![[dr. bob]](/dr-bob-sm.gif)
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 2 of 2. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Lao Tzu on September 19, 2008, at 7:09:19
Have noticed that there are some very important supplements for Bipolar Depression. Those include fish oil, vitamin C, P-5-P (form of B6), vitamin B1 (thiamine), vitamin B12, vitamin E, Niacin, and melatonin. It's very tricky to know how much to take of each and at what time of day to take them. Also, sometimes it takes a little time to get used to the supplements in the very beginning, at least that has been my experience, especially with fish oil. I've found that I only need a very small dosage of fish oil, specifically 210 EPA:130 DHA. I am different than some bipolars who need megadoses of fish oil per day. But then again, I'm on a strong anti-psychotic medication so maybe that has something to do with how much fish oil I can tolerate. Just for your information, I use Eskimo-3 brand of fish oil because it comes in 500mg capsules, so if you can't tolerate too many real big fish oil capsules, the smaller capsules might work better for you. I take about 3-4 capsules a day. I also supplement with Borage oil because supposedly some people are also lacking in omega-6 fatty acids. The fish oil and borage oil seem to balance each other out if you take the right amount of each. Some sources say that a 1:1 ratio of omega-3 to omega-6 is optimal. I was taking 2 borage oil capsules per day for about 2 months. Now, I only need 1 capsule per day, so you may find that in the beginning you might need more borage oil, and then later need less. It took me a good couple of months to really determine how much fish oil and borage oil I needed for my symptoms because now my body is really acclimated to the essential fatty acids.
This is my regimen right now, which seems to help my symptoms:
Morning:
250mg vitamin C
12.5mg P-5-P
3-500mg fish capsulesAfternoon:
another 12.5mg P-5-P
500micrograms of B12
100mg of B1
1 borage oil capsule
Bedtime:200IU vitamin E
500mg Niacin
62.5mg of P-5-P
1/4 of a 3mg tablet of melatoninThe Niacin and P-5-P are important in bipolar. I take all of my Niacin at bedtime. I take the majority of P-5-P at bedtime, and about 25mg during the day for a total daily dosage of about 90mg P-5-P. That seems to work fine for me.
Posted by Lao Tzu on September 19, 2008, at 9:44:27
In reply to Bipolar Depression Supplements, posted by Lao Tzu on September 19, 2008, at 7:09:19
Calcium and/or Magnesium in small amounts along with the other vitamins and essential fatty acids can be helpful too. I take a max. of 150-300mg of calcium when I need it. I take a max. of 200mg of Magnesium when I need it. Taking more of these minerals than your body needs is not necessarily a good thing.
This is the end of the thread.
Psycho-Babble Alternative | Extras | FAQ
Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.org
Script revised: February 4, 2008
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/cgi-bin/pb/mget.pl
Copyright 2006-17 Robert Hsiung.
Owned and operated by Dr. Bob LLC and not the University of Chicago.