Posted by LOOPS on September 26, 2004, at 16:24:12
In reply to Re: New to alternatives » smartweed, posted by JLx on September 24, 2004, at 17:06:47
Also try researching taurine, as this has been found to be low in bipolars. I use taurine to control my anxiety and stabilize my emotions somewhat.
There is also lithium orotate which gives you a much lower dose of lithium than normal but due to the orotate form is effective.
Some bipolars have found 5htp or tryptophan very helpful - I take 5htp.
Zinc is also low in people with depression / anxiety. You can take quite high doses of zinc before you start affecting levels of iron/copper.
And of course B vitamins have been found to be very useful in all types of depression / nervous disorders. Thiamin is calming, niacinamide binds to benzo receptors in your brain, B6 sometimes needs to be supplemented in its co-enzyme form to be useful - supports production of both norepinephrine and serotonin.
I have never been to a doctor to be diagnosed, but have emotional cycles with tend to the extreme all my life. For me not one single supplement worked on its own, but combining a couple of key ones has been extremely helpful - brought down the anxiety and lifted my depression, and made life much more liveable.
Don't be afraid to try things in 'mega' doses - vitamins in particular. If I were you I would buy a book specifically dealing with orthomolecular medicine (using vitamins/aminos/minerals etc in mega doses to treat depression/anxiety/mental disorders etc). There are quite a few on the market written by doctors with a lot of experience. This way you will know how to balance various nutrients/vitamins in the body/brain properly.
Good luck.
Loops
poster:LOOPS
thread:387704
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20040901/msgs/395376.html