Natural Bi-Polar Treatment

BraveSirRubin, I applaud your attempt to free yourself of these drugs. You will need a support group to help you, your parents and others. I hope that you do not just trade one drug for another to help you cope, even if it is natural. And please, be prepared for what’s ahead, emotions are difficult to handle at any age, and learning to control them is a long process with many set backs and rough spots.

I would say that we are an overly medicated society; we have a little pill for everything. Instead exercising and eating right, here take this pill. What most people don’t see is that the pills don’t generally fix the problem, they just mask the symptoms. I heard it said one time; that people don’t have headaches because they have an aspirin deficiency. Instead of taking the time to find out what the problem is and fixing it, we just take another pill.

Now I’m not saying that there aren’t people that need outside help, but what I am saying is we should be careful not to be quick to interfere with a natural phase in life, learning to deal with our emotions in our teenage years, that could cause permanent damage to a person later in life.

 

Hmm. I just don't think that whatever I have is as severe as what you guys do, or that we at least deal with it in different ways. I've been feeling "cured" for a long time now, and haven't felt any worse ever since I started to gradually decrease my medicine.

You talk about therapists alot. I myself cannot stand them or any aspect of clinical psychology. A therapist would not understand me, my friends would. You cannot apply an institutionalized practice to people, especially to people with mental disorders. So counceling and therapy simply don't work for me. It has to come from the inside... I can't make myself believe in bullshit step programs, false emotional motivation, and such.

It's really good that you both have accepted your condition. I am not judging you for being treated for it with pills, no matter how many you take, but I still refuse to believe that such conditions much be treated by pills.

Thank you very much for the kind words. I don't know if I truly have a support group, but as I previously said, I'm not a person who really requires others' support. I have always dealt with these things internally. I really do not want to interchange one medication for the other. My ideal scenario is to come off the pills and only remain taking vitamin suppliments which I have to take anyhow because the food here in school isn't too nutritious.

But, yes I completely agree. We must deal with our problems ourselves, that's the only way to grow.

 

My first choice also is to deal with things by myself but have also learned that it's good to have a little help from your friends. (Beatles rip off) Sometimes it's good to have a friend that knows what what you're trying and that you can call up for a good time that won't get all helpful, if you know what I mean. Sometimes just a game of softball can be the best medicine

 

This thread is really hard for me b/c I literally "have been here, done that" and have seen the damage I caused by quitting my medications. I may not have fallen apart overnight, but it did happen while I was convinced I had everything under control.

I have witnessed the destruction that undertreated or untreated bipolar disorder can have. My fiance was hospitalized once for a psychotic episode and lost his job, which forced him to live w/ his sister. This was when he was seeing a worthless city hospital and was undertreated, not just w/ medication but therapy as well. Fast-forward seven months and his disorder was a factor for him dropping out of college due to grades and finances and back living w/ his sister again. Around this time, family members began to urge him to stop taking medication b/c "it was all in his head" and there was nothing wrong w/ him- he was acting fine, no mood swings, was somewhat stable, so he doesn't need meds anymore, right? When he quit taking his meds, our relationship ended, he thought he got another girl pregnant, lost two more jobs, and was rehospitalized within a period of 2 months. Although his family now admits he has a serious disorder, the damage has already been done. The disorder has since put him in the hospital more than three times in the last 6 months, he lives in a half-way house and his only employment isn't a real "job," it's work therapy for the VA which pays minimum wage for 20 hours of work a week. Right now, he is on a waiting list for subsidized apartments, waiting for disability and social security to kick in. His mental condition deteriorated dramatically over the 3 month span that he was off his meds. He struggles just to get through day to day life due to everything that has happened. I read some of the posts on here and he said "That's sounds just like me. I wish I knew then what my life would be like now."

I am not trying to change your mind or convince you to keep taking your medication. I just feel really concerned for you b/c I have SEEN a stable person become unable to function independently, someone who had their life together until he quit taking his meds. I don't want you to go through this. It is VERY traumatic not only for the person with the disorder, but for their loved ones as well.

I know you will probably stop taking your meds and I respect your decision, but please promise me this, if you start having mood swings again, do not wait for them to get severe. See someone right away. About 4 months ago, I spent Halloween in a hospital b/c I didn't see my doctor until I was cutting myself and unable to stop fantasying about slitting my wrists, which was so strange b/c I have always said my ideal death would be doing a speed ball (an eighth of coke & an eighth of herion) and always thought slitting my wrists would be a horrible death. Recently, during my last episode which ended last week or so, I kept imagining eating a gun- again, a way I don't want to die. This time, I got treatment before hospitalization was required. Please, please, please get help before you reach this point. I care about you and I don't want anyone to experience this kind of suffering.

I will be praying for your stability.

Peace and love

 

Hi hippie_chick666,

I’m sure that BraveSirRubin appreciates your concerns. I know I do. But we can’t know what’s inside another person’s head. Ultimately it is his choice to make. We can only warn and advise him for the trip, called life, that only he can take.

If he was saying that he wanted to climb Everest how would you feel about that? What would you say to him? Would encourage or discourage? Would you say it’s pointless and so many die trying or lose toes and fingers to frostbite, why don’t you just stay home safe in your easy chair and rent the video?

The problem is we don’t know. Maybe BraveSirRubin was misdiagnosed or maybe he’ll find a path through his mind that no one has ever found before. Maybe he’ll just find that he enjoys being bipolar. Or maybe the attempt will break him. Or maybe not making the attempt would leave him broken. We just don’t know.

In any case you have done an excellent job of warning him of the pit falls. Now as friends we need to try to help him be successful and encourage him no matter what course he decides to take.

BraveSirRubin please keep us informed,
PM me if you want,
OWB

 

hmmmmMM?
Why would you want to meditate to bring yourself OUT of a high?
To me meditation is a means to maintain a natural high and maintain a balanced mind.
If your looking for ways to get yourself out of being high and feeling naturally good, get in the military or an ivy league university, they'll certainly break you down

If your talking about people in a 'coke' mind state where they essentially think they are the gangster shit always as in a sort of ego-trip. Well, that isn't being balanced. Taking the time to sit for an hour everyday and calm yourself and center yourself and remember love for everyone will certainly bring them down from their ego trip.

 

its not far fetched at all, thats exactly what meditation is in physiological terms. For example, if you do you use the chakra systems, the chakras are essentially synonymous to physiological chemical compositions in your body. It allows you to maintain your chosen mix of chemicals in your body.

and when you say you lived life in a meditative state do you mean that you were just, zoned out? Meditation does not automatically mean zoned out. If thats what you mean the function of meditation is actually quite opposite. It would be so that you can take some time everyday to zone out completely in silence and peace, so that you can balance yourself and focus energy to be more active and aware during the day.

 

Fucking hell...I just woke up and I'm having a big anxiety attack over whether or not I remembered to take my pills and when and I don't know how crazy I'll be tomorrow if I took too much or none at all. I'm such a fucking junky in that regard; i'm taking anti-depressants, mood stabilizers, sedatives, (huge doses of those) and a miniscule amount of another anti-depressant only because I'm physically addicted to it--it's definitely not supposed to take 8 months to cut back and then quit. it shouldn't take 8 months to quit, but i'm nearly there. Not to mention all the side-effects. Regardless, I've made that decision and it's helping me.

I couldn't agree more. There is a tendency to drug kids out of any difficulty they may encounter and it is clear that it is incredibly unhealthy. I feel that meds are meant to be only a part of a holistic approach to mental/emotional/physical health.



Speaking of mental health...I was in the hospital yesterday cause I was quite sick and VERY dehydrated to the point of being completely delirious, psychotic and having serious hallucinations, like figures were there was nothing, and voices speaking to me, etc...)
I'm totally fine now.

 

The_Moroccan_Raccoon, as for your big anxiety attacks over whether or not I remembered to take my pills and when, I would say a simple solution would be to get a calendar for your room and just write down on it when you take your meds. Saves you from trying to remember, of cousre remembering to write it down would be my problem.

 

Much of the time I'm not at home or sleep in all different places...very little routine. But you're right...I could just make a calendar and be sure to always follow it.
I ended up realizing that I had indeed taken the pills because I remember noticing something completely unrelated on top of the shelf where the pill bottles are...

 

My mom used to have these plastic pill containers that came in strips of seven containers that had the days of the week on them so she could put each day's pills in them up to seven days. That way she could just see if she had taken her pills for that day. If you carry a back pack you could just throw one in there and carry it with you.

 

http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/bipolartreatment.htm

You might want to look at that article, I find it to be pretty good advise for natural treatment.

 

Nice job tracking that down.

 

I don't doubt that nutritional supplements should be part of a holistic treatment w/ different disorders. I don't think that supplements alone will treat every case of bipolar disorder, though.

Peace and love

 

I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder last year, however it hasn't been the first time I've been assessed for it. I know in my case, I do need medication to keep myself stable. when I was not medicated, I was at a high risk of injuring myself and others, and it was a very dark time for me. I'm much better now that I am taking Epival, but it took quite a bit of searching to find the right pill for me. I personally don't like being on medication, but knowing what the consequences would be without it, I'd take the meds any day. I'm much happier now, and I feel at peace.
If you can get along without meds, thats great, I do know people who live with bipolar disorder and function well without medications. As long as you do whats in your own best interest, whether it be on meds or not, is the only thing that matters.

 

emotions/moods are either expanding or contracting. emotions means disturbance. or energy in motion....
stay away from extreme foods. extreme foods that make you elevated(expand you) include all fruit, uncooked tropical vegetables, yoghurt, milk(unless your a baby), nut and grain milk, coffee, alchohol, drugs, bread, yeast, processed and frozen foods, chemicals in foods, sugar, honey, flour,and syrups, soft cheese, raw foods, fruit juices, veg juices, microwaves, electric cooking,,smoking, oils, margarine, butter.


stay away from extreme foods that de-elevate you(contract you)all meat, eggs, salt, hard cheese, pressure cooking, baking.

try to boil your food or barbeque, using coal or wood. use whole grains in season, veg in season, seeds and beans in season.

and thats just the food.


stay away from radiation, microwaves when on, mobile phones and masts. electricity cooking and pylons

....until the symptoms are managble. could take a few months or a few years,,,

get out in nature as much as possible. eat seaweeds, laugh as much as possible, and buy a copy of eckart tolles 'power of now' and ' a new earth.' he goes side by side with
zen way of life, he tells about the way your mind works and emotions. very simply, and very sweetly.

lots of love coming at ya all.

 

Umm, what can you eat if all these things are not healthy to eat?

Peace and love

 

Hey guys.

Thank you all for your comments. I have read them all and appreciate them. I do not wish to debate with you over them, but this is indeed an interesting topic.

I myself have been off my meds for a while now and feel great. It was a tad hard to transition off them at first, but marijuana... out of all things... helped alot.

I also decided not to exaggerate my vitamin intake, only taking some generic multi-vitamins and fish oil capsules.

Most improtant thing was pretty much not thinking about any of this. Ignoring the fact that I was making a transition made it so much easier to make... no negative placebo effects from coming off the pills, no stress, no need for anything. I seem to have picked out a nice time of the year to do this, since we've been getting some sun lately and good weather automatically puts me in a good mood.

I'm going to try to maintain a healthy lifestyle now... gonna exercise, go out, eat right, and so on and forth. I doubt that I will do anything as extreme as edenfield suggested. I don't think that limiting my dietary intake would do any good (even though everyone could cut down on sugar intake).

I guess that I'm still in a transition of sorts, so my plan is to keep myself occupied and motivated. Gonna go out there and explore this beautiful world!

 

not a lot lol

but more than enough,
start with whole grains...here in the uk, which is a temperate climate with seasons, the grains include for the winter months....short grain brown rice, buckwheat, millet, whole oats. vegetables...carrots and roots, greens, squash, stews and gas or coal/wood cooked stuffs
seaweed...dulse, wakame, etc...nori and hiziki
pulses,.....aduki beans, lentils chick peas, haricot,etc...
seeds,,,, sesame,pumpkin, any small ones
nuts, walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, any smaller hardy nuts,
bit of fish if your normal diet consists of meat
dried fruits if u get sugar cravings or your diet consists of fruit...but not tropical like bananas figs and stuff,

bear in mind though,,, its only temporary until u manage emotionally,,,then when balance has been restored u can expand your food choice.
the macrobiotic approach is not at all restrictive,,,it just gives u the power to manage your life better, and when u travel u change to meet your needs...with the climate you look for foods that grow in the climate. hey if it good enough for john lennon....