Has anyone tried SAM-e with schizophrenia and depression? If you have, how did it affect your antipsychotic? I started taking it after my doctor and nurses wouldn’t help me with depression that I have. It has helped with the depression but it also feels like its cancelling out my antipsychotic. I take Invega, Wellbutrin, Zoloft and supplements.
Jeff
What is SAM-e? Never heared of it before.
S-Adenosyl methionine. Its a supplement that is naturally produced by your body, has no side effects and acts as an anti-depressant. Some studies have shown that it is equal in efficacy to regular anti-depressants. There have been warnings against taking this if you are manic and with MAOI’s and SSRI’s due to Serotonin Syndrome (too much serotonin which causes problems) but with the SSRI’s I think you can do it if you are careful. The FDA’s take on that part has been refuted in literature saying that 700,000 people take this with anti-depressants and it is helpful for them.
Another one that is talked about that is similar but hasn’t gained as much acceptance from the scientific community is 5HTP.
You can read reviews on them through Google or at products on Amazon.
I took SAM-e for a couple of years before my diagnosis. It did nothing for me. When I went on the APs I stopped SAMe so I do not know how they affect each other. I can’t think that it will have an influence on the AP since it is a natural product that can be bought from the shelve
Thanks for your input. That would be helpful if that is the case.
Thank you. It propably is called something else here in Sweden.
Googled. Does not look like we have it in Sweden.
Could you order from Amazon? Would shipping be too much or would there be customs issues?
Customs issues. They take everything that is not completely legal. Such as medicine not approved by TLV.
Some research:
Mayo Clinic says do not use SAMe if you’re taking a prescription antidepressant — the combination may lead to serious side effects.
Dr. Andrew Weil says SAMe can be stimulating and not a good mix with bipolar. Includes a video with good advice for better posture for a more "open heart."
One mistake I made was trying too many supplements at once. 5-HTP, Lithium Orotate, l-tyrosine, glutathione… combining ups and downs and every which ways isn’t smart. Many on these forums are more experienced than I am in this area…
Daniel Amen points to 7 kinds of ADD that require different remedies depending on which kind a person has. Researchers should look here at schizophrenia.com and document everyone’s journey in a med/supplement/therapy journal and cement some definitive conclusions (minus drug company promotion and plunder…)
http://www.amenclinics.com/conditions/adhd-add/
I posted this information in a post of my experience that was taken down. Maybe because it allowed people to do things without using a pharmaceutical drug. It is not good to use if you have bipolar disorder and in my other post I posted a link to a study that refuted the fdas warning on taking it with another antidepressant. The study said that 700,000 people had taken SAM-e with another antidepressant and did better than they had been doing before. Another piece of research I mentioned showed a study where SAM-e was used with another antidepressant to improve its effects. This turned out to be beneficial. It should not be taken with MAOis and with SSRIs you should be careful and back off if you feel too good.
I’m also not sure why you are posting this John because you were the one that heard all this and was so interested in my other post. In any event, this site is obviously owned by the pharmaceutical companies and there are a lot of other good and natural things out there.
Hi Jeff - I’m new here, and I would think a discussion that is reasonably clear and non-toxic should stay available to us, not taken down. Maybe the moderators have to watch that we’re not being armchair pharmacists - sending each other off in unhealthy directions??
I thought your post was very good, detailed, not “enticing” others to do themselves harm… I just added the last post as I progress in my own research. Dr. Andrew Weil recommends SAM-e whole-heartedly on the Dr. Oz video - just not if the person is bipolar. So I didn’t post to conflict, just share from diverse sources. Someone told me, “We are all individuals.”
I see conflicting info on the web, with older articles/research still looking like it’s valid. I’ve seen Harvard University articles, one saying sz is caused by cannabis use, another more recent saying sz is NOT caused by cannabis use! Both articles said THC is bad for sz!!
I think natural remedies are essential and they are far too often overlooked – feared even, such as with cannabis. But cannabis info generally isn’t specific enough yet - and it freaks people out. I’m trying to help describe what I’ve seen in my son, emphasizing choosing HIGH-CBD cannabis — NOT just any “medical cannabis.”
I feel that bipolar and schizophrenia is on a “sliding scale” with depression and PTSD in there somewhere. I could be wrong. If there’s a DEFINITIVE line between bipolar and schizophrenia, I’d like to know what it is.
All the 5-HTP, Lithium Orotate, l-tyrosine, glutathione I gave my son did nothing for him or me. I did, however see some improvement when I gave him D-mannose. It’s a sugar-like substance that seems to get very available glucose into the brain?
I really appreciate you chatting with me. This is such a deep concern in my life now, and I really want to contribute something positive. 
Sorry for getting upset. I just know how hard it is for people with mental illness and it made me mad that someone would try to stop someone from sharing some helpful information. I think bipolar is different than schizophrenia and maybe some of the things that work for schizophrenia may not be helpful for someone with bipolar disorder. I do think that CBD is helpful and you can get it from Hemp which has 0.03 THC in it so it is not psychoactive. I bought iHemp CBDs 19.02 % paste for about $85 and it lasts two weeks. I followed what it said and took three rice sized portions every day. It helps with anxiety and bad thoughts and it might help with more. To actually help with illnesses as serious and bipolar disorder and schizophrenia it might take more but any amount helps.
Trying to figure things out on our own when the doctors ‘help’ doesn’t cut is required of anyone who wants to feel better.
I’ve been on sam-e in my early quest to remedy my depression. It doesn’t work as well for me as an AD, but it got me through. Expensive though.
No worries!!! I’m right there with you.
Finally! Someone (beyond the clinical studies posted online) confirms what I’ve seen! The Charlotte’s Web is 0.3% THC making it a legal dietary supplement. The bottle suggests 1/8 teaspoon 2-3 times a day, but that’s really a starter dose. My son (when he feels like following through) takes 1/4 teaspoon 2 x’s per day (which I estimate to be 172mg CBDs/day total).
ABSOLUTELY. 
sam-e is kind of equivalent to an antidepressant according to some published studies.
also a psychiatrist named Carl pfeiffer believed sam-e would help someone with a certain type of schizophrenia but could worsen others. He studied 20,000 patients with schizophrenia and made the determination that they were a number of causes.
One cause he called histadelia which he believed sam-e would help.
I personally believe I have this and have treated my schizophrenia successfully with Sam-e and have been able to stop taking antipsychotics as they just slowed down my thought processes so it seemed like it was helping but it didn’t.
Also he alleged someone with histadelia (elevates blood histamine and low dopamine and serotonin) could be helped with anti histamines in addition which is probably why antipsychotics provide some positive response in people with schizophrenia who may have histadelia. But as it lowers dopamine and sometimes serotonin too an antipsychotic may produce mixed responses.
He has treated 100’s or 1000’s of people successfully with Sam-e but as his studies were never controlled or repeated in the same way modern medicine likes to study things his approach has been criticised for this reason and it has never received mainstream acceptance.
More studies would be needed but they have never been done accurately however one published study of 800mg sam-e did show reduced aggression in people with schizophrenia.
It’s really unclear if this is safe to take for schizophrenia or not so perhaps speak to your psychiatrist about it’s safety and ask if he will monitor you carefully if you have decided you are going to take this. Generally a psychiatrist may believe as long as antipsychotics are taken this could potentially replace or be an add on therapy if an antidepressant is already safely prescribed but always be careful with this supplement as some people who researched this have said it can make some types of schizophrenia worse however this is not proven at the same accepted level mainstream medicine requires.
Zombie thread 
