Heal Your Brain from Bipolar/Depressive Disorders – Dr John Bergman Video

July 8, 2015 1 Comment

I found it difficult to accept that my gut health was such a huge factor in determining my moods. For years I did not believe anyone could eliminate mood disorder from their lives. I was wrong. Bipolar disorder is not a specific illness. It is more a set of symptoms, many of which are driven by or made worse through having damaged guts as Dr Bergman explains in the video below.

The USA is way ahead of the rest of the world with far more bipolar disorder and more use of psychiatric drugs to maintain the disorder. On the plus side there are more experts in the USA who understand healing processes and especially the part gut health plays in disorders and cures.

If you find full recovery difficult to believe that is understandable because it so different from the common message of life-long disorder. As I have said before, it is the people who believe recovery is possible who are able to recover. Please keep an open mind and believe things can be a lot better.

Eliminating bipolar disorder involves making lifestyle changes, which in my experience always includes improving our gut health by changing what we put in our mouths. There is of course more to eliminating mood disorders than Dr Bergman can cover in a 47 minute talk, but knowing more about how our guts affect our moods is a great place to start.

I work in the UK meeting people who have been told they have incurable disorders such as diabetes, hypothyroid, arthritis, chronic fatigue, depression and of course bipolar disorder. I can provide one-to-one help based on my own experiences. If you need to eliminate a health disorder and are prepared to make the necessary changes then ask me about one-to-one help or a training course. The group training I provide throughout the UK includes; Food and Mood, Natural Nutrition and Overcoming Mood Disorders. I can be contacted through: www.wraptraining.co.uk

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It is time to stop describing curable as incurable – Suzanne Beachy’s words as relevant as ever

June 18, 2015 5 Comments

Three years ago I published ‘People with Hope Recover After a Bipolar Diagnosis‘ on rethinkingbipolar.com. I mentioned Suzanne Beachy and put a link to her TED Talk video – What’s Next For The Truth.

I am saddened because, even in 2015, the mental illness system continues to take hope away, as emotional distress continues to be labelled and described as incurable.

A reader of rethinkingbipolar recently suggested I take a fresh look at my People with Hope… article and this led to Suzanne Beachy contacting me and me reading Tale of Two Cousins on madinamerica.com

Now, even if you watched What’s Next For The Truth three years ago, you may, like me, find it worth watching all 20 minutes of it again.

Throughout my life I have rarely ‘lost’ hope, but I have had it temporarily taken away by people who I believed to be experts. I have been fortunate in that hope has always quickly returned to me and I have always recovered well. Tragedies happen when more vulnerable people have their hope taken away. It really is time for psychiatry to make some big changes and focus on finding out why people are struggling and help with understanding, reducing and perhaps eliminating some of the causes of their/our distress.

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The Daily Philosophy of an Ex-Mental Patient – Laura Delano

June 16, 2015 1 Comment

Although taking time off from all things bipolar to support Becky and her new baby, when a good friend sent me a link to this article I decided it well worth sharing even more widely: the-daily-philosophy-of-an-ex-mental-patient

Here is an excerpt: “Challenge the stories you’re telling yourself about how worthless, broken, and unacceptable you are—those are stories taught to you by forces profiting off of keeping you dis-empowered, silent, passive, and dependent.”

Let me know if you are finding such ideas useful.

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Eliminating Disorder with or without medication

April 17, 2015 2 Comments

It can take a long time to learn enough to move beyond any psychiatric label. I took prescription drugs to treat bipolar disorder for 14 years with no intention of ever stopping. That period and the years of relatively good health since have greatly influenced my career and created my passion for discovering and sharing the root causes of diseases and disorders.

Now that I am free from bipolar disorder you may notice I am increasingly sharing information about other aspects of recovery, greater well-being and resilience regardless of diagnosis.

What has worked best for me? Meeting the best people, focusing more on physical health, then eliminating the disorder rather than being too concerned about what it might mean to be bipolar.

I chose to leave the corporate world in 2015 (last day with a multi-national was in April 2016) and now have the freedom to make a difference. Contact me. Lets meet up.

Roger while visiting friends in France Sept 2015

This is me – Taken while staying with friends in France in Sept 2015

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“How long did you take to come off lithium?” #BipolarFAQ

March 26, 2015 6 Comments

I know at least 2 people have asked for a lot more detail on this, so please forgive me as I go into detail…

I was told I had to take 800 mg/night lithium on approx.. 1st Feb 1998.

I have very detailed records of the amount of lithium I took every night and below you will see I put some of these in table form, such that I could graph the reduction against reducing body weight.

It was late 2002 that I got around to asking about reducing the dose and went straight down to 650 mg, which is what I have recorded for 5th Feb 2003 to 1st Feb 2005.

I was thinking that I was off lithium by the end of 2010, but really it was not until the end of 2011, so in many ways it is still early days in my med-free life with 13 years and 11 months on lithium and now only 3 years and 3 months off lithium. It was about a year ago that I met with a private GP in Nottingham and his view was that it takes a lot more than 3 years for the body to re-adjust. He seemed to be saying that one could easily continue to lose weight for several years after coming off lithium. Having said that I am hoping my weight has at least stabilized even if I seem unable to put any weight back on at this time.

mg

01/02/1998 800
08/01/2003 800
05/02/2003 650
01/02/2005 650
01/04/2005 600
15/12/2008 600
15/01/2009 500
15/08/2009 500
15/09/2009 450
15/10/2009 425
15/11/2009 400
15/07/2010 400
15/08/2010 381
15/09/2010 350
15/10/2010 347
15/11/2010 285
15/12/2010 240
15/01/2011 210
15/02/2011 207
15/03/2011 193
15/04/2011 174
15/05/2011 159
15/06/2011 132
15/07/2011 100
15/08/2011 100
15/09/2011 80
15/10/2011 60
15/11/2011 40
15/12/2011 20
01/01/2012 0

low-lithium

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Lithium #BipolarDisorder #KidneyFailure #madinamerica

March 23, 2015 Leave a comment

Long-term Use of Lithium Can Cause Kidney Failure

Lithium damaging the kidneys is not new news. I just feel I need to share this link because the article is up to date and gives this important fact in plain English.

http://www.madinamerica.com/2015/03/long-term-use-lithium-can-cause-kidney-failure/

If you are taking lithium carbonate please check that your doctor understands it is not ideal to stay on the same dose year-after-year. Be sure to have a plan to be on a lower dose. Lower doses are much safer for your kidneys, heart and other organs than the standard doses.

Next: Ask your doctor how they believe the lithium may be benefiting you and if it is being used to counteract some mineral imbalance. See what your doctor knows about mineral imbalances then search the internet to find out a lot more about digesting good levels of all the minerals that are closely related to lithium, such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium.

One further thought: You need plenty of stomach acid to be able to absorb calcium from food or supplements, so if your doctor is giving you lithium then it will be worth you knowing more about stomach acid.

 

 

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Being Bipolar – 3 of 3 – Contrasting psychiatric views #Moncrieff

March 11, 2015 2 Comments

Being Bipolar (Channel 4 shown on 6th March 2015):

Sian, who has been diagnosed as bipolar II and psychotherapist, Philippa Perry, meet with an NHS psychiatrist, who waffles at some length about chemical imbalances, without being able to suggest which chemicals could be out of balance or why such an imbalance might exist.

After this, Philippa meets with psychiatrist, Dr Joanna Moncrieff, who shares her knowledge as an expert in psychiatric drug research. Joanna makes it clear that the psychiatric drugs are mainly sedating people and not treating any specific chemical imbalance.

I believe all three of the subjects of this documentary would be living better lives if they were getting help based on their real challenges rather than from a psychiatric system that talks of treating chemical imbalances and genetic disorders from birth. All three had things happen to them that influenced the way they feel and expressed their moods. All three need help with understanding and overcoming their troubles.

At the end Philippa shares, “I don’t know how useful the bipolar diagnosis is, because they are all so different. I feel it might be more helpful to approach everyone as individuals with unique issues, because although being labelled bipolar may help some people make sense of their moods it too often marks the end of self-exploration when really, in fact, it should be the beginning.”

It really is time to stop just Being Bipolar and for more of us to be Rethinking Bipolar and so reaching our fullest potential.

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Being Bipolar – 2 of 3 – But not really manic depressives

March 10, 2015 2 Comments

Being Bipolar (Channel 4 Documentary shown on 6th March 2015):

Three people diagnosed as bipolar were filmed and their troubles considered by psychotherapist Philippa Perry.

Paul, who is a self-made millionaire, was filmed while high, Sian was mainly low and Ashley was rapidly going from high to low. Paul seemed happy enough in his manic state, while Sian and Ashley brought out their boxes of prescribed drugs and revealed how desperate they felt with no real prospects of recovery.

What struck me, was how without any special psychotherapy, it became clear that all was not as it first seemed.

Near the end, Paul has come down from his high and tells Philippa how his high was fueled by smoking ‘legal highs’ that he explains certainly were not just ordinary cigarettes! These were the drugs on which he got high. This was not a manic episode caused solely by his perfectionism or a random mood swing.

Sian’s greatest fear turns out to be from the misconception that bipolar can be passed on genetically to her children. When Philippa takes Sian to meet genetics researcher, Prof Ian Jones, it is explained, “It is not a genetic disorder in that there is a gene for bipolar” and that “Nine out of ten children of a bipolar parent are not being diagnosed as bipolar”. This is new knowledge for Sian, who is now able to consider bipolar in a very different way. From having said earlier that she could not think of any causes other than genetics, she now feels able to talk with to Philippa about wanting to investigate what it was in her life/her environment that had led to mood problems and diagnosis. Towards the end of the programme Sian talks about wanting “to be open to change” and goes to see a psychotherapist based on her discovery that bipolar is not all genetic and pre-determined. She comes to believe that, “It is the start of the end of it.” And when asked “Do you think this is going to be transformative?” She answers, “Yes”.

Ashley suffered from something like autism from an early age and was bullied badly at school. Being prescribed anti-psychotic drugs since he was 8 years old, it comes as no surprise to find him struggling so much. These drugs are known to alter the brain’s development. Philippa says, “It is difficult to find a therapist who is on the same wavelength as someone who is on the autistic spectrum.” Interestingly, after Philippa’s visit, Ashley forms a band with two local musicians who are able to cope with his struggles to stay focused. This seems to give hope that he will be able to fit in better than he was ever able to at school, perhaps simply by being with people who share similar interests.

Overall, the programme did well in showing how diverse bipolar can be. For me, though the most important outcome was how none of three people filmed would, years ago, have been regarded as manic depressives, while each could be so much healthier if they could get access to help beyond their prescribed or acquired drugs.

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Being Bipolar – 1 of 3 – Every person is different – #Channel4 #Bipolar

March 9, 2015 4 Comments

Regarding the UK’s Channel 4 programme, “Being Bipolar” that was shown on 6th March 2015:

I tend to agree with journalist, Yvette Caster, as she shares her personal experiences as a person diagnosed as bipolar. Yvette writes,

“The talking cure can help to an extent but, for me at least, the doing cure is far more effective.

As in taking dance classes to cheer me up, singing, going to bed before 11pm, avoiding too much alcohol, not smoking, never taking drugs, taking baths, meditating, swimming, walking and, crucially, working.

This last bit of ‘therapy’ has helped me more than any amount of sitting in a room with a lady with inadvisable style choices attempting to answer personal questions ever could.

Regular, productive activity that gives you a sense of achievement and purpose is crucial to happiness, bipolar or no.”

Yvette’s full article is here: London-Metro-Newspaper

A 40 second preview on youtube:

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Mood disorders are often due to deficiencies in vitamins and/or minerals

March 7, 2015 2 Comments

bipolar-vitamin

Getting adequate vitamin D reduces the risk of depressive episodes. This is a brand I have used. There are many other brands to choose from.

Regular readers here will be aware that I am not taking any prescribed drugs. I manage this largely by getting all the nutrients I need to have healthy chemical balances. My diet is pretty good, but my ability to absorb all the nutrients in my food is far from perfect. I use a few carefully selected supplements to correct for the deficiencies I have had in the past and common deficiencies that I want to avoid.

I choose the most natural forms I can and this helps me to avoid the most unnatural products from the pharmaceutical industry. However, it seems ‘big pharma’ continues to want to control and limit supply of the things we use that they have not patented. If this subject interests you then this blog post is well worth reading:
http://www.lynnemctaggart.com/blog/300-its-only-natural–like-in-oranges

 

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Glutinous Bipolar – Gluten and Bipolar Symptoms

March 6, 2015 2 Comments

Glutinous Bipolar – Gluten and Bipolar Symptoms

It is 16 years since I was last detained on a psychiatric ward, 15 years since I learned how to self-manage and stay away from psychiatrists. It is now more than 4 years since I last took any psychiatric drug.

Today, it feels like I am ‘back to square one’ with words from a 1960’s song in my head.

“Lock me away and don’t allow the day, here inside, where I hide with my loneliness…”

Everything was going well, so why am I feeling this way?

It was cold and dark with a bitter wind. I was walking back to the train station when I got some bad news on my phone just as a welcoming fish ‘n’ chip shop came into view. I had promised a friend I would not eat chips. I went in and bought a sausage instead.

Somehow I convinced myself that any gluten in the sausage would not matter. This was not good food for me, but it was hot and seemed to be what I needed to deal with the cold and bad news. Was this self-harm? Were things going too well? Could it be my “inner saboteur” getting the better of me?

After more than a month with no gluten at all, with minimal pain, great positivity and plenty of sustained energy, just an hour after eating the gluten… my world was starting to fall apart.

Three days of misery followed with stupid coffee drinking and loads of dairy produce. Three days of binging, increasing gut pains and foggy and confused thinking.

Was it always gluten? It is 19 years since I was prescribed medications to calm my guts, but it was one of these that made my insomnia worse and led to the psychiatric drugs. These sedated me and in many ways made my life easier, but all the time they were allowing more gut damage to occur.

Each new doctor said it was all in my head and nothing to do with my gut, so I had to figure it out for myself. Now it seems I can only survive and thrive if I can learn from my mistakes and so avoid gluten regardless of what life throws at me.

Food and Mood / Natural Nutrition courses

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Spending on Mental Health Research in the UK / McPin Foundatioin

February 1, 2015 1 Comment

I just read, “For every £1.00 that the Government spend on cancer research, the general public invest £2.75; for heart and circulatory problems it is £1.35. For mental health research, the figure is 0.003p”. Lord Bradley

With so little money available I am  lucky to be employed by a mental health research organisation at  http://mcpin.org/ and even luckier to be involved in some research projects NOT funded by drug manufacturers.

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After a few weeks of being really well and pain free…

January 30, 2015 6 Comments

I ate walnuts and figs at 9pm and now been awake since 1am with pain in my gut.

My old GP used to say such pains that kept me awake were due to me no longer taking drugs for bipolar disorder.

He was wrong. There are definitely foods I need to keep avoiding.

Anyway, a little 4am yoga helped and the pain has gone now.

On the plus side, being up in the night has allowed me write 1,400 words which I can have on an editor’s desktop for breakfast time.

Whether big changes in mood are called bipolar or simply attributed to obvious causes, like eating the wrong things at the wrong times, it isn’t much of a disorder if we are still able to do useful things and we are not disturbing those around us.

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Mental Illness Becomes Mental Wellness

January 25, 2015 3 Comments

How mental illness becomes mental wellness. An idea I saw at http://www.menheal.org.uk

J Tilby's avatarMEN HEAL

Illness Becomes Wellness

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Grain Brain #grainbrain, #perlmutter, #mercola #bipolar

January 22, 2015 3 Comments

FAQ: Where is the Dr Perlmutter, Grain Brain video? (Thank to a reader from Leicester UK the reminder)

Answer: I posted a shortened version, of Dr Mercola interviewing Dr Permutter on  Rethinking Bipolar in Oct 2014:

> Low fat diets damage brains #Perlmutter <

It gives a lot of essential information in less than half the time of the full interview. However, please consider this:

For me, taking note of what these two doctors are saying about diet, health and especially brain health has been a huge step in developing resilience to all sorts of disorders. It allows me to say, for sure, I do not have the disorder part of bipolar in me these days.

Like Tom Whootton, I continue to be aware of my moods, especially the higher energy and positive feelings, just that I am free of that disorder. I sleep well. I, at last, have good steady energy levels again. I get lots of good stuff done every day. I get on with friends, family, neighbors and other health professionals. Life is good.

A lot of this goodness is due to doing the sorts of things discussed in this interview. This is why I am adding both a link and a ‘watch here option’ for this 1 hour 18 minutes version. It could be that, like me, you need to know precisely what these doctors are saying about brain health.

If you have concerns about the health of your brain or simply want to be thinking clearer and feeling better, then please watch and listen to all of this and let me know if you decide to include some of the ideas into your life – either using the reply option on this blog or through this contact form.

Mercola and Perlmutter

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