Can anyone recommend a good stack for someone with bipolar disorder?
Nicolás
try lithium, it's sort of a treatment for bipolar disorder
Paula
theanine, tyrosine, any of the adaptogens should be good
Lloyd
Anything that boosts GABA would probably be a good place to start. I'd have thought you really wouldn't want to tinker with too much of this stuff without talking to your doctor - do you have a doctor who would be open to helping you with nootropics?
Kalle
Tricky. Predominantly depressive? Magnesium taurate could be helpful though hardly sufficient.
Natures
Phenibut as well as Kratom are Calcium Channel Blockers.
These are helpful in treating Bipolar II...
Piotr
Special forms of B vitamins can help:
B9 - methylfolate
B12 (methylcobalamin) (be careful with this - can up-regulate glutamate)
B6 as P5P
+ choline as food or supplements (e.g. Alpha GPC)
also supplements like Ashwagandha, curcumin and glutamine can help to down-regulate glutamate and lessen anxiety
John
I have bipolar disorder type 2 I use choline, aniracetam, phenibut, kratom, turmeric, picamillon, cats claw
All of the above helps :)
Avoid phenibut abuse
Avoid these nootropics. Modofinil, adranafil
Gabagenics are good too. Alcohol, kava kava, gabapentin, pregabalin, picamillon, phenibut all of the above will help stabilise however easily abused.
Not had much luck with ampakines and coloracitam seems interesting but haven given it a fair trial myself.
Aniracetam repolorises the brain eventually (two months) supposedly however the clarity you get will feel completely alien to you as it did me. Try to stick with it use kratom to stop the anxiety and also muccuna pruriens is good to use for sleep.
You also may want to think about heavy metal poisoning removal. This can permanently decrease bipolar symptoms if you have any metals floating round your system.
Steve
Nootropics memantine, aniracetam & deprenyl (MAD) works well for me right now. i'm not bipolar but always had cyclothymia, adhd & anxiety. after unsuccessful treatment from medical professionals, i went on my own trying to find some relief. many noots helped & i've been rotating these. currently, memantine, aniracetam & deprenyl is very effective.
Richard
I'm not a doctor. I'm not opposed to the use of medications, responsibly, to treat psychiatric conditions. I'm not qualified to say anything I'm going to say. It's all opinion. I've seen what medication-induced mania is like, and what depression is like. They're nothing to take lightly, but, they're treatable in a number of ways.
Most of the negative side effects of lithium occur at levels of intake that are greater than what you'd find in some natural sources. The lithium itself isn't really a concern - it's the amount. Some people respond very well to lithium at very low levels. Very, very low levels. Low enough levels that it's being considered (in an academic sense) as an additive to water sources to lower suicide rates, because it works in healthy people in the range of single-digit milligrams. It might be worth asking to be prescribed a subclinical does of lithium carbonate in the range of like... 300-600mg (I haven't done the math to find how much elemental lithium this would give you. It's still more than you'd find in spring water, but, less than the amount that causes the spaced out feeling some people get).
It's risky to try to find the line between just barely enough, and ineffective, but... well... if you were diagnosed as bipolar 2, you already know what you're risking.
I'd say it's unlikely that most doctors would prescribe memantine, as it's not a first or second line treatment (those are things like lithium, and valproic acid), but, it's not impossible.
It's very likely that they'll work with you to find the lowest possible dose of any medication(s) that improves your condition with minimal side effects. In fact, I'd make a willingness to engage you in that conversation a top priority in a doctor.
Josh
Memantine is a good drug for all around mental health IF your cause of distress is from over active NMDA receptors. In the clinical trials they gave up on it because there were too many mixed results, there isn't really a way to get concentration levels of your neurotransmitters so while it works for some it doesn't work at all or makes some people worse. It's a drug that is truly trial and error and I actually have introduced many psychiatrists and doctors to this idea. I'm all for it, I'm also all for a low dose of lithium orotate for mood disorders but not so much high dosages prescribed by psychiatrists. Memantine has changed my life and I've been on it for a year now straight.
Nicki
Memantine among nootropics is being studied for bipolar.. I saw something about it having antimanic properties. Might be worth looking into more.
Alana
If it can be treated with lithium, then lithium orotate would be quite helpful.
These are helpful in treating Bipolar II...
B9 - methylfolate
B12 (methylcobalamin) (be careful with this - can up-regulate glutamate)
B6 as P5P
+ choline as food or supplements (e.g. Alpha GPC)
also supplements like Ashwagandha, curcumin and glutamine can help to down-regulate glutamate and lessen anxiety
All of the above helps :)
Avoid phenibut abuse
Avoid these nootropics. Modofinil, adranafil
Gabagenics are good too. Alcohol, kava kava, gabapentin, pregabalin, picamillon, phenibut all of the above will help stabilise however easily abused.
Not had much luck with ampakines and coloracitam seems interesting but haven given it a fair trial myself.
Aniracetam repolorises the brain eventually (two months) supposedly however the clarity you get will feel completely alien to you as it did me. Try to stick with it use kratom to stop the anxiety and also muccuna pruriens is good to use for sleep.
You also may want to think about heavy metal poisoning removal. This can permanently decrease bipolar symptoms if you have any metals floating round your system.
Most of the negative side effects of lithium occur at levels of intake that are greater than what you'd find in some natural sources. The lithium itself isn't really a concern - it's the amount. Some people respond very well to lithium at very low levels. Very, very low levels. Low enough levels that it's being considered (in an academic sense) as an additive to water sources to lower suicide rates, because it works in healthy people in the range of single-digit milligrams. It might be worth asking to be prescribed a subclinical does of lithium carbonate in the range of like... 300-600mg (I haven't done the math to find how much elemental lithium this would give you. It's still more than you'd find in spring water, but, less than the amount that causes the spaced out feeling some people get).
It's risky to try to find the line between just barely enough, and ineffective, but... well... if you were diagnosed as bipolar 2, you already know what you're risking.
I'd say it's unlikely that most doctors would prescribe memantine, as it's not a first or second line treatment (those are things like lithium, and valproic acid), but, it's not impossible.
It's very likely that they'll work with you to find the lowest possible dose of any medication(s) that improves your condition with minimal side effects. In fact, I'd make a willingness to engage you in that conversation a top priority in a doctor.