[Standup2me]

I just went to the naturopath and it was almost $600. I don't have that kind of money, but if it works, it is worth it.
They seem to think that they can get the meds down or even off meds totally.

Has anyone had any experiences with naturopaths?

Please share

[~Christina]

Do they have experience dealing with psych meds ?

I'm all for less chemicals tossed at me , but I am just a very very leery about it .

600.00 is a lot of money for sure

[mama pajama]

If you decide to try it, I'd find one with experience in bipolar disorder. I have triplets and 2 are on the autism spectrum. Before they were diagnosed I took them to a naturopath to be tested for food sensitivities. When we got the results the naturopath said she had never seen this many in a child or adult, they each had 40-60 foods they were sensitive to. She just said "stay away from these foods" I later learned that were just had to rotate them which would've been a MAJOR difference. I kept them on this horribly restrictive expensive diet and it made no difference. The naturopath was mainly used to adults and not autistic children. I've heard good things from other parents that found the right naturopath and it helped their child feel better.

- she also recommended a supplement that contained lead��! I told her what the label said and she was like "whoops! Have them take this other one instead" they are going to tell you they can get you off medications. I'd ask them what experience they have with other people with your issues. How many people were successful with them, etc

[Wonderfalls]

Too many hucksters involved in the "You don't need medicines" trade. There's really no good way to tell what may or may not work. Legitimate medicines no matter how much you may dislike or scorn them are at least tested and certified. Personally I wouldn't spend the money.

It's not exactly the same, but with my son, initially I decided to go with a midwife, thinking it was the way to go. Natural and all that. I switched over to a CNM (certified nurse midwife) though because the experience was not good. The anti-medical one tried to scare me into her dogma with outdated information, was forgetting to bother with basic stuff like vitals etc.(!)

Long/short, my biggest advice would be to be careful of and watch out for personal agenda and dogmatic devotion to a particular way (especially an over-promising sort). It wasn't about what was good for me. It was about propagating her personal agenda.

Have you considered something like integrative medicine?

I think you should only be doing this in conjunction with your psychiatrist.

[Standup2me]

Originally Posted by ~Christina

Do they have experience dealing with psych meds ?

I'm all for less chemicals tossed at me , but I am just a very very leery about it .

600.00 is a lot of money for sure

They say that they've had several BP patients, but I got the feeling that they were assuming that, and were not specifically told that

[Standup2me]

Originally Posted by Innerzone

It's not exactly the same, but with my son, initially I decided to go with a midwife, thinking it was the way to go. Natural and all that. I switched over to a CNM (certified nurse midwife) though because the experience was not good. The anti-medical one tried to scare me into her dogma with outdated information, was forgetting to bother with basic stuff like vitals etc.(!)

Long/short, my biggest advice would be to be careful of and watch out for personal agenda and dogmatic devotion to a particular way (especially an over-promising sort). It wasn't about what was good for me. It was about propagating her personal agenda.

Have you considered something like integrative medicine?

Can you explain what that is and how it works?

[Sad Mermaid]

I sent a list of my issues to a well regarded NP who replied by saying that she could not help me.

Originally Posted by Standup2me

Can you explain what that is and how it works?

A general overview:
What Is Integrative Medicine?

I don't have personal experience in this, it's just something I have heard about. I also don't know what might be available to you, but if the concept interests you, you could ask your provider network (or whatever it's called).

[MBM17]

We've had so many harmful experiences by now with holistic people that my husband says NO MORE! So many of those people don't understand what bipolar truly is. They don't understand that it's a genetic problem. It can't be healed. We can't change our genes at this point of scientific development.

Some, even providers (!), claim that they've healed or cured or miraculously helped people with bipolar. Then when I listen to the story in detail or watch the whole vlog, I can tell that the patient was misdiagnosed. No one with bipolar was actually treated despite their claims.

They've tried and continue to say that they will get people off their meds.
1) I know what my life was like before mood stabilizers. I don't want that ever again.
2) My husband gets mad on my behalf when I'm listening to the holistic people because as he says, "They can say that all they want. It's not THEIR life they are endangering. It's danger free for them to say but so dangerous for people like you."

We won't be seeing any naturopaths anytime soon for these and other reasons.