Thinking of trying an entirely natural treatment approach.

I feel like I have absolutely no control over my treatment and what goes into my body, and that makes me really angry. When I ask for something specific, I am either turned down or given something else. When I ask for a change in my care, nobody takes me seriously and I am just sick of it. Yesterday when I went to the doctor to talk about the depression and severe anxiety I'm feeling, and ask for an antidepressant that can help with both, I was told that they didn't feel comfortable and that if I still feel the same in a month they could refer me to someone who knows more about bipolar disorder. This coming RIGHT AFTER a psych consult where they psychiatrist recommended that I go on an antidepressant along with my lithium.

So, I wound up asking if I can take 5HTP instead and the doctor said fine although she didn't think it would help. She also okayed Valerian to help me sleep at night. This led me into the health store today, and after looking around I also found a book on natural medication for bipolar disorder.. There are a LOT of options that are available that I had no idea about and haven't tried. It would be more expensive but it would save me the trouble I have every time I see the doctor..

I am thinking about picking up various supplements and then telling the doctor I would like to try weaning off the lithium and trying natural.. if it doesn't work for me, I can always go back on it. There are many supplements but I can't take them with Lithium so I guess to try this I would have to go off. I'll talk to my counselor about it next week, she can help me figure out what to do I guess.

It's just.. It's my body. And my life. And I don't like not having control over my own care.

Has anyone tried the natural approach? I would be taking Taurine and GABA for mood stabilization, 5HTP and Tyrosine for depression and anxiety relief, choline+inositol for emotional control, and probably a multivitamin. And Valerian for sleep as needed. I may look into eating in a way that would help my moods as well, since my eating is horrible...

I went the natural way myself for depression with nearly catastrophic results for my liver and kidneys. The way can work, but going it alone with only a book to guide you is not wise. Go online and find a naturopath or similar practitioner, preferably in a practice with a nutritionist.
Good luck.

I tried that and it failed. I tried something for depression and anxiety, but it only worked for a few days. However, the natural cure for insomnia (Melatonin) worked well. Sleeping meds make me hallucinate, so finding Melatonin was a relief. Of course, always check with at least a pharmacist to make sure everything is safe to take together.

Ditto on this.

I tried Valerian, St. John's Wort, and Kava kava (before they realized that one can screw up your organs pretty badly). Pretty much all ineffective; I could hardly tell the difference and plain old vitamins would have been a better use of the money. I think if I'd had mild non-bipolar depression, the Valerian and SJW might have helped, so the total fail is hardly a surprise given the severity of my symptoms at the time. Do note that SJW is known to have medication interactions, and supplements are not free of side effects!

Melatonin works great for helping me fall asleep too. It's not one that really helps you stay asleep, as I understand it, but it's the body's natural hormone that triggers sleep. It works better for me than anything else I've tried, without any noticeable side effects at all and no next-day grogginess. It's not available OTC worldwide, but it will be in practically every grocery or health store in the US that has vitamins and supplements. And cheap! If you try melatonin, know that it has a "window" of effectiveness and will only help you fall asleep if you go to bed right after taking it. This should be obvious, but I can't tell you how many times I took melatonin and then stayed up for hours and hours and hours because I was hypomanic and just had to learn all the things on the Internets, but if I'd just tried to sleep right away, it probably would have worked.

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) is one of the few things that has scientific research backing the claim that it helps with bipolar. If you do take Rx's, you might want to add some vitamins depending on which meds. B-complex (with folic acid) and D-3 are recommended with anticonvulsants like Lamictal/lamotrigine because they may deplete your existing supply, but they are brain/mood-boosters regardless. My pdoc OK'd all of these before I mixed them with prescriptions.

I feel your pain in dealing with the system that I heard (in Canada) is very hard to work your way through. But I encourage you to keep trying. I want to comment on your use of language:

"There are a LOT of options that are available" - they are not "available", they are "allegedly available". Two very different things.

"And I don't like not having control over my own care" - no one likes it, but if you buy expensive supplements on your own at a natural health food stores, most of them unstudied and potentially dangerous, you are not adding any measure of control. If you read a book, select a supplement and buy it yourself and take it, it may look like superficial control but it isn't.

Sometimes language tricks us, and the word "natural" is notorious for it.

To the point of specific supplements. Melatonin indeed is natural, is well-established through multiple studies and safe and effective, and importantly cannot do you any harm. Valerian has been used for so long that it is probably harmless, but it is also not potent enough for the kind of issues that you deal with in bipolar. I tried it without help. It did nothing, but was probably completely harmless. I have not tried anything else - and will not, either.

This is strongly worded, but I mean it strongly - mean it to discourage from falling prey to the "natural" movement.

And come to think of it, one of the very basic and most natural things is Lithium - just a salt of element number 3.

So if you insist on "natural", you should stick to Lithium.

Moreover, Lithium is naturally occuring in municipal water in some areas, and the rate of suicide is lower in those areas compared to the rest of the world. So by switching from Lithium to some supplement you are not going to go any more "natural" - have you heard of Kava Kava naturally occuring in water in discernible quantities? The fact that Lithium salt is sold by prescription and Kava Kava is not does not make Kava Kava any more superior on the axis of "naturalness"

I hope you find relief in the Canadian system. I feel for you very much. I feel that you are very much in main and very frustrated and I hope that you will find my argument convincing and direct your money and energy at finding a solution that works for you.

I have to agree with Natalya.

BP is a serious illness. Using remedies that are not proven to work puts you at high risk of falling into a horrible depression or a destructive mania.

I am in Canada too and I know the system can be tough. If your psychiatrist doesn't feel comfortable managing your illness, please insist that they refer you to someone who does. Unfortunately, the waits can be quite long but there are some very qualified people out there.

I agree with the above. supplements aren't regulated, they are considered a food. my brother told my mother to take a bunch of different ones, it affected her kidneys and I got yelled at by her drs because they assumed it was of course the hippie dippie daughter pushing this stuff. But she wouldn't listen to me if I warned her a truck was gonna hit her. she stopped taking them, went on a strict kidney diet and regained function, which NEVER happens with kidneys. so the supplements were really messing up her numbers. I made her see the dr because I noticed pink in the toilet because she would forget to flush. (and i'm the bad kid.)

Thanks for the replies. I won't be taking anything unnatural, honest. It'll be all amino acids which are naturally found in food, the supplements just provide them at higher doses. They work on the same neurotransmitters as meds are designed to. I am just going to try 2 months of it and if I need my meds I will go back on them. I have been taking 5-HTP for two days now and I already have more motivation to do things than I have in a while, and my social anxiety hasn't been causing panic attacks when I go out. I am going to start the GABA and Lecithin while still on Lithium so I will see how they make me feel before I start weaning myself off.

I really do appreciate the advice! It's just that the idea of continuing on something that will in the long run destroy my body is not ideal for me. So I at least want to try natural before I come to any conclusions about needing to be on meds. I mean, what if my symptoms really are caused by deficiencies and this can sort that out? I would like to know that for sure.

BTW, Lithium Orotate is also available over the counter but in doses of 5 mg that can be used as needed and doesn't cause toxic effects on the body. If I had known all of this stuff before I would've tried this route before getting on meds..

Please be careful - "natural" does not mean safe! Lithium is lithium, and will get toxic at the wrong levels. LiOr may even be slower to leave the kidneys, which can be a problem.

Since there have been only a few studies of LiOr (3 according to most sources) and no double-blind studies, there are no dosage standards and very little known about side effects and toxicity. Most reports are anecdotal and therefore should be taken with a whole bag of rock salt. If you do try LiOr, please consult with your doctor and keep monitoring blood levels, just to be sure. It may well be worth a try, but with caution!

Here's a PC article about it: http://blogs.psychcentral.com/bipola...thium-orotate/

Given the obvious potential as an alternate to Li salts, you'd think there would have been more studies of it. The fact that there aren't does not bode all that well, in my opinion.

Oh, I wasn't going to buy it. I am pretty sure it's illegal for me to order it into Canada lol.

Just another example of how much more sensible our northern neighbors are than headstrong Americans!

5HTP can trigger mania, be careful. I understand the wanting to function and not having meds ruin your quality of life though.
HUGS

I would love to do this naturally. I hate putting this garbage into my body and constantly going to appts. It sucks, it's costed insurance $15,000+ this year alone for my appts.