Anyone had success beating bipolar without meds?

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Replies

  • Docmahi
    Docmahi Posts: 1,603 Member
    Yes - and here is how I did it. I read that omega-3 was being used for psychiatric disorders and gave it a try for myself. It didn’t work, but I noticed that after 13 years my urine had no calcium sediments in it anymore. Before omega-3 supplements any extra calcium I ate showed up as extra urine sediment. I then read that calcium was important for proper neuron function and added calcium supplements to my diet thinking that I might not be getting enough. I increased the amount until I started seeing calcium sediments in my urine again. My mental symptoms stopped then. I believe the mechanism for the success of omega-3 is through its ability to allow the body to maintain a higher blood level of calcium. Higher calcium levels are known to reduce the level of excitability of neurons. Perhaps omega-3 allows the kidneys to reabsorb calcium to a level that satisfies all the body’s requirements.

    good god I dont even know where to start

    ./exit thread no point
  • StarChanger
    StarChanger Posts: 605 Member
    There is no such thing as "beating bipolar." The illness has three phases...depression, mania (or hypomania in the case of bipolar type 2) and maintenance. All three phases are managed with medication and each phase is actually treated differently. As the poster above stated; there are only two types of bipolar patients (and neither type is called "cured"). The first type is the one that takes their medications and feels better and says "the meds are working, therefore I will stay on the meds." The second type takes their medications and feels better and believes they no longer need the meds. The former leads a productive life, the latter lives a life of repeat hospitalizations +/- arrests, etc.

    This. Take your meds.
  • Jennloella
    Jennloella Posts: 2,286 Member
    I feel like you'd get better help from your Dr, or at the very least a board of bipolar patients instead of a fitness website....
  • Docmahi
    Docmahi Posts: 1,603 Member
    There is no such thing as "beating bipolar." The illness has three phases...depression, mania (or hypomania in the case of bipolar type 2) and maintenance. All three phases are managed with medication and each phase is actually treated differently. As the poster above stated; there are only two types of bipolar patients (and neither type is called "cured"). The first type is the one that takes their medications and feels better and says "the meds are working, therefore I will stay on the meds." The second type takes their medications and feels better and believes they no longer need the meds. The former leads a productive life, the latter lives a life of repeat hospitalizations +/- arrests, etc.

    This. Take your meds.

    ^^^
  • My daughter was just diagnosed with bipolar and MDD. She is on a bunch of meds and is finally getting better. I was against meds before all this happened and now I can't imagine how she would have made it without them.
  • askeates
    askeates Posts: 1,490 Member
    There is no such thing as "beating bipolar." The illness has three phases...depression, mania (or hypomania in the case of bipolar type 2) and maintenance. All three phases are managed with medication and each phase is actually treated differently. As the poster above stated; there are only two types of bipolar patients (and neither type is called "cured"). The first type is the one that takes their medications and feels better and says "the meds are working, therefore I will stay on the meds." The second type takes their medications and feels better and believes they no longer need the meds. The former leads a productive life, the latter lives a life of repeat hospitalizations +/- arrests, etc.

    ^^This... every single part it 100% accurate!
  • inside_lap
    inside_lap Posts: 728 Member
    As people mentioned before, accurate diagnosis is key in regards to treatment. BUT if someone truly has Bipolar Disorder (Type 1, 2, or NOS) they really should be on medications. Bipolar is nothing to play with. Yes there is a spectrum. Yes manic/hypomanic phases CAN SOMETIMES be very productive and addicting (I say seem as they can just as frequently be distructive). BUT the consequences can be devistating. And most people have more downs then ups where the downs can be just has horrifying (or more) as the consequences of the ups. The right combination of medications and therapy can do wonders to make someone "themselves" again. And no, that doesn't mean you have to be a zombie... if your a zombie, you need to work more closely with your prescribers to find the right combo of meds.
  • nomeejerome
    nomeejerome Posts: 2,616 Member
    Yes - and here is how I did it. I read that omega-3 was being used for psychiatric disorders and gave it a try for myself. It didn’t work, but I noticed that after 13 years my urine had no calcium sediments in it anymore. Before omega-3 supplements any extra calcium I ate showed up as extra urine sediment. I then read that calcium was important for proper neuron function and added calcium supplements to my diet thinking that I might not be getting enough. I increased the amount until I started seeing calcium sediments in my urine again. My mental symptoms stopped then. I believe the mechanism for the success of omega-3 is through its ability to allow the body to maintain a higher blood level of calcium. Higher calcium levels are known to reduce the level of excitability of neurons. Perhaps omega-3 allows the kidneys to reabsorb calcium to a level that satisfies all the body’s requirements.


    Awesome first post. :huh:

    Even though this post is old and OP deactivated, I hope they got help and are taking their meds. Bipolar is no joke and should be treated, but not with supplements.
  • Mr_Bad_Example
    Mr_Bad_Example Posts: 2,403 Member
    Just wondering if anyone has had any success with beating bipolar without meds.. With just herbal supps? Is there anything you would and /or wouldn't recommend?

    Um... no.
  • redheaddee
    redheaddee Posts: 2,005 Member
    None of my clients. Unfortunately they cycle: take meds, feel better, must not need meds! Stop taking, go off the deep end, lose everything, get back on meds...not pretty. I would not suggest doing so.
  • Management of bipolar disorder without pharmaceuticals can be achieved, but it takes a WHOLE LOT OF WORK, including highly-structured lifestyle involving rigorous exercise and diet. You cannot "beat" bipolar disorder.
  • missomgitsica
    missomgitsica Posts: 496 Member
    Nope. I take Lithium and a low does of Paxil and it has done wonders for me. I went unmedicated for a long time and tried some of the otc herbal lithium type stuff, and it absolutely doesn't work. I have a friend who's constantly giving me crap for being on those meds, who tells me all the time that there's a natural remedy for everything and that doctors and pharm companies are evil and blah blah blah, but I can tell you that I'd rather live my life functioning and enjoying it than buy into that conspiracy crap.
  • Mustang_Susie
    Mustang_Susie Posts: 7,045 Member
    There is no such thing as "beating bipolar." The illness has three phases...depression, mania (or hypomania in the case of bipolar type 2) and maintenance. All three phases are managed with medication and each phase is actually treated differently. As the poster above stated; there are only two types of bipolar patients (and neither type is called "cured"). The first type is the one that takes their medications and feels better and says "the meds are working, therefore I will stay on the meds." The second type takes their medications and feels better and believes they no longer need the meds. The former leads a productive life, the latter lives a life of repeat hospitalizations +/- arrests, etc.

    Not rude.
    Experiential, medical facts from a psychiatrist.
    Several other posters with the diagnosis support these facts.
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
    I don't medicate. Meds make me crazy. I totally steer clear of anything "herbal" as well. The best treatment I have found for my disorder is physical activity and an excellent therapist.
  • QuietBloom
    QuietBloom Posts: 5,413 Member
    Zombie thread lovely peoples. :flowerforyou:
  • fShaw86
    fShaw86 Posts: 878 Member
    I was diagnosed with bipolar, but turns out I actually had PTSD... they both get confused, especially if traumatic events/incidents haven't been discussed with the medical professional (a shrink, in most cases).

    Was prescribed St. John's Wort and lived for a while thinking I belonged in a crazy house. Then got the proper diagnosis, the specific treatment, and a new set of people around me who are both positive and encouraging, and life's so, so, so much better. :)
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
    I took meds for bipolar disorder. I hated them. I never wanted to die so badly in my life until I was medicated. I had the shakes, tired ALL the time, no personality whatsoever and ZERO sex drive. I was just so numb. I really wanted to die.

    Then I stopped taking my meds and started working out. I felt so much better. I felt alive. I will never go back to meds because they ruined me. Working out and eating better was a much better fix for my attitude, self esteem and self respect.

    Just a word... Don't stop taking your meds just to stop. I had to do it because I literally was ruined on them. My life is so much betternw.
  • I have been on a 1000mg of Lithium together with Lexamil as i was first diagnosed as clinically depressed. I then was diagnosed with my second psychiatrist as Biploar II after suffering an episode of attempting to take my own life, I have never hated using anything in my life as much as i did those meds. I have never felt so dead in my life as i had with taking medication. I researched nearly everything about my Illusive condition, i call it. I was forced to stop as i had no aid to pay for them any longer as i was forced to leave my job as i wasn't coping.I had to at least try and cope without it, for the sake of my son. Its nearly a year and still have episodes although i am much more aware of it when it happens and that makes all the difference. Your mind is much more powerful than you think.I have to admit that some may not be able to cope with out. I would rather struggle getting to know why i feel sad than have a quick fix and further lose myself to medication. I love feeling deeply and would not trade it for anything in this world. It has brought me at this late age 31 that i have a talent for writing poems, 'because' i feel so deeply. I have never had 'my' thing in life before.

    (see below)

    The world grows smaller and i cant escape
    Its trying to swallow me whole using my mind as bait
    My mind is stuck and the worlds a blur
    Just look at that girl, cant i be as peaceful as her
    My mind, yes my mind, makes me bleed for my life
    I'm sinking and not at all trying to swim from my strife
    Just watch me drown, i wish not to be saved
    I just want to be free and no longer enslaved
    Some days i'm okay and some days i am not
    My mind never heals, seems to be turning to rot
    Slice open my scalp and start dissecting my brain
    And examine and find what's the cause of my pain
    Don't judge me for my poems are all that i have
    At least my mind seems constructive when moving my hand
    Either pen to paper or my fingers to notes
    I find myself going through positive quotes
    I may have been gruesome with all i've expressed
    At the end of my poem, i'm no longer depressed

    By Samwam
  • Not actually but I have been off meds for 3 1/2yrs n yes depression n all that other good stuff never goes away but my key is when I feel something coming on I tackle. I read my daily devotions in the morning and if I have to throughout the day. I even share with others. When you make someone else's day your also helping yourself. Hope that helps some...