Alternative treatments for bipolar disorder?
Since first grade my parents have known I’ve had terrible anxiety issues. And I guess after first grade it kind of not went away but was under control. So, we thought that was then end of it.
Back in September, I started to have really bad anxiety attacks and my parents took me back to a psychologist and we found out I had bipolar, which runs in my family. From September until January I had tried 5 different medicines, none of them really worked and I haven’t taken them since. I was okay with out them for a while, since they weren’t really to control depression issues but the manic side. I personally don’t want to take the pills because I don’t like how I feel when I’m on them, and the depression isn’t a problem right now. But since I think February my sleep cycle has been really messed up, when I was on meds. my sleep was under control. But I can’t sleep at night, and when I do normally get to sleep it’s around 5am. (Back in September my parents pulled me out of school because I had missed to much) I don’t think it’s insomnia because it will be like one day I won’t sleep at all, the next day I can sleep for over 14 hours, the day after that I’ll have normal sleep and then it will repeat. My parents have been worried, but since I have been getting work done and my sleep is the only thing thats really messed up they haven’t been pushing me to take medicine. My sleep pattern is starting to bother me, and I don’t want to have the constant changes in it.
To the question, are there any natural, or alternative treatments for bpd? Medicine right now is not going to be an option. I’ve been looking into alternative treatments, and some say a good schedule will help. Any tips on how to help get my sleep pattern normal again?
Thanks.
Tagged with: Alternative • Bipolar • Disorder • Treatments
Filed under: Bipolar Treatments
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See page O, in section 10, about bipolar disorder, and the rest of that section concerning alternative treatments (considerable) at http://www.zy-build.net.nz/~shaneris
Insomnia; go to section 3, and learn, and use the EMDR variant, and see pages O, P & Q.
Anxiety; view section 6; page N first, and try the free CBT, hypnotherapy, EFT, and other treatments.
Depression phase; see section 2, page R first, but avoid St. John’s wort, with bipolar, unless you have used antidepressants without triggering mania/hypomania.
Eating well and exercising at appropriate times (about 5 or so more hours before you plan on sleeping) will help.
I know you do not want to take meds but Seroquel is excellent at inducing sleep and controlling mania. Weight gain is only an issue if you do not watch what you eat, as it can cause hunger.
When I stopped my meds, I found that seroquel or xanax were effective at times when i really wanted to go to sleep but felt too awake. I would only take it periodically when i felt i wanted to try and get my schedule back on track, or if i was experiencing mania.
Of course, meditation and yoga can be helpful.
Anything that calms your mind and stops incessant thinking can do wonders also.
It sounds that maybe you just need to keep yourself busier during the daytime hours, and this should make sleeping a little more welcome at night.
Also, if you smoke cigarettes or drink coffee, try to cut down or quit, as this can cause you to stay awake at night.
Best of luck and I hope you stay stable for a long time
Really medication is important for bipolar. If left untreated it does get worse. Take a look at a book called “Madness” by Marya Hornbacher. She does have a more extreme case of bipolar, but you can see how much worse it can get if not treated properly. I know in the 7 years I went untreated from 18 til 25 i progressed from bipolar II with mild manic episodes, that were little more then exessive hyperness and some lost consentration, maybe seeming high but not too much of an impairment, to bipolar i with manic episodes that almost lost me my job because my head was so off. The more episodes you have, the more severe and the harder they will be to control.
However one thing i do know from experience, and from classes i have taken is that until your mid 20s it will be difficult to find a medication that will work for you long term. This is because during late teens/early 20s the brain is going through a lot of changes, to change from child functioning to adult functioning (like think of how much easier a child learns a new language compared to an adult…this is because the brain is “wired” differently…..there are more neuron connections….transitioning to adult your brain gets rid of unnecessary/unused connections.) I know when i was diagnosed at 17 and put on meds, they only worked well for about 6 months…..somewhat worked for another months or so, and then didn’t work at all. Now, at 26 i am on the same meds i was then, at lower doses, and its been working very well for almost 2 years. Bipolar is a constant game of adjusting meds, but they need adjusted much more often in teens/early 20s.
That having been said, learn as much as you can about the BP (the abbreviation bpd is usually used for borderline personality disorder….just so you know, can save you from some confusion later). Knowing the illness, learning to recognize your moods is important. Try keeping a mood chart/journal (google mood charts, there are many free ones to print out online). Learn things that help control your mood episodes.
One thing i know with mine is sleep is definitely a HUGE factor. When I am in manic episodes, they make me tend to sleep less. Like i may fall asleep fine at 10, but then will be up at 3 am and unable to fall back asleep….or wont fall asleep til 3 am. Will run on 3-5 hours of sleep a night for weeks, and then crash and sleep 14 hours straight because my body is so exhausted. But one thing i know is lack of sleep makes my mania worse, which makes my sleep worse, which just continues to fuel the mania. Have found that if i force myself to sleep then it usually calms down manic episodes. And the way I do that is take unisom/benedryl (are the same thing) I know those knock me out out and make me sleep a full 8 hours(though when manic takes a double dose…1 is a dose, have to take 2 for it to work for me when manic), and after doing that couple nights my mania is calmed down a lot (actually just did that over the weekend). I dont take them often, but will for a couple nights when a manic episode is starting up and messing with sleep.
IF YOU ARE UNDER 18 DO NOT DO THAT WITHOUT YOUR PARENTS KNOWING AND APPROVING IT.
I’m bipolar also and I’ve tried every alternative treatment you can possible think of. And I had to go back to my medications because it just got worst. I learned my lesson the hard by thinking that the alternative treatments would work. I’ve done my own so call research asking people who has bipolar about alternative treatment and I spoke to 75 people they all said that it was the biggest mistake that they had ever made. Because the bipolar just got much worst and they had to go back to their medications.
Without medications it’s only going to get worst then it is now. And I mean much worst and your going to suffer big time.
yep
find an expert in hormonal balancing and balance yours and your whole family
i don’t know a lot about bipolar so you might want to double check this but valerian root or gaba are natural sleep aids; for depression you can use l-tryptophan or 5-htp (but watch you don’t switch into manic) and l-tyrosine might help with anxiety issues. Also omega-3 fatty acids could be worth investigating, and B complex vitamins- they are both good for brain health. And stay away from caffeine, alcohol, large amounts of sugar and of course illegal drugs- they can all make your condition worse, even if they seem to help temporarily.
If you do decide to go for meds start with the ones that your family members are on- often if it works for a blood relative it will help you too. Good luck and I”m sorry you got landed with this condition!