your imagination), followed by a normal blip which seemed worse than usual because you felt good the day before.

I cannot tell you the number of times my mood spontaneously lifted and I became the life of the party, only for my mood to crash. It's the contrast between feeling so good and so bad that does the damage - this is a normal part of depression/anxiety unfortunately and we are sometimes at its mercy.

The only side effects I get from inositol are an upset stomach if I take a heaped teaspoon of it.

[white43]

PsychoPoet - oddly enough, my mother tried the same dosage as me and noticed nothing at all. Perhaps she's not depressed or anxious!

I've now purchased Swanson's Inositol at 650MG a tablet and taken a half dose. Will report back.

I note that Holland and Barrett no longer stock the powder and are completely sold out of the tablets....hmmmm.

[NoPoet]

It might not work for everyone but as you say, she might not be clinically depressed or anxious.

Inositol is not exactly a "secret" any more, it seems that an ever-increasing number of people are trying it. Maybe more people than ever are fed up with conventional medicine and its horrible side effects.

[white43]

OK - so I took 325mg + 100mg that were in my Vit B complex. Aside from feeling a little tired(which could have been from not sleeping well last night), I've felt somewhat chilled - but nothing like before. I suspect I'd taken something like 2 grams before. I do wonder whether my nervous system is just sensitive. I'll carry on and report in when I can, I think it's important people consider Inositol as an alternative.

[NoPoet]

Yeah mate, keep updating this thread, I'd like to see how inositol measures up. I haven't been taking too much as my stomach has been off, maybe due to the anxiety, and I didn't want to push my luck - but I'm going to try a large dose today, since my blip still hasn't let up.

[white43]

650MG tablet taken this morning+the 200mg from 2 x Vit B Complex. No strange euphoria, but generally, I've been feeling OK the last two days. Appetite returned and everything.

I wonder if there's a difference in the Swanson tablets and the Blackburn powder?

[white43]

I'll fill you in a bit more about me now. I'm an alcoholic, drinking something like 2 bottles of wine a day. In an attempt to get off it, I made the terrible mistake of involving Cannabis throughout January. Whilst it got my drinking down, anxiety started creeping up. So I quit it and my anxiety went through the roof. The drinking went straight back up as well - it's my only relief from anxiety - but of course, alcohol can provide temporary relief, but then can bring you right back down. At this stage, am I anxious because I drink?

My GP has tried putting me on SSRI's in the past(Prozac and Citralopram), but I seem to get twice as bad on them. He wanted to put me on an SNRI, but after the terrible experience I had before - I've said no.

Many herbal substances, like Valerian (Kalms), 5-HTP are all out of bounds for me. So I'm trying to find something that will not react badly with alcohol.

Anyway.

OK - so I've been taking two tablets for about a week odd now. I wasn't sure it was helping. Overall anxiety is down, but it's still there.

Yesterday, I started getting palpitations around 3pm, so took another inositol tab, Propranolol and Omega 3. Palps went away, but I suspect that was the Propranolol.

Decided at 7.30pm to take a third tablet for the first time. I noted that I didn't feel as anxious as normal and in fact, I had some wine, but noted my desire to drink was much, much down. In fact, it took me significantly longer to finish the wine. (Nearly three hours, opposed to 1.5)

I slept better, but I note today feeling a little more anxious/down than previous days. I've also had some diarrhea. But I will persist. I will keep trying with 3 tablets a day.

I have also ordered L-Theanine, Taurine and will start trying Chamomile.

I postulate that possibly, with enough Inositol acting on the nervous system, the 'buzz' one tries to acheive from alcohol is near already attained when one tries to drink. However, alcohol depletes the body of Inositol, so I do wonder whether it's like a 'double hangover'. You place a large amount of Inositol in, you feel good. However, alcohol depletes that and you're right down, anxiety up and also suffering a hangover from the alcohol.

L-Theanine will help my liver and hopefully also lower anxiety levels. Taurine, the same. Stay tuned.