Ephedrine & Caffeine for depression?

[sheyfield]

If the past, I occasionally took supplements such as Metabolife, Xenadrine, etc. (the old versions that had ephedra) as a diet/workout aid, and aside from having a more energetic workout, they really seemed to help with my depression. Now I have days where I can barely function at all due to depression, but if I take 12mg of ephedrine, some caffeine and 1/2 an aspirin I feel normal to great.

I've only been on actual depression medications once - I took Paxil. It didn't seem to work well and the side effects of getting off it were horrible.

Is the ephedrine/caffeine/aspirin mix a reasonable solution to my depression? Any dangers? Or should I try another antidepressant?

[ILADVOCATE]

They don't help. Its really a form of self medication. Coffee is something ordinary but anything with caffeine is best avoided and at high levels (such as found in various supplements) caffeine can be somewhat dangerous and can push someone into a manic state or even if someone does not have that symptoms make them speeded up on their own in an unhealthy manner. Its just masking the symptoms of depression not treating it. There's a lot of stuff available over the counter at health food stores that shouldn't be. Avoid it. Natural doesn't mean safe. It does mean unregulated and unknown and an unknown quantity is not a good idea. As for what anti-depressent would work in you speak to a psychiatrist about that but to find out more google "Depression Central" but speak to a psychiatrist about treatment options.

[wschoops]

I believe any doctor will tell you if you have depression, OTC uppers are not the solution.  I used to take ephedrine and got addicted, also to caffeine at a different point in my life.  These are addictive substances (besides the aspirin) and you can build a tolerance for ephedrine.  Paxil didn't work for me either, but there are hundreds of other antidepressants out there to try, in different families of drugs than Paxil.  I think you should talk to a doctor about it because what you're doing right now probably won't work in the long term.  My feelings though... good luck.