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Media Archive |
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Dec 9, 2000
Maine Central News
BIPOLAR BREAKTHROUGH
By LYNN ASCRIZZI
Staff Writer
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Only six months
ago, Simonne Maline’s life was a pharmaceutical nightmare.
A psychiatric social worker for Catholic Charities of Maine,
she had been on more than 60 medications when first diagnosed
with bipolar disorder in 1992. She had suffered its symptoms
since her teen-age years.
“Bipolar means you swing from one extreme to the other
— from mania to depression,” said Maline, 34, a
Portland resident well-versed in the neurobiological illness
that affects an estimated 2 million Americans.
Like many people who suffer from the disorder, her life was
often out of control — a constant juggling act of medications,
hospitalizations, therapy, and more medications.
“A lot of people know it as manic depression,” she
said. “Clinically, it’s called bipolar. Depression
is unipolar — you are at one end of the emotional spectrum.”
Since 1996, she had been on three medications, Lamictal, Zyprexa
and Klonapin. In bipolar parlance, she was a “rapid cycler.”
“You have to have more than four mood swings a year to
be considered a rapid cycler,” she said. “Some people
will have an episode or cycle every two years or more. Some
people have a seven-year cycle. I have had two predominate cycles
a year — March-April and October.”
Altogether, the drugs she took to control her mood swings cost
as much as $600 per month, not counting psychiatrist and hospitalization
fees. From 1994 to ’96, she was hospitalized 10 times.
“At that point, I had to stop working. I went on Social
Security disability. I could cycle several times a day.”
Her medications kept her “pretty stable” for a few
years, she said. But the pharmaceutical cocktail that balanced
her life and helped her hold down a job came with a hidden price.
“The side effects of the drugs were killing me. Weight
gain. Fatigue. Gastric intestinal problems. Memory problems.
Hair loss. Anaphylactic shock (her throat closed up). Skin rashes.
Severe acne.”
But now, except for an acne problem, for Maline, it’s
all history.
“I’ve been off my meds completely for more than
three months. I am an even-keeled person. I don’t have
crying jags. I am learning what is normal. For the first time,
I am sleeping without medications. I lost 35 pounds.”
To her, the transformation is nothing short of a miracle.
“I have come off the drug fog. I’m clear.”
GUARDED EXCITEMENT
Maline’s dramatic turnaround began in May. Her newfound
normalcy appears to be the direct result of an innovative, Canadian-developed
nutritional supplement targeted for bipolar disorders, called
E.M. Power +. Incredibly, the idea for the formula was first
inspired by a livestock feed supplement that calms aggressive
hogs.
Under the auspices of Brunswick psychiatrist, Dr. Miles Simmons,
of Town Parks Psychiatric Associates, Maline began a regimen
of the supplement’s broad-spectrum formula of 34 natural
vitamins and trace minerals, and two antioxidants.
The nutriceutical, which is not available commerically, was
developed by The Synergy Group of Canada, a non-medical research
group. The company has been testing the supplement on bipolar
volunteers since 1996. They are also monitoring its effect on
depression, schizophrenia, attention deficit disorders and other
illnesses of the central nervous system.
“Basically, the nutrients included in E.M. Power + allow
the brain, or the neurochemistry, to produce the natural chemicals
which we should all be producing; however, some of us don’t,”
said A. Daniel Stephan, regional director of Truehope Support
Centre, a division of Synergy Group of Canada, cofounded by
his father, Anthony Stephan.
Besides offering one-on-one support to volunteers taking the
supplement, the center puts out a 15-page guide booklet, also
found on its Web site, www.truehope.com, that outlines predictable
phases people with bipolar disorder on the supplement go through
as they slowly reduce their medications.
“We are seeing a 90 to 95 percent success rate,”
said Stephan, of Truehope. “I mean, absolute resolution
of all the symptoms that the individual once had. In two to
six months, they see a resolution, providing they follow the
program.”
The 5-to-10 percent of people who do not see success tend to
be individuals with severe bowel disorders, like chronic diarrhea,
he said. The center contacts people taking the supplement every
week to see how they are doing, he adds. “There is no
charge for that service.”
The supplement costs $117 dollars per month for acute-phase
dose levels and about $60 per month for a maintenance-dose level.
Interested individuals can participate in their open-case study,
he said.
In October, researchers at the University of Calgary, in Alberta,
Canada, received a $500,000 government grant from the Alberta
Science and Research Authority to conduct a double-blind, placebo-controlled
study of the supplement. (See sidebar.)
DROPPING MEDS
As far as is currently known, Simmons is the only Maine physician
working with the nutritional supplement. But it was Maline who
first broached the idea. Proactive about her disorder, she had
learned about the supplement on a Web site for women, www.ivillage.com.
“They have a bipolar site for women. Someone was talking
about the supplement site.”
“She was Internet savvy,” said Simmons, who had
been helping Maline navigate the rough seas of her disorder
for two months before she began the supplement. “We were
doing all sorts of pharmaceutical gymnastics. She wanted to
go ahead and try it (supplement). I didn’t think it would
do any harm.”
Maline’s road to being symptom-free had “rough spots,”
she said. She started to feel “really good” within
the first week, but during the second-through-sixth week of
the treatment, she experienced what company literature said
is an expected phase — adverse drug reactions, or ADRs.
“This means that the person is feeling side effects of
the drugs or symptoms of their disorder,” explained Simmons.
This ADR phase signals that the drugs a bipolar patient has
been taking need to be reduced, according to Synergy Group advisors
and literature.
Maline found dropping medications when she was feeling poorly
was a difficult concept to grasp, and so did Simmons. She kept
in touch with Simmons and the Truehope Centre almost daily during
that phase and experienced recurring low moods, hopeless feelings,
and exhaustion, Simmons said.
“The thing was, they (ADRs) didn’t last so long.
If I had listened more to the company, I would have lowered
her medications faster,” said Simmons. “I was hesitant.”
Maline, however, is grateful to have found a psychiatrist willing
to try an alternative.
“I was the guinea pig,” she said cheerfully.
Maline’s road to being symptom-free parallels the University
of Calgary’s successful open-case studies.
Simmons is now working with four other bipolar patients, who
like Maline, are having trouble with standard treatments. He
is also treating one depressed patient. Overall, he is more
than encouraged by the results he is beginning to see.
“I’m actually very excited about it. Although, I
don’t want to get too excited,” said Simmons, who
prefers to describe his reaction with “guarded excitement.
“I have
been planning to bring it up at the hospital’s psychiatric
department for a January meeting. I want to let them know what
I’m trying and what results I’m getting. I have
already talked with Dr. Jeffrey Stenzel, at Mid Coast Hospital,”
he said.
Stenzel is medical director of behavioral health and chief of
psychiatry at Mid Coast.
“There has been a lot of interest in supplements and herbal
medicines,” Stenzel said. “All of these compounds
are non-FDA approved. It is important for any physician to know
what sort of supplements or nutriceuticals people might be taking.
As an allopathic physician, I restrict my prescribed treatment
to FDA-approved medicines.
“My practice is mainstream, but I am aware of alternative
therapies people can obtain. I know that people may come to
me having tried supplements and nutriceuticals. Some may have
efficacy, but it is important to know what those compounds are
and what side effects or interactions they might have with FDA-approved
drugs.”
Stenzel also expressed caution about short-term successes.
“The disease (bipolar) is chronically recurring and remitting.
Any short-term success would not be particularly helpful in
this condition, compared to a treatment that had long-term benefits.”
In terms of drug interactions, Simmons pointed out that oral
antibiotics do have an effect on E.M. Power +. “They are
known to change the environment of the intestine, which the
supplements rely on for absorption,” he said. “Synergy
Group reports that patients who take antibiotics may have a
recurrence of all their symptoms.”
OTHER TRIALS
Recent calls to two other patients of Simmons in the early stages
of the supplement trial, are showing variable results.
Susan Deterling, 46, of Bath, who had bipolar symptoms since
a child, went on medications at the age of 39, she said. A rapid
cycler, “who can have a mixed state, with both moods going
at the same time.” Deterling is in her seventh week with
E.M. Power. She has been a patient of Simmons for seven years
and started the supplement in mid-October.
“I’m still at the beginning phase — not out
of the woods yet,” she said. “So far, so good.”
She is taking the acute-level dose of E.M. Power +. She needs
to be symptom-free a whole month before going on a maintenence
dose, she said.
“My
ups and downs haven’t been as pronounced. When things
are really bad, suicide becomes an answer. You feel like it’s
never going to go away. Since I’ve been taking the supplements,
I have no suicidal ideations. I have a more hopeful outlook.
But, I’ve done this with medications, too,” she
said.
In little more than two weeks on the supplements, she stopped
taking Tegretol. A few days later, in early November, she took
her last dose of Prozac. “About a week after I got off
Prozac, I had some low-grade depression, which lasted for two
weeks. I’m doing better now. I’ve been four days
depression free.
“It’s the first time in seven years I’ve been
off pharmaceuticals, she added. “I go in and out of thinking
clearly, and being foggy and slow. A big thing with bipolar
patients is that their thoughts race. The supplement has helped
to quiet my brain. I have times when I’m in control of
my thoughts.”
She also attributed Dialectical Behavior Training, a behavior
modification course she took this summer, as helping her deal
with crises and be more accepting of events.
“I really think between the DBT and the supplements, I
feel a positive change. I have had days so nice and clear and
comfortable. I really can’t remember the last time I had
good phases.”
Camille Parrish, 46, of Auburn, another patient of Simmons,
suffered from a panic disorder that led to depression, she said.
She has been taking a full dose of the supplement only three
weeks. She was not on medications when she started.
“I haven’t noticed any change,” she said.
“I started in at two doses a day, a maintenance dose,
for 10 days. I went up to four but am now at three doses a day.
I’ve had some stomach upset, which is a common symptom,”
she said.
“I’m trying to be hopeful. It’s not clear
at this point. I have mixed opinions.”
Maline, in the proces of down-phasing into maintenance doses,
had no doubts about her case.
“This is the best six months in my life. I will never
trade it in. My husband loves it. It may not work for some people.
I don’t advocate that you dump your meds. People need
to do what they need to do. For me, it really works,”
she said.
“What baffles me, is it’s too darn simple. It was
there all the time.”
Lynn Ascrizzi can be reached at Ext. 731. Her e-mail address
is lascrizzi@centralmaine.com.
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