I am so sorry you find yourself in such a difficult situation and I really do not have any advice being that I do not know you or where you live or what kind of resources there might be in your area for someone in your circumstance.

I guess I can suggest you try to find a sympathetic and more importantly COMPASSIONATE social worker or case worker who will LISTEN to you and figure out with you what you want and need and then help you take the necessary baby steps to change your circumstances.

As long as we are alive there is always hope. Don’t give up and believe in yourself. You have a right to self-determination so exercise it.

when you say you’re winging it day by day….I don’t see that as such a bad thing. We all, in every station in life, must take things one day at a time and none of us know what tomorrow will bring.

I wish you the best and that you will find the answers you need that will help propel you forward into a life with which you can be contented.

love to you,
G

Where to start?
I’m 55 and have no social support, no family, live in a homeless shelter…..and just wing it day by day. I cannot stand living this way. Any advice appreciated.

I’m really happy you stopped by.

I just wanted to correct my email address.

Good luck to everyone out there who is reading this!

Michele

I got here by way of your post on glutamine and other amino acids. I have never been diagnosed, but imagine my surprise, after a lifetime of mood problems and chronic fatigue, to find out that BD runs in the family — and no one ever told me. In fact, my brother, a psychiatrist, told me it was depression and once recommended I go on Paxil. What a disaster! I still don’t know why he never told me about BD except maybe he didn’t want to admit to anyone HE had it. Thank God my husband of 10 years stayed with me — and that I didn’t kill myself — until I figured it out on my own.

That being said, I am doing a totally natural approach, working with a medical intutitive to confirm dosages. Since every program is individual, I won’t post mine here, except to say I rely heavily on amino acids and neutraceuticals for the brain. I also do homeopathic neurotransmitters and brain supplements, which seem to be very uplifting. My aim it to get as stable as possible, boost my energy, and get regular sleep, food and excercise. I also am developing a set of supplements to take prophylactically when I find myself getting unstable - either manic or depressed.

One of the biggest breakthroughs that I’m happy to share was my initial discovery — lithium aspartate. It is a natural lithium salt (like lithium orotate) that is about 10 times more powerful than the drug lithium chloride. As a result, you can take as little as 5 or 10 mg a day (I take 10 mg 3X per day) without getting any side effects. And it works! I believe that the main action is in regulating the biological clock (now implicated in a wide variety of mood and sleep disorders) but it also blocks the arachodonic acid cascade (see the wikipedia) which is what leads to prostaglandins, the villains of PMS. My brother, who actually does know a thing or two, thinks BD may be a problem with ion channels in the brain, and yes, lithium helps there, too. Finally, lithium has been shown to be neuroprotective in that it prevents the breakdown of glial cells in the prefrontal cortex, the site of a lot of brain cell loss in untreated BD patients.

If you’re going off drugs, I do think it might be wise to look into supplements that protect your brain from cortisol. Apparently BD people have higher levels of stress (no kidding!!) so an herbal formula like New Chapter Stress Advantage, or powdered chia seeds, or even SAMe for some can be very helpful. I’m also take supps to regenerate brain cells — these generally contain choline, such as phosphatidyl choline or Alpha-GPC, or I take phosphatidyl serine. More about these later.

You mentioned that you were working with an orthomolecular psychiatrist. I think that’s great. Can you send me a referral? I’d love to get diagnosed properly and rule out any other causes (I’ve been on the hormone trail for about a year) and actually get help with my holistic approach, rather than getting shoved a bunch of drugs.

Thanks for putting up a great blog and I hope to hear from you.

Michele

If it was a rapid withdrawal she could be in a danger zone.

Is she doing anything to support her body and mind with things like diet, nutrition, meditation, exercise etc?

People can take a couple of years to recover from the effects of drugging, but they also have to be doing things to heal themselves of underlying issues…like for whatever got them on meds in the first place. And to heal the damage done by the drugs.

Check out my About page for more information and resources and find someone who can help you…

http://bipolarblast.wordpress.com/about/

There is no way I can possibly tell you what is going on with your daughter.

Would love to hear back from you.

Thanks!

Shed the label. Shred the label. Take it as slowly and easily as you need to at times when things get harder, you’ll get there in the end however long it takes.

Go girl Go

Passion flower is indeed good stuff—I use it too.

Good luck with your seroquel taper, contact me if you want to talk about it sometime…

best to you.

You can go to the “about” page on this blog (at the top of the page)

and check out these yahoo groups to learn about alternative health care for mental health:

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/ALT-therapies4bipolar/

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/safeharbor2/

Staying healthy is a long term commitment and your daughter is the one who needs to make it. You can’t do it for her…

good luck.

She informed us she is PG and not taking any med’s , can anyone give us advise?

Thanks so much, how can I help her get through the withdraws and keep baby healthy. She is unmarried and her boyfriend is not ready for baby or her mood swings currently.

Thanks again, Cindy