Finding Herbal Remedies for Bipolar

Has anyone wanted to safely tapper off their meds and go natural??

Sure it would be nice but it just isn't realistic.

For some maybe, and for some it is realistic.

I have gone off all my meds and am doing quite a bit better than ever in my life. I made a lot of diet changes, exersice changes, meditation, yoga, and I use some supplements and a few herbs when needed.

I dont use herbs often tho, but there are some here who do, hopefully they come post here and share with you what they do.

I was on meds for over 13 years, went off them and have been using amino acids and natural lithium [lithium orotate] for over 5 years to control my BP2.

Believe it or not, my mood is 10 times more stable than when I was on meds as I'm able to adjust what I take as needed rather than having to call the Pdoc, waiting for them to get back to me, changing my meds and waiting for them to take effect. If my shifts and I'm home, I just take whatever is needed, and my mood is usually back under control within 12 to 24 hours unlike the 6 days it took on meds. I also don't experience any noticable side-effects from the amino acids and lithium orotate.

I take the amino acid GABA to control the hypomanic phase, and 5-htp and DL-phenylalanine [DLPA] for depression. The lithium orotate helps mostly with hypomania. The only side-effect I've ever had is a bit of tingling in my hands if I take large dosages of GABA, but it only lasts a half hour or so. DLPA is stimulating so it needs to be taken early in the day as it can cause insomnia. Some people have stomach upset from 5-htp, but it's never bothered me.

I'm not terrible familiar with using herbs for bipolar other than to tell you that you need to AVOID GINSING as it will bump you into mania/hypomania. That includes the herb ashwagandha, that isn't technically ginsing, but must have ginsing like properties as it's referred to as Indian ginsing. I was taking it for adrenal issues, and was constantly being bumped into hypomania. My naturopath told me not to take it as it is used to make testosterone, and since going off it, the hypomania isn't the problem it was when I was on it.

Here's a link to Safe Harbor, an alternative mental health organization that a I believe Nicole Kidman is associated with:

http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/

This is a link to a book on using amino acids for various health conditions. I've found it to be extremely helpful:

http://www.painstresscenter.com/Heal...oductinfo/AA4/

This link is to a book on alternative treatments for depression that I also found very helpful. It goes into nutritional deficiencies that can contribute to depression.

http://www.amazon.com/What-Your-Doct...r+*+depression

You might also spend some time researching orthomolecular medicine that focuses on giving the body the nutrients it needs to function. There are several books on the subject, but since I don't own any, I can't recommend one.

this made me think of genetic. She would have some suggestions...

I take THC capsules for sleep. I still wake up many times during the night, get up, go back to bed and fall back to sleep and eventually I am well-slept and functional by morning. I am working on getting the dose right for me, and possibly combining low doses of THC with very low doses of Elavil to see if I can sleep through the night.

Yes i have wanted to, and tried a few times. Went on a ketogenic diet + numerous vitamins and fish oil, and cut out all sugar, caffeine, and artificial food additives.

My conclusion: it didnt work for me. Thats not to say that it cant be done, i just personally cant do it without meds.

I do not see how cutting out all sugar would help bipolar. Anecdotally - and only anecdotally - keeping blood sugar level does help, but to keep blood sugar level it is enough to consume protein and/or fat together with carbohydrates - you do not need to cut out all sugar. Just limit carbohydrates and do not eat sugar or drink sugary drinks in isolation. Only the glycemic index of the whole meal, or snack, matters - if individual foods/drinks with a high GI are balanced out by foods with a low GI, you should be OK. And it is much more doable and realistic in the long run than cutting out all sugar (fruit contains a lot of natural sugar and you do not want to cut out fruit).

Me too

"Natural" is a notoriously bad, unhelpful, vague, and undefinable term to use in a discussion. Go ahead and ingest natural Arsenic if you want to truly "go natural". Or try cyanide.

Herbal is a definable term, unlike natural.

What you are looking for is safety and effectiveness, and whether it comes straight from the plant kingdom or from a lab does not matter in the end.