[learningtoaccept]

Let me start this off with I know a lot of people are against natural medicine, and that is fine. But for those open to it, I feel this information is valuable. And if you are on the fence, I've added some studies and info to show WHY I take what I take.

I have been on various natural vitamins and supplements for the last few months and in the last month especially I have felt myself lift out of a severe depression into feeling great but still stable and in control. Anxiety is practically gone and I am working in customer service now, so it would've been way higher in the past.

I am taking NAC(study here and here), Niacin(some more info), Magnesium(study here, here, and here), Taurine(some info), Probiotics(scientific info), Garlic Oil(info), vitamin d(studies), fish oil(info and studies here) and a b-complex multivitamin(info). Those are the ones I am using specifically for my mood disorders.

I am also taking some supplements to stabilize my hormones as the fluctuations throughout the month cause mood swings. They are vitex, royal jelly, bee pollen, and maca.

I also make a daily effort to eat really well and restrict sugar intake. I have low blood sugar so it's important to keep it stabilized if I want to prevent mood swings every day. I just started a green food supplement today to ensure I am getting all the greens needed for optimal health.

This combination of supplements and healthy eating has given me better results than ANY medication, and I have been on zoloft, celexa, paxil, prozac, lithium, tegretol, seroquel, trazodone, respirdal, attivan, and more over the last 11 years. I just want to pass it along in case anyone is like me and has severe, uncomfortable reactions to medications and wants to try the natural route.

Obviously there is a lot of trial and error as I had to introduce everything one at a time and there were various things that either worsened depression or anxiety or started causing mania(ie, lecithin, 5-htp, ginkgo biloba, choline, tryptophan, melatonin). Each negative effect ended once I stopped the supplement. There were some things that help others but didn't effect me much(GABA, tyrosine, curcumin). So I wouldn't recommend anyone starting a bunch of things at once or starting things just because they helped someone else.. It's taken a couple months but I finally found the right combo for me and I feel healthier than I have in years. Just saying, if you want to go this route, definitely do your research and start one supplement at a time, giving it 4-6 days to judge any negative effects before adding anything new.

ETA: I have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder, generalized anxiety disorder, social phobia, panic disorder, borderline personality disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, bulimia, and PTSD. Doctors have struggled for 11 years with no luck in treating me. So my case has not been easy and that is why I am so impressed by natural medicine now!

[BuggsBunny]

Congrats to you for finding the right mix of supplements to control your bipolar, et al.You are yet another person to prove it can be done!

Thanks for sharing all this info along with your experience, plus glad to see you around.

I am taking some of the same as you but not all. I'm not taking NAC, Niacin, Taurine, or garlic oil. But now I'm going to look into them. I haven't noticed any difference with my moods from what I do take, but I'm not done trying.

I find posts like this encouraging, showing me that it can be done. I just have to keep trying to find things that work for me. Thanks

I had high hopes for fish oil, but all that happened was I got nicer younger looking skin, that also cleared up, and it helped with my digestion issues. Both appreciated very much, but no mood improvement. What way did you notice it helped with your moods?

Thank you very much for sharing learningtoaccept. I stopped taking prescription medicine in 2011 so your post definitely caught my eye.

Originally Posted by learningtoaccept

I am taking NAC(study here and here)

I've been considering taking n-acetyl cysteine (NAC) but haven't purchased any yet. Which issue/symptom are you specifically taking it for and do you have any information on dosage? I've heard of people taking too much and having negative consequences.

[hamster-bamster]

I have a comment on green food supplementation. Greens are not that hard to get into your diet. If you do not want to spend time cleaning and chopping the leaves, you can buy them bagged (although I like the results with whole leaves better). Either wilt and saute them with garlic, or put them in soups at the end of cooking. Same for spinach. Good in omelettes, too. There is quite a variety - different colors of chard, dandelions, collards, kale, turnip greens to name a few. Some are bitter and not for everyone's taste, but chard is neutral - I am pretty sure you will like it. There are things that cannot be obtained in sufficient qualities from food or sun exposure - think fish oil and vit D. Green foods can be obtained through food, in my opinion.

Congratulations on your results!

[cocoabeans]

It would be interesting to see how you're doing a year from now and so on. Not to burst any bubbles here but, few months of stability with the majority of people with bipolar disorder doesn't mean very much, if anything at all. It is good if it helped with whatever symptoms were hurting you before.

Well it means something to me.

[moremi]

Thats great! So glad you found something that works for you. To me that is a huge deal. I think a few months of stability sounds amazing and I would give anything to find it for myself. Just started fish oil and omega 3 today myself. Good luck to you and hope we all can find our middle ground.

[learningtoaccept]

Originally Posted by hamster-bamster

I have a comment on green food supplementation. Greens are not that hard to get into your diet. If you do not want to spend time cleaning and chopping the leaves, you can buy them bagged (although I like the results with whole leaves better). Either wilt and saute them with garlic, or put them in soups at the end of cooking. Same for spinach. Good in omelettes, too. There is quite a variety - different colors of chard, dandelions, collards, kale, turnip greens to name a few. Some are bitter and not for everyone's taste, but chard is neutral - I am pretty sure you will like it. There are things that cannot be obtained in sufficient qualities from food or sun exposure - think fish oil and vit D. Green foods can be obtained through food, in my opinion.

Congratulations on your results!

Yeah I do eat greens as well! I just thought this supplement would be very helpful as it contains the 10 servings of fruit and veggies per day along with antioxidants, polyphenols, whole grains, prebiotics, enzymes, chlorophyll and some herbs. It has sea vegetables(algae, dulse, nori, kombu, etc), herbs(green tea, milk thistle, grape seed extract, etc), vegetables/fruit, and things like buckwheat, alfalfa, wheat grass, etc. Here's a link to what I'm taking. I figured that on top of eating healthy, a supplement like this definitely won't hurt!

[learningtoaccept]

Originally Posted by cocoabeans

It would be interesting to see how you're doing a year from now and so on. Not to burst any bubbles here but, few months of stability with the majority of people with bipolar disorder doesn't mean very much, if anything at all. It is good if it helped with whatever symptoms were hurting you before.

It will be interesting to me as well. I am hopeful because every year I have a severe depressive episode from December/January until May. It always gets really bad in February and stays bad until the end of May. It started getting bad in February this time and got better within a few weeks, so it is already a huge difference from what I am used to.

Also, the difference in my romantic relationship is like day and night! We almost broke up at the end of January(I almost broke up with him due to my constant anxiety over the relationship and the depression I was going through). We were bickering a lot from December until February and we haven't had a single argument in March, things have actually gone back to how they felt in the beginning of our relationship last September. I find that extremely amazing, since my borderline personality disorder often leads to increasing amounts of arguments and hurt feelings during relationships until the inevitable breakup.

[learningtoaccept]

Originally Posted by Anika

Thanks for sharing all this info along with your experience, plus glad to see you around.

I am taking some of the same as you but not all. I'm not taking NAC, Niacin, Taurine, or garlic oil. But now I'm going to look into them. I haven't noticed any difference with my moods from what I do take, but I'm not done trying.

I find posts like this encouraging, showing me that it can be done. I just have to keep trying to find things that work for me. Thanks

I had high hopes for fish oil, but all that happened was I got nicer younger looking skin, that also cleared up, and it helped with my digestion issues. Both appreciated very much, but no mood improvement. What way did you notice it helped with your moods?

Glad I could help! I think the niacin, NAC, and fish oil made the biggest differences for me. With the fish oil it was the last thing I added in because it has caused mania for me in the past so I wanted to make sure that I was nutritionally where I needed to be before I added it again. A week after starting it my depression began to lift so I think it's really helped in that aspect.

[learningtoaccept]

Originally Posted by Sugarless

Thank you very much for sharing learningtoaccept. I stopped taking prescription medicine in 2011 so your post definitely caught my eye.


I've been considering taking n-acetyl cysteine (NAC) but haven't purchased any yet. Which issue/symptom are you specifically taking it for and do you have any information on dosage? I've heard of people taking too much and having negative consequences.

I am taking it because of the studies I read on bipolar disorder and on addictions(very addictive personality here). It can also help nail biting, although it hasn't for me yet.

I'm taking 2,000 mg a day. I started at 500 and worked my way up over a few weeks. I won't go any higher than that.

[bipolarmedstudent]

Glad to hear it's working for you.

I ask my psychiatrist for recommendations on supplements. He told me to take fish oil. He told me NOT to take folic acid, because my folic acid levels were normal and because folic acid supplements are associated with an increased risk for colon cancer.

He also measured my ferritin (iron) and found it was way too low, and said it was causing restless legs syndrome. So he put me on heavy-duty iron supplements. He told me to take vitamin C along with the iron to enhance absorption.

So right now I'm taking Iron, Vitamin C, and fish oil.