Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho

helps,

I have been on paroxetine (Paxil) for over 11 years. I need it to stop the obsessive thoughts. I can get caught looping on the most mundane or meaningless things. It can be a license plate number, the spelling of a word, etc.

It works great for me. I don't know if I would have problems with depression without it. I know that over the years, I have had serious problems with depression, especially after another head bump. A psychiatrist got me onto my vitamin regimen to pull me out of a deep depression about 28 years ago. He taught me how to use supplements to help my brain function better.

Stimulants are a problem, for many injured brains. They may help momentarily but then they leave the brain overworked and fatigued. I tried caffeine to overcome the fatigue and my doctor read me the riot act for doing it.

420 has effects on the brain but different strains can cause different reactions. I know people with early onset Alzheimer's who use 420 in very light doses (in cookies and brownies and in a tea concoction. It helps they with the rage and other outburst behaviors.

A specific substance in 420 has been shown to have neuroprotective effects. It only shows this effect in a very specific dose. It has not been shown to help with the symptoms after a brain injury.

All of the self medications you mention are considered problematic for the injured brain. I wonder if you are suffering a 'rebound effect' from this self medication. There are many drugs that cause a rebound. A rebound effect is when a drug helps to alleviate a symptom but when the drug is removed, the symptom become worse that prior to the use of the drug. This can happen with anti-histamines, head ache meds, and many others.

How much have you done with vitamins and other supplements? Your brain may be very needy of supplements. Mine is. I need up to 10 times the RDA of many supplements.

My best to you.