Bipolar Disorder Treatments

The diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder is a devastating condition charging you with chemical imbalances that can only be treated with scary drugs! It can cause significant personal distress and social dysfunction. But I'm very encouraged when I take the time to run a Google Search about alternative meds and treatments for bipolar or manic depression (even for children), that I'm finding more and more current information! Nowadays a search about treating bipolar disorder can yield advice about flax oil or B vitamins, essential oils or talk therapy, and even galvanic current. There are many new recognized therapies; recognized because they work.

Parents of children and adolescents affected by bipolar symptoms and people diagnosed with ADD or ADHD can now be assured that complementary and alternative meds and therapies really work! Since the 1970's when Manic Depression became a bonafide term, the first choice for management was prescription drugs. However, it's been a matter of medical record for some time that anti-depressants are actually one cause of depression! Within the medical community of health practitioners, the criteria for choosing to prescribe these types of meds hasn't necessarily been honorable.

During the past 35-40 years, scientists have uncovered and documented (But Not Necessarily Released to the Public) terrible side effects of the traditionally accepted SSRI drugs. These discoveries, when finally made public, only serve to push bipolar people away from the prescriptions and into the arms of gentler therapies.

In the recent news article by AUDREY GRAYSON, with the ABC News Medical Unit, she reports that, "Relatively healthy women with severe depression are at increased risk for heart problems, including sudden cardiac death and fatal heart disease... But even more startling is that the researchers suggest that some of the antidepressants used to treat these women might play a role in their increased heart risk."

Our favorite mentor regarding the use of antidepressants is Dr. Ann Blake Tracy, who writes in response to Audrey Grayson's news article, "This sudden death is not the only concern with antidepressants and heart problems. There are many more. Dr. Pal Paucher, MD, PhD, has done much research in this area and his studies listed in my book are a great place to begin to educate yourself about these effects. Also Dr. Candace Pert, PhD, one of the two researchers credited with discovering the serotonin binding process that made antidepressants possible, warned of antidepressant-induced cardiac problems, especially in longer term use when she came out strongly against the use of antidepressants in TIME MAGAZINE Oct. 20, 1998.

As I point out in my book the reason for sudden death associated with heart failure associated with antidepressant use are most likely due to two main concerns: QT Proglongation and/or Serotonin Syndrome. Women have greater rate of QT Prolongation (time between heart beats) and when you increase that with a drug which produces additional lengthening of the QT Prolongation you have a patient who drops dead in between heart beats.

ALL antidepressants produce increases in the QT Prolongation. The main function of serotonin is constriction of smooth muscle tissue and what do the major organs of the body consist of? That's right, smooth muscle tissue. When the serotonin levels become elevated one goes into what is called
Serotonin Syndrome, a potentially fatal reaction. Why fatal? The major organs constrict and stop functioning producing death from multiple organ failure."

Prozac: Panacea or Pandora? the Rest of the Story on the New Class of Ssri Antidepressants Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Lovan, Luvox & More.

Episodes of manic depression/bipolar disorder should definitely be managed by other means than the popular and well-respected drugs we commonly receive from health professionals now. You must agree. We hope you won't give in to the distress you could feel from the people around you who have been brainwashed to believe the powerful bipolar brain can only be managed with harmful SSRI drugs. We believe even the early onset of bipolar can be managed more gracefully than has been done with the harsh brain wave modifiers, chemical so-called balancers, and mood stabilizers.

However, we don't want to suggest that you remove the drugs from your regimen very quickly. No! Dr. Tracy warns again and again saying, "Patients are NOT being given the truth about the extreme cautions that MUST be taken in withdrawal from these drugs!!! They are not getting it from the manufacturers, their doctors, or even from most of those who are writing about the dangers of these drugs. Anyone who can come off of these drugs faster than shaving only a few granules at a time needs to count their blessings because it is a miracle they are witnessing!! These drugs have much too much of a steroid effect to be withdrawn from rapidly!"

In the news article that we quoted above, the lead investigator (Dr. Whang) suggests that severely depressed patients continue using the drug treatments as well as trying to manage their cardiac risk factors (less smoking, more healthy eating, and exercising regularly). We take great exception to that because the drugs actually CAUSE cravings for cigarettes and sugar (NutraSweet too) - causing obesity and exhaustion and muscle pain - so that they have no desire to exercise!

In fact, Dr. Tracy says, "...there are studies showing a weight gain of 10 pounds per month associated with antidepressant use. So now they are blaming the huge rise in diabetes and heart disease in those taking these drugs rather than admitting that the drugs cause all of the above.

So, again, we urge you not to panic, but to move steadily away from mood stabilizing drugs, SSRI drugs, anti-seizure meds, lithium, and psychotherapists who remain inflexible and will not work with you regarding alternative medicines and treatments.

Continue to study the matter, read our blog articles thoroughly, get our Free Report, and learn from Dr. Ann Tracy's site (DrugAwarenessDotOrg) so you can move away from the drug-oriented life. When you learn to cope with bipolar tendencies and life disruptions with alternative treatments like diet modification, talk therapy, use of certain essential oils, protection from radiation and fluorescent lighting, and other wonderful techniques that we highly recommend, you will:

* improve your concentration and attention span
* feel more grounded and stable
* have fewer feelings of acute panic
* smaller and smaller mood swings
* establish lasting relationships
* feel better!

When you move from the drug path onto the alternative path, you can leave behind certain stressors and your old risk factors will not be as important. Try it, you might like it! Free Report.