The first few months were pretty easy. Between the last of my refills from Dr. Wright, and the refill Dr. F gave me, I was fully medicated until the end of November. In December I broke into my "emergency" Lithium stash, which was basically about a month and a half worth of old prescriptions that I'd never taken. (I had this partly from those times when I just wouldn't take my medicine, and partly leftover from when the couple times I switched medications before the current Rx ran out, if that makes sense). I lowered my dose a little bit and my emergency supply lasted until the end of February.
At that point I had been unsuccessfully trying to work things out with my old doctor/been looking for a new doctor, and it was taking longer than expected. I knew I couldn't just cold turkey stop my medication, so I started looking for an alternative. I remembered an old Hastings co-worker telling me she was (self diagnosed) bipolar, and that she took a natural, OTC Lithium supplement. I didn't think such a thing existed, but after I did some poking around on the internet, I found it. It's called Lithium orotate and you can get it on Amazon. It's obviously not the same formulation as Rx Lithium (which is Lithium carbonate); it's a lower dosage made mostly of elemental Lithium, and there's some evidence that the bioavailability is different as well. It hasn't been studied very extensively in humans, but I was desperate, and it was something, so I bought it. I started myself out on a dosage that was higher than what the bottle recommended but lower than my therapeutic dose of Rx Lithium.
And it actually helped. I will say that it's not as effective as "real" Lithium, but it has most definitely kept the edge off of my worst symptoms for the past 6 months. I haven't had any manic or hypomanic episodes; I've had a few down swings but not any true depressive episodes either. It was the most helpful the first couple months I was taking it (March thru July). I mean, in June I was able to get a second job, so obviously I was doing OK. It's only been the past few weeks that I've started to feel like the effectiveness was dropping off a bit, which is why I started focusing on finding a psychiatrist again.
Like I said, it hasn't been perfect. Since the end of August, some things have fallen by the wayside: I haven't written in a while, I haven't been working out or eating right, and my house is in desperate need of a deep clean. Right now, though, those are all things I don't have the mental energy to do. But I have been able to get up and go to work every day and hold down my job and even do really well at it, and that's amazing. I also haven't had any suicidal ideation or thought about cutting. So while the past 6 months of alternative treatment haven't been my best, they've far and away not been my worst, either. I can tell you that if I'd just gone unmedicated, I'd be unemployed and possibly dead right now, and I'm neither. All in all, I call it at least a semi success. I'm also really proud of myself for being able to find an alternative and at least do something to keep myself well, because old me would have just let it go and suffered the consequences.
Right now, things are on a bit of a downslope. I haven't had any energy the past couple weeks, I can feel my temper getting shorter, and in general, I just haven't felt well. I'm just trying to make it through as best as I can, and in less than two weeks I'll see my new doctor and everything will get better from there. I can't even express how much I'm looking forward to my appointment, because I'm ready to get back to where I was.
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