Posted by daorlando on November 9, 2007, at 6:10:31
I'm always looking into natural/herbal alternatives to pharmaceutical solutions and here's what I found that I thought might be of interest to others here too.
On Biopsychiatry.org page (1) it says that "recently, valproate has emerged as a drug of primary choice for the treatment of acute mania, especially mixed mania and, partially, rapid cycling."
A similar information is found on Psychedecution.org (2) where valproate (Depakote) is listed as being especially useful for strong, fast, rapid cycling bipolar episodes with significant symptoms of mania, anxiety, agitation, anger and/or insomnia. (3).
Now the main active ingredient of valproate (Depakote) is Valpronic acid, which was first synthesized in 1882 as an analogue of valeric acid, which is found naturally in the Valerian herb (4). As most of you probably know Valerian is available OTC and has been used since the times of ancient Greece for anxiety, agitation, insomnia and related emotional issues - basically the same issues that valproate (Depakote) is subscribed for.
Since the use of this herb is generally acceptable as safe it might be possible to use it as a "natural mood stabilizer" for those who prefer not to use pharmaceutical medication.
1. http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/meds/moodstabilizers.htm
2. http://www.biopsychiatry.com/valman.htm
3. http://www.psycheducation.org/depression/meds/valproate.htm
4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valproic_acid
poster:daorlando
thread:794055
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/alter/20071031/msgs/794055.html