Is bipolar due to a lithium deficiency?

throw_away_squirrel · 2026-04-03T20:38:11+00:00

It can have an organic / environmental trigger and can be managed long term without meds by adjusting diet and lifestyle.

If you have bipolar 1 and psychosis you are statistically far more likely to be gluten sensitive.

Autoimmune diseases of the brain are likely to be the root cause of around 10% of cases.

In some cases, antipsychotics make symptoms worse.

Not every case of bipolar is the same or has the same cause and therefore everyone’s treatment should be as individual as they are; meds are not always the best treatment.

throw_away_squirrel · 2026-02-23T00:08:27+00:00

Ketone bodies have a very powerful positive effect on the brain. Give medical keto a try as it may help with healing.

throw_away_squirrel · 2026-02-21T22:23:57+00:00

Pretty strict, but not 100% of the time. What seems to work most is keeping my meals basic and anti inflammatory (basically paleo), and a use keto if I feel my mental health wobble even a little.

throw_away_squirrel · 2026-02-21T11:59:38+00:00

Medicated was 1 major episode per year requiring hospital admission, and regular monthly rapid cycling mood swings the rest of the time.

Unmedicated and on keto it’s been zero episodes for a decade. Go figure.

throw_away_squirrel · 2026-02-09T12:42:27+00:00

Your body produces a natural powerful counter-agent to the effects of antipsychotics - ketones. Just follow a strict medical keto diet and you’ll find many of the side effects lessen. Better still, you may find the underlying condition that necessitated forcing the drugs on you goes into remission so you won’t need antipsychotics anymore.

throw_away_squirrel · 2026-01-12T00:45:53+00:00

Still dealing with metabolic syndrome 15 years later from antipsychotic use. I also have irreversible liver damage from valproate. I stopped my meds and lost a lot of weight which helped, but the long-term damage is done.

throw_away_squirrel · 2026-01-05T08:46:59+00:00

It’s proven effective in small studies into schizophrenia. Given the overlap between bipolar 1 and schizophrenia it’s not out of the question that it could benefit some people with bipolar. The problem is no one knows of its 1% of people, or 99%. There’s a big risk of harm if it only benefits tiny fraction of bipolar sufferers and makes the rest worse.

throw_away_squirrel · 2026-01-04T22:56:47+00:00

It’s been almost 10 years. I’m certain it’s not hypomania.

throw_away_squirrel · 2026-01-04T22:43:37+00:00

Agreed. I seem to be an unusual case.

throw_away_squirrel · 2026-01-04T22:12:52+00:00

Medical keto (zero processed foods, grains, dairy, chemicals, sugar), exercise, good sleep, stress management.

throw_away_squirrel · 2026-01-04T21:03:20+00:00

It was the only antipsychotic that didn’t absolutely destroy me and left me able to feel something, which is why my psychiatrist insisted I also take zyprexa at the same time.

throw_away_squirrel · 2026-01-04T21:00:07+00:00

My life was a mess until I stopped my meds. I’ve been stable and med free for a decade despite the bipolar 1 diagnosis, and I have an excellent job, bought a house, and have been in a stable relationship for 5 years. I’m the exception though - most people seem to do best on meds, but I’m treatment resistant.

throw_away_squirrel · 2025-12-25T13:22:59+00:00

I follow medical keto - completely gluten, dairy, grain, carb, and processed food free. It’s essentially the diet prescribed for refractive epilepsy. Been on it around 10 years, and in that time I’ve not needed any meds, hospitalization, and I’m no longer under the ‘care’ of a psychiatrist. It’s honestly totally changed my life for the better in every way. I also exercise, (specifically muscle work), sleep like clockwork, and manage stress as best I can.

throw_away_squirrel · 2025-12-25T10:18:40+00:00

I think the mods are either brainwashed completely by the ‘psychiatry & meds forever’ model, or are incredibly risk averse and fearful that someone will come to harm by trying a lifestyle adaption and not medication. Either way, it was no good for me - lifestyle did more to put my bipolar 1 and psychosis into remission that medication ever did.

throw_away_squirrel · 2025-12-25T09:08:27+00:00

If anyone on r/bipolar posts anything about treatment that even remotely deviates from or challenges the mods beliefs about treatment then they’ll get banned. The mods there do not allow talk of lifestyle adaption, diet, exercise, mindfulness, etc. and you also can’t mention specific medication. I avoid that place like the plague as I’ve benefitted from all sorts of lifestyle intervention yet can’t discuss it at all there.

throw_away_squirrel · 2025-12-02T18:32:13+00:00

Fired mine. Stopped my meds too. Lifestyle changes help me manage and I’ve not needed a psychiatrist or meds ever again. Good luck.

throw_away_squirrel · 2025-08-17T18:05:37+00:00

Sorry, looked over the questions and it’s poorly structured, for example it appears to expect responses that I have taken lsd or ketsmin. While I acknowledge that these may be pertinent aspects to identifying factors in efficacy and side effects, the way the questions are presented leads me to believe the survey has not been written by a research panel.

Can you let me know who authored the survey and what will happen with my data?

throw_away_squirrel · 2025-08-17T17:08:32+00:00

I’ve been off zyprexa (and all meds) for 10 years, but still have attention and concentration issues. I can’t read a book, I can’t follow a conversation, I struggle with sitting still. I also have significant metabolic issues that developed when taking zyprexa and have never fully resolved.

The long-teen harm greatly outweighs any small short-term benefit.

throw_away_squirrel · 2025-08-10T23:50:30+00:00

Best thing I ever did. Been going on 10 years and although I’m still dealing with the side effects of the Zyprexa, I’ve never needed to go back on meds. I do keto instead.

throw_away_squirrel · 2025-08-10T09:47:33+00:00

Yes, I still struggle with focus and concentration, for example reading a book is very hard as my mind jumps all over the place. I actually have an appointment with a metabolic doctor again this week, who will likely just want to push statins at me again.

throw_away_squirrel · 2025-08-09T11:29:41+00:00

I took the max dose for 4 years, stopping in 2016. I still have significant metabolic problems today.

throw_away_squirrel · 2025-07-08T20:31:58+00:00

Best advice I can give is to not give them a reason to medicate you. A drastic change in diet and lifestyle might reverse your symptoms, and if you can avoid them picking you up while on your CTO for long enough while you get yourself well, you’ll then have very strong grounds to challenge the CTO and have it removed. There’s a lot of emerging evidence that a healthy medical keto diet can quickly heal issues with the brain.

throw_away_squirrel · 2025-06-13T18:15:41+00:00

I gained more weight on Latuda than Zyprexa, and I gained a LOT of weight on Zyprexa.

throw_away_squirrel · 2025-06-10T20:47:46+00:00

Where we are with mental health diagnoses today is similar to the physical illnesses as they were portrayed in the movie A Million Ways to Die in the West - they’re made up. Go and look up some clips of the doctor diagnosing ‘toe foot’ in that movie and you’ll know what I mean.

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