Ask Larry:

Your Question: My psychiatrist feels I have a chemical imbalance for depression in my brain. Would you possibly know of a compounding substance that would help this condition?

Larry’s Response: While I’ve heard the theory about chemical imbalances in the brain (whatever that means, specifically), I am not fully convinced it exists. Most doctors believe it, though, and are comfortable prescribing potent drugs to supposedly bring things back into balance.

There are numerous situations that can bring on mild to moderate depression. Low progesterone – at least low in relation to estrogen is one cause (sometimes referred to as estrogen dominance). Yes, this suggests an imbalance between progesterone and estrogen. It exists and is not the same as the theory of imbalanced brain chemicals. Simple use of bioidentical progesterone has helped many people – without the risks associated with potent psychotropic drugs.

Systemic inflammation has also been implicated in chronic poor health, including depression. The causes for inflammation are many; sugar, wheat, processed foods, pesticides on foods, chemicals in cosmetics, and so on. Other common chemicals have been associated with behavior problems and depression. Artificial sweeteners top the list.

Rather than beginning with a drug, your doctor might want to advise you on how to rule out dietary and environmental causes by using a diet log and doing some eliminations. It seems far safer to bring the whole body into balance instead of using drugs to hopefully rebalance brain chemicals.

Start by eliminating sugars and artificial sweeteners. All of them. Keep a record of how you feel.

Next on the list would be all products made from wheat. As a last effort before turning to drugs, consider using progesterone, USP – progesterone that is chemically identical to what you’ve always made in your body.

If you’d like more information about progesterone, take a look at some of the articles on our web page:Search Progesterone on TheCompounder.com

Good luck.