How do you manage bipolar?

[Jeshu]

I am no doctor, so this is just my opinion, I'm beginning to believe that the majority of mental illnesses and disorders if not caused by demonic oppression are mostly nutritional deficiencies and environmental issues.

We've got food that is so over processed that it lost most of it's nutrition.

We've got so many additives in our foods that we almost have to have a dictionary even to pronounce them and a week to read everything on the labels of a weeks' worth of groceries.

We've got genetically altered food mixed in just about everything.

People have become allergic to so many things that should be good for us if it weren't tampered with by man.

I once met a man when I was living in a halfway house. He was a wonderful artist but oh so dark! Most of his conversations were on the dark side too.

They finally had allergy tests run on him and found out he was allergic to white sugar. They took him off the sugar and it was like a totally different human being! To the point that I didn't even recognize him a month later. Even his art changed.

Modern medicine can't even cure the common cold or the flu. All they can do is pump chemicals into our bodies that are all synthetic.

God's Word says that He gave us all plants bearing seed for food. Well, now, you know some of the plants if we were to eat them would kill us. But they do have medicinal qualities.

And any real cures that are natural are banned by the FDA. Cancer cures have been proven, but the FDA and the pharma companies sure don't want that to happen. They would lose tons of money.


I would seek God earnestly and ask Him if there is a natural remedy for your problems.

Niacin deficiency caused pellagra (insanity). Enzyme deficiencies affect how the brain and body process what we put into it.

Pray!

Thank you for your reply, I value you your thinking, I once thought like that as well but have been proven wrong - thus far!

I'm diagnosed with schizo affective disorder I have tried almost all the psychiatric medications a doctor put me on two oldies now and they seem to work though with a high cost.

Why do it you may ask?

I've tried every other medicine.

I've had my devil removed by a prayer group that was officially offered by a Church group, (they found one demon at the time, I knew about him and was glad to be set free from him, it made my life a lot easier, with a lot less evil to my voices that plagued me day and night, but no more evil spirit could they find, they tried hard to find more in me, but just one evil spirit had got hold of me, though for years I heard evil voices speak to me and after this one demon was cast out an influence on my voices had gone away not a voice itself as such.)

I've been on the Truehope programme and swallowed up to thirty vitamins a day it gave me lots of energy that helped with depression but my manic cycle shot true in a major way and the vices stayed.

I've tried weed, it calms me down but can greatly excite me as well. I've been a heavy cigarette smoker all my life so the smoke didn't agree with my lungs so I stopped using it.

I've been tested of allergies - but came out basically clean.

I've had E.C.T done, 18 sessions of it, 6 more than they usually give. I basically lost my memory - in the end I didn't know how many kids I had, that is when they stopped. It really reduced my voices at the time and lifted me partially out of my clinical depression for some time. The loss of memory was great I forgot a lot of my issues that plagued me and they never came back.

I live away from the big smoke, I'm married, with a loving wife, I have a family of five kids, they all love me, and I have six grand children. I live quietly surrounded by natural marshland, with plenty of natural wildlife (I only recently started to appreciate this again.) I live in a cute little Town, 18 kilometres from a beautiful small City, surrounded by idyllic beaches and natural environment. Nevertheless I've been a long way.

I lost it completely - I was constantly driven by the need to understand things around me as it played havocs inside my mind as if I couldn't process input or something. I was constantly searching after God, reading the bible non stop, I let the Lord tell me what He wanted to tell me letting the bible talk to the spiritual man. Each of my psychosis was an extreme searching after God and wanting to be with Him. (To escape my mental torture the fight with the evil voices in my head and the control they had on my heart.) I couldn't sleep in my manic times, sometimes I managed 3 hours a day on average for over a year and then psychosis.

I tried fish oil and like I said it helped against the aggression, but it didn't take it away and I still suffered full blown psychosis.

Thank God - medication can work, it does partially for me, at a high cost because of nasty side effects, but it is keeping me together. it has basically stopped the voices and gave me my sleep back. I can do ordered things now and think in ordered ways in other words I'm stable and even begin to do some volunteer's work. But it can not stop the depression from which I still suffer as a matter of fact it seems to make it worse and anti-depressants I can't seem to tolerate - they always make things go bad for me, a real pain.

But look no psychosis and I can just talk to you, I don't have to scream or get stuck with the input with more voices telling me how to do or not do evil things.

Nothing cured me, but so far meds has been worth it.

 

[Hopes]

Mine isn't as severe as some peoples. I don't normally go manic UNLESS something horrible has happened in my life, like a life altering circumstance beyond my control. On most days I am pretty normal, I do stay more closer to the depressive side than hypomania or mania anyway.

What I am going to try, I got this book about CBT by David Burns called The Feeling Good Book. Its supposed to help with depression and anxiety and stuff like that. Its a real thick book and I have so much school work I have not had time to read it. One of my classes is 4 credits and its keeping me on my toes lol.

Anyway I don't like the drugs either mostly because the side effects are horrible and I refuse to be addicted to any pill like I was. There's a lot of books on therapy on amazon. I found one that I may get but I am not sure I am allowed to mention the title on a Christian forum. Its got kind of a funny title but I think the book might just be the mantra of my life. I will give a hint but I cant post the title its called "_____ it" therapy. You will have to fill in that blank by yourself.

 

[schrodingers_cat_lives]

No, but I will tell you this there are certain types of oils in those capsules. Some are better than others and the oil does change during the fishing seasons.

I'm actually taking right now is Nature Made 1,200 mg. It has 360 mg Omega-3 in it and that's what I'm looking for.

Their daily dosage is two capsules so that's 720 mg of Omega-3 and for me that's not enough. So I go with 3 caps a day.

You can also take flax seed oil, but it is an inflammatory and if you have problems with arthritis or acidosis in your joints it could cause problems.

You are going to have to find out

1. how much you need to maintain.
2. how much you can tolerate.

Some people have a hard time with burping fish oil if they take large doses. I never have, but I generally eat with it.

It was suggested to me on another forum that its important to take pharmecutical grade of omega fish oil. The brand I got on amazon was called Nordic . He also said you have to eat something when you take vitamins so your body absorbs it otherwise it'll be useless and vit will pass right through your system.

Btw, you mentioned how many mgs was enough for you....how can one tell what is enough and how long does it take to see a difference. Did you have fewer episodes?

 

[schrodingers_cat_lives]

Went through a lot of prayer on this issue! God actually provided a perfect answer. It works!

There was a doctor that had posted her findings of treating...get this! Bipolar, Depression, Anxiety and some forms of schizophrenia with mega doses of Fish oil and high potency vitamin B complex.

At the same time, God was showing me a lot of other things about health and I can't take statins. Fish oil is also good for cholesterol and speeds up the metabolism.

But God also got me off of all partial grains. Read, "This Famishing World". It is free online.

So, I started eating whole grains. Did you know that they passed a law that required them to put Niacin back into flour because white flour caused insanity? Yeppers!

But there is no law requiring them to put back all of the vitamins that are taken out during processing.

It's not just bread or pasta it's everywhere. Even white rice is a partial grain.

However, the worst culprit of all is High Fructose Corn Syrup. In fact, it'll turn you into a food junkie like you were doing crack.

All of this sets up acidosis in your body. Acidosis causes many other major health problems such as deterioration of your joints/cartilage, congestive heart failure, acid reflux, ect.

But the most horrible part of acidosis is what happens with your nerve endings. Your nerve endings are coated for protection; however with acidosis set up in your system, your nerve endings literally become raw. Raw nerve endings mimic PMS.

Crying, angry, anxious, depressed....

Then God got me eating greens 3 to 4 times a week. It reduces the acidosis.

Doing all of these changes in my diet, within a week, I was completely stable emotionally. Within 3 months I had started losing all kinds of weight. Lost 50 lbs. Within a year, my joints were being restored.

It works! Praise the Lord!

And everybody can tell it if I'm off the fish oil and vitamin B for very long!!!

I take 3,000 mg. of Fish oil and 1 tablet of super strength Vitamin B Complex with C.

My therapist is all for it. He's never seen such a turnaround before.

When I have a depressed episode, I crave sweets like crazy. I do have a weakness for sweets in general, but when I'm balanced I watch what I eat, stay away from sweets and eat fruits and vegetables. Right now I'm going through depression yet again and when that happens I don't care about anything as is the nature of the beast, so almost all I'm eating are sweets and its all I crave...I suppose it's because it's "comfort" food. I wonder if my hypothyroidism plays a role in this.

 

[Ludicrus]

When I have a depressed episode, I crave sweets like crazy. I do have a weakness for sweets in general, but when I'm balanced I watch what I eat, stay away from sweets and eat fruits and vegetables. Right now I'm going through depression yet again and when that happens I don't care about anything as is the nature of the beast, so almost all I'm eating are sweets and its all I crave...I suppose it's because it's "comfort" food. I wonder if my hypothyroidism plays a role in this.

Make sure that those sweets that you are craving are NOT High Fructose Corn Syrup, High Maltose Corn Syrup, Malto Dextrin, etc. Those will set up cravings like you are on crack and if you are vitamin deficient, the cravings can last for several days.

I can eat, as long as I'm on the fish and B, a nice piece of home made apple pie loaded with sugar and I don't get the cravings like I do with the above listed ingredients, which usually make me want to go back for more and more and more.

I don't have depressed episodes as long as I'm on the fish and B. That's the beautiful thing about it. And you have to be careful with the HFCS, HMCS, etc. if you have hypothyroidism. They mess with you.

 

[Ludicrus]

It was suggested to me on another forum that its important to take pharmecutical grade of omega fish oil. The brand I got on amazon was called Nordic . He also said you have to eat something when you take vitamins so your body absorbs it otherwise it'll be useless and vit will pass right through your system.

Btw, you mentioned how many mgs was enough for you....how can one tell what is enough and how long does it take to see a difference. Did you have fewer episodes?

When the symptoms go away.

Within about a week. Less now that I'm using whole grains and eating greens.

I don't have ANY episodes as long as I'm taking my Fish and B. If I miss a couple of days, I might start getting either anxious/manic or down really down, I'll realize what it is, go take it and I'm good again within one dose.

But I've been taking this for almost 5 yrs. now. When I first started I'd miss a day and go off into the "mini episode" real quick.

It will take awhile before you can go off of it for like 5 days without it messing with you totally. You have to undo a lot of damage the vitamin deficiency has caused.

I think it takes approx. 7 yrs. to replace all cells in your body that have been damaged???

 

[twilson24]

The single greatest thing that has helped me get through my bipolar disorder has been support. Knowing that the group of friends, my family, and my fiance are here for me makes things so much better. I don't feel alone and I know they will tell me if I am becoming ill or aggravated. Another thing that does wonders is recognizing the situations outcome if you have an outburst. When I feel myself about to break down, I stop and think about what good it's going to do me if I go off on everyone and lose it. It won't do a bit of good, so I try my best to gather myself and gain composure and hand it over to God. This may seem easier said than done, but with practice and prayer - you can become a much better you. I hope this helps and I am praying for your happiness. God bless you.

 

[salvation3in1]

Hi, one sees now and again that some christians with a mental illness often say "i have an illness that is not my fault?" What/why are the reasons they would hold to that view? Looking forward to some responses.

 

[Trailltrader]

1)Keep a notebook on how you feel, WHY you feel, and what you have observed 2)Make notes on your medication(s) and how they've affected you. Instead of taking 26 years for correct treatment by doing this you should be able to get it down to within a few years. Took a LONG time to get my act together.

 

[Connor1027]

I always knew that I was different from the rest of my family. I always got into trouble even as a child. As I grew up and began to notice the mood swings, I realized that I had periods of extreme highs and lows. I was often treated for the depression but never the mania. I was sent to a psychiatrist who put me on medication but it was not enough to treat the moods and behaviors. After my parents died, I absolutely fell apart and my primary physician thought he was helping and changed all my medication. I hallucinated and it scared me to death. I started seeing another psy and therapist who got my medication right.

I would say these things:
1. Depend on God, he is the source.
2. Read Psalm 139 to realize how much God loves you and will never leave you or forsake you.
3. See a psychiatrist who knows medications and stay on your meds. There is help out there is you can't afford the medication and doctors who treat on a sliding scale.
4. Find a good therapist who understands and is loving and caring. I've been seeing one every week for a year now. He specializes in EMDR. It is not a procedure for the faint hearted. You may want to research it. Doctors do not always like this, but my psychiatrist recommended it.
5. Find a good support system. The church, I'm sorry to say, was not there for me. That's why I am seeing a therapist.
6. Do all the above and healing will come. Not in the way you pray it will, always. This is life skill. God is the source of your strength.
7. Never give up. If you are about to give up, think about how those you love will hurt if you do.
If I can share anything else that will help. Answer questions, please let me know.

 

[Trailltrader]

I always knew that I was different from the rest of my family. I always got into trouble even as a child. Like you, I suspected SOMETHING was wrong but didn't know what it was As I grew up and began to notice the mood swings, I realized that I had periods of extreme highs and lows. I was often treated for the depression but never the mania. Like you, I was treated for the depression but the Mania? Thats when things got awesome! "Dude- HERE HOLD MY BEER AND WATCH THIS!I was sent to a psychiatrist who put me on medication but it was not enough to treat the moods and behaviors. After my parents died, I absolutely fell apart and my primary physician thought he was helping and changed all my medication. I hallucinated and it scared me to death. I started seeing another psy and therapist who got my medication right.

I would say these things:
1. Depend on God, he is the source.
2. Read Psalm 139 to realize how much God loves you and will never leave you or forsake you.
3. See a psychiatrist who knows medications and stay on your meds. There is help out there is you can't afford the medication and doctors who treat on a sliding scale.
4. Find a good therapist who understands and is loving and caring. I've been seeing one every week for a year now. He specializes in EMDR. It is not a procedure for the faint hearted. You may want to research it. Doctors do not always like this, but my psychiatrist recommended it.
5. Find a good support system. The church, I'm sorry to say, was not there for me. That's why I am seeing a therapist.
6. Do all the above and healing will come. Not in the way you pray it will, always. This is life skill. God is the source of your strength.
7. Never give up. If you are about to give up, think about how those you love will hurt if you do.
If I can share anything else that will help. Answer questions, please let me know.

Not a whole lot of difference between these two: go to church, confess your sins, make a payment of what you think is fair, go home feeling better. Go see a psychiatrist, confess your sins, get billed hourly, go home hopefully feeling better

But your advice is pretty good, actually!

 

[Hopes]

Since I have bp1 mine goes a bit differently, I manage mine with enough pills that would sedate a pony and if I go manic hospital stays. The depression I don't worry about because its not really destructive, I just worry about the mania.

 

[Trailltrader]

Ah but Hopes? The Mania is when you're most productive! Look at Van Gothe (when he wasn't with hookers or cutting off his ear) or Abe Lincoln (some of his best legal writings took place during this time) I'm sorry your Mania is so powerful- I suggest (Just an idea) You focus during those times on a hobby- when I was in a mania phase I did an entire's summer worth of work on the house in a week, plus built a steam engine out of an old gas engine for giggles and grins! At 4 am by the way.

Then I must have OD or reached tolerance and had the worlds biggest panic attack and just about died in the doctor's office. Med's are a double edged sword.

 

[Hopes]

I agree on some level. Hypomania is very productive but real hard core mania isn't productive for me. I usually have not slept for a week by then and am pretty much delusional. So for me, real mania is when crazy happens and although I probably could do something productive I probably wouldn't because I am too busy being crazy.

I cant afford to flirt with hypomania. Been in the hospital too many times to play around with it.