Bipolar Disorder (manic-depression)

Lithium is commonly used to treat bipolar disorder. If you have been taking it, it is fine to continue.

Due to slow renal clearing, lithium toxicity may occur when taking Benicar (or verapamil). Lithium blood levels should be monitored very closely by your Dr (perhaps weekly when Benicar is started) and then regularly as long as you are on the MP. We recommend Members not lower their Lithium dose without the consent and supervision of their doctor. You may need this medication or a suitable substitute. Please discuss this with your doctor.

Lithium is also reported to decrease urine potassium excretion and increase serum potassium. If you are taking lithium on the MP, ask your Dr to assess your potassium level occasionally to be sure the immunopathologyA temporary increase in disease symptoms experienced by Marshall Protocol patients that results from the release of cytokines and endotoxins as disease-causing bacteria are killed. (renal inflammationThe complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli such as pathogens or damaged cells. It is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli as well as initiate the healing process for the tissue.) associated with treating Th1 inflammationThe complex biological response of vascular tissues to harmful stimuli such as pathogens or damaged cells. It is a protective attempt by the organism to remove the injurious stimuli as well as initiate the healing process for the tissue. has not caused an elevation. My potassium is elevated. What should I do?

Here is an interesting paper by a Harvard/Mass General Hospital group implicating lithium, Calcium, Chromium and Mercuric salts as a pleomorphic factor for some of these L-formDifficult-to-culture bacteria that lack a cell wall and are not detectable by traditional culturing processes. Sometimes referred to as cell wall deficient bacteria. organisms:

"The Significance of Pleomorphism in Bacteroides Strains"

A low-salt diet increases the risk of lithium toxicity, but if you've not made any changes in your diet or medications, the likely reason for your increased serum Lithium level is a hormonal shift related to your diligent avoidance of Vitamin D. Your psychiatrist may be interested to know how 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin-D affects many other hormones in the body. Please show him this diagram.

It's a good thing that you tested your lithium level after you made this lifestyle change. Please remind your doctor that Lithium toxicity may occur when on the MP (due to immunopathology) and blood levels should be monitored very closely.

The problem with compliance with medication in Bipolar Disorder is that the meds, often lithium, reduce the feeling of euphoria that accompanies the “manic” phase. Sufferers feel enormously energetic, feel happy, and often seem to lose insight into the nature of their illness in this phase, and lose objectivity.

If your friend could be helped to understand that the MP meds do not act as lithium does, she may be more compliant. On the other hand, there also tends to be a general reduction in responsible behaviour, with more impulsivity. The ability to assess her level of herx and make good decisions about reducing or increasing meds is likely to be compromised. Also, as you say, it's difficult to predict how herx may manifest itself. Wouldn't it be wonderful if in a case like this the MP could be administered in a hospital setting. We can dream.

(Mar 27th, 2008) I thought I would write some thoughts on my experience with mental illness and you could place it where you think it should be. I have suffered over 20+ years with symptoms of bipolar 2 Mental Illness. Since the psych meds didn't help with the depression and fatigue and myalgia, I have been searching for the last 15 years and having found the MP site I have no choice but to try it. I like the curative possibilities, instead of palliatiion. I've always thought it was toxicity of some sort and that it was sickness behavior similar to serious flu or infection where you can have symptoms of mailase which can escalate to delirium with higher titers of infection, but couldn't find an answer. When someone has the flu and has depression, lethargy and delirium it is understood that the are sick and not mentally ill. I found the sight after finding that I had a positive ANA test and a positive ASO titer. I found information on Dr. Browns treatment of RA and various other treatment protocols where after antibiotic therapy, the ANA and ASO titers disappeared. The benicar and small dose and pulsing of the abx made the most sense to me, instead of the high mega dose IV regimens. I am cautiously hopeful.

I believe that it is the cytokinesAny of various protein molecules secreted by cells of the immune system that serve to regulate the immune system. irritation of the limbic system that causes much of the symptoms of bipolar II, at least the treatment resistant (don't respond to psychiatric medications) patients which are at least 30% of all bipolar depressions and I suspect much more. I believe that since there is Neuropsychiatric Lupus and NeuroSarc that there is tissue destruction going on in the brain especially in the limbic system. Depending on the level of irritation, different nuclei and structures will respond to this irritation which eventually leads to tissue destruction with the exact opposite reaction, fear or rage, fatigue or hypomania, anorexia or increased appetite. In my Guyton's physiology book it described experiments on Monkeys where they electrically stimulated many different areas of the limbic system and found all the symptoms of mental illness with a lighter level of stimulation causing one symptom and a higher level of electrical stimulation to the same area the exact opposite symptom response. So a bipolar will have one behavior at a lighter level of tissue irritation lets say hypomania and as the level of irritation increases from the cytokineAny of various protein molecules secreted by cells of the immune system that serve to regulate the immune system. storm increases the severe depression, fatigue, apathy and eventually the catatonia or possibly alzheimer's or dementia. I do know that the course of bipolar is usually that as they age it usually matures to more depression and fatigue and lethargy which may have to do with aging but I suspect has to do with increased levels of CWDB.

I look forward to seeing what happens as I continue to ramp up and progress into PH2 and 3. If both the hypomania and depressive cycles are caused by the IP of the CWDB then as I decrease the cytokine levels and other byproducts of immune response such as the LPS (Lipopolysaccirides), then the irritation of the tissues stops and there will be a decrease and eventually elimination of the fatigue, depression and the hypomania together. Also the immune system will balance out as well as the hormonal systems and heavy metals elimination will proceed as well as many other functions. I have always believed that the truth is usually simple and this explanation is simple and far reaching in many illnesses. Thank goodness for Dr Marshall's challenge with his own health and his ability to have the knowledge base and experience to put this all together. I know that if it works for me then it will work for the many other treatment resistant mentally ill patients that are wasting there potential while taking medications that are proven in many studies to be inaffective on the depression of bipolar 2. Being hung with the stigma of mental illness when what you really have is an infection is a trajedy. Many mentally ill patients are physically ill similar to the flu only the bugs are treatment resistant not the patient and much harder to kill without help from benicar and lowering the Vit D levels.

I hope my condition responds to the Marshall ProtocolA curative medical treatment for chronic inflammatory disease. Based on the Marshall Pathogenesis. and will be a good test case that can help others. I know if it does work I will spend a good part of the rest of the time God gives me on this earth trying to spread the news that we finally have a curative therapy that really restores one to the life he remembers or maybe never really had, instead of the mindnumbing psych meds that are now forced on the mentally ill with the numerous side effects because their doctors don't know of an alternative approach to treat them. Unfortunately, it will take a long time for mainstream medicine to accept this treatment protocol, but because of the power of the Internet those lucky enough to find it can get educate themselves and get help. The problem with treating the mentally ill is that the neuro immunopathology can be very dangerous, without proper supervision and if there is a history or suicide attempts or extreme psychosis it would be best administered in a hospital setting, where the patient could be carefully monitored.

I admire the open-nindedness of all the doctors on this site who are willing to look for alternative therapies for those whom they treat when what they have been taught does not work. I also admire all of the patients who are willing to voluntarily submit themselves to a sometimes painful curative approach to therapy for the chance to have their health restored and not just palliated. No pain, no gain is true in this case, but the way out of pain is through it and not around it with pallitive medications.

~Dr Mo

I am Bipolar-I, the strongest form of Manic/Depression. I am off all meds for this now, no Lithium, no Depakote, since beginning the MP, and I am doing fine on the MP. My manic episodes have decreased very significantly, and the very deep depression of BP-I, has not manifested at all. I am operating much closer to “norm” on the protocol.

Please do get your lithium levels checked very often while on the protocol. Benicar does come with a strong safety warning that lithium toxicity can occur due to a slowing of renal clearance.

I chose to wean off lithium going from 900mgs, to 600mgs, then 300mgs., to none, prior to beginning the MP, thinking that if I found I needed to restart it again it wouldn't be a problem. So far–so good. I am not suggesting this for you at all, as you need to follow your own doctors instructions, just relaying that I have found that Benicar seems to have greatly helped many of my symptoms.

It's very interesting to me that your dosage of lithium has been reduced to 300 mgs. by adapting the MP lifestyle of light and D avoidance, alone. I will be interested to see what results you have when you introduce the Benicar. How wonderful that your psychiatrist can be privy to all this research going on, with you as a patient.

I see that your BP Disorder predates your CFIDS Dx by a few years. I have been BP-I since early childhood, and was dxed with FM and CFS in my 40's, then 2 years later with Chronic Late Stage Disseminated Borreliosis (Lyme) and Babesia, a co-infection.

We may be all greatly surprised to learn that some or many psychiatric disorders are caused by CWD bacterial infections, in the future. Much research has gone on in the way of genetic predisposition to BiPolar Disorder, I was involved in a clinical study of such, but it wouldn't surprise me to find that we are passing infections, possibly in utero from one generation to another. So I hope that it may be possible to kill two birds with one stone, so to speak, on the MP.

Please feel free to PM me, if you need any support on your journey to wellness

~Hrts4me

The problem with compliance with medication in Bipolar Disorder is that the meds, often lithium, reduce the feeling of euphoria that accompanies the “manic” phase. Sufferers feel enormously energetic, feel happy, and often seem to lose insight into the nature of their illness in this phase, and lose objectivity.

If your friend could be helped to understand that the MP meds do not act as lithium does, she may be more compliant. On the other hand, there also tends to be a general reduction in responsible behaviour, with more impulsivity. The ability to assess her level of herx and make good decisions about reducing or increasing meds is likely to be compromised. Also, as you say, it's difficult to predict how herx may manifest itself. Wouldn't it be wonderful if in a case like this the MP could be administered in a hospital setting. We can dream.

~Tobi

I was diagnosed with bipolar 10 yrs ago and was put on so many drugs life depekote and tegtitol and lithium. and also some anti-psychotics which i could not tolerate. they made me sleepy and have extrapyramidal anxiety symptoms. although i constantly felt depressed and anxious wth very minimal manic episodes, the side effects of the drugs were awful. finally i found a dr that prescribed an antidepressant only. with the theory that the body goes into a manic state in a faulty overdrive way of trying to get out of the depression mode. Lithium made me gain a lot of weight i felt more unhealthy than normal.

finally i found out i had gestational chronic lyme and i found the mp. while on this trt i have definetly had an exasberation of neuro(psych) symptoms. i continue to take celexa, but i had a terrible manic episode of my brain speeding up and being unable to sleep for 36 hrs. i was a reck but my mp dr was familiar with homeopathic medicine and put me on natural lithium. this is wonderful without side effects.

i use ambiam and valium for sleep and anxiety issues that always arise, but i also can have days to a week without the need for either, also gabitrol for pms anxiety is really helpful.i dont know if your friends judgment is impaired but i was able to manage the neuro herx without any help for anyone in my house. i dont know your friend well enough. but i have always been proactive and have not had too much trouble recognizing when i was switching from one state to the next. hope this helps. she has to do the mp for any hope of having a normal mental state. at least that is what keeps me going. but the herxing has definitely made me have huge depression, anxiety and hyper times, so it will be difficult going thru the trt for her. plus you are so sick and have light and sensory and lifestyle deprivation which increases psych symptoms especially the first year. good luck

~deb

I developed Lithium Toxicity, due to slowing of renal clearance. I had to completely come off all meds. Will be returning to abx, tomorrow.

VERY IMPORTANT TO PATIENTS on Psychiatric drugs requiring Therapeutic Blood Level Monitoring:

I have learned that not only does Benicar, but Verapamil, which is an antihypertensive, used for angina, arrythmias, and tachycardia, also slows renal clearance of Lithium.

Please—If you are taking any mood stabilizers, antipsychotic drugs, have your blood levels checked within a few days, and again weekly, when beginning Benicar. Especially if you are taking another drug which slows renal clearance. Dosage adjustments of psych meds may be needed, and much sooner than one month which is a norm in testing for therapeutic blood levels.

Research all your meds to see if they affect renal clearance. This was my mistake. I had successfully taken Lithium and Benicar together before while on the MP.

However, Verapamil was prescribed for angina,arrythmia, and tachcardia. I did not know that it, like Benicar reduced renal clearance of Lithium. My verapamil was filled by a different pharmacy than that which dispenses my RX of Benicar and Lithium.

Carry all your meds to all appointments. My heart med, verapamil came from a different doctor than the Lithium and Benicar. I had mistakenly forgotten to tell about the addition of Verapamil. The connection was not made. I am very aware now that I am not as cognitively able as I once was, and I need to allow others assistance to safeguard my less than apt mind. I hate admitting this, but I am so much less competent.

I became severely ill, projectile vomiting, bowel and urine incontinence, stupor, inability to ambulate due to incoordination (constant falls, stumbling) incoherent, semi-concious, tremors, inability to write, inability to talk, could not be understood at all by others.

The most frightening thing was that I did not know what was happening due to incoherance, and kept taking meds which were worsening the situation…..

Please if you are on any mood stabilizers or antipsychotics—check all your meds.

The good news—I don't believe any permanent damage occurred, I have within a months time improved. I also am out of the manic phase, and have not had to add a mood stabilizer and antipsychotic back to my meds. I have gradually begun all my meds, and am now ready to get back to abx tx.

~Hrts

Sample PubMed cite¹

Liu, H.C., et al., Immunologic variables in acute mania of bipolar disorder. J Neuroimmunol, 2004. 150(1-2): p. 116-22.