After a number of hospitalizations and treatments including ECT, I was stabilized on quetiapine and bupropion. That was 2001.
By 2007, I was a mess. Mornings were not very productive and I didn't talk much until the afternoons. This improved with cutting back on the seroquel.... but with that I was losing stability.
There were no more meds to be tried and I was feeling cornered. A co-worker who knew of my troubles handed me a magazine with an article about Truehope. This was a company that I knew all about and I was surprised to see that they were still in business.
There is a great book called, "A Promise of Hope" that tells the story. A man's wife committed suicide and his kids were headed that way too. Bipolar had really taken its toll on this family. In desperation he told a chap from his church who sold pig feed and he said, "sounds like tail-biting disease".
Pigs are perhaps the 4th most intelligent animal on the planet and when crowded into pens sometimes the anxiety can cause them to start biting. Infections follow and animals can die.
My brother and I would catch the young pigs and Dad had a jar of this dark grey paste that smelled like metal. With an old kitchen knife he would scrape some against the ridges on the roof of the pig's mouth and then we would throw a pail or something for them to play with into the pen and in a short time the behaviour stopped.
As farm boys we witnessed the miracle of vitamins and minerals and thought nothing of it.
The story about this family is captured here as well. http://www.truehope.com/the-truehope-story.html
I looked into them in 1999 or so and at that time Truehope needed a person to get a Dr to work with them to get off of the meds. I was not stable and there was zero chance that this was going to happen.
Later, I heard that Health Canada shut them down and I had put them out of my mind. So, it was a surprise to find a magazine article about Truehope in 2007. The article said that the court was impressed with them and instead of ordering that they stop production, the opposite happened. They were ordered never to stop. In your face, Health Canada.
This article came at an important crossroads in terms of my ideas on health. I had been working on an idea that Bipolar Disorder, at least in me, was a "biochemical problem in need of a biochemical solution". Nearly 100% of human diseases have inflammation central to symptom development and I didn't see why Bipolar would be any different.
The body is a balancing act. There are processes - like energy production that produce free-radicals and other oxidative by-products. And then there are ingested and inherent antioxidants to put out the fire. This protective machinery runs on nutrients and can be improved.
Remember what I said about catching balls? Sometimes we just need to take more than the Recommended Daily Allowance of certain raw materials to optimize the antioxidant pathways. That was my over-simplified opinion at the time and I told my wife that I was going off my medication and onto vitamins and minerals. To my surprise she said, "OK",
We put an emergency plan in place. I would be taken to the hospital and given lithium if I lost the capacity to reason or behave in a manner safe to me and the people around me.
I took my first dose on July 7, 2007. There was the typical roller-coaster ride in the first month or so but then I entered one of the best times of my life. Part was getting off the medications but a big part was that I was getting the nutrients needed to make my machinery run.
Here is the thing. I have people contacting me on a regular basis to help them in various ways with physical and mental illness - especially, Bipolar Disorder. Anyone can try Truehope. I recommend it highly.
Not everyone can go on to do what I did. Only a small portion of you have metal toxicity and the spin-off problems that I have.
Most people with Bipolar have contemplated or attempted suicide. Making a mistake in terms of stopping medication is not an option. Anyone can contact Truehope and work with them to see whether they are candidates for this form of treatment.
Only a tiny portion of people reading this are on "My Path". Make a mistake about this and try to replicate what I have done and the consequences may not be good. There a few bigger decisions that you will make in your life.
My Dr was not included in my decision but this is not the preferred method. I certainly kept him appraised of what I was doing. Be safe out there.
By 2007, I was a mess. Mornings were not very productive and I didn't talk much until the afternoons. This improved with cutting back on the seroquel.... but with that I was losing stability.
There were no more meds to be tried and I was feeling cornered. A co-worker who knew of my troubles handed me a magazine with an article about Truehope. This was a company that I knew all about and I was surprised to see that they were still in business.
There is a great book called, "A Promise of Hope" that tells the story. A man's wife committed suicide and his kids were headed that way too. Bipolar had really taken its toll on this family. In desperation he told a chap from his church who sold pig feed and he said, "sounds like tail-biting disease".
Pigs are perhaps the 4th most intelligent animal on the planet and when crowded into pens sometimes the anxiety can cause them to start biting. Infections follow and animals can die.
My brother and I would catch the young pigs and Dad had a jar of this dark grey paste that smelled like metal. With an old kitchen knife he would scrape some against the ridges on the roof of the pig's mouth and then we would throw a pail or something for them to play with into the pen and in a short time the behaviour stopped.
As farm boys we witnessed the miracle of vitamins and minerals and thought nothing of it.
The story about this family is captured here as well. http://www.truehope.com/the-truehope-story.html
I looked into them in 1999 or so and at that time Truehope needed a person to get a Dr to work with them to get off of the meds. I was not stable and there was zero chance that this was going to happen.
Later, I heard that Health Canada shut them down and I had put them out of my mind. So, it was a surprise to find a magazine article about Truehope in 2007. The article said that the court was impressed with them and instead of ordering that they stop production, the opposite happened. They were ordered never to stop. In your face, Health Canada.
This article came at an important crossroads in terms of my ideas on health. I had been working on an idea that Bipolar Disorder, at least in me, was a "biochemical problem in need of a biochemical solution". Nearly 100% of human diseases have inflammation central to symptom development and I didn't see why Bipolar would be any different.
The body is a balancing act. There are processes - like energy production that produce free-radicals and other oxidative by-products. And then there are ingested and inherent antioxidants to put out the fire. This protective machinery runs on nutrients and can be improved.
Remember what I said about catching balls? Sometimes we just need to take more than the Recommended Daily Allowance of certain raw materials to optimize the antioxidant pathways. That was my over-simplified opinion at the time and I told my wife that I was going off my medication and onto vitamins and minerals. To my surprise she said, "OK",
We put an emergency plan in place. I would be taken to the hospital and given lithium if I lost the capacity to reason or behave in a manner safe to me and the people around me.
I took my first dose on July 7, 2007. There was the typical roller-coaster ride in the first month or so but then I entered one of the best times of my life. Part was getting off the medications but a big part was that I was getting the nutrients needed to make my machinery run.
Here is the thing. I have people contacting me on a regular basis to help them in various ways with physical and mental illness - especially, Bipolar Disorder. Anyone can try Truehope. I recommend it highly.
Not everyone can go on to do what I did. Only a small portion of you have metal toxicity and the spin-off problems that I have.
Most people with Bipolar have contemplated or attempted suicide. Making a mistake in terms of stopping medication is not an option. Anyone can contact Truehope and work with them to see whether they are candidates for this form of treatment.
Only a tiny portion of people reading this are on "My Path". Make a mistake about this and try to replicate what I have done and the consequences may not be good. There a few bigger decisions that you will make in your life.
My Dr was not included in my decision but this is not the preferred method. I certainly kept him appraised of what I was doing. Be safe out there.
