Tumblr (3.0; @mysterydisease)http://mymysterydisease.com/<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_llxdlw9foB1qfieoto1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>reposting my first comic today.. It still happens some days</p>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/5942726698http://mymysterydisease.com/post/5942726698Sun, 29 May 2011 07:39:48 +1000<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_litdcbpn101qfieoto1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>I am interested to know peoples views on nutrition/CBT psychology based therapy for mental illness as apposed to being prescribed medication you have to stay on long term..</p> <p>in 2007 I was diagnosed with Schizo-phreniform Psychosis, I couldnt tell the difference between dreams and reality and was hospitalised for 2 weeks.</p> <p>I have been on over many different meds since, most I could not tolerate the side effects.</p> <p>in the end I was on dose ‘200mg’ of amisulpride for over 4 years.. this was meant to prevent a relapse of illness.</p> <p>I found overall I still dealt with a certain amount of paranoia, anxiety, depression, lack of energy and mood instability along with the occasional delusional though process or hallucination despite my medication. I could not go on a higher dose as the side effects would make me almost unable to work.</p> <p>So after Reading Dr Abram Hoffer’s Book titled ‘Healing Schizophrenia’ I decided to begin to try vitamin B3 treatment.</p> <p>I experimented with nicotinic acid at first, trying a dose of up to 3 grams, split up (4 250mg tablets 3 times a day)</p> <p>with nictonic acid there is a harmless ‘flush’ reaction you should know about, but the most interesting thing about the B3 was it actually worked wonders for my breakthrough psychotic symptoms.</p> <p>within a week I found myself feeling no paranoia, no strange delusional thoughts, I had more energy, actually I may have been a little hypermanic (this may be due to my illness sitting somewhere in between Bi-Polar and Schizophrenia… something referred to as schizo-affective disorder.) So sure… maybe it doesn’t stabilise my moods and prevent my slightly manic behaviour (something I’m still working on) But for the negative symptoms like paranoia and depression I had almost instant results.</p> <p>After a few more months trying a few other things, including a mood stabiliser (lamictal) than landed me in hospital and off work way too many days due to it making me violently ill for 1.5 months… I have had enough of the psychiatric drugs.</p> <p>After realizing my diet is more likely the key to my overall and mental health… to stop the amisulrpide all together and find a GP who supports me in taking the nutrition based approach to my mental health issues.</p> <p>So I have now got a holistic GP, I have sourced something called Naicinol Forte (slow release niacin) which I am taking 4 Grams a day with no flush reaction.. And so far, I am feeling pretty sane and no longer feel ‘dosed’ like I have all these years on the amisulpride. now the focus is on learning more about food and cooking and other healthy routines.</p> <p>I’m happy to reply to comments with more info or answer any specific questions anyone has…</p> <p>and heres a few cool niacin/nutrition based therapy related links I’ve found:</p> <p><a href="http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/schizophrenia-ortho...">http://www.alternativementalhealth.com/articles/schizophrenia-ortho…</a> <a href="http://psychdrugs.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/bipolar-schizophrenia-me...">http://psychdrugs.wordpress.com/2008/08/01/bipolar-schizophrenia-me…</a> <a href="http://www.foodforthebrain.org/content.asp?id_Content=1638">http://www.foodforthebrain.org/content.asp?id_Content=1638</a> <a href="http://www.crnusa.org/safetypdfs/010CRNSafetyvitaminNiacin.pdf">http://www.crnusa.org/safetypdfs/010CRNSafetyvitaminNiacin.pdf</a> <a href="http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/articles/art_niacinforpsychosis.html">http://www.rawfoodinfo.com/articles/art_niacinforpsychosis.html</a> <a href="http://www.orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v01n11.shtml">http://www.orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v01n11.shtml</a></p>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/4181785342http://mymysterydisease.com/post/4181785342Tue, 29 Mar 2011 20:03:15 +1000<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lhgql37RHu1qfieoto1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>You cannot escape your mind.</p> <p>So look after it for Fucks Sake.</p> <p>I would not wish the nightmare of mental breakdown and psychosis on my worst enemy. Losing touch with reality was the worst experience of my life.</p> <p>Apparently I am ‘Pre-disposed’.. At a higher risk, have a lower threshold for stress..</p> <p>My only advice for anyone who starts feeling the cracks starting to form in their mind:</p> <p>look after yourself.</p> <p>Eat as healthily as you know how.</p> <p>Sleep.</p> <p>chill the fuck out.</p> <p>learn about relaxation techniques, whatever works for you, find it.</p> <p>Because if your faced with a lack of mental strength, a split in the world and you start losing control, the most likely treatment suggested to you will be psychotropic medication… & I’m pretty sure that is not the answer to most people who experience a mental breakdown’s problems.</p> <p>Eat better, sleep better, find a doctor with some common sense, look for a cause for your distress rather than masking the symptoms with something that dulls your view of the world.</p> <p>It’s now been a month without my prescribed meds, on a daily regimen of vitamins known to improve mental health instead, and slowly improving my diet.. My mind is a nice place to be right now.</p>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/3613942773http://mymysterydisease.com/post/3613942773Thu, 03 Mar 2011 12:46:51 +1000<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lh40hd8dFr1qfieoto1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>I am not going back to my psychiatrist. Not sure if i should bother looking for a replacement either.</p> <p>I have found a Holistic GP, and over a few weeks have disconitued my daily 200mg of Solian (amisulpride)</p> <p>Instead, I am taking 4 Grams of Naicinol Forte (slow release niacin) and am going to focus on vitamin and nutrient based treatment of my mental illness going forward.</p> <p>Wish me luck.</p>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/3479351762http://mymysterydisease.com/post/3479351762Thu, 24 Feb 2011 16:53:23 +1000<img src="http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfs3z5UML41qfieoto1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2991306646http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2991306646Sat, 29 Jan 2011 20:04:02 +1000<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lfg3u7zzL31qfieoto1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>Though i take a daily dose of antipsychotic medication, the balance between a tolerable dose in terms of side effects and the symptoms i still deal with every day is still a bit off.</p> <p>On any given day I am relativly sane…but Ill possibly be struck with sudden feelings of paranoia… Strange, dark.. Depressing thoughts, and the occasional hallucination or strange delusional moment… If i had a higher dose of my antipsychotic it might help.. But at higher doses i would be seepier, and the muscles in my jaw would lock up, its not worth it..</p> <p>As far as complimentary medicine goes, I have been very impressed with the results ive had using 3 grams of nicotinic acid to get less freaky vibes in the day… The hot flush side effect is rather unsettling at first, but ive been getting used to it. It becomes kind of fun to ‘charge up’ to start the dag with more energy.. And compared to some of the things other meds have done to me its nothing…</p> <p>I read an amazing book called ‘healing schizophrenia where the benifits of vitamin B3 as a teatment for schizophrenic disorders were very well documented.</p> <p>So for now im still on my matenince dose of my antipsychotic ‘solian’ (amisulpride).. 200mg a day, complemented by 12 tablets of B3 taken in 3 doses.</p> <p>Only change i forsee is to replace the solian with something ive been researching called Serdolect, or dropping the ‘meds’ alltogether and just trying exercise, fish oil, good food, and the nicotinic acid (B3) which honestly seems to help more than any med Ive ever been put on.</p> <p>Why the effecf of the most natural ‘medicine’ ive managed to find ends up resembling roger ramjets ‘proton pill’ is beyond me.</p>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2879869837http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2879869837Sun, 23 Jan 2011 08:30:00 +1000<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lf9eur8bQu1qfieoto1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>The past month has been hell. f#ck lamictal. It took me so long to realise the meds were why i was sick, docs told me it was a flu, bacteria, after 2 blood tests, 8 doc appointments and way too much time off work I realise i now need to stop this medication immediatly. wish me luck.</p>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2824053524http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2824053524Wed, 19 Jan 2011 17:44:23 +1000<img src="http://28.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lf4u4meQJg1qfieoto1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2782008535http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2782008535Mon, 17 Jan 2011 23:49:21 +1000<img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lf4u3cLm8d1qfieoto1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>so… first appointment with my new PDoc went well, he wants me to get back onto my usual antipsychotic meds first, then we can discuss switching to something less annoying in terms of side effects. Hopefully I can try Serdolect. I have also started a mood stabiliser (usually used for epilepsy, called lamictal (lamotrigine). little bit scary to begin with because theres a slim chance it will cause a rash that causes death…. hopefully not this time.</p> <p>so for now… I am taking 200mg solian, 25 mg lamictal twice a day, and a Fish Oil + Ginko Tablet in the morning…</p> <p>I’ll be adding 1-3 Grams of nicotinic acid a bit later, for now I wanna avoid confusion about this possible deadly rash, because the N-Acid causes a hot flush when I take it and it could be hard to tell what is what.</p> <p>Overall I am feeling much better after a decent sleep last night</p>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2781997099http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2781997099Mon, 17 Jan 2011 06:26:00 +1000<img src="http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lf4shjeBBc1qfieoto1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>After spending 4 hours waiting in a dark holding area called PEC af the hospital, i was able to see a nurse, then a doctor… And later have access to further doctors who began the next phase of my trials of medication</p>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2781476249http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2781476249Mon, 17 Jan 2011 05:51:19 +1000<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lf4sdjyfYU1qfieoto1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/><p>I had spent about 2 years on my meds, felt tired on them, not as creative… I took a chance and stopped taking them… All was well for a time.. I felt good, but after a nasty infection in my tooth my body was not coping so well and my moods began to swing. Then the colours started seeming important again… Things seemed mystical and strange.. I found a random shard of paper with an email stating the ‘spot colour’ was RED this month.. I immediatly started paying attention to anything red subconsiously.</p> <p>I started to become paranoid, spooked… Started wondering if the person walking in the distance was an old friend who had passed away, i became startled in the night as i felt that people on bikes riding past were yelling disturbing things at me that couldnt possibly be real.</p> <p>I became utterly afraid in my house, my girlfriend left for birthday drinks and I was convinced she had immediatly been TAKEN by someone meaning to hurt or kill her and i was powerless to stop it.</p> <p>While on the bus I could swear every word overheard around me from the other passengers was a poetic mix of sentences all aimed at me and about what ever i was fearing i had ever done wrong … that i was a failure.</p> <p>I was almost too scared to explain the things I was experiencing to my GP and my psychologist, but once I did it was straight to the emergency room where i could access a prescription to my usual meds.</p>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2781441248http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2781441248Mon, 17 Jan 2011 05:48:00 +1000<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_leljk1zH7n1qfieoto1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>this was the final comic of the original series from 2007….</p> <p>stay tuned for many new comics coming soon.</p>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2621742718http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2621742718Thu, 06 Jan 2011 20:24:01 +1000<img src="http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_leljivkkmy1qfieoto1_500.png"/><br/><br/>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2621738895http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2621738895Thu, 06 Jan 2011 20:23:18 +1000<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lelizheruJ1qfieoto1_500.png"/><br/><br/>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2621686500http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2621686500Thu, 06 Jan 2011 20:11:41 +1000<img src="http://26.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lelixivTSi1qfieoto1_500.jpg"/><br/><br/>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2621682374http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2621682374Thu, 06 Jan 2011 20:10:30 +1000<img src="http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lelhv19zAY1qfieoto1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>awesome.</p>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2621571542http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2621571542Thu, 06 Jan 2011 19:47:25 +1000<img src="http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lelhns6h801qfieoto1_500.png"/><br/><br/><p>‘Colours’</p> <p>my first comic… posted in 2007 soon after I started treatment for my mystery illness..</p>http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2621551841http://mymysterydisease.com/post/2621551841Thu, 06 Jan 2011 19:43:00 +1000