![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 2 of 2. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by MoparFan91 on May 30, 2005, at 16:46:47
About 2 weeks ago, I decided to switch to a different brand of Fish Oil for a better EPA:DHA ratio. Originally, I was taking straight Fish Oil (Walmart brand) with the EPA:DHA ratio of 1.5:1. My dose was 30 caps a day in 3 divided doses giving me 9g of EPA/DHA. I didn't seem to get much benefit from this as far as I could tell.
I saw some posts on here linking to studies that showed that Fish Oil with DHA only or EPA:DHA ratios less than 2:1 pitched bipolars into a severe depression. Could anyone clarify this?
Other studies show that higher ratios of EPA:DHA is better than lower ratios.
So, I decided to switch to a Fish Oil with a higher EPA ratio. I found Country Life brand fish oil that has an EPA:DHA ratio of 5:1. Each cap contains 600mg of Omega 3 with 500mg EPA and 100mg DHA. The bottle is actually labeled as a mood support formula. This fish oil was presumably designed for mood. The back of the box says that 1g per day of EPA relieves depression. Anyway, I'm taking 4 caps in the morning giving me 2g of EPA and 400mg of DHA.
What are your experiences with high EPA fish oil compared to the regular 1.5:1 EPA ratio concerning your mood and benefits with depression/anxiety?
What's your normal dosages?
Posted by LOOPS on June 1, 2005, at 18:06:06
In reply to Fish Oil EPA:DHA ratio, posted by MoparFan91 on May 30, 2005, at 16:46:47
Hi there -
I'm in much the same boat as you, although further down the line I think (have been on fish oil for quite a few months but still I think less than a year).
I just don't know to be honest! I was originally taking 3 pills that each had 360mg EPA and 240mg DHA, and immediately noticed more motivation and better sense of wellbeing. However I was at this point still having problems with anxiety, so I added in evening primrose oil/borage oil. Overdid it on this and although it calmed me, it eventually sent me back into a bit of depression/tiredness (but not nearly as bad/unbalanced as before without the fish oil).
So I dropped the GLA supplements, reserving them for times of real need (like premenstrual time), and for some reason I can't remember very well, decided to increase the fish oil to 6 caps a day. Was doing fine, but felt as if I could do better. Also I was not taking a vitamin E supplement at this time.
Switched to mixing different pills as the jury still seems to be out regarding EPA/DHA ratios etc etc. Got hold of high EPA pills (500mg EPA/90mg DHA per cap) and oddly enough, noticed immediately my long-term eczema psoriasis problem started to disappear. the psoriasis had continued and even got worse with the original pills.
Right now I'm mixing 3 brands -
per day:
3 pills high EPA caps
3 pills 400/200 caps (epa/dha)
3 pills GNC bogstandard 180/120 (because contain vit E 60mg per cap, and I can't tolerate high doses of vitamin E as makes my acne worse).When I run out of these, I'm interested in trying the Twinlabs Megatwin EPA caps, which have 600mg EPA and 240mg DHA per cap, and also 19iu vit E per cap, to cut down on all the bottles in my cupboard.
So the only thing I can really say is the fish oil has definitely done something quite amazing for me, but I'm not exactly sure how much I really need, and at that how much EPA. I just know that for some reason 3 pills wasn't enough for mood stabilization for me (never been diagnosed bp but am prone to big mood swings constantly).
I try to update everyone here and I hope you will too - as it is very interesting to see people's ongoing results with fish oil experimentation - and really the only thing we have to go on in the end.
Loops
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Alternative | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.