Posted by Ron Hill on September 26, 2009, at 2:46:05
In reply to Re: Going back to old-school - lithium. » mogger, posted by SLS on September 25, 2009, at 0:21:49
> Wow. I've tried fish oil, but not at that dosage. I will definitely keep that in mind. I bet there is more to fish oil than just a supplement of omegas. I think there is something pharmacological going on there.
I'm sure most of us are familiar with the 1999 study by Andrew Stoll MD which showed efficacy in the treatment of bipolar disorder with omega-3 fatty acids.The source of the omega-3 fatty acids was menhaden fish body oil concentrate. Subjects received a total daily omega-3 fatty acid dosage of 6.2 g of eicosapentanoic acid (EPA) and 3.4 g of docosahexanoic acid (DHA).
Stoll discusses the pharmacological action of omega-3 fatty acids. There are similarities to the action of lithium. In particular, regarding the pharmacological action of omega-3 fatty acids, see the "Introduction", the last section of the paper titled "Comments", and the cool diagram in Figure 3.
Here is a link to the full text paper:
http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/56/5/407
The downside to this treatment is the expense. Using a high quality liquid fish oil like Carlson's, the dosage set forth in Stoll's paper costs me more than $60 per month.
However, prescription grade omega-3 fatty acid oil is available. So, if the patient can talk his/her p-doc into writing a script, it can become more affordable.
-- Ron
dx: Bipolar II with ultra rapid cycling and mild OCPD
600 mg/day Trileptal
200 mg/day Lamictal
500 mg/day Keppra
90 mg/day Nardil
poster:Ron Hill
thread:904699
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20090921/msgs/918540.html