[EternalWinter]

Right now the only med I am on is lithium and thats all I want to be on. because whenever im on something else I get big side effects and it seems to only help with one symptom.

I still suffer from mild - moderate anxiety. And sometimes hypo mania. with a couple months of moderate depression about every four months. I dont run around climbing trees but if im walking through a park with my GF and feel the energy ill climb a big tree going up as fast as I can as high as I can go while she thinks im an idiot. It doesnt bother me none.

The depression sucks but I recently bot a box of ginseng and that helps a lot. I also got things like Valerian root extract for anxiety. I also bought magnesium tablets and It stops my high blood pressure caused by anxiety.

I just feel like I can decrease the lithium to a stop, do it on my own and when ever I need help ill use my little alternatives.

Your thoughts???

I would talk to my psychiatrist first about any plan of that type. I'm sorry that I can't
help you with your plan; it just doesn't seem sufficiently beneficial if you need just a
bit of lithium to remain stable. Untreated, bipolar illness can become worse over time.

There are people who have achieved that, but it has been after time spent with medications
and being stabilized with gradual learning of what changes must be made in their diets and
health care to maintain stability.

[Trippin2.0]

My Thoughts? There is absolutely nothing wrong with setting wellness goals for yourself and being med-free is a good health goal, that not very many of us are open to.

Just make sure to go about it in a responsible manner

[A Red Panda]

Talk to your doc

I think things depend on the severity of symptoms that you have.

Like... my depressions can be horrendous, but I've worked with myself a LOT for ages and ages... and I can handle my depressions as I know I won't act on suicidal thoughts. My ups are relatively harmless although it can make things awkward and I make some dumb mistakes - but nothing that I can't handle. I've avoided meds for over 10 years now.

(I am, however, going about the process of getting meds.... due to some circumstances I can't really control it's been starting to affect my work life, and that's just not acceptable to me... so the plan is to find some meds that help, stay on them for a few years until I'm resigned with my situation... and then go back off them)

[faerie_moon_x]

I do it without meds.

Is it easy? No. Do I feel like I'm slowing being sucked into some great big blackhole? Yes.

I'm trying to find a therpaist right now, because I feel that will help me. But, meds, I'm not so sure that's an answer for me, either. Because I'm very sensitive to chemicals and have bad reactions to meds pretty regularly. Even Tylenol and things like that I'm sensitive to it.

[wotchermuggle]

I kept thinking I could do it without medication. I stopped taking my medication a few times and things always spiraled out of control.

Maybe you can do it without medication, but if you're still going through the swings while on it, I think it is reasonable to think that it will get worse without medication.

I think this is something you have to experience yourself....the whole trying no medication. Not taking medication is something that I think almost all bipolar people struggle with, but when you realize you really do need it, things change.

So while I want to tell you not to stop your medication, I say that if you really want to try it, talk to your prescribing doctor and put a plan in place incase things go crazy and you need immediate support. You can find out for yourself if you can do it without meds and then either go back on meds or get on with your life without them.

[Confusedinomicon]

He wouldn't stop all medication. If he's taking supplements he is obviously medicating himself in some way.

If the lithium is helping then talk to your doctor about the natural supplement and see if they wil help you with the dosing. Then you could see a GP/Doc every 6-1 year and get blood work done. Lithium is pretty cheap though so your doc may give you a really long supply and you could just visit every 6 months. Talk to your doctor about your options and if he/she will support you.

[catsrhelm]

Still suppliments are one thing, and medication is another. If he could do it with just suppliments, I say, go for it.
As for myself, I can't live without my medications.

[bipolarLady7]

I don't know what the mental health system is like where you live, EternalWinter, but where I am and have been here in the US if I tried that and did anything manic I would get involuntarily put in a mental hospital and they would force drugs on me (pills or shots?). This actually happened to me last year after more than a year of not taking medication. Granted I hurt someone, so they said I was a "danger to self or others", but still I want to advise you to be careful.

I recommend Good Herbs, Inc. and your local natural health food store.

[Confusedinomicon]

Supplements can mess you up if your not careful. Medication often does the same. :/

Either way you are still putting something in your body that can alter the way you perceive the world.

[intergalactictraveler]

Originally Posted by EternalWinter

Right now the only med I am on is lithium and thats all I want to be on. because whenever im on something else I get big side effects and it seems to only help with one symptom.

I still suffer from mild - moderate anxiety. And sometimes hypo mania. with a couple months of moderate depression about every four months. I dont run around climbing trees but if im walking through a park with my GF and feel the energy ill climb a big tree going up as fast as I can as high as I can go while she thinks im an idiot. It doesnt bother me none.

The depression sucks but I recently bot a box of ginseng and that helps a lot. I also got things like Valerian root extract for anxiety. I also bought magnesium tablets and It stops my high blood pressure caused by anxiety.

I just feel like I can decrease the lithium to a stop, do it on my own and when ever I need help ill use my little alternatives.

Your thoughts???

Generally, ginseng stimulates and can jack up your mania. Valerian could help but it might also induce depression or make depression worse. I've tried so many herbs and nutritional supplements because I have treatment resistant bipolar. I still take magnesium in the form of magnesium glycinate. Can't say that I've ever felt calmer or more stable. Taurine, an amino acid that is a neuro inhibitory and exerts an action similar to an anti-convulsant, has brought me out of horrific manias but to achieve that, I had to take up to 9000 milligrams and it does induce depression as well as fatigue and a feeling of being 'jet lagged' but without it, I'd be hospitalized and drooling and twitching from Haldol.

Just don't fool yourself. You have a serious illness and you never know when it's going to turn ugly. It is too bad that there are few psychiatrists who have a holistic view and are open to other possibilities of treatment. That's just the way it is. There's nothing wrong with seeking alternatives to powerful drugs, but do it responsibly. Research, research, research. Don't go by sites where someone has a book to sell or some supplement to sell. Go to PubMed and read peer reviewed medical abstracts. Also,psycheducation.org, which is run by a great psychiatrist, Jim Phelps.

[Trippin2.0]

Maybe I'm the ultimate exception to lifes rules, (translation- freak ) But it honestly irritates the sheet out of me when people preach all the doom and gloom about a med-free life, it irritates me when folks assume med-free is impossible, bipolar definitly gets worse or med-free's a bad idea just because it didn't work for them.

Its like fricken hypocrisy runs rampant and nobody even notices!

We dont want to be boxed in and stigmatized by dr's or "normals", but we do it to our own We don't want to hear how according to the dsm our lives will suck forever and we are substandard humans, but we preach it to eachother anyway! Like wtfaaaaah???

Spread the love people, spread the message of hope FFS!

Disclaimer, I'm not advocating for anyone to walk my path, guess I'm just not sick of repeating myself yet. Getting very close though.
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I quit my meds in the midst of huge emotional turmoil, but me being the freak I am, 90% of my impulsive decisions turn out GREAT and I believe this phenomenon to be due to the fact that my wishes are clear, no ifs or buts, and I commit to decisions I believe are good for me.

Anyway, yes it (symptoms) got worse before it got better, but it did get better.

How many people who say "I got worse when I quit my meds" waited to see if they improved? How long did it take before they made an appt with pdoc and decided that quitting was thee worst mistake?


A week? 2? A month? I'm not asking anybody to respond, I'm just trying to evoke some thought on this particular subject, because really what kind of stats are we looking at to preach this as the gospel truth when we all know without a shadow of a doubt that with bp, individuality is a factor and bp is infact a spectrum disorder?...

Its downright impossible to get clear data when 2 such contradicting factors are present. So to make such broad statements is grossly inaccurate and to use them to discourage people from finding their own path to wellness is plain negligent, no matter how much you care.

Well I can only speak for myself and I was in an Ultradian Torture Chamber for 3 months after I quit and that's not counting the 2 + weeks of withdrawls...

Maybe I seem daft for putting myself through that, but I just knew it had to get better, and it was worth it. Because after I emerged from the torture chamber, I went into a nice peaceful remission for quite a few months. And even when my mood cycles started up again, they were less frequent than when medicated.

While I was detoxing from meds and my brain was scrambled trying to return to its natural state, I did wonder if I had made a mistake, but I remembered that I had been living bipolar for atleast 10yrs before a pdoc pointed it out and that FOR ME, there is absolutely no reason why I could not do that again.

Afterall I now had knowledge and new coping skills, so surely I must be able to return to a medfree life.

The meds helped me when I had a double death trauma to deal with, I won't lie, but minus trauma they don't have a place in my life.

It been nearly 2years now and I'm still happy with my choice.

I'm not scared of the future either because I don't see it as a given that bp gets worse with time, its not a degenerative disease, or a spreading cancer, so to me it simply just doesn't compute and sounds like a huge ole ASSumption.

Obviously if you are refusing to take care of yourself your quality of life will decrease rapidly, that goes without saying for EVERYONE! I think with bp, we just manifest and display that neglectful results in so much bigger ways.

Is my brain deteriorating? I doubt it, but on the other hand, I'm getting older, experienced, wiser. So does that not mean it should be becoming easier or atleast simpler to manage my bp?

Instead we get more complex cocktails to chug down because we build up a med tolerance, which I'm pretty sure gets mistaken for kindling more than anyone would like to admit.

This (wiser, simpler comment) is of course said assuming there aren't other factors magnifying the bp symptoms, like physical ailments, life circumstances and the like...

Bipolar isn't new, if psychiatry (which is new) is to be believed then it is somewhat genetic (I'm a freak there too or maybe adopted! ) and because humans aren't new, we have been dealing with bp for eons and have survived, give us some credit already dammit!

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Anyway, I've ranted enough for tonight, I guess I just get a lil bit pissed when people make statements with such "finality", when I'm right here "in the room", physically proving them incorrect. Or maybe I'm not really here Or maybeee I'm invisible heehee the mischief I can think of....

Rant over peeps, or like Mr Grey would say, "Laters babe"

[faerie_moon_x]

They key to being med free is knowing you're med free and not living in denial of bipolar and what it is and how it effects you. Education. As GI Joe says "Knowing is half the battle."

Yes, I have bipolar. Yes, I can turn into a raging hurricane or a walking zombie at the drop of a hat. Yes, I accept responsibilty for that. Don't believe I'm bipolar? Well, good for you, but I know I am. Memory / cognition problems? Yup, I've got them, thanks. But, I'll get through.

It also takes accepting that there is no such thing as normal and that no knights in shinning armor are waiting to rescue you. Know what you're capable of, know what you're not capable of, and one step at a time you go forward. "Happy" is a temporary state that comes and goes for everyone. "Wellness" is the word you're looking for.

I don't say I "quit" meds, because I was on meds for less than 8 months total my whole life. And no one pushes them on me. Because, quite frankly, no one cares either way if I take meds or not. I'm on my own in my search for wellness. So, since I can't remembe to take meds and I see that they don't seem to help anyone much, I've decided screw meds, I'll try therapy and cognitive funcitoning games instead.

[EternalWinter]

Thanks for all your support and concerns, I am not belittiling my ilness and I know I have to be careful, Which is why I only been planning it for six months and been hesitent to go through with it, but seeing how im off work for a little while it may be the best time to start. I tried just lowering my lithium down to 600 mgs and my Pdoc just told me that amount is not giving me any benefit, I like how he just knows whats working for me and what isnt and I apparently dont have much of a clue. I will certainly be talking to my Pdoc about this and I know hes not going to like my idea. But its not fair to me or him pertending I want to be treated with meds long term. I wanted to get my head above water and now that I have done that I would would like to move away from meds and continue to keep my head above water and try things like therapy, things my Pdoc never refereed me to, doesnt even know how, Just strictly medication and no connections to other things like therapy.

Maybe I cant do it with out medication but Im sure going to try my best, other then just wondering if I can or cant do it with out medication forever.

[EternalWinter]

And I know I wouldnt be med free using herbs and such. I would like to do it without that as well, but something about taking pills, blows my ego and it shouldnt, its not my fault. but it makes me question who I am and gives me a reminder of my instability in the past and why im on them, and makes me feel like, i better take these or else... I dont know its an insecurity for sure. but not the only reason i want to stop them

[intergalactictraveler]

Trippin, see why I love you! You make many good points yet my friend who died knew that if he went off his meds, he'd be psychotic and when we were both hospitalized I saw what he was like as he hallucinated and talked to the ghost of the Indian chief, Crazy Horse and told me how the Navy, of which he'd been in, were monitoring his thoughts.

If you're functioning, drug free, you're one righteous babe and I hope you never have to take another drug EVER! But we're not imagining this illness and it has nothing to do with the DSM or the psychiatric profession or insurance companies. I understand where you're coming from but when I say fk medications, after two or three days of sleep dep, I don't reboot, I get crazier.

I do admire your spirit and you've made your life work, sans meds. At the least, all of us can dip into the well of your spirit and infuse into us a drop or two of your marvelous energy.