by SAM PAGE

EVERYONE’S BEEN REALLY INTERESTED IN MY EXIT STRATEGY FOR GETTING OFF ANTIDEPRESSANTS. Well, I promised back in June that I’d report back and let you know how it’s going.

For those of you just joining, I’ve taken Lexapro (generic: escitalopram) for the past few years. This past spring, with the help of my doctor and psychologist, I cut my daily dose from 20MG to 10MG, then to 5MG and finally: off completely.

The greatest surprise of the journey so far has been the return of my emotional feelings. The ride was unwieldy at first, but with a lot of patience from my husband and weekly visits with my therapist, I’ve gradually gotten my bearings and played with the toys inside my shiny new emotional toolbox.

Still, it’s a process. The first month sans-escitalopram was a little uphill as I began to understand—viscerally—how the drug had flattened me emotionally. With the return of road rage and financial stresses also came fleeting moments in flow: swimming in the Laguna Beach surf, sanding kitchen cabinets, or making these.

But I wanted more than just more emotional frequency—I wanted complete and utter bliss. My friend Doug (a pharmacist) turned me on to lemon-flavored fish oil by Natrol last year. So two months ago, I began a daily regimen of supplements to see if I could enhance my mood naturally. Nothing too crazy—just some ginkgo, some time-release vitamin C and l-carnitine. I also took a teaspoon of Prolab’s l-glutamine and a broad-based amino. Since I train pretty hard five to six days a week, I also took a training pak, a multivitamin/mineral packet made especially for athletes.

“For the first time in my adult life, I’m actually sleeping through the night.”

I also swallowed the hard truth that my doctor and shrink were right: I needed to do more cardio. I couldn’t do it without music, though, so I loaded my iPod Shuffle full of fresh trax. Cardio bores me—I needed to burn more calories in less time—I wanted a REAL challenge. So I started wrestling steer on the gay rodeo circuit and started using this machine, responsible for transforming Robert Downey, Jr. in Iron Man.

In the past eight weeks, I’ve experienced a substantial shift in energy. On the days when I’m on-regimen, there’s a marked difference in my focus, endurance and athletic performance. My workouts are longer, harder and more powerful. And that energy extends into the evening hours, when (as a professional personal trainer) I’m usually ready for bed time. Bronson will attest, I’ve had more energy for evening activities, like TiVo, movies, and sex. And when we do finally hit the hay, I sleep hard. For the first time in my adult life, I’m actually sleeping through the night.

Even my vocabulary has improved. Seriously. My recall of words is easier, and that’s affected my on-the-job performance, instructing and training clients. But you’ll have to ask them about that.

So, how much of this is due to the cessation of the Lexapro, how much is due to exercise, and how much is the supplements? I’m not sure, but I have realized something pretty major: human beings are meant to be moving. We’re not designed to sit behind computers all day, blogging and Facebooking and e-mailing. We’re meant to be out hunting and gathering; playing and leaping and guffawing. Proper supplementation has helped me beat back the cobwebs of inertia that kept me from the gym, and made me realize once again that exercise truly is the best medicine.

© 2008 SAM PAGE | about

Similar Posts:

• You Can’t Ever (Really) Run Away From Home
• How Much Creatine Is Enough?
• Blind Leading the Blind
• How to Get “Ripped”
• The Importance of Listening to Your Body: When You’re Hungry
• Finding Your Physical Inspiration
• Improve Your Mood Naturally
• On Arnold, Hair, and Strength.
• How to Handle The Moaning Gym Bunny
• Why You Should Keep a Workout Journal

Tags: antidepressant discontinuation syndrome, Bodybuilding, chute dogging, depression, escitalopram, exercise, Health, how to, lexapro, Medical, natrol, Personal, prolab, robert downey jr., rodeo, Sam Page, ssri, Supplements

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 28th, 2008 at 1:18 am and is filed under Fitness. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.