Anyone's bipolar helped by TrueHope Empower Plus for bipolar?

It apparently has 36 clinically proven ingredients to help bipolar disorder and I was hoping I could take them if they worked. Have they worked for you? My mom ordered some for me, they cost $67 but you can apply for a scholarship to get them for free if needed. Truehope: Introducing the new Empowerplus Advanced

I am so hoping these supplements will work for my bipolar and they are all I have to take for the rest of my life because I'm a high functioning bipolar I who has needed little medication in the past to get by. Anyone try TrueHope EmpowerPlus for Bipolar?

I have and I find that it helps a lot for the depression side of bipolar, not as much for the manic side. When I combine it with their choline product during my manic episodes, it works even better. I know it seems expensive but the cost is like 5% of what it costs to buy the medication i was prescribed.

I hope it works for you! Some of the criticism turned me off from actually trying it, but please keep us posted.

Natasha Tracy's award-winning blog has some articles on her experiences with the supplement:

What I Know about EMPowerplus by Truehope that You Don?t | Bipolar Burble Blog | Natasha Tracy

Why Take the Alternative Treatment EMPowerplus for Bipolar? | Bipolar Burble Blog | Natasha Tracy

Truehope and the Bipolar ?Treatment? EMPowerplus | Bipolar Burble Blog | Natasha Tracy

Also, a PsychCentral review:
Nutritional Supplements to Treat ADHD, Bipolar, Depression: EMPowerplus | World of Psychology

Except that Natasha Tracy refuses to look at the evidence or the studies and just goes off half cocked. She is totally unreliable.

The best advice I can give is try it yourself. Don't waste time listening to the critics or even the positive reviews. Everyone is different. The fact is, its a multivitamin and mineral supplement. Its worth a shot. Its not like you are weighing options between heroine and cotton candy. Its a supplement.

Try it and if it works, great. Its a lot cheaper than pharmaceuticals that's for sure.

I agree that Natasha didn't seem to try it before discarding it. She should at least have tried it first before declaring it didn't work.

Did support staff really call and ask for medication info? That would be a problem for me. Without consent they can sell that information to anybody and people will buy it. Why bother with hipaa?

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Well, Natasha Tracy is a pharma shill who disses everything that isn't a pharma med (eventhough they don't even work for her personally). So I wouldn't count on her reviews of anything. She is a very selective blogger.

If Truehope helps people, then that's great. However, there are people who might not be helped. There are people for whom there might be placebo effects. Personally I like to do a lot of research before buying supplements, since money is short

Some questions about Truehope's product, based on their ingredients list here: Truehope: EMPowerplus Advanced Ingredients

1) How is the general vitamin blend any different from taking a multivitamin, and/or eating a healthy diet? There are no special vitamins that don't appear in a multivitamin and/or a healthy diet. Also, I think it's better to treat a specific vitamin deficiency with a doctor's help rather than risk overdosing on other vitamins by increasing the number of Truehope pills. Furthermore, research shows that people rarely benefit from vitamin supplementation unless deficient (http://www.forbes.com/sites/stevensa...shouldnt-take/). So you could just do a test for deficiencies and supplement as necessary with a doctor's help.

2) Truehope's proprietary blend lists: choline bitartrate, DL-phenylalanine, citrus bioflavonoids, inositol, L-glutamine, L-methionine, grape seed extract, gingko biloba leaf, germanium sesquioxide, boron, vanadium, nickel. However, we are not given the exact quantities of each of these per serving. I'd like to know this information to make sure that these products are available in quantities that are significantly different from the amount found in a regular diet. For example:

* Inositol is readily found in the bioavailable lechitin form in eggs, fruits like oranges and cantaloupe, etc.
* There are quality gingko biloba supplements available on the market, and for someone on a healthy diet, it might just be cheaper to get a gingko supplement and use that with a pdoc's help.
* What are the citrus bioflavonoids? I've read a bit, and I know that "citrus" bioflavonoids are also found in buckwheat, cranberries, lime, lemon, grapefruit, asparagus, apples, and peaches.
* Grapeseed extract - what's in this? I know that grapeseed extracts are generally rich in vitamin E, flavonoids (see above; also found in parsley, blueberries, black tea, wine, dark chocolate, bananas, onions, and ginkgo biloba), linoleic acid (found in practically every kind of oil, as well as almonds, chicken fat, egg yolk, lard, olive oil, butter, cocoa butter, etc), and phenolic procyanidins (found in fresh grapes, grape juice, and red wine).
* germanium sesquioxide is a source of organic germanium, which is found in substantial amounts in parsley, garlic, aloe, gingko biloba, and comfrey.

Based on common sense, it seems that Truehope might be something to try if you're on a poor diet (with possible vitamin and mineral deficiencies). Otherwise, I think a diet of fresh food, herbs, and spices should do the trick just as well (it's probably healthier too).

(Lastly, everyone's BP is different, and I don't know how a good a fit you can find in a generic vitamin blend).

I am not really supporter of Truehope, I think it's overhyped and can work only in the case you have some deficiency mimicking bipolar.

But you still should consider the source that is dissing it and what the reasons behind it are.

I don't buy into vitamins in general. There are a few supplements I can see the value of but only for a short period and for a specific reason. Vitamins and minerals have been isolated from their food source and we do not have enough research to know how the rest of the food source effects absorption. My hunch is it does. The texture of an apple skin or the entire carrot have digestive value you are never going to get in a pill form. Why not get all the benes a banana and not be hungry to boot? (Not to mention the fast food aspect and they taste good too.)

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I found a very similar product for less at Hardy Nutritionals. They have 2 levels of potency, one of them is like $30 a month.