What is the consensus for vitamins helping with bipolar.?

Question

It seems I am allergic to my meds which can potentially be life threatening. I could switch to another type but I am not keen on taking a strong mediaction. I really feel to take vitamins instead as I hear that they can help and also that a B12 deficiency looks like bipolar. I would like to know what someone that has knowledge or experience of this has to say about it.

Answer 1

I have bipolar/schiz and have found some degree of relief by paying carefull attention to my nutritional needs. I've actually been taken aback by the amount of dangerous chemicals and preservatives that are used in our food to do everything from make the fruit look nicer, grow bigger, enhance the flavor, bulk the product up deter bugs and so on................. ad nauseum...

In particular B2 (niacin), has had a calming effect on the extent of my mood swings and the frame of mind I start the day in. Niacin is found in fairly good amounts in Weetbix Cereal and to a lesser degree in meat, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, wheatgerm, liver and blackstrap mollasses. So as you can see it is not very easy to come by. I've been paying really close attention to my diet for about 6 months now and I can honestly say that if you are deficient in any of the B complex vitamins you will encounter a variety of digestive, elimination, skin and most importantly to you and I, neural disorders. I have actually read, where, eludes me, that niacin administered in large doses to inpatients at a hospice for the mentally ill showed marked improvement very rapidly. So yes, I heartily agree. Do your research, be voracious about it, we as the socially challenged (I despise the term mentally ill for I fear it is us who are surrounded by fools, not vice versa) have no option but help ourselves. The Doctors don't know the answers and if they do they're not going to tell us anyway!! Why would they, they would then become redundant, out of a job!!!


Cheers...........


If you want to keep in touch with each other for now lets ask and respond through the alternative medicine forum, that's my favorite space.


PEACE

.................. :)


PLEASE NOTE

I have never stopped taking my meds and would never suggest you to go without them, that is part of the trauma of BPD, finding the right meds is sometimes longwinded. The reason for this is that the Doctors don't know the answers!! In other words they are making educated guesses when they prescribe medications. You must decide for yourself though in regards to the impact of vitamins on your body. There is so much research out there to prove that only good things can come from good nutrition as far as the socially challenged are concerned. With myself, my meds, at best, have only ever reduced the craziness of the "imbalances" to a manageable level. I'd surely love to be notified of any medication which renders the BPD sufferer symptom free.............


CHEERS

Answer 2

Im sorry your drugs are not working for you,you need to tell your doctor so he can get you on something that will work...I have a bipolar son that is 42 years old,from the time he was a small boy he had this condition..If its out there, I have tried it all..I am sorry to tell you this but no amount of vitamins will have much affect on your disease,Im sorry..Vitamin B-12 is good and you can get a bottle of liquid B vitamins that you put under your tongue and hold for a minute then swallow,but it still will not help bipolor..Bipolar is a chemical imbalance in the brain and it is caused from not having enough of the chemical that makes you level all the time...I understand how you feel,my son hates the fact of being dependant on a drug,but without the drugs your life will be hell....You have to look at this disease as you would any other..If you have high blood pressure you have to take a pill to keep it under control.and any other disease such as heart disease,or diabetes,all these require medication...You are not taking the drug because you are crazy or mental,it is a disease which has to be treated in order to be at your best...It is basically a chemical that you are lacking.. You could see a counceling will not help either as far as the disease its self,but it can help you to deal with it...Many people have some sort of illness,so I tell my son to try and understand that he is not mental,he thinks others will look at him as crazy,but its just something you cannot help,you were probably born with it....All i can say is if you have been diagnosed with Bipolar ,then you could get another opinion ,but be careful of what you do,because if you do have bipolar you could get off into a very deep depression and have to start your therpy all over again..good luck dear

Answer 3

sounds like your taking lamictal. talk to your doc she/he should give a few ideas. it sounds like your pretty new the Dx. just becareful there are many people on the net and other places will tell how about it to take this vitamin or so on. but what I the problem I see with vitamins are that they are not regulated as strickly as drugs and so they can claim anything a put anything they want on paper or on the net. were a Rx drug has to have blind studes and no matter what pharmay you go to your always going to get the same drug. that is not always true with vitamins.

Answer 4

Omega-3 fatty acids have been used to improve bipolar and other psychological conditions. The best way to get omega-3 is from flax seed oil which you can buy in capsules.

Answer 5

i really sympathize, truly i do...but there are no vitamins or a natural regimen to deal with bipolar disorder...have a serious discussion with your therapist, get a second opinion and a third...i hope you get the needed help soon, i know you must be miserable right now, it will pass, just hang in there it will pass

Answer 6

Go to your local library and read up on it, Also look on the internet,Try google and see what happens.

Answer 7

S.crew the vitamins, just listen to the song be happy