[Faith4553]

I ask this questions because I feel like I've tried so many meds the last 8 years and have found nothing to be very effective. I've read that hormones can play a big part in our moods and emotions. I've had my thyroid checked but that always comes back normal.

Do any of you take supplements that help your bipolar? I'm really only taking ambien for sleep right now. I've had friends tell me to smoke weed for my anxiety...well that just makes me more anxious! Lately I will have a couple days of feeling good so I make plans and then can't follow through with them because I dip into darkness. The ups and downs are going to kill me.

If I can't find a medicine that helps, what else is there?

[venusss]

Bach Essences.

I posted about it here

http://forums.psychcentral.com/other...-essences.html

[Skittles56]

I take vitamin supplements. B12, D3, E, and CoQ10. The CoQ10 supplement is for the loss of it caused by statin drugs (Lipitor, etc.). I take the others for various reasons, but they have all helped with depression, probably the B12 the most.

I can't smoke weed. It gives me the worst bouts of self-loathing I have ever felt.

[redbandit]

Originally Posted by VenusHalley

Bach Essences.

I posted about it here

http://forums.psychcentral.com/other...-essences.html

Can you take these to replace medicine? I hate being on medicine, especially when it doesn't help!

[Phoenix_1]

I use Bach Flower Essences too.

[99 FAIRIES]

I have heard great things about truehope.com

[Skittles56]

Originally Posted by redbandit

Can you take these to replace medicine? I hate being on medicine, especially when it doesn't help!

I have done some reading on herbal remedies for various mental illnesses. For example, people have used St. John's wort for years to self-treat depression. Some people swear by it, some say it works for a while, others say it doesn't work at all. It's another one of those herbs that is touted to work on anything from cuts and scrapes to cancer and HIV/AIDS.

There is actually a web site that tells you how to wean yourself from antipsychotics and replace them with a concoction of calcium, magnesium, and cider vinegar along with a litany of a couple dozen other substances you need to take. It looked like you would spend all day self medicating. The site doesn't offer anything in the way of actual results. I do know that the success rate of treating schizophrenia with alternate remedies is pretty poor.

I think there is a pretty large psychosomatic element to this. If you believe it will work, then sometimes it will. For a while. Psychosomatic elements are very fragile. If anything happens to question the effectiveness of the remedy, the belief in it goes away and it stops working.

I mentioned above that I take vitamins that help with my depression, but I would never even consider using them instead of my regular medication. I just don't want to risk finding myself in the middle of a psychotic episode with no real way to get it under control.

Just my $0.02.

[Tiger_Lily]

I've heard a B complex is pretty good. I know, as far north as I live, vitamin D is essential. Diet and exercise could be considered natural as well.

[venusss]

Well, I don't use meds. Just herbs and supplements and Bach.

And I do swear by St. John's wort. As tincture.

What is most important though... it's one's attitude. No med, herb or anything will help unless you believe in yourself first, have drive to overcome the bad and move forwards. Things... can help. But will not save you.

Could you be in perimenopause? You mentioned hormones. That's when I went full blown bipolar1, age 42. I'm 50 and I still get periods and can still be a bit moody just before. My hormones are all over the place though.

[johnthorne1539]

I find a B complex to be helpful sometimes, e.g., when I'm depressed for an extended period of time--however, because I often rapidly cycle, it can also backfire if I haven't been taking it regularly (hypomanic + jolt of B vitamin cocktail = off the walls).

Other than that, doing my best to keep a regular cycle including diet (especially excluding almost all artificial sugars), exercise, good hydration (always amazed how important that is), and moderating my intake of caffeine and alcohol.

I also find it helpful to be conscientious of my moods... if I feel myself start to get low, I'll change rooms or get out of the house for a while. If I start to get amped up, I'll straighten up and clean the kitchen and then force myself to do something active, but focused & goal oriented: like playing darts or some random game I've invented around the house. It doesn't always help, but it can sometimes reign me in, especially if my moods seem related to some sort of social anxiety.

[Phoenix_1]

I try to remember to take a vitamin B complex every day along with my other vitamins because it's so good for the nerves. I have to take it in the morning, because if I take it after lunch I don't sleep.

Do not take St. John's wort with an AD. Some other herbs and supplements can interact with meds as well.

The l-theanine in green tea is good for anxiety. It comes as a supplement too.

I don't really know any homeopathic remedies for bp, other than ignatia for sadness,loss, and grief. I also use Back Flower remedies. Bach flower remedies and homeopathic remedies don't interact with any meds.

[Jackiebot]

My therapist said that people have received relief while taking Omega3's, I did not. Nothing herbal has worked on my depression (Sam-e, St. John's wort, omega 3's, vitamin b6 as niacinamide induced hypomania in me). I cannot take any tinctures because I cannot have alcohol, I am a recovered alcoholic as well (5 yrs). If it works for people, that's awesome- but nothing has worked for me, and I have tried a lot. I was very resistant to the idea of medication for many (12) years.
But my meds work for me now, and I just try to keep the doses as low as possible.
-jackiebot

[Phoenix_1]

Has anyone tried EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) or Tapping?
I've used it for a few things, but not specifically for bp.

[raphael4]

Originally Posted by Faith4553

I ask this questions because I feel like I've tried so many meds the last 8 years and have found nothing to be very effective. I've read that hormones can play a big part in our moods and emotions. I've had my thyroid checked but that always comes back normal.

Do any of you take supplements that help your bipolar? I'm really only taking ambien for sleep right now. I've had friends tell me to smoke weed for my anxiety...well that just makes me more anxious! Lately I will have a couple days of feeling good so I make plans and then can't follow through with them because I dip into darkness. The ups and downs are going to kill me.

If I can't find a medicine that helps, what else is there?

Tryptophan a.k.a L-Tryptophan is an essential amino acid that is supposed to be very good at smoothing out depression symptoms. I would recommend getting it from natural food sources though. Like meat, nuts, eggs, and diary products. review it online you will see

[Phoenix_1]

The best natural source of tryptophan is turkey.

[newtus]

im trying out a balanced b complex right now. i just started on it. but im still on haldol injections.

[venusss]

Originally Posted by Phoenix_1

Has anyone tried EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) or Tapping?
I've used it for a few things, but not specifically for bp.

Oh, I am using it, but not as much as I should.

It does works somewhat on lessening the problems.... but I really need to commit more to it. In the future, I guess.

Originally Posted by Phoenix_1

Has anyone tried EFT (Emotional Freedom Technique) or Tapping?
I've used it for a few things, but not specifically for bp.

My friend is about to learn this and she said she would teach me/treat me for free. Not sure when she will be able to do it but I am really hanging to try it.

I found when I was lower than low none of the herbal suppliments ever helped me in the slightest. And I tried a lot. Now that my mood is stable I do respond to things like herbal teas, so I am keen now to try all those other good brain vitamins to see if they now have an effect too.

Im not sold on bach remedies, they have never had an effect on me, and I cant find any proof that they do actually work. I wish it did work on me cos I have a few bottles of the stuff!

[Phoenix_1]

Yesterday I bought the audio book The Tapping Solution by Nick Ortner. I know quite a lot about tapping already, from listening to The Tapping Summits online for the past 2 years, and watching Brad Yates' videos. I used tapping on things like arthritis pain and headaches, with mixed results. If you want to learn, go to the Tapping Solution website, Natalie Hill's website, or look up Brad Yates on YouTube and tap along with Brad. You can learn by yourself and the tapping is easy. The hardest part is deciding what to say.

Since May I've been waking up at 2-3 am, and I'm still doing it. Yesterday I tapped on it, and I told myself to roll over and go back to sleep when I wake up at 3. It worked. I woke at 3:15, rolled over and went back to sleep, and woke up again at 6. I finally got 8 hours of sleep. It may be just a coincidence, I don't know. I'll be able to give it a better trial next week when I get home from the hospital.

[shortandcute]

st johns wort did not help me; SAMe gave me worse side affects than the AD's.

[BlueInanna]

Originally Posted by Faith4553

I ask this questions because I feel like I've tried so many meds the last 8 years and have found nothing to be very effective. I've read that hormones can play a big part in our moods and emotions. I've had my thyroid checked but that always comes back normal.

Do any of you take supplements that help your bipolar? I'm really only taking ambien for sleep right now. I've had friends tell me to smoke weed for my anxiety...well that just makes me more anxious! Lately I will have a couple days of feeling good so I make plans and then can't follow through with them because I dip into darkness. The ups and downs are going to kill me.

If I can't find a medicine that helps, what else is there?

Hi Faith,

I have had success with the following:

1. Bach Essences - especially Rescue Remedy
2. Vitamin B's
3. Fresh lemon in water
4. Avoiding processed white sugar
5. Vitamin D (even though I got plenty of sunlight, my D was dangerously low. my theory is that our bp brain uses it up so fast, or doesn't process it well. you can get injections or high strength rx)
6. Fresh organic veggie juicing
7. Kombucha drinks -- so so healthy!!
8. Therapy with someone skilled & trusted (I like one on one with specializing in Mindfulness Therapy)
9. Exercise like fast dancing or jumping jacks when hypo/manic
10. Yoga for anxiety
11. Knowing that sometimes I just need to sleep for a couple days straight when depressed, only getting up for kids or other urgent matters. Interferes with work, but I'm managing somehow.

Pot gives me anxiety these days too... That was my main coping tool when I was younger.

Ambien could be giving you a med hangover... but I still take it sometimes too. Meds can be very toxic and cause sluggish liver, I've had that, made me so tired & slow in the morning, might have it again now.

I also have a long history of cancelling plans, it's so discouraging. But I try to stay positive & ride it out, I'm in a low mood right now. My friends are understanding but confused - where'd the fun woman with all that energy go...

Good for you keeping on looking for new solutions. Thoughts are powerful. Tapping sounds interesting. Science proves we can fall into learned helplessness, the same is true for learned hopefulness.

Learned Optimism: Martin Seligman on Happiness, Depression, and the Meaningful Life | Brain Pickings

Or if you hate Optimism lol:
http://www.brainpickings.org/index.p...-the-antidote/