So much controversy about medications for mental illness – should I take them? Why can’t I find the ones that work well for me and not give me side affects such as
Weight gain
Sleepiness
Liver and Kidney problems
Heart problems
Parkinson like symptoms
And on and on.
It isn’t hard for me to understand why people might get discouraged and not want to take medication for their mental illness symptoms.
And then there is the debate about medicating children and if you medicate them at what age? And we don’t know how these medications affect their growth and later on in life since we have not been offering these type of medications to children for very long.
While I never questions whether my son should have taken meds at age 13 (he found a life after taking medication) I am seriously questioning it for my daughter. At age 17, she still has not been able to find a medication regiment that keeps her at a level that allows her to feel content and function at an “average” level for her age.
If you have read my book about Joshua – “Joshua Wears a Red Cape”, you know that we did try and we do support as a family, alternative treatments. Biofeedback is a must for everyone in my mind for pain control, health sleep cycles and just overall good mental health. We did allergy testing as well and for a while did “supplements”, but without great success.
I however, do not do well on pain meds when I have surgery and do not use them for a back that has two bulging disks or for my fibromyalgia. Homeopathic supplements work best for me for my pain symptoms.
And now, I am considering something similar for my daughter. Medication is NOT working for her. And with it comes too much sleep and too much weight gain.
After doing some research, I found several writings from Margot Kidder (Lois Lane in the Superman movies with Christopher Reeve). She was found several years back, not knowing where she was or who she was. Now she professes to have a very full life and one that she is in control of by taking the right vitamins.
Below is her regiment. I am very interested in your comments and if you have any experience with supplements for any type of mental disorder, I hope you choose to share with me your results.
Read below for what Lois Lane found to save her life better than Superman:
Margot Kidder’s Vitamin regiment
MORNING
1000 mg of L-Tyrosine
500 mg of L-Glutamine
(Note: Glutamine is a stimulant and can trigger mania, so is only used if a stimulant is needed.)
500 mg combination of choline and inositol
Nature's Life soft gelatin multiple vitamin (it digests better than pills and has extra B vitamins. This provides the nutrients the amino acids need to work)
EVENING
500 - 1000 mg of L-Taurine
500 mg GABA (if a little hyper, can take 1000-2000 mg)
1000 mg L-tryptophan (doctor's prescription needed)
Nature's Life soft gelatin multiple vitamin
AS NEEDED
500 mg Phenylalaline to boost mood
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1 comment:
I came across this post whilst searching for the supplementation routine of Margot Kidder, I know that this is an older post but I thought I might chime in with my experience on amino acids.
I did start this routine without GABA, Choline & Inositol and L-Tyrosine, which I left off because of rapid-cycling. However whilst the recommended dosages helped certain aches after working out it did not seem to have much of an effect on my mood. At this point I switched to 20 grams a day of L-Glutamine per day, then raising this to 40 grams which I find to be optimal.
Another point I would raise is that taking Taurine and L-Tryptophan had made my sleep fairly difficult, I did not settle well, although I have now stopped taking Taurine in the evening and this has helped, I shall be adding Tryptophan back in. I also take Zinc and Magnesium, particularly ZMA as it does make a difference between that and a genericly branded product.
I have, thanks to this, cut down from 400mg Carbamazepine to 200mg, and will be pressing on to come off them, with careful monitoring anyway.
I feel that the supplementation is taking over as a part of a safety net that I sometimes feel with carbamazepine.
Your blog is very interesting, and insightful, I particularly enjoyed reading your posts about love, and the various things that enhance and sometimes override that as a need.
I do hope that your children are as well as possible, and that your daughter has had as smooth a transition as possible.
So, without sounding like too much of a bum licker, I apologise if this is no longer relevant to you, but wish you well in everything.
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