FOOD INTOLERANCE NETWORK
FACTSHEET
Depression and food
intolerance
Depression, anxiety, unexplained tiredness, panic
attacks, suicidal thoughts and actions, obsessive-compulsive disorder and
social phobia can be associated with foods.
One father in the
'I had a violent reaction within a
few hours and have never felt so awful in all my life. Here are some of the
symptoms: depression, suicidal tendencies not just thoughts, melancholy,
looking for an argument, feeling the whole world was against me, lethargy,
shakes, pressure on the skull and tingles in the extremities, feeling of
hangover, inability to focus on thoughts, ringing in the ears, inability to
sleep. The hungover feeling lasted until the next day. Not the best 24 hours
but at least I know there is a cause for symptoms that I have experienced in
the past.’
People who
experience symptoms like this are in the most sensitive category for food
intolerance. They are likely to react to a large number of food chemicals and
even small mistakes in their diet can cause long reactions. Amines are not the
only food chemicals associated with symptoms of depression – any food chemical
can be a problem, and people are different which is why the elimination diet is
needed to clarify which food chemicals affect each individual. You will
probably suffer withdrawal symptoms at some time during the first two weeks,
and your symptoms will probably recur during challenges, so it is important to
be supervised by an experienced dietitian, doctor or counsellor during your
diet.
In a medical
journal
Several
years ago, a report in a medical journal described the case of a 25 year
old patient from a stable and caring
family. A university graduate, the patient had a history of attention deficit
disorder without hyperactivity, motor tics, generalised anxiety, social phobia,
panic attacks, obsessive-compulsive disorder manifested mainly in checking
compulsions and five years of severe depressive episodes which were
non-responsive to a range of psychotropic drugs. After four weeks on the RPAH
elimination diet, his mood and other symptoms had improved considerably. Double
blind placebo controlled testing revealed that the patient was severely
affected by salicylates and later tests showed effects of food additives. While
staying on the diet, the patient was able to remain symptom free. When reviewed
after a year, he had been able to return to full time work. The
Mood Disorders Unit at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Randwick, Sydney, is now
carrying out further studies into the food-depression link.
Women at
risk
Due to female hormones, women are more at risk during
their childbearing years, particularly while premenstrual and after giving
birth. One woman I’ll call Margaret described herself as ‘a chronic bitch for two weeks out
of every month’, also suffering from severe cramping, heavy bleeding and
frequent clots. After her first baby, she suffered from postnatal
depression:
‘Straight after my son’s birth I
knew something was wrong. When I got home I just sat in bed staring into space.
I couldn’t get out of bed, couldn’t do anything, couldn’t sleep. I would start
panicking when I heard the baby cry. My mother had to come and look after us,
doing all the work and bringing my son to me for feeds.’
When her
second child was born, the same thing happened, but this time she started the
elimination diet for her breastfed baby's eczema when her baby was four months
old. 'I felt better than I had for months,' Margaret recalled, but after
weaning went back on her normal diet and again started feeling anxious,
overwhelmed and unable to sleep despite antidepressants. She knows now she
should have realised she needed to go back on the diet but it seemed too hard.
'I was in denial. For me, giving up chocolate was a really big thing'.
It took
Margaret 18 failsafe months to wean herself slowly off antidepressants. During
that time her PMS, other menstrual problems and depression all disappeared and
challenges showed that she was sensitive to ‘nearly everything’. She says ‘If
someone had told me when I first got postnatal depression that my problems were
due to food intolerance, I would have gone on the diet straight away.’
Children can
be affected too
An anxious
seven year old with learning difficulties improved so much during a three week
elimination diet that as a reward his mother offered him anything he wanted in the
supermarket. He chose an icypole with seven artificial colours, BHA (320) and
artificial flavours. That day there was no reaction, the next day there might
have been a problem, then on day three, the family saw a massive 'bad and sad'
reaction. First, the boy 'turned into a monster' and no one wanted to have
anything to do with him. Then he sank into a deep, dark depression. He wanted
to hurt himself, he wanted to be dead. As his mother said, 'It was awful and so
dramatic. He was aware of what caused the reaction and never wants to eat one
again'. Yet this family, like so many others, had never noticed any effects of
foods, because when problematic food chemicals are eaten every day, effects
appear to come and go with no obvious cause.
Another family discovered through the elimination diet
that their eight year old daughter's depression was linked to amines. After two
years on failsafe, the mother wrote:
'Pre-failsafe
she was mildly depressed, as well as lethargic, pale, anxious, dizzy and
"spacy". Her amine challenge resulted in severe depression including
bouts of suicidal thoughts and almost psychotic agitation. Based on pre-diet
behaviours, she had been classified as having a highly anxious temperament. A
number of health professionals have told us they expect to see her back during
her teenage years, meaning so they can give her antidepressants. However after
two years failsafe she shows no signs of mental illness in any form and no
longer seems a candidate for anxiety and depression.’
From story [474] My 10-year-old daughter recently
started becoming tearful and depressed sometimes - I was amazed when she worked
out it was a reaction to sharing her Dad's chips - 'It's the flavour enhancers
Mum, they just make me want to cry for no reason'.
Fumes and
perfumes
As well as food chemicals, you might need to consider
your exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) or smelly chemicals such as
pesticides, airfresheners, perfumes and perfumed cleaning products, toiletries,
solvents, building chemicals and some flame retardants which have been linked
with sick building syndrome. This condition includes a range of symptoms such
as eye, skin and throat irritation, headaches, lethargy, dizziness, nausea and
memory disturbance, and some VOCs have been linked with depression. In
particular, certain flame retardants in soft furnishings such as mattresses and
lounge suites could be a problem. When flame retardant TCPP (trichloropropyl
phosphate) was tested on thousands of laboratory rats, four studies out of nine
listed ‘depression’ as the main clinical sign while the others listed hunched
posture and lethargy. This chemical has never been tested on humans. Although
the Australian National Industrial Chemicals Notification and Assessment Scheme
(NICNAS) reported neurological effects and recommended more testing, it didn’t
happen and the product is now in widespread use. For more details, watch for an
update of the Fumes and Perfumes factsheet.
Antidepressants,
suicide and withdrawal symptoms
The new class of antidepressants known as SSRIs
(selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors which include Prozac, Zoloft and
paroxetine, also known as Aropax, Paxil, Seroxat) were viewed as relatively
harmless when they came on the market in the 1980s. However, starting in 1992,
a number of SSRIs have been linked to a condition called akathisia. Unpublished
data suggests that up to one patient in four may suffer from this condition.
Also described as inner restlessness, akathisia
consists of severe agitation, sometimes accompanied by motor restlessness such
as the inability to sit still or feeling the need to pace. It can be an
extremely distressing experience and can lead to mental confusion and suicidal
ideas arising from the unbearable discomfort and restlessness. Unfortunately it
is not possible to anticipate which patients will be affected.
In 1997, British psychiatrist Dr David Healy wrote a
report recommending the use of psychotropic drugs in children but changed his
mind about antidepressants when he noticed his in-tray 'filling with files on
teenagers committing suicide within a week or two of commencing Prozac'.
The risk is highest when just starting or stopping the
drugs and may extend to violent behaviour. In July 2001, a jury in Wyoming
ordered manufacturers GlaxoSMithKline to pay $US 6.4 million to the relatives
of Donald Schell after Schell, 60, shot and killed his wife, daughter and baby
granddaughter before killing himself. He had no previous history of violence
and been taking antidepressants for just two days.
Dr Healy estimates that at least 250,000 people
worldwide have attempted suicide because of Prozac alone and 25,000 have
succeeded. He has conducted trials which showed that SSRIs caused even some
healthy volunteers to become agitated, and in some cases, suicidal.
A trial of 93 children in the US found that depressed
children who took paroxetine did better than on placebo or older drugs. But ten
of the children suffered serious psychiatric problems within weeks of going on
the drug. Most of them had to be hospitalised. Five had suicidal thoughts and
gestures.
Last year the UK Medicines and Healthcare products
Regulatory Agency (MHRA) set up an expert panel to review the safety and
efficacy of SSRIs, starting with their use in under-18s. By December, it had
banned all the SSRIs except Prozac for this age group, citing poor evidence of
efficacy and a raised risk of self-harm and suicidal thoughts. Meanwhile in the
US, pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline is being sued by the New York state
attorney-general in a civil lawsuit alleging the company suppressed research
findings that indicate its antidepressant paroxetine is not only ineffective in
adolescents and children but also increases the risk of suicide.
Withdrawal
symptoms
In Britain, paroxetine heads the list of drugs
associated with reports of withdrawal symptoms, with more complaints than all
other drugs put together.
According to manufacturers, technically these
complaints are 'discontinuation’ rather than withdrawal symptoms because they
do not constitute addiction, defined as the need for increasing doses of
medication.
They advise patients who find they are unable to stop
taking their medication because of severe withdrawal symptoms to start taking
their medication again, then taper the dose.
A
woman who took antidepressants for six years after developing postnatal
depression described how after going failsafe, she felt she no longer needed
the tablets but was unable to stop taking them due to severe withdrawal symptoms.
“Don’t get me wrong’, she wrote, ‘for a few years I needed it but this
medication is addictive’. Eventually, she managed to wean herself off
antidepressants over a period of nearly 18 months by proceeding slowly, with a
minimum of two to three months for each reduction stage, reducing to one tablet
every second day (every day date divisible by two) then gradually extending the
medication free days in-between until she was down to one tablet every seven
days. Now she is ‘managing well so long as I keep failsafe’.
Reports of withdrawal symptoms include electrical
'shocks' to the brain, dizziness, extreme nausea, crying spells,
lightheadedness, vertigo, coordination problems, gait disturbances, sweating,
vomiting, high fever, abdominal discomfort, flu symptoms, agitation,
irritability, aggression, sleep disturbance, nightmares, tremor, confusion,
memory and concentration difficulties, lethargy, malaise, weakness and general
fatigue. There are more details, and information about how to wean yourself off
antidepressants, at www.QuitPaxil.org.
Update
1) Depression and illness linked to air
fresheners and aerosols
Mothers are more likely to experience headaches and
depression in homes where air fresheners and aerosols such as deodorants,
hairsprays or polishes are used daily, according to a new study. Babies in high
use homes are at significantly higher risk of earache and stomach ache,
diarrhoea and vomiting. Researchers led by Dr Alexandra Farrow from the University
of Bristol’s ongoing Children of the 90s project believe the problems may be a
result of exposure to VOCs (volatile organic compounds) used in aerosols. The
study will be published in the Archives of Environmental Health. Daily Mail,
London, 20/10/04.
2) Depression
and aspartame
There is a compelling account of a teenage girl’s
‘living hell’ due to aspartame (artificial sweetener 951) addiction. In three
years, she went from being a ‘vibrant, outgoing person’, top student and athlete competing in the world
championship games in Europe to being a depressed, overweight ‘lump of flesh on
the family-room couch’ drinking 10-15 cans of diet drink a day.
Unable to deal with her depression, and after
unhelpful experiences with a series of doctors, the teenager finally saw a news
report on aspartame and decided to stop drinking diet drinks. When she first
tried to stop use she experienced shaking, nausea and a tremendous urge to have
a diet drink. She wasn't able to stop
immediately so she gradually cut down the number of cans each day until she had
quit altogether ... and her depression
finally lifted.
There are also reports of chest pains, blurred vision,
skin rash, headaches in temple area, behaviour outbursts and seizures related
to aspartame in chapter 2, The Aspartame Story, in Feeding the Brain by Dr CK
Conners (published Guilford Press, 1989 – he’s the same Dr Conners who
developed the well-known Conners rating scale for children’s behaviour).
Reader’s story: [390] Mixed depressive disorder
with anxiety and obsessive ruminations including self harm due to salicylate
sensitivity (March 2006)
My 6 ½ year old son, Tim
(not his real name) is currently undergoing investigation of mixed depressive
disorder with anxiety and obsessive ruminations. We have used the failsafe diet
in the past with one of our other children, but had not ever thought of foods
being linked to Tim’s mood problems. When you mention the “gifted and
depressed” child in your recent talk my ears immediately pricked up and took
note. Tim has been identified as highly gifted and everyone has been saying
that is the cause of his problems but I have always felt there was something
else underlying that was contributing. We will be contacting our GP today and
hopefully starting the failsafe diet ASAP…
Two months later …
Since starting the
elimination diet Tim has not self harmed once! He is much calmer and has
noticed this in himself. He no longer seems to be as restless and has been
falling asleep easily at a reasonable time in the evenings. We started with the
salicylates challenge this week and there seemed to be no reaction, until day
5/6 when we started to notice his behaviour was getting worse. We will stop
this challenge tonight and wait to try some other groups. His GP and Clinical Psychologist
are both thrilled with the change as are well!
One week later ….
After I emailed you we
finally had the BIG reaction we were looking for. It happened on Day 7 of the salicylate
challenge - we had already stopped the challenge that morning. Tim went to bed
as normal then began to write swear words all over his bed, his sheets and his
body. ("I was angry with you because I couldn't fall asleep") This is
the behaviour and obsessive ruminations this poor boy was experiencing on a
daily basis before the elimination diet, which we have not seen until this
challenge.– by email.
[447] ‘Fear of the dark’ really a food reaction (August
2006)
We started the diet nearly
a year ago for my son, a sweet 5 year old who would become an aggressive,
extremely hyperactive and an emotional monster nearly every day. I saw you on A
Current Affair and after taking muesli bars and sultanas (which I had thought
were healthy) out of his diet I noticed most of his aggressive behaviour
disappear.
After that we started the
full diet and not only did our son become an angel, we noticed that our
daughter was a very strong amine reactor, becoming uncontrollably emotional,
depressed and ‘full on’, as well as having frequent nightmares and bedwetting.
Unfortunately since we have moved 2 months ago our son has gone backwards fast,
I now think as a result of amines in meat from new butchers. It is so upsetting
to see all the progress disappear, and he has had HUGE problems at school this
term. I have traveled back to our old butchers to stock up on meat and am
started to see some improvement after one week.
The biggest shock for me
however, was when I recently discovered I was a food reactor!! I was a junk
food addict and would eat about 5kg of chocolate a week. I can’t believe now I
had so many symptoms, and I never even put them together as symptoms, let alone
found the source of the problem! I was getting migraines, I constantly had a
headache behind my eyes, I felt very faint and disoriented, had stomach pains
that felt like needles - usually after eating lollies, and I was always bloated
- something which really upset me.
The weirdest thing to
attribute to food however was my extreme ‘fear of the dark’ as I called it. I
would be terribly scared of the dark, I would think that my mind thought it
could see little people and things out of the corner of my eye, even though I
knew they weren’t there, I would open my eyes every 10 seconds while trying to get
to sleep, just to check if there were monsters or robbers there, and every time
I closed my eyes all I could picture in my head was horrible things that would
scare me. I was a bit worried I was starting to go crazy, then I stopped eating
chocolate and didn’t even notice all these symptoms disappeared.
It wasn’t until I splurged
on a whole chocolate cake over two nights that I discovered what had caused
these problems. After eating the cake I was completely on edge. I couldn’t sit
down for ten seconds without turning around to make sure there were no monsters
or robbers behind me. Eventually I had to sit with my back to the wall so I
wouldn’t think there were things behind me. That was the last time I ate
chocolate, and the thought of ever eating it again scares me! – by email.
Q. I have a son in his thirties who has been on
the diet since the age of 6 (salicylates, preservatives, colours and dyes are
the problem, not amines). Unfortunately, he has recently begun getting quite
serious depression and is seeing a psychiatrist who just keeps prescribing
different anti-depressants as none seem to work. I recently wrote a letter to the psychiatrist
explaining my son’s dietary problems and the symptoms he gets. The psychiatrist
told him that all food intolerance is psychosomatic. You can imagine how much
help that was. Are there any psychiatrists or counsellors who understand this
chemical sensitivity problem? While he does try to stick to his diet, I do
suspect there may be too frequent diversions from it or something is catching
him out he is not aware of. Trying the elimination diet again is something I
think I shall try to persuade him to do.
A.
Symptoms of food intolerance can change throughout the lifespan, and it is not
uncommon to find the foods that caused hyperactivity in childhood can cause
depression in adulthood. There is case history describing a young adult with a
history of childhood ADD whose severe treatment-resistant depression improved
dramatically on a low salicylate elimination diet (Parker G and Watkins T,
Treatment-resistant depression: when antidepressant drug intolerance may
indicate food intolerance, Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 2002). The article concludes
that clinicians should be aware of food intolerance-related depression and that
it may be worsened by psychotropic medication. You can request our list of
supportive health professionals - including some psychologists – from confoodnet@ozemail.com.au. It may
be worth consulting a dietitian, as safe foods for this diet change constantly
and your son could be following an out-of-date diet. To send the article’s
abstract to your son’s psychiatrist, see http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Select+from+History&db=pubmed&query_key=1
Further information
See the Failsafe Cookbook by Sue Dengate. Pages 11-12
deal with food chemicals most likely to be related to depression. Thank you to
the failsafe families who have shared their experiences so that others can benefit.
You can read more of their stories [340]-[344] in Readers Stories.
References
‘report in a medical journal’: Parker G, Watkins T,
Treatment-resistant depression: when antidepressant drug intolerance may
indicate food intolerance, Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 2002:36(2):263-5.
'akathisia': Hamilton MS and Opler LA, Akathisia,
suicidality, and fluoxetine, J Clin Psychiatry 1992;53(11):410-6.
‘one patient in four’: Kingsland J, The rise and fall
of the new wonder-drugs, New Scientist vol 183 issue 2454, 03 July 2004, p36.
'suicidal and violent behaviour in some patients':
Healy DH, Correspondence between Dr David Healy and the Medicines Control
Agency, www.socialaudit.org.au/58000-00.htm,
'teenagers committing suicide', letter to the CMA dated 4/11/99, same URL
'healthy volunteers to become agitated': Healy D,
Lines of evidence on the risks of suicide with selective serotonin reuptake
inhibitors, Psychother Psychom, 2003;72(2):71-9.
'In a trial of 93 children', transcript of BBC
Panorama program, 'The secrets of Seroxat', first shown on ABC Four Corners
28/4/03 as 'The hazards of the happy pill', http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/programmes/panorama/transcripts/seroxat.txt;
‘banned all SSRIs except Prozac’: Kingsland J, cited
above
‘sued by the New York state attorney-general’: Glaxo lawsuit,
New Scientist, vol 182 issue 2451, 12 June 2004, p4.
'complaints of withdrawal reactions': Medicines
Control Agency, The top 20 medicines associated with reports of suspected
withdrawal reactions on the UK ADROIT database, www.socialaudit.org.uk/43800046.htm
'Patients who find they are unable to stop':
www.QuitPaxil.org
The information given is not intended as medical advice. Always consult
with your doctor for underlying illness. Before beginning dietary
investigation, consult a dietician with an interest in food intolerance.
© Sue Dengate update January 2007
