I can understand your frustration. I think that a better solution would be to change to another anti-depressant which does not have such bad side effects. Have you tried other anti-depressants? For example, I changed to the newer version of Effexor called Pristiq which does not have a bad side effect that was in Effexor. So you might try the newer upgraded versions.
Something more natural is not necessarily safe, e.g. hemlock. My doctor told me not to take any herbal meds because there are toxins in them that can further harm my kidneys. The FDA has no evaluation of herbals or vitamins which is very rigorous for prescription medications. A lot of the ingredients come from China who sends out poisonous items constantly if you read the news at all. I joined consumerlabs on-line which does test a number of herbals for lead toxins and whether they have in them what they claim. They fail a lot of vitamins and herbals. I read an article that stated that people taking vitamins died at younger ages than people who don't take vitamins. I don't wonder why.
If the herbal med is strong enough to treat depression, it is strong enough to cause other health effects which NO ONE has tested.
Also watch out for the withdrawal effects from stopping your prescription med.
I wish you luck finding something that helps your depression and does not have bad side effects. Bad side effects are the pits.
Hello I did try 5-HRT when I was not on anti depressants, but it did not make any difference, and I had to go back on anti-depressants. You won't know until you try. I have read it works if you have mild depression.