Posted by Christ_empowered on December 29, 2013, at 11:59:10
I know, I'm some kinda flash back to the 60s and 70s. recovery model. Szasz. Orthomolecular. LOL.
Anyway, the thing is...for me, Orthomolecular makes appropriate and effective psychiatric drug treatment *possible*, which means I can actually benefit from the meds.
For whatever reason, I used to be the reigning king of side effects, particularly from neuroleptics. Doses adequate to control the psychosis, mood swings, and agitation were also, unfortunately, enough to cause EPS and dysphoria. Probably more common, even with the atypicals, than we've been led to believe.
Now, I can tolerate a full 20-30mgs/day Abilify, plus 1200 Trileptal, plus an AD when needed. 3 main meds and a low dose (max: 300mgs) Neurontin when/as-needed, and I'm now officially "in recovery" from a psychotic disorder that coulda/shoulda/woulda landed me in a State Mental Hospital or at least resulted in a life of pure, unadulterated misery.
I tweak my line up. I have 0 medical training, but the stuff is non-toxic and the formula/protocol is pretty much already laid out for you. All an interested person has to do is adjust the doses and maybe add more recently available supplements (I use taurine and astaxanthin, for instance) when/if/as needed for optimal results.
I think its unfortunate that orthomolecular psychiatry has fallen by the wayside. With newer, more tolerable meds, OM could potentially be *even better* than it was back in the days of Haldol and Thorazine.
My latest tweak has been to up the taurine to 6-8 grams/day, reintroduce b6 on top of a b-100 complex, go back to 30/Abilify, up the niacinamide (when I think about it...), and take the Neurontin more regularly. The results have been pretty good.
Depression has always been a problem, and there's not a whole lot I can do about it. OM has made the episodes somewhat less severe, made the med(s) more effective, and made recovery from each episode more rapid and complete (or so it seems right now, lol).
The agitation, anxiety paranoia, and low-to-mid grade psychotic features I usually get with my depressive episodes has lessened in severity. I'm left with intense fatigue, which responds OK to Prozac (I imagine a more stimulating SNRI might have gotten even better results...).
OM is not a cure. You still need a prescriber (not necessarily a shrink) to adjust meds and keep things under control. Some people may be able to taper off their meds after several years of (relative) stability. Others (many?) may need to be on carefully selected, carefully dosed pharmaceuticals indefinitely, along with the vitamin protocol.
Hope this helps somebody.
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:1057134
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20131226/msgs/1057134.html