Hi Marrena,

I apologize in advance if you've already answered this, but I've been looking for an answer to my question on here, but haven't found it. I've been on your diet for over a month. I'm about 155lbs and have been taking 2400mg EPA and 1500mg DHA Carlson's Liquid Fish Oil. This past week, I added a 275mg DHA pill, totaling 1775mg DHA. I noticed a pleasant tingling on the evenings of the first week, but haven't had anything since. I'm also taking 150mg of Effexor, though. Should I be taking a different dosage of fish oil because of that? Do you have any suggestions?

If you are on antidepressants it won't change the dosage I recommend. However, you might want to try a purer brand. I know that the brand doesn't have an effect on the libido issue, but it might have an effect on the antidepressant quality of fish oil.

The goal is that over time the fish oil should help improve your mood so you are able to decrease your antidepressant dosage under your doctor's supervision.

With depression, the primary beneficial omega-3 fatty acid is EPA.

Thanks for your quick response!

What do you mean by a purer fish oil? Isn't Carlson's a good brand?

Carlson's has different brands. I take it myself, the Super-DHA, I would consider it a good brand in general. How concentrated is it? Can you tell from the label?

Have you noticed improvement in mood?

I copied the label below. I'm taking 3t/day. It's been hard to really measure my mood, because I'm also dealing with a breakup that occurred right before I started the diet. I was in a really good mood and had more energy and focus for the first week, but then it died down.

If EPA is better for depression/anxiety, should I take more? Or, on the other hand, might I be having a serotonin overdose if I'm taking this in addition to Effexor? Effexor IS an SNRI, so it has less serotonin effects than SSRIs presumably.

Also, do you know anything about OmegaBrite? It has way more EPA than DHA, because they recommend that for depression. All of the conflicting information is very confusing for me in terms of staying emotionally stable and having a suitable libido and arousal.

Each Teaspoonful Contains % D.V.
Calories (energy) 40
Calories from Fat 40
Total Fat 4 g 6%*
Saturated Fat 1 g 5%*
Polyunsaturated Fat 2 g †
Monounsaturated Fat 1 g †
Cholesterol 15 mg 5%*
Vitamin E Natural (d-Alpha Tocopherol) 10 IU 33%
Omega-3 Fatty Acids 1,600 mg †
EPA (Eicosapentaenoic Acid) 800 mg †
DHA (Docosahexaenoic Acid) 500 mg †
Other Omega-3 Fatty Acids 300 mg

I've taken OmegaBrite. That's how I discovered how key the DHA was for libido, because my libido plummeted.

Don't take more EPA or DHA than I recommend for your weight. I'm basically giving women the maximum dosage I would feel comfortable recommending.

What you are taking now sounds like regular fish oil, it's not very concentrated. I usually recommend that women take a product that is more than half EPA+DHA. Yours is 4 g per serving, I guess, and your total EPA+DHA per serving is 1.6 g. I would consider taking a more refined brand for better antidepressant effect (but again, do not increase dosage).

Desexor, hm? That one is notorious for killing libido.

Also mood along with libido tends to be somewhat related to the monthly cycle. Keep track of your mood for a month and see how you feel.

I've been interpreting the concentration as EPA+DHA versus total Omega-3 fatty acids. (In this case, 1.3g vs. 1.6g total). Is that wrong? You seemed to be measuring the 1g of fish oil as how many grams of fat it is. In the case of the Zone fish oil, fat content and O-3 content is the same, but with Carlson's or Nordic Naturals, they are different amounts. This fish oil stuff is sooo confusing.

Oh, whoops! Yes, 1.3 g. See, I knew it was only a matter of time before I misposted about dosage. At any rate, you might want to try a more concentrated brand.

No problem. I understood that part. The part that I'm confused about is that you say that I should have a certain amount of EPA+DHA per 1g. To what 1g are you referring? Total Omega-3? Total fat? I was understanding the 1g to refer to the total amount of Omega-3. In that case, it's about the same concentration as the Zone brand. Also, if I'm getting the same amount of EPA and DHA anyway, why does the concentration matter? Are there just other things in there that I DON'T want to be ingesting?

Well the total fat for the serving is 4 g, so the serving size is at least four grams. Rule of thumb, over half of the fish oil should be made up of EPA and DHA, otherwise you are consuming too much fish gunk (fish gunk being hard on the digestion and causing funny odors). I'm thinking purity might also have an effect on antidepressant efficacy, but I don't know for sure.

I take the liquid Zone fish oil, and a teaspoon of that has 4.5 grams of fat and 1800 mg of EPA and 900 mg of DHA. There is a considerable difference.