mom helping son

A letter from a mom who read about orthomolecular psychiatry and started self-help measures for her son.

My son will soon be 27. When he was 21-22 he became increasingly depressed, eventually paranoid, anxious, prone to rage and tears. With the help of our MD we tried to get him on some sort of meds.

It wasn’t until increased episodes, hallucination, and suicide threat that he was hospitalized. He was put on Abilify & Lamictal. Within months he stopped taking the meds (in denial) and a few months later after increased symptoms (visual, auditory, olfactory hallucinations, including believing that I was poisoning him) he was again in hospital where he was diagnosed bipolar. After a really nasty outburst after coming home he recognized his illness and wrote me a note apologizing and promising that behavior would never, never happen again.

Although in compliance with meds he was still not himself with small, transitory breakthrough hallucinations, anger. He won’t allow either his father or me to consult with his psychiatrist.

I research (and pray!) all the time and stumbled across your info. Asked my son to take the vitamins which he strongly refused to do. After consulting with my husband I started adding the flush free niacin inositol to his food 500mg at a time, 3 times per day. Not as successful with vitamin C – added ascorbic acid when possible to his beverages. 24 hours after 1st dose (and his first long sleep in ages): obvious improvement. Within days his sense of humor returned, his focus improved, his speech was less hesitant. One problem is he doesn’t always eat the food I’ve “enriched.” I had him up to 2000 mg niacin, but then for a couple of days he only got 1000 and he deteriorated. I keep working at getting him up to 3 g.

I really need some professional help and am hoping you can direct me. Is there anyone you know of in the Atlanta, Georgia area or in the southeastern USA?

God bless and thank you,