Does anyone complement their treatments with nutritional strategies?

[Ellen Forradalom]

I've become more interested in nutritional factors to help curb my bipolar disorder. Has anyone here made changes in their diets or added supplements and noticed any improvements?

I'm interested in omega-3 fatty acids in particular. I've switched to Natural Ovens of Manitowoc breads which supplement with flaxseed for 320 mg of omega-3s in each slice.
Has anyone tried fish oil supplements?

[DemExpat]

1. I do, Ellen....

I take a general high-quality Multi-vitamin/mineral along with watching my diet to try to get all the "good" nutrients. I have noticed that eating greens like spinach, endive, kale boost my energy/mental strength.

Caffeine I avoid (coffee and chocolate, colas, etc.) as well as sugar.

I'm not bipolar, (borderline) but do all I can to keep my blood sugar level otherwise my mood swings are really bad.

I also take ground flaxseed, also for other health benefits, flaxseed oil too. Never tried fish oil capsules, but eat fish several times a week.

With this plan I feel I am supporting myself and helping maintain a balance - and feel a difference when I eat stuff that triggers moods swings.

Daily long walks are very noticeably beneficial for me too!

:hi:

DemEx

edit: a soothing mineral for me that helps moods is magnesium, and to help me sleep sometimes I take inositol before bed.

[ernstbass]

2. My brother is bipolar

and he went off Depakote and takes fish oil instead with excellenty results. I take flaxseed oil. I certainly feel better in terms of my depression when I avoid processed foods with high sugar content.

[Droopy]

3. I've tried alternative diet and excercise

with minimal results. I have schizoaffective disorder, a bipolar and schizophrenia related disease. Lifting weights and hard work like landscaping helped me out some when I was manic. When I would work out hard it would bring me down a notch making me feel mellow instead of wired. But when I am psychotic nothing helps but medication. You don't know how much I wish that I didn't have to take the meds that I do. If there were a diet that would control my symptoms, I would be on it. I've seen claims that people can control psychosis through diet, but they are usually on an anti-psychiatry web page. I have no faith in them.

[EFerrari]

4. We do, too.

Just started taking fish oil for our different situations. One of our therapists is a huge believer in whatever works -- especially if there's harm reduction involved, i.e,, fish oil is a LOT easier on your liver and kidneys than some pharmaceuticals.

There's so much out there that can be helpful -- kitties to planning to well monitored meds. Why limit ourselves. :hi:

[rockedthevoteinMA]

5. I take valerian root when I'm getting hypomanic/irritable

or having anxiety. I find it works better than the seroquel they have me on, it's much more calming, and not nearly as debilitating.

I want to look into the omega-3 too, the mood stabilizer they have me on makes me dizzy and nauseous.

[DemExpat]

6. There is a mix here that works very well for me too...

Valerian and passionflower - just love it when I need it.

Takes the edge off, nothing more.

DemEx

[ernstbass]

7. I worked with a psychiatrist who called Valerian nature's Valium

It's great for sleep. I like Kava Kava for anxiety. You need 3 gms of Omega 3's per day for bipolar symptoms - the more DHA in it, the better. And Black Kohash is helping with hot flashes (the bane of my existence currently)

[rockedthevoteinMA]

8. Valium is actually made from Valerian.

I don't know how true it is, but I heard a couple of years ago that Kava Kava can be toxic to the liver. (I don't know if this was a BS claim put out by the pharma co.'s, but there were a few people who went into liver failure from it... haven't heard anything since.)

[DemExpat]

10. Kava is off the market here in Europe, unfortunately imo.

I believe that the few who died really overdid it with the dosage over a long period of time.

DemEx

[ernstbass]

11. Very interesting about the Valium

I don't use Kava Kava that much because fortunately I don't get anxious much. I live in a college town and 2 of the health food stores had break ins about 2 years ago - only thing that was taken was all the Kava!

[rockedthevoteinMA]

12. I cannot find Kava Kava around here :( n/t

[DemExpat]

9. Black Cohosh is fab for this.....been taking it for 2 years now.

:kick:

DemEx

[Digit]

13. I called my pharmacist about taking DHEA, and he said NO.

I am on Clonidine for blood pressure, and Effexor XR 75.
He said that DHEA does not do well with these. Darn.
...already opened the bottle.

[DemExpat]

14. Good action to call the pharmacist, Digit.

I feel pretty safe taking my herbs and supplements because I am taking no pharmaceuticals.

Important to try to keep informed - and to check for known affects on/with medicines.

:thumbsup:

DemEx

[RagingInMiami]

15. I was going through depression a few months ago

right after the election, but I had other issues going on in my life, and I started taking Omega 3 capsules and it's done wonders.
It's also really good for your skin because my skin was always dry, even if I put lotion on it, and now it's not.

[DemExpat]

16. Good for you, Raging....

this kind of approach does take some time (sometimes a couple of months) to work its beneficial effects in my experience.

:hi:

DemEx

[RagingInMiami]

17. Yes, it's not overnight. It took a few weeks

About six maybe, for me to feel the benefits. But I can't complain. It's one less thing that I have to worry about.

[depakid]

18. Yep- most people I know with BP take EFA's

There have actually been clinical studies that have demonstrated some efficacy with fish oils. I think the therapeutic levels are pretty high, on those, but the stuff is good for you anyway- and it's not expensive. I take 1,000 mg's a day.

[hedgehog]

19. Just be sure to swalloe the capsule quickly

If it melts at all, you'll be burping fish oil! Seriously, a recent article in Discovery has me committed to adding fish oil and B vitamins to my meds. It can't hurt, it might help and ther are side benefits.

[Kashka-Kat]

20. yes

I have been working w/ an assortment of non-med strategies, incl. no-sugar diet and excercise for my at times severe depression& ptsd-like relivings of past trauma/abuse.

one problem I have staying on it is I almost start to feel TOO good if that makes any sense. I start to feel things, I mean everything--joy, pain, love, anger --all flowing like a big rushing river. For a while I was using deep feeling (primal) therapy to give context to the outpouring of emotion and work thru the old trauma... but my $$$ is short at the moment bc I had to do a ton of work on my house instead of on ME... soooo... been relapsing big time :-(

somewhere I read that folic acid is needed for ... I forget, it was like precursor to one of those things like seratonin ... I do know that at my best I'm eating lots of vegs (prime source of folic acid), enough protein incl. organic meats), just a touch of grains, no processed flour or sugar.

I also btw have been using non western concepts like yoga/ kundalini energy. Don't you find sometimes what you call something can determine your experience of it... I mean, for me it was useful to take the approach that I was going thru life crisis which suggests a process w/a more hopeful outcome of change or renewal) ... rather than using the word "breakdown" (which suggests end result being damaged and "broken down")

This is certainly not to put down anyone who is taking the drug route, I at times have relied on drugs myself ... can a good way of just "buying time," getting out of pain & immobilization enough to be able to move on some things in life....

[rockedthevoteinMA]

21. Hi Kashka-Kat (and everyone else interested in alternatives to meds)

I got this magazine, "Organic Style" for Christmas. Last month they had an article all about vitamins, and what they do. Here's a bit on folate for those of you who have depression. (The whole article is excellent, it really gives some good info, all 11 page) Hope this helps... and yes, I agree about the drug route, they helped stabilize me, but once I came back to earth, I felt useless. Now being free of them, I still have my moments of frightening family and friends, but most of that (for me at least) has been controlled with therapy, and natural cures. It's only been a few months though, so we'll see.

Depression

WHAT YOU NEED
Folate

WHAT IT DOES
Call it the happiness pill. This B vitamin helps the brain use mood-regulating chemicals, such as serotonin and dopamine. Researchers at Tufts University found that people with a history of depression have lower concentrations of folate in their blood than people who have never been depressed.

AIM FOR
the RDA of 400 micrograms.

HOW TO GET IT
Enriched grains in bread, pasta, and breakfast cereal add 80 to 200 micrograms a day to the average diet. Take a supplement to get the full RDAsome research suggests it may boost the performance of anti-depressants. In the Tufts study, folate levels stayed low even when depression lifted, suggesting that you should continue supplements for as long as a year afterward.

NEVER TAKE MORE THAN
1,000 micrograms of folate.

more at link: http://www.organicstyle.com/feature/0,8028,'s1-41-30-34-1016-8-1X2X3X4X5X6X7X8X9X10-11',00.html