Posted by Ron Hill on March 13, 2010, at 7:25:22
Ed,
As you may recall, 12 years ago the first p-doc I went to visit misdiagnosed me as ADHD and prescribed Ritalin and Paxil. Without any moodstablizers on board, the meds pushed me into a full blown mania.
As a result, I lost my engineering job, and as it turns out, I've lost my entire engineer career. And all because the p-doc did not give me a screening test.
Also, recall that the SSRI caused me to start ultra rapid cycling. For the past 12 years, my rapid cycle has always been 15 days in duration, consisting of 8 days of normal mood (no depression) and 7 days of depression. When one 15-day cycle ends, the next 15-day cycle immediately begins. This has continued non-stop for the past 12 years.
Over the years I have been able to reduce the severity of my depressive phase via extensive research and conducting med trials based on the literature. I've been lucky; my pdoc allows me the freedom to conduct med trials so long as I show him the literature supporting my rationale.
Although I have succeeded over the years in reducing the severity of my depression using psychotropic medication, I could never get the ultra rapid cycling to stop.
Here is the reason I gave my background in the previous five paragraphs: A couple of months ago, I finally got around to placing an on-line order for my supplements and vitamins. I ran out of them a long time ago.
Now that I am taking them again, along with my p-meds, my ultra rapid cycling has stopped for the first time in 12 years. Time will tell regarding the long-term efficacy, but this feels right.
Here is a list of the supplements and vitamins that I currently take: P-5-P, methyl-B12, PS, D-3, Mg Malate, CoQ10, Selenium, Chromium Picolinate, GTF Chromium, Cinnamon, Alive Multi-V, Carlson's Bottled Fish Oil. Each of these has a particular purpose, but I will not bore you with all of them. Instead, I want to focus on the two heavy hitters; Fish oil and phosphatidylserne (PS).
I take slightly more fish oil than Andrew Stoll used in his 1999 study. In the Stoll study the patients took 9.6 g/day which is about 6 tsp/day. This works out to be one 500 ml bottle every 16 days. At $27 per bottle it's a $50 per month added expense. Here's Stoll's study which Im sure youve seen before:
http://archpsyc.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/56/5/407
Phosphatidylserene improves the placidity of the neurons and, therefore, improves the functioning of the receptors. PS does a lot of really good stuff. Scan through this book:
It is hard to explain how happy I am that the ultra rapid cycling has stopped.
-- Rondx: Bipolar II and mild OCPD
600 mg/day Trileptal
200 mg/day Lamictal
500 mg/day Keppra
90 mg/day Nardil
1.9 mg/day Deplin (taken with methyl B-12 and P-5-P)
Dark therapy via LowBlueLight glasses
poster:Ron Hill
thread:939370
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100305/msgs/939370.html