Minutus

Dear Susan,
In my few experiences, you are right. Mood swingers can not remember
the mood that they are not now in. So unless the homeopath is there to
observe the mood, she can't get a good remedy. Have you asked the
homeopath to take your case at the extremes of mood swings? If you
have two extremes, you would need two separate sessions. Add to that
hyperthyroid or diabetes and you have a difficult case. Having a
patient who is as aware as you are is a great boon to a homeopath. In
general, I have been taught not to cut out meds until the remedy is
obviously doing the medication's function.
Best wishes,
Ellen

I gave a bi polar friend apis a couple of years ago for a red,burning ,
stinging and swollen sore on his arm that looked like it came from an insect
bite. The next time he got manic...it did not lead to the typical
hospitalization and then the complete depth of depression that usually
followed. And for the longest time now...he hasn't gone into that depression
and has a kind of managable use of his high energy..he has more control of it.
In fact, his driving reflects his energy level. He drives at 30 miles an
hour..never wavering...(it makes me want to jump out the window). He is still
on his medications and he would never take a homeopathic remedy for his
condition...only for that sore on his arm. I have wondered if that apis
reflected somehow that "busy as a bee" state of obsessive-compulsive cleaning
that never actually ever got finished or being unable to stop talking once he
started and staying up all night for days, not being able to inwardly say no
to all the impulses. Now he just seems like he is very neurotic....but without
the dangerous behaviors or the suicidal depressions.

I've been on lithium over 30 years. While it is sold as a drug, it is a mineral so shouldn't be viewed in the same distain as other man-made pharmaceutical drugs. I've been lucky as that has been all I've needed but diabetes or any additional chronic condition only worsens the bipolar condition. During one early stretch of constitutional treatment I was able to wean off, really stop cold as the remedy action was fast, but there was too much physical discomfort, maybe my body is too accustomed to it, and looking back it was not beneficial to do so. Just didn't feel right though my psychiatrist couldn't believe I was basically OK. And as previously mentioned, balancing the remedy action vs. drug action. The drugs work very well and are specific, the remedies have to be played with, potency, dose, repetition and no guarantee the curative action keeps repeating the same way in same time. I found it doesn't constitutionally.

Lithium is also brain protective and anti-aging, see Jonathan Wright, ND, he uses low dose in his Tahoma, WA clinic and has written extensively about it's benefits. I don't think lithium in potency would achieve the same effect because there is a physical amount of lithium needed to control bipolar. The blood level range, 0.6-1.2, provides flexibility to manage moods, over 1.2 will quickly become toxic. Within range, higher amounts you're dulled, slow, lower amounts, more reactive, in the moment, Constitutional treatment has helped me reduce the mg's needed. My concern and reason to lower mgs is decades of use can lead to kidney damage but research I've recently read shows keeping lithium levels in the lower blood range avoids this problem and yearly blood tests have been good so far though diabetes also affects kidney function but on a different physical aspect.

I want to try Li Carb in potency for seborrhea dermatitis on scalp as it reps highly for it and for many rubrics is the only remedy shown but am leery to rock the boat. While lithium use might be one cause of this condition, more likely it is higher blood sugar levels as this is caused by a yeast that lives on scalp and skin. Mine worsened significantly as I went into diabetes though the Pityrosporum ovale, a lipophilic yeast of the Malassezia genus needs fat. Also, as mentioned, dysbiosis can exacerbate. I've found high dose probiotics very helpful. In Europe, lithium succinate shampoo is available for this condition but not in the USA where zinc and selenium based is used. Loprox, a newer prescription anti-fungal shampoo specific for this yeast, helps briefly. Any anti-inflammatory drug, vitamin, herb can also be helpful as seborrhea is viewed as an inflammatory reaction to this yeast. Additionally this yeast is shown capable of sexual reproduction, so the thought of that occuring on my head is disconcerting. Even hot Miami sun doesn't seem to kill this yeast. Any homeopathic or herbal ideas??? I've found Dr. Bronner's peppermint soap and a hemp oil shampoo helpful and even put lithium into shampoo but was too drying, 10% lithium succinate is what's used in Europe.

Non-homeopathically, high EPA/DHA dose fish oils, B vitamins, probiotics, extra vitamin D through sun exposure are bipolar helpful but are not cures.

Susan

Hi,
i wonder if you could dissolve your lithium pill in ordinary shampoo
and decrease your oral intake for that day? I don't use shampoo. I
use vinegar. Nice not to have a residue which can't be helpful.
Best,
Ellen

Why not?

Arsenic and mercury are the same idea..........

Irene
--
Irene de Villiers, B.Sc AASCA MCSSA D.I.Hom/D.Vet.Hom.
P.O. Box 4703 Spokane WA 99220.
www.angelfire.com/fl/furryboots/clickhere.html (Veterinary Homeopath.)
"Man who say it cannot be done should not interrupt one doing it."

What illnesses or conditions would you swallow arsenic or mercury for and find improvement? Let us know if you're contemplating suicide.

Lithium carbonate is a salt as is calcium carbonate. Do you also feel distain for calcium?

Ignorance is bliss!

Susan

That's disdain! I disdain spelling errors but am tired from day trading.

Susan

Hi Vera,
Vera Resnick wrote:
If the person suffers from mild to moderate depression, this is generally not too much of a problem. Even severe depression does may not need a family member but of course it is very helpful to have them in on the treatment and may sometimes be essential.

If someone suffers delusional episodes, wild mood swings, or mania I now insist they only start homeopathy with a support person who will be watching them closely.
Me too but I have had instances where the person has taken themselves off medication because they are sure 'homeoapthy will fix things'. In one situation I recall, the family members were led to believe that this was my advice and of course they became very antagonistic to homeopathic treatment because of the fallout they had to endure yet I knew nothing about it. If they had been in on the consultation so that they could be my eyes and ears during treatment it would have been so much better. And then of course there is the concern with this sort of thing happening that people are often being medicated for very good reasons - it would be horrible to know that they had harmed themselves or someone else after having taken themselves off medication because they were trusting a first prescription of homeopathy to improve everything.
--
Kind regards,

Fran Sheffield
Homeopathy Plus! (Tutorials - Remedies - Immunisation)
http://www.homeopathyplus.com.au
Do No Harm Initiative (Free Information on Homeopathic Immunisation)
http://www.d-n-h.org
Homeopathy for Autism (Guidelines for Treatment - Search for Practitioners)
http://www.homeopathy4autism.com

Ellen and all, as someone who is also taking lithium for bipolar disorder (after my homeopath failed to find a suitable remedy/potency/dose for a severe bout with total insomnia), I would like to remind that, as was already noted, lithium has a very narrow window of efficacy + safety. IMO anyone who experiments with using any part of the daily dose in other ways than taking it as suggested is not behaving sensibly. I have personal experience with trying to “back off it”, i.e. reduce the dose slowly and end up off the drug. That was nearly disastrous.
Also, AFAIK, the use of lithium in cases of bipolar disorder was discovered rather by chance about 50 years ago. I don’t think anyone went looking for it, exactly, so it differs from more recent drugs in that respect. A good many people have taken it safely for 30-40 years, apparently. It can’t be patented so brings in little benefit to the drug companies—unless you spring for their timed-release version of it, which I personally did not find worth the money. Taking lithium can be the difference between life and death—quite literally. Teresa (Northern VA)

________________________________

From: minutus@yahoogroups.com [mailto:minutus@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Ellen Madono
Sent: Monday, April 20, 2009 6:26 PM
To: minutus@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Minutus] Bipolar disorder
Hi,
i wonder if you could dissolve your lithium pill in ordinary shampoo
and decrease your oral intake for that day? I don't use shampoo. I
use vinegar. Nice not to have a residue which can't be helpful.
Best,
Ellen

On Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 2:45 AM, Teresa Kramer wrote:

Dear Theresa,
That is really good to know. I had a bipolar patient who would get
very constipated with the lithium. I was trying to get the remedy to
take the place of lithium and failed miserably. The right remedy with
the lithium I have a feeling would have worked much better. Anyway,
water under the bridge.
I had another patient who learned homeopathy with me and was very
smart and aware of herself. She learned to change her remedies, to
watch her symptoms and did very well. Eventually she got off her
drugs, but outside help was only a small part of her journey. Self
awareness, record keeping, willingness to experiment etc were the real
teachers.
Best,
Ellen