Posted by djmmm on March 29, 2003, at 11:04:58
In reply to Re: Omega-3 Omega-6 induced hypomania, posted by Darwin on March 29, 2003, at 0:24:19
> There is a report of a woman who developed either hypomania or mania (I can't recall which) a few days after she started taking fish oil capsules providing EPA & DHA. She had never experienced a hypomanic episode before. Her conditioned resolved soon after she stopped the fish oil.
>
> Dr Stoll's study demonstrated the effectiveness of fish oil in the treatment of bipolar patients. However, there were a couple of failures in the study in which patients developed mania while on the fish oil treatment. There were many failures in the placebo group but all (or nearly all) consisted of depressive episodes. There were no depressive episodes in the fish oil group. So, it appears that fish oil protects against depression better than it protects against mania.
>
> With the possible exception of GLA, the omega-6 fatty acids are more likely to cause depression than mania. I did read a report on usenet from a bipolar who added Evening Primrose Oil (which provides GLA) to their regimen but later stopped because they felt they were becoming manic.
>
> There are also reports of flax seed oil (which has a high omega-3 to omega-6 ratio) causing mania.
>
> I would guess that it is the Omega-3 content of the supplement you took which is causing your hypomania and the Omega-6 content is low enough to be irrelevant.
>
> Darwin
>
>Thanks Darwin, and everyone else who responded...
Darwin, the product Im taking is called "Flax Oil" Xtra, by a reputable supplement company.
If you are interested, I've listed the ingredients:
Flax Oil (seed) 1g. (1,000mg)
Alpha-Linolenic Acid (Omega-3) 530mgEvening Primrose Oil (seed) 950mg
Gammma-Linolenic Acid (omega-6) 86mgBorage Oil (seed) 50mg.
Gammma-Linolenic Acid (Omega-6) 10mgVitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol) 30 IU
poster:djmmm
thread:213931
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030329/msgs/214050.html