Considering Alternative Treatments?
Monday January 5, 2009
A lot of people with bipolar disorder are interested in alternative or supplemental therapies to prescription medications. Mimosa, a member of our Forums, recently shared that she was thinking about this. “Has anyone on this board used amino acids, vitamins, any other types of supplements to treat their bipolar symptoms? I'm having trouble with my new meds not working so well and am interested in other treatments.”
These are great questions and should be discussed with your doctor. Before adding any supplements to your treatment plan, before changing or stopping your prescriptions, please consult your physician. There are so many alternate medications and supplements out there that can interfere with your current prescriptions, can exacerbate your symptoms or even threaten your life. All of these non-prescription options are actually drugs themselves (See What Is a Drug? ) Be safe and be well. ~ Kimberly
Comments
you should talk to you psychiatrist or whoever you see for your disorder but i have heard about amino acids helping bipolar. I have also heard of the valarian root helping which was very suprising. good luck to you and your cures.
Fish oil, Flaxseed oil, protein drink mixes with amino acids, and soy milk helps. Walking 45 minutes 5 days a week helps alot, too.
Stay with your doctor. Let them know how you feel. Many of the side effects actually improve over time. I’ve been bp1 all my life. I was diagnosed as schizophrenic first. Then depressed, I have mixed episodes frequently. I don’t recommend trying to treat your self.
We should not lump Bipolar 1s and 2s together. Bipolar 1 is such a serious disorder…you can lose control of your mind if you go experimenting. I can’t even take Melatonin because it affects me - and many other Bipolars wrong. I remember the days of St John’s Wort….that was really funny. It did nothing except as a placebo.
Yes, I agree with the last poster. BP1, which I have, should never be conjoined with BP2. There is a huge severity gap between the two. Second, I successfully use N-A-C as a supplement, fish oil, and pycnogenol to help with moods. My stabilizer is a low dose in comparison. I also walk 45-90 mins a day. Check with your Dr. Make sure the person you are speaking with is at least a psychopharmacologist as well in addition to being a pdoc.
We took our BP1 son to the Pfeiffer Treatment Center in Illinois so they could determine through blood, urine and hair analysis what he was lacking/overproducing that would cause the symptoms of BP… They recommended supplements that worked very well, just required my son to take 10 pills in the morning and a different set at night. Well, you probably know what happens when you’re feeling great… you think you don’t need to take anything anymore… WRONG. Our son (teenager) decided he didn’t want to swallow any more pills so we’re back to the drawing board. He was doing so well we forgot what an “episode” was… Go there… great place for help to get to the root cause, not mask with medications.