How Do Some Go Med-Free?

Im probably like a broken record on here but I'm so upset with these meds that I'm wondering how people control themselves without meds. Pdoc knows I'm not happy on them and at my breaking point with them. Any thoughts on this?

Yes, there are things you may do that can help, Passion 222. One of them is to see an allergist and have extensive testing done for both foods and inhaled allergens. You may be surprised to find that you have food intolerances or sensitivities that you were not really aware of, and knowledge of that will help you begin correcting your diet to remove things that are bothersome for you.

The second thing you might consider is to do some research on the effects that sensitivities have for people who know what their intolerances are. For example, I've read years ago that bipolar patients have a severe grain allergy. That may very well be true for some of us. The only way you are going to know that, however, is to remove it from your diet and see how you get along. Two weeks without grains should be sufficient to let you know if you do have a sensitivity to gluten. (You don't have to be a Celiac patient to have a gluten intolerance; doctors used to think that you need a positive reaction on a blood test , but a sensitivity may show up negative; still, you'll find that you cannot eat wheat, barley, rye, or oats without digestive disturbance. (Some even have mental issues because of it.)

Dr. David Williams has just published a book about this and has lectured on the subject.

You may wish to add fatty acids to your diet--3,6,and 9-- to calm the brain. It is known now that fatty acids are helpful in reducing inflammatory conditions.

Bipolar illness is a chemical imbalance. It is also an inflammation of a portion of the brain that fires too rapidly, but doctors don't know yet why that happens. For some of us, it may very well be a cerebral allergy. That's the point in seeing an allergist.

There is much for you to learn. You need to be on a pharmaceutical grade quality multiple vitamin. In addition, you need to start drinking purified water. Water from almost any city system has been chemically treated, if not with chlorine, some other irritating chemicals to remove contaminants in the water.

Once you have done these things, come back and get more data on what else you need to do. Many here have good advice about what has been helpful for them. (I must add that we are not doctors and we can relate only to you the things that have worked for us; so we cannot diagnose or recommend a specific professional for you.)

You will find that you will be able to lower dosage (with your psychiatrist's permission) gradually, and one day you may not need more than a minuscule dose of one medication to maintain stability.

Read about the medication (a food med) called Deplin. It was a good one for me after all the acidic-reacting psychotropic meds seem to be difficult to manage. But then, we had all been told to remove alcohol, caffeine contained in coffee, tea, chocolate, and anything else such as soft drinks...even the artificial sweeteners may be triggers for some of us, and we avoided using them.

Take care, and post as you wish about your progress.

Usually, when I skip my meds even for a couple of days, I become manic/hypomanic. But not last time. I moved and filed a change of address form with the USPS but the post office did not deliver my mail for a MONTH, and I receive my meds in the mail. I had to be without meds for a few days, and was COMPLETELY asymptomatic. I was calm, composed, and enlightened. No (hypo)mania.

What was different this time? I used medicinal marijuana for sleep. I suspect that it is anti-manic. I am perfectly happy with my meds now so I am not motivated to go med-free, but this incident gave me an idea: in the unlikely scenario that I would want to get pregnant, I would have a way to be med-free. I have not looked into marijuana's safety for the fetus but assume that it is OK, especially at doses as microscopic as mine.

I am a long time proponent of marijuana, b4 I came here and was encouraged to see a P, it was my only form of self medication. My mania was not as regulated as it seems to be w/ "real" meds, but it was def a far cry from me totally natural! SHEW!!!!!! Miles of difference actually, but I do NOT recommend it during preg. I did use just a few times w/ my first preg simply bc I was actually LOSING weight I was such a bad case of morning sickness. The marijuana actually let me keep food down. But I only did it 2 or at the most 3, times. I have read studies that say it has no effect on the fetus but have read several that say it does. Not worth the risk, IMO

Everyone's body chemistry is different, and so is their mindset.

If meds are going to work, there has to be a great relationship with your pdoc--you've both got to be devoted to the idea of finding the best med or med combination for you, AND to keeping it tweaked or changed when needed.

I think great awareness of what our exact mental health issues are at the beginning plus a strong support system is the best path for drug-free progress.

Just mumbling from personal experience here, no stats ...

I have scanned a few search results and they seem to focus on SMOKING pot which I do not do. I ingest, and so little that I am sure it is better than the effect from heavy-duty psych meds. Probably worse than med-free, but better than on Lithium.

Being a control-freak helps heaps...REALLY!
Honestly tho,I dont have an answer for you.I was dealing with bipolar for 10yrs before it had a name,medicating it and the side-effects that accompanied meds made me feel worse than 'just' being bipolar. I figured I could go back to coping on my own since I did it so long anyway. Also this time, I had knowledge to back up my already amazing insight, both great for the toolbox! Other than that, idk how to explain it, but Roadie's on the right track in her post...

They way I was doing it was just hang on for dear life. Have to live with the consequences that come with it often, like not knowing when I'm really bad and causing problems for everyone. Also knowing every trigger, every nuance of depression, every lie that suicidal thoughts tell me.

Just one day at a time, really.

Food. while I am not so strict on my food as genetic... it's important. You can change your habits slowly, gradually, one-by-one. Pick your vice and cut out the others.

support system is good thing to have.

life philosophy. And I don't mean "think of possitive things". I mean rather buddhist slash existentialist slash whatever will keep you going. There's not one way. For me healthy cynicism is way to go.
Remember that one of the top five regrets before dying is... being what others wanted you to be, not what you wanted to be... and don't let yourself be pushed. As long as you are not hurting others, you are fine (if your family moans and whines and cries how you hurt them because of "reputation", "what will people say" and other me-me-me sounding accusation... learn to let go).
Learn to live with your crazy. Expand your comfort zone. Learn to calm yourself down and nourish yourself.
Learn to channel your emotions in some way.

Yes!!! That, which Venus said! its that. Thanks Venus, for verbalizing what I could not..h

Its all about finding what triggers symptoms and making lifestyle changes accordingly. For me its was a fairly simple equation: More Sleep+ Less Whiskey= Un-Medicated Balance

I don't plan on stopping meds anytime soon but I think the key to being med free would be to no the ins and outs of your bipolar situation to a t and to be as healthy as possible (diet, exercise, regular social encounters, etc.) Essentially, I think it's entirely dependent on the individual.

Some may be able to coexist with their symptoms med free just fine while others should avoid the idea entirely. Bipolar disorder is a neurobiological illness. This is a fact. As such, everyone deals with a different severity of the illness.

Don't get me wrong, I am for those living without meds as long as they are extremely cautious but I don't think it's a concept that should be entertained lightly. It just isn't the right solution for a lot of people with this illness. This is just my 2 cents.

...Holy...!!!!!!

You're back!

I would think they are not as serious of a case. Not that they don't suffer. But the majority of us need meds to survive literally. I believe eventually they will crash.

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we may and we may not. But people on meds crash too.

and since you are not doctor, please, do not judge seriousness of our condition. No offense, but I think this forums med-free folks would claim we are sorta mess.

some people don't respond well to meds. and being judged is last thing needed.

I wouldn't say that. I have a dx of bipolar 1 with psychosis and failed sui attempts in the past. I don't think one has to do with the other at all. And people on meds also crash, all the time. I have not crashed yet, I have had two small blips, actually extremely more stable then when on the meds. However my minset is also much healthier, and the skills and tools I use can't be undermined so easily.

I also used to think I needed meds to survive, because I didn't know otherwise, and more importantly because when I had previously went off meds, I didn't not have the right stuff in order, so yes it looked bad and made me think I couldn't do it. I was not using a good approach. I had some skills but not enough, I was missing a lot of ingredients. Even if I didn't have bipolar I would still want to have the things I have know in place in my life.

From my personal experience and everything I have read here, the choice of meds should be entertained just as carefully as no meds.
It's one thing to go off meds and do nothing else to help it work for you, it's not the same thing as going med free and having a lot of other stuff in place that will help you.

I don't just cope with the symptoms, there are not that many symptoms happening anymore to cope with, there could be, but you can do something before it comes down to that most of the time. Which is a direct result of other methods I use, I am pretty sure on that one. Mindset probably being the most effective of them all. I know people don't want to hear that. But how we approach life does matter and can make a big difference.

Lastly..I really don't think I am some special exception to the med\no med rule. I don't think there is a rule at all of any persons potential or capabilities. Getting into the mindset that there is seems a dangerous thing.

There are a lot of areas in our thought process that also get overlooked, and gets passed as being part of bipolar. Things like core beliefs about yourself and the world, cognitive thought distortions.. this stuff is equally important whether on meds or not, and if ignored has the potential to make life pretty darn difficult. People without dx also have these issues, just part of being human, and it can be hard to sort out what is what.

For 1000's of years people with so-called mental disorders survived. I'm of the view that every mental illness was designed for a reason for the survival of the human race. A lot of people with with Bipolar disorder, depression and schizophrenia are very artistic, maybe there's a reason for this. Same as ADHD, they were the explorers and psychopaths are natural leaders and fearless which would help in the survival of tribes.

These are interesting ideas and valid, generally. I can add only that I think a large part of really effective treatment in bipolar illness is intelligence about one's own personal makeup, both in how we react to things in our diet, how we manage our thoughts, their interpretation, and our ability to reason to find solutions that are promising if not miracle-workers.

Channeling the emotions is one of the strongest points made, in my view, and I think that's a large percentage of what one works on when clarity is finally achieved by having a minimum of drug interference--that, and recognizing when we've had something in our diets that is "upsetting the cart", so to speak.

Otherwise, it's simply living life one day at a time and working to maintain
chemical stability. With that, things seem to work rather well. Drug dependence just doesn't cut it for me, if you know what I mean.

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I disagree strongly with the notion that psychopaths (or antisocial personality disordered people) are natural leaders. They are anything but that, in general. Their whole makeup is one of deliberate deception, inabiliyt to recognize people as anything except objects to be manipulated or used, abused, or whatever. When confronted with real strength, the psychopath simply crumbles and his/her best idea is to call everything a lie. That can hardly be considered "natural leadership".

A large percentage of people incarcerated are psychopaths.

Mania goes past creative into distructive. Try to remember this.

I envy those of you who can manage this illness without meds. I'd like to not have to take pills to be functional, but I tried to get along without them for most of my life and it didn't go well. Now that I'm medicated properly I can work on the rest of the crap in my life, because I have insight now that just wasn't possible when my brain chemistry was all out of whack. But, that's just me.

I don't really agree with this. I have been hospitalized 13 times in the last 7 years for severe suicidality, including attempts, have gone through two rounds of ECT, etc., yet I am pretty much not on meds anymore. I definitely was a "serious case." I crashed repeatedly while on meds, so meds are not any guarantee that you won't crash in the first place. Will I crash off meds? Maybe. Maybe not. Will another crash mean the end of me? I really don't think so anymore. I've learned how to manage this illness so much more effectively over the last few years.

How did I finally get to this point? Lots and LOTS of therapy. Years of it -- intensely working on the issues that were complicating and triggering my symptoms and developing the skills to manage and cope with my symptoms thoughtfully and healthily. I am SO far better off now than I was when I began this journey.

Will I always be stable? Probably not, but I do recognize that my episodes are more manageable now because I have worked on those skills and my issues with dedication. Will I be able to stay off meds forever? Probably not, but I do think I have reached a point where I'll be able to take meds for shorter periods of time to get through episodes and not need to be on the full-time forever like I thought I was going to have to be.

I might feel different about this once I start needing to pay hundreds of dollars a month for my Geodon but right now while the meds are free I simply do not understand this notion of "I wish I could be without them but I cannot". It is like taking Fish Oil or vitamin D to me. Do people object to the need to take Fish Oil or vitamin D? No. It is all the same to me. I give equal attention to drugs and supplements and try not to skip either of them. It is just part of wellness, without any distinction.

Would I fry myself in California sun and run the risk of melanoma just in order not to have to take Vitamin D and be "natural"? No. Likewise, I would not be without psych meds just in order to be without psych meds. No point.

Of course, my meds work 100% of the time without side effects and that makes it easy to treat them like supplements.

Exaxtly, that is why, because you say you have no side effects at all. I wonder about that, but most people have lots of side effects. You have had side effects that you talk about here.

Not to mention that these drugs are not good for your overall health. They simply are not, so comparing them to vitamins or supplements that the body actually does need doesn't make much sense to me.'

No, my bloodwork is perfect, so no ill effect on somatic health. If anything the usual parameters of somatic health - blood sugar, blood pressure, and cholesterol are too low, which is a good thing. No problem with urine analysis either and my kidneys function perfectly, as they should given my high intake of fluids.

To be completely "natural" one really has to fry in the sun because ingestion of high volume of vitamins is not natural. We take vitamin D because the other option is too risky. But it is not "natural" and people in the past did not do. The ability to produce concentrated quantities of vitamins and supplements is a new thing and for most of the world history people did not have access to vitamins and supplements. They just had to rely on the regular diet. So it is the same thing as drugs - it is a modernity thing. And historically, Lithium even predates Fish Oil, I would think, or is roughly equal to it in terms of tenure on the market. And Lithium is definitely older than many of the new, "designer", supplements.

Right, but I worked on getting rid of them and now there is nothing bad coming from the meds. In hindsight, I should have started working on getting rid of them much sooner, but I cannot change the past - no one can.