Another person with atypical depression responds to chromium

Another person with atypical depression responds to chromium

Dr. McLeod,
I wanted to share with you my story about Chromium Picolinate. I’ve dealt with very strong sugar cravings most of my life, and on a random recommendation from someone, I decided to try chromium picolinate to see if it would help. Little did I know what it would do for me.
Within two days, I realized it was having an effect on other symptoms that I’ve struggled with for over 20 years, and have seen doctors about, but to no avail. I’ve dealt with insomnia (difficulty in falling asleep and being very restless) and fatigue most prevalently; but I’ve also felt depressed at times and have had mild social anxiety issues for as long as I can remember. I figured the last two were more of a personal failing than biological, but I had been seeking solutions for the first two for quite awhile (medicine, change of diet and exercise, etc.). Some success, but things never quite felt right. So I started taking CrPic, and all of these symptoms cleared up within two days. I felt like I went to sleep and woke up in a new body. This was so odd that I did some research on “chromium and depression” and found your book. I felt like I was reading about myself in your descriptions of atypical depression. It never dawned on me that perhaps there was a description that encompassed the symptoms I’ve had. I’ve been waiting for the effects to die off, but fortunately they haven’t. My carbohydrate cravings have all but disappeared. It’s literally been a life-changer for me. Although I’ve learned to cope pretty well, I know that my work and social life have felt the effects. And here’s something strange that I don’t know if you’ve run into: I’ve had a habit of biting my nails for over 25 years and I’ve never been successful in kicking the habit. In the last two weeks, the impulse behind that action has disappeared, and I haven’t bitten them since. I don’t know if there’s a connection to a less anxious and stable mood, but I feel as if there is a biological connection as well. I’m more “settled” internally, such that it seems to have short-circuited the impulse.
One last observation: when I was seeing the doctor about my fatigue awhile back, I had some blood work done and he mentioned that the tests showed that my blood sugar levels were in the pre-diabetic stage. This was another piece of the puzzle that seemed to correspond to atypical depression, and that CrPic was a genuine solution, and not just a placebo.
Thanks very much for your research in this area. I’m convinced it’s helping a lot of people.

Name withheld by request

Dear Sir,

Thank you so much for contacting me and telling me your story. I have had many patients who shortly after beginning to take chromium picolinate have responded exactly as you describe, with rapid lifting of carbohydrate craving, lifting of depression, improved sleep and less anxiety. You are the first person who has reported cessation of nail biting. Your explanation – that stopping nail biting is the result of less anxiety—sounds plausible to me.

Again, thank you for sharing your story. I will post it on my blog with the hope that others will see themselves in your account and will derive benefit from CrPic.

Malcolm N. McLeod, MD

What Is Atypical Depression?

• Blue?
• Down?
• Moody?
• Crave sweets and other carbs?
• Overeat?
• Gain weight?
• Tired?
• Arms and legs feel heavy?
• Feelings easily hurt?

If you answered “yes” to even one of these questions, you may be suffering from atypical depression, which is the most common type of depression.

Might my husband have atypical depression?

Might my husband have atypical depression?

QUESTION:
Dear Dr. McLeod,

My husband has been suffering from a chronic form of depression. Recently I read your book. I bought three copies so that I could share them with people I know. In my view he meets almost all of the criteria for atypical depression, although his depression has not been diagnosed as such. His mood often swings. He can look happy and normal when we meet our friends, but he gets into a bad mood the moment we leave our friends and get into our car. He is extremely sensitive to what I say and is easily hurt. The other day I just asked him for his help regarding our son’s school issues. Then he emotionally exploded, became angry and hostile at me, and withdrew from our relationship. It seems he felt blamed for not being a good father. He seems to be extremely sensitive at work, too, especially in relation to his boss and a few of his colleagues. He manages to keep his job for about one to three years, but eventually gets laid off or fired. He sleeps very long hours. He currently works flexible hours, so he usually takes two naps during the day, for about two to four hours in total. At night he goes to bed at about 10:30pm and wakes up at 7am. During weekends he sleeps even longer. The other Sunday he was awake for only eight hours of the day and slept for 16 hours! He is always tired and never seems to feel rested. It is very difficult for him to get out of his bed. It is difficult for us to go out and do various activities in the weekend, because he is usually too tired. He often overeats. It is as though he cannot control his appetite. He eats irregularly, often eating snacks during meals. There were many times when I opened the kitchen cupboard or the freezer to find that a whole bag of tortilla chips or a box of cookies or ice cream were gone, suddenly overnight! These days he likes eating bread. He cannot live without soft drinks and keeps a dozen of two litter diet coke bottles in the garage. He also eats a very large amount of fruits. He struggles to lose weight but he never m
anages to.

Do you think my husband has atypical depression? Do you think chromium would work for him?

Thank you,

N.

ANSWER:
Dear N.
It sounds as if your husband might have atypical depression and a trial of Iceland Health Chromax chromium picolinate is indicated. But first I would suggest he be evaluated by his healthcare professional to rule out other possibilities.

If he agrees to a trail of chromium, please let me know the results.

Malcolm McLeod, MD

Do I have atypical depression?

Do I have atypical depression?

Question:
Dr. McLeod

Hi I just found your study and I am going to see if my local bookstore has your book and if they do I am going to get it. If they don’t I am going to order it. I wanted to tell you my story and see if you think I might have atypical depression and a deficiencies of chromium. I am 27 and female 5’9 359lbs. I had a great childhood parents stayed together and were happy I was always loved and had lots and lots of family around. I have a huge appetite and do not know why. I crave candy and cookies and cake and bread and pasta and potatoes and french fries that sort of stuff all the time. I feel like I never get enough sleep. I sleep at least 11 hours a day and I could sleep all day if I was able. I am more tired when I wake up in the morning than I am before going to bed. My husband says I am weird that he has never heard of someone who has more energy at night time than they do after a good nights rest. I have gained about 100lbs in the last 2 years and I have seen my doctor and their is no medical condition for the weight gain. I feel like my arms and legs are heavy and they seem hard to lift. I recently woke up feeling weird and strange then I started to get worried then I felt as if I couldn’t breath and that I was going to pass out. I was very scared and I knew I was going to die. I called the ambulance and everything looked great, but they took me to the hospital anyway. All my blood work, EKG, O2 sat, blood pressure everything was perfect, no blood clots, no pe nothing. The Doc said he was pretty sure I had a panic attack. It does not take much to hurt my feelings. I have been known to cry easily and I take everyone personal even from my own husband. I also feel as if everyone is mad at me and doesn’t like me. I am sorry to keep going on and on. I was wondering if you thought I might have this type of depression. Thank you for any advice you can give me. I recently went to a vegan diet and I have started exercising by walking everyday. Thank you again

C.
Answer:
Dear C.
I cannot give individual advice. You must consult your healthcare professional before acting on any suggestions I’m about to make. But yes indeed, it sounds like you have atypical depression and you sound like a good candidate for chromium. The shortness of breath may be due to sleep apnea, with your abdominal weight pushing up on your diaphragm and making it difficult for you to breathe. Hopefully chromium will curb your food cravings and give you enough energy to exercise and lose weight.
Please let me know if chromium helps you.
My best wishes to you,
Malcolm McLeod, MD

Who coined the term "atypical depression"?

Who coined the term “atypical depression”?

Q: Why is the most common type of depression, that is atypical depression, known by such a misleading name?

A: Dr. Ronald Hoffman asked me this question during a radio interview on his excellent program, “Health Talk” (New York station WOR 710AM). I didn’t have time to answer fully, so here goes:

When some people become depressed, they lose weight loss, have severe insomnia, and are agitated. This is known as depression with melancholic features, or more simply, melancholia. When some people become depressed their appetite is excessive, they tend to gain weight, they are exhausted for no known reason, and they are excessively sleepy. This is known as depression with atypical feature, or simply atypical depression. Who gave depression these names?

Melancholic depression

For centuries, writes have known about melancholic depression. That’s the type of depression that is associated with changes in basic (vegetative) bodily, including loss of appetite, weight loss, severe insomnia and agitation. For centuries, these changes were thought of as typical of depression.

In addition to these bodily changes, melancholic depression comes on rapidly, like a summer thunderstorm, and people with this medical disorder loath themselves, they awaken early in the morning and cannot fall back to asleep, and they feel worse in the morning.

Shakespeare described melancholic depression in The Winter’s Tale:

[Leontes] straight declin’d, droop’d, took it deeply,
Fasten’d and fix’d the shame on’t in himself
Threw off his spirit, his appetite, his sleep,
And downright languish’d.

Atypical depression

In the 1950s another type of depression, “atypical depression,” was recognized in the folowing way. Two classes of antidepressant medications were accidentally discovered. Soon thereafter, Drs. E.D. West and P.J. Dally — two psychiatrists working at the St. Thomas’s Hospital in London — noticed that patients responded differently to the two medications. They wanted to understand the differences, so they carefully observed over 500 depressed patients. Gradually they became aware that patients with melancholic depression responded to the tricyclic antidepressant medication, imipramine, while patients with the “opposite” body changes — excessive appetite, weight gain, unexplained exhaustion and excessive sleepiness — responded to the monoamine oxidase inhibitor (MAOI), iproniazid. Because these body changes were the opposite of those found in melancholic depression, Drs. West and Dally coined the term “atypical depression”

In addition to the difference in bodily changes, there are other differences between melancholic depression and atypical depression. Atypical depression begins early in life; it comes on gradually, and, like a long grey winter, it seems to last forever, if untreated. People with atypical depression tend to feel worse later in the day and they tend to overact to criticism or rejection

Studies conducted during the 1980s have clearly supported the observations of Drs. West and Dally, namely that MAOIs are the most effective medication for atypical depression. But that’s another story which I hope to discuss soon.

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