Nutritional Supplements
Omega-3
SAM-e, St John's Wort
Acupuncture
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
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About Me
- John McManamy
- I am an award-winning author and mental health journalist. I have been writing about mood disorders since being diagnosed with bipolar disorder in 1999, ranging from a website, an email newsletter, a book, articles for HealthCentral, and this blog. More recently, I have been producing videos. Writing about my illness has played a very strong role in my healing and recovery. Writing allows me to come to terms with my past, gives meaning to my present, and gives me the courage to face the future with hope.
I was diagnosed in 1993 and have been treated and been compliant with medication since then, although it is possible I have been bipolar since I was a teenager. I have taken most of the approved mood stabilizer drugs over the years. I am from Boston and was seen at the
ReplyDeleteMassachusetts General Hospital Bipolar Clinic for 5 years. MGH is like McLean Hospital, connected with Harvard Medical School. My MGH
psychiatrist, who has a national and international reputation, commented to me that pretty much everybody in the academic
community had panned Dr. Stoll's study as his
results were not able to be verified, ie duplicated. My pdoc gave me specially selected fish oil capsules from a specific
lab in terms of dosage, chemical content and
other criteria. I took the enteric omega 3
capsules along with my lithium and anti-psychotic med as prescribed. Despite my pdoc's dismissal of Stoll's research results,
I, personally noticed a different, a positive effect. This expereince made me very cognizant of the fact that fish oil and omega 3, and also omega 6, are truly potentially
powerful drugs for bipolar people, and should be treated with care and caution. The fish oil, in conjunction with the two aforementioned prescription drugs, was able to, imo, help push or lift my depression. I
stopped the fish oil as I was afraid that said
combination could not only life my depression, but flip me over into mania. Over the past 5+ years without taking any antidepressants and also no fish oil, I have
managed to control my depression. Howevever,
as I write this, I am, I believe, a little
depressed, with all the classic symptoms. I
never want to take prescription anit-depressants ever again, as I strongly
believe that they contribute to the viscous
circle or should I say bipolar cycles. I used to thoroughly take advantage of my manic
episodes by burying myself in work, literally
15 hours a day, 7 days a week. Now,I struggle to work less than 8 hours a day. I am waiting to hear from my current pdoc at
Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles to be
pdoc supervised as I take my current mood stabilizer, Lamictal, with Seroquel, and also the added fish oil. I want to be watched.
My primary care MD told me that he thinks the
fish oil is good for my heart and blood pressure issues I have, as I am over 50 and overweight. I read, cover to cover, two entire books on Omega 3, both by Harvard Med
MD's: Andrew Stoll's book and also Donald Rudin. One final word: make sure you take
the enteric coated capsules as the others
dissolve in your body and I had an overpowering taste of fish in my body that
made me want to expurgate. Thank you for your time. DS from Los Angeles
Two weeks ago I began using St. John's Wort for my depression and anxiety, which was getting to the point that I just could not handle it. The first few hours of the day were really bad, really panicky, lots of crying and suicidal ideations. These symptoms have all but disappeared.
ReplyDeleteI haven't told my doctor yet, but have a feeling she'll disapprove. Most doctors have a pretty closed mind about any treatment other than pharmaceuticals. But as these have been ineffective for years now, I have to do something. I can't live feeling as I had.
We need to get more coverage on nutritional studies/facts and how incredibly necessary vitamins and mineral consumption is to health (mentally and physically)? This article really helped me. xo
ReplyDeleteEveryone has a story; this is an undeniable fact of the world...& especially within this devastating and confusing black hole of "illness" contained within each new label of an invented problem.
This being the reason why I had to write some piece of commentary.
Since we all need peace and happiness, we look for answers.
As I find my fingers typing words to the great wide web, I must smile as I salute you for being an extremely fair, rational and caring individual.
In the realm of struggle, my personal story is inconsequential, but I must say that I understand the lows and the highs of the madness.
All things are relative, but
We all look for answers to everything, and it is helpful, as well as comforting that you deliver the truth with eloquence and intention.
Thank you for caring and being concerned.
be blessed,
Birdie
great article i have been ysing sam-e for years i use www.bestsame.com brand
ReplyDeleteGreat articles on supplements, balancing scientific data with folk inductive data.
ReplyDeleteAs a sufferer of major depressive disorder for 10 years, I can say without a doubt that my antidepressant therapy alone was insufficient to control my depressive symptoms and anxieties, even in very high doses. My pdoc suggested I take fish oil capsules in conjunction with my nightly meds right before I go to bed. The difference was (no pun intended) night and day- I now take normal doses of my meds in conjunction with the fish oil and have been symptom free for nearly a year. I recommend at least giving it a try.
ReplyDeleteI’ve seen these kinds of businesses on TV, radio and on the internet and I never really believed that you can actually be truly successful and always thought that it wasn’t a career. When my friend endorsed Purity 12 to me, I definitely gave her my piece and told her that you can’t gain anything from it and she’s just wasting her time and energy. But now, she’s laughing at me because I had to take it all back after trying one of their products. Now, I’m paying my apartment rent with the money I earn from Purity 12! It’s a great opportunity that I’m glad I didn’t miss. http://if1s.com?128
ReplyDeleteI disagree that any herb is "natural." No one was ever born with a deficiency of St. John's Wort. However, one can be deficient in amino acids, B vitamins, omega-3 fatty acids or any number of things that have been shown to alleviate depression. Exercise and good sleep in a totally dark room alone will cure most.
ReplyDeleteHow very enlightening, thank you. Kind regards from Amsterdam, The Netherlands
ReplyDeleteWhy don't we get Dr. Oz to start pushing nutritional supplements for mental illness. We see how well it's worked for him regarding weight loss. You can create any control group study you want, there are thousands of them out there, and I will guarantee that no vitamin will do what current medications are capable of doing over the long run in mitigating the effects of Bipolar Disorder. It's just the current fad to piss on psychiatry as the new whipping boy for solutions that are offered that offer nothing. After years of cutting, overdosing, and various other means of attempting to kill myself, I'm fairly certain that Vitamin therapy would have placed me in the grave long before my current medicinal regimen brought closure to what had been a textbook case of the worst case of Bipolar Disorder on record. I'm up for an interview and will engage anyone as to how I arrived where I am today. Healthy and without symptoms, and I still don't eat enough fruit and vegetables.
ReplyDelete