Has anyone ever tried Alternative Medicine?

Just curious, has anyone ever tried alternative medicine such as orthomolecular medicine and/or vitamins/minerals? After finding out my friend is bi polar I started searching on the Internet and came across some interesting postings (granted, not everything that is on the internet is true) how orthomolecular medicine has helped actress Margot Kidder who has not had an episode in over 5 years (I checked her website and she does talk about it). I also came across a Discovery channel program that talked about EMPowerplus which is helping bi polar patients with vitamins and minerals and has been sucessful. I have the links if anyone is interested I can post them.

My friend has been dealing with episodes for the last 5 months, mostly depression. He had stopped taking his medication, that's why he is having so many episodes that do not seem to go away. He is going to his therapist and has gotten different medications and it seems he is finally getting the right medication and dose, but the side effects have been scary. At this time I am encouraging my friend to keep up with his treatment and not to forget to take the medication, even if he feels better.

He is such a great guy and I am sad to see how this disorder has affected him with his work and social life. He was out of work for a few weeks, luckily his boss told him they still wanted him to come back. This is the first week he went back to work and things seem to go smoothly. I do believe that prayer is powerful so I keep him in prayers everyday.

I am trying to find actual people who have tried alternative medicine and see if it has worked or not, naturally, everyone is different so I do not know if this works for everyone. I guess I am in a quest trying to help my friend, and if there is anything natural instead of medicine with side effects, then it is something I would like to encourage to look into it, without stopping the treatment he has now of course, and with the help of a therapist that is familiar with alternative medicine.

Any thoughts???

thanks

Let me know your thoughts

http://www.canada.com/topics/bodyandhealth/story.html? id=10f16662-77d8-476f-8eba-dd507baef02e&k=28282&p=1

This is the program on EMPowerplus in Discovery channel. The above newspaper article is about EMPowerplus. These are 5 links…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2G6dWIvxlhw

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJcnLypiR0o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aA5pbJ-sA5k

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qAUwei2St8Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtWMIN132CA

I think it wise to make sure that the alternative does not replace medical treatment by trained professionals. Bipolar disease can be treacherous and the effects of having an episode are serious.

I do trust in conventional medicine but I do not believe they have the answers for every treatment. I had been cured, and I mean cured from allergies through the combination of accupressure and accupuncture. I was taking allergy medication for almost 20 years and had to change medication regularly because I became inmune, not to mention the side effects of the medication such as headaches, bleedy nose, tiredness. I even tried the weekly shots but that did not help either, as a matter of fact my allergies were getting worst. I was always so tired and my muscles so tight because I could not breath normally till my massage therapist told me about this lady that cured allergies through accupressure and accupuncture. I was open to try anything and I am glad I did. She got me off the allergy medication slowly and within 2 months I was not taking any medication at all. The treatment lasted at least 8 months, the visits were around $50 every other week, but it was worthy. I do go for accupuncture treatments maybe twice a year as a keep up. I also had suffered from gastritis and colitis for many years due to stress. For years I had taken zantac and many other antiacids but the problem would not go away, it will always come back. I have been reading this book by a couple of ophtalmologists that know that vitamins and minerals can prevent and reverse macular (sight) degeneration. One of the chapters talks about nutrition and good digestion and they mentioned the same problems I had and how doctors always recommend antiacids, including zantac, knowing that antiacids will not fix the problem but also diminishes the calcium in your body, including tums. Antiacids are not the harmless drugs the advertisements would like you to believe they are, they cause acid rebound and block the absorption of nutritions, they slow digestion and can cause either diarrhea and constipation. Gastritis and stomach ulcers are caused by bacteria, not by overproduction of stomach acid, it is a very fairly new discovery. It's not wonder Zantac is now sold over the counter, but the pharmaceuticals have not come up to make the people aware of this because it will be a big loss on their revenue. Because of many medications we take, stress and the type of foods we eat, it depletes the flora in our stomach causing these many problems. They recommend taking a combination of important acidophilus which I found at a health food market and after 2 days I started to feel the difference, I was able to sleep without heartburn or feeling the acid running through my stomach, the bloatness went down and I do not feel disconfort after meals. I am not saying that natural medicine can cure BP but there is truth about a lack of vitamins and minerals in our bodies that can cause different reactions. It is not wise to start on natural medicine by stopping your BP medication and without the supervision of an orthomolecular psychiatrist, but I do believe it is worth the shot at finding an ortho psychiatrist who can tell you what your options are.

I thought JR 'scomment was well thought out. My own take on this is it is a choice for each individual to make concerning our own health. And MDJ is a place for us to come and gather and give information. I think you have given us something to think about and weigh the pros and cons...thanks for sharing.

I will check that post by JR, I am sure it will be interesting to read.

Post edited by: Meme, at: 05/25/2008 22:11

My friend is considering trying the truehope but first he has to get stable with the new drugs he is taking to control his bi polar ups and downs. He is having too many episodes lately and needs to get his bp under control first. For what I know he stopped taking his medication for months and the results is that he is having a pattern of depressing episodes. He has to continue under his new treatment for a while to get him stable before starting truehope.

I understand that the folks at truehope will talk and work with any psychiatrist so they work in conjunction for the good of the patient.