Like acupuncture, homeopathy is an energy medicine. Homeopathic medicines do not contain biochemical components of the plants or other substances from which they are derived, but, rather, transfer their energetic patterns to the person taking them. The medicines help restore the individual's energy (or vital force, or qi) to its natural equilibrium and thus return balance to the body, mind, and spirit. With disturbed energy flow an underlying factor in bipolar disorder, homeopathy can be a highly useful treatment.
Judyth Reichenberg-Ullman, ND, LCSW, of Edmonds, Washington, is an internationally known naturopathic and homeopathic physician. She went into homeopathy because of her interest in mental health. In her early career as a psychiatric social worker, she worked on a locked psychiatric ward and in emergency rooms, nursing homes, halfway houses, and patients' homes. “I saw the whole spectrum, and the suffering was terrible,” she recalls. “I didn't see conventional medicine as having a magic bullet for most of these people. With the degree of side effects they were experiencing [from medications], I thought there must be something better.”212
Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman discovered that “something better” in homeopathy, as did her husband, Robert Ullman, ND They now teach, lecture, and have written numerous books together, including Prozac Free: Homeopathic Alternatives to Conventional Drug Therapies. Their column on homeopathic treatment has run in the esteemed journal Townsend Letter for Doctors and Patients since 1990.
They wrote Prozac Free to share their discovery of an effective alternative to medications for depression, bipolar disorder, and other psychiatric disorders. “As shown by the numerous patients we have treated successfully, we believe we have found a method that can transform the lives of many people,” she states.213 “Certainly homeopathy can't help everybody, but the number of people that can be helped with these impairing mental and emotional conditions is incredibly gratifying.”
Another homeopath, who is also a psychiatrist, has this to say about homeopathy's effectiveness in his foreword to Prozac Free: “In my 30 years as a psychiatrist I have found over and over again that nothing can match homeopathy in efficacy for treating mental and emotional illness when the provider of homeopathic treatment is a well-trained and competent classical homeopath,” states Michael R. Glass, MD, of Ithaca, New York. “Even in those cases where we cannot take the patient off psychiatric drugs, we usually can reduce the dosage and thereby decrease uncomfortable side effects, while at the same time producing real improvements in functioning.”214
Not only is homeopathy effective, but it is also safe and long-lasting, says Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman. It has the further potential benefit of alleviating physical problems along with the mental/emotional symptoms215 for which someone with bipolar disorder seeks treatment. This is because homeopathy addresses the underlying imbalance that is responsible for all of a person's symptoms. The imbalance occurs on an energetic level, which is why an energy medicine such as homeopathy is so effective in restoring balance. Let's look more closely at the concept of energy imbalance.
We are energetic organisms, or energy-modulated organisms, explains Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman, and that energy is our vital force or qi, as it is known in traditional Chinese medicine. “The vital force of each person, because of their makeup, has a certain susceptibility. Due to that susceptibility there are going to be certain factors that trigger an imbalance or symptoms in that person.”
For example, in a family in which one parent has bipolar disorder, which research has shown to have a genetic component, one of the children develops the illness, and the others don't. That one child was susceptible in some way. The same is true of nonpsychiatric illnesses, Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman points out, citing epidemics as an example. Even in virulent epidemics, there are people who are not susceptible and do not contract the illness, she notes.
Even with a susceptibility, or vulnerability, a triggering factor may not necessarily tip the balance into a manic or depressive episode unless the person's vital force is compromised. “It's important to realize that the vital force or the energetic equilibrium of that individual is the bottom line,” says Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman. “When there is an imbalance, a disturbance underneath the surface of the lake, then there are ripples that go out. Those ripples can manifest in any number of ways. One of those ripples could end up being a biochemical imbalance, an imbalance in neurotransmitters.”
Scientific consensus currently holds that neurotransmitter problems are the factor behind bipolar disorder, depression, and other mental illnesses. In actuality, the research supporting this is “still more theoretical than they would make it out to be,” says Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman. In her view, a deeper imbalance in a person's energetic equilibrium is what throws neurotransmitter supply and function out of balance.
Thus, simply attempting to correct the neurotransmitter problem is not getting to the real source of the mental disorder. “You have to deal with that underlying disturbance, or else it's like putting your finger in the dike, which I think is what, to a large degree, conventional medicine is doing.” She cites the use of Prozac as an example of putting the finger in the dike.
Like many natural medicine physicians, Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman regards symptoms, whether mental, emotional, or physical, as an individual's attempt to cope with the underlying disturbance. The body has its own wisdom, and symptoms are the ways in which a particular person adapts to the imbalance in their vital force. The beauty of homeopathy is that it goes to the heart of the matter and corrects the disturbance in the vital force. From that, all the other imbalances, including neurotransmitter and hormonal problems, correct as well. This is why homeopathy can address both your bipolar disorder and whatever physical problems you are manifesting.
Standard conventional tests have revealed the changes that transpire on the physical level, notes Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman. For example, she has seen cases of an overactive or underactive thyroid, as identified by tests that measure thyroid function, in which a second test taken after classical homeopathic treatment showed that the condition had reversed itself. She has seen similarly beneficial results in the red blood cell counts in people who prior to homeopathic treatment were anemic.
To understand homeopathy, it is helpful to consider the derivation of the word as well as that of allopathy, both of which were coined by the father of homeopathy, Dr. Samuel Hahnemann, in the late 1700s. A German physician and chemist who became increasingly frustrated with conventional medical practice, Dr. Hahnemann devoted himself to developing a safer, more effective approach to medicine. The result was homeopathy, which arose out of his discovery that illness can be treated by giving the patient a dilution of a plant that produces symptoms resembling those of the illness when given to a healthy person.
This principle “let likes be cured with likes” became known as the Law of Similars. Dr. Hahnemann named this system of healing “homeopathy,” a combination of the Greek homoios (similar) and pathos (suffering). At the same time, he dubbed conventional medicine “allopathy,” which means “opposite suffering,” to reflect that model's approach of treating illness by giving an antidote to the symptoms, a medicine that produces the opposite effect from what the patient is suffering. (A laxative for constipation is an illustration of the allopathic approach; it produces diarrhea.)216
A homeopathic remedy can be employed as a simple remedy to address a certain transitory ailment or as a constitutional remedy to address the whole cluster of physical, psychological, and emotional characteristics—the constitution—of an individual patient. A constitutional remedy works to restore balance and thus health on all levels.
Homeopathic remedies are prepared through a process of dilution of plant, mineral, or animal substances, which results in a “potentized” remedy—one that contains the energy imprint of the substance rather than its biochemical components. This is why homeopathy falls into the category of energy medicine; it works on an energetic level to effect change in all aspects of a person and restore balance to the whole.
Paradoxically, the higher the number of dilutions, the greater the potency and the effects of the remedy. Thus the higher the potency number, the more powerful the remedy. Remedies used to treat a transitory condition are usually 6C, 12C, or 30C, relatively low-potency remedies. A constitutional remedy is often a 200C potency, which means it has been diluted 200 times (99 parts alcohol or water to one part substance), or a 1M potency, which means it has been diluted a thousand times.
Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman cites the following benefits of constitutional homeopathic treatment.217 Homeopathy:
Classical or constitutional homeopathic treatment is distinct from the use of homeopathic remedies for acute symptoms in that it employs a single remedy that addresses the particular and unique mental, emotional, and physical state of an individual. Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman explains it this way: “Each child, or adult, is much like a jigsaw puzzle. Once all of the pieces are assembled in their proper places, an image emerges that is distinct from other puzzles. It is the task of a homeopath to recognize that image and to match it to the corresponding image of one specific homeopathic medicine.”218
The homeopath makes that match by considering the person's behaviors, feelings, attitudes, beliefs, likes, dislikes, physical symptoms, prenatal and birth history, family medical history, eating and sleeping patterns, and even dreams and fears.219 By giving the remedy whose qualities match this unique cluster most closely, the homeopathic principle of “like cures like” is put into operation, and the remedy works to restore the person to balance. People may have one constitutional remedy that is their match throughout their life, or there may be changes over time and a different constitutional remedy might then be required.
Homeopathy does not prescribe according to diagnostic labels, but rather according to the complete picture of the individual. Thus, there is no universal remedy for bipolar disorder, and two people suffering from this condition will likely require two entirely different remedies, chosen from more than two thousand possible homeopathic remedies.
It's interesting to note that the qualities of the remedy that is the correct one for a person reflect that individual's areas of susceptibility or vulnerability.
“When a certain homeopathic medicine benefits a person, that tells me something about that person,” observes Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman. “From understanding that homeopathic medicine, I know what kinds of conditions, whether mental, emotional, or physical, that the person is likely to be susceptible to and what kinds they aren't. It often gives you a predictive capacity. Conventional medicine doesn't understand people deeply enough in most cases to be able to do that.”
A single dose of a constitutional remedy is sometimes all that is needed at first (though the remedy may also be given more often, even daily). When the remedy is the correct one for an individual, changes can begin relatively quickly, within two to five weeks after taking the dose. (Some people experience changes in the first day, or even within hours.) If there are no changes within five weeks, that generally indicates that it is not the proper remedy. A remedy continues to work over time, anywhere from four months to a year or longer. Repeat doses may be necessary if there is a relapse of symptoms, or sometimes a different remedy may be called for.
Due to the way homeopathic remedies work, it is important to continue treatment for one to two years at least, states Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman. This does not necessarily entail frequent appointments with your homeopath, however. As stated, a single dose of a remedy works for some time; this is also true of a daily remedy.
While certain substances (notably coffee, menthol, camphor, and eucalyptus) can antidote single-dose homeopathic remedies in some sensitive individuals, prescription medications may not interfere with their function. (Topical steroids, antibiotics, antifungals and oral antibiotics, and cortisone products can be suppressive and are best used in consultation with your homeopath.220) Be assured, however, that homeopathic remedies do not interfere with the function of conventional medicine. Thus, you can pursue homeopathic treatment while continuing your medications or working with your prescribing doctor to phase them out when possible.
As a final note, regarding the efficacy of homeopathy in treating bipolar disorder, Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman states, “Homeopathic effectiveness is most limited by the skill, knowledge, and experience of the homeopath and the cooperation of the patient. The theory works, but it must be applied well and for a long enough time with sufficient expertise to produce results.”221
In her experience, less severe mood swings, as in cyclothymia, and hormonally generated mental and emotional states have an excellent response to homeopathy, as does mild to moderate depression. Classical bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder are frequently responsive to homeopathy. In the case of bipolar, the person may need to remain on lithium, but may be able to reduce the dosage under the guidance of the prescribing physician.
One particular patient of Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman's is still on lithium, but has had no hospitalizations since she began homeopathic treatment over five years ago. “And she's been through major life stresses,” which before treatment would have sent her into the hospital, despite the lithium. Homeopathy has balanced out her system so “she can withstand stresses in her life that many people with bipolar disorder cannot.”
The results she has seen with bipolar disorder and other “mental” illnesses have given Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman a vision for the future. She would like to see homeopathy become standard treatment in both inpatient psychiatric facilities and emergency rooms. In the latter, homeopathy could be used “across the whole spectrum, for everything from trauma to acute psychiatric disturbances,” she notes.
There are more than one thousand classical homeopaths in the United States, a small percentage of whom specialize in mental health. One source to help you find a qualified homeopath in your area is the Homeopathic Academy of Naturopathic Physicians (HANP), PO Box 15508, Seattle, WA 98115; (206) 941-4217; www.hanp.net
When Joyce, 33, came to Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman for treatment, she had been on lithium for ten years. Her troubles began with anxiety, depression, and insomnia when she was 14, but did not escalate into “mental” illness until her senior year when a “hyper” episode prompted her expulsion from high school. Soon after, she got pregnant and had an abortion, which resulted in her passing large blood clots for a time afterward.
“Then I became really psychotic,” Joyce recalls. “I was sent to the psychiatric wards of three different hospitals.” The doctors, diagnosing her as schizophrenic, gave her Haldol and a number of other medications. Joyce's condition worsened on the drugs, and the doctors eventually took her off them.
Out of the hospital at last, she struggled with severe depression for months. Later, she managed to complete a course in interior decorating, but four months afterward had another breakdown. This time, she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and put on lithium, but she managed to stay out of the hospital.
Other manic episodes followed, but the one that sent her to homeopathic treatment came when she was 32. She was in art school at the time and having difficulty focusing. She was drinking a lot of coffee, smoking, and going out at night. The episode began after she had finished her last exam and had only one more paper to write. In retrospect, she can see the signs of increasing mania, but she didn't notice them at the time. She stayed up most of the night working on the paper.
From the next day on, Joyce escalated into the worst manic episode she had ever had. It lasted for months. “I destroyed my life,” she says. “I blew all of my savings. I bought a boat but had nowhere to put it. I left my job, took all of my things, and drove to Florida for two weeks. I charged it all to my credit card.” Then she threw away all her clothes, burned all paper reminders of the past, and flew to the Caribbean. She slept with strangers and went on another buying binge, purchasing expensive clothing and jewelry.
Six months later, she crashed. She declared bankruptcy, lost her car, and had another abortion. She got by on a low-paying job, food stamps, and help from her parents. Barely functioning, Joyce felt “as if she were dying.” She had stopped taking her lithium. It wasn't long before she was back in the hospital, but since she didn't have health insurance, she was only there for one night.
When Joyce came to Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman, she characterized her mental state as being “in a fog” and “hanging on by a thread.” Her physical symptoms included a feeling of weakness (as from loss of muscle tone), chronic psoriasis, lack of menstruation since the abortion six months prior, increased facial and body hair, recurring vaginal infections, leaking after urination, and terrible digestion. Later, she reported that she had also been having night sweats. She had just started on Paxil for depression and Depakote in an attempt to stabilize her moods, but she objected to these drugs because she said they caused hair loss. So she was looking for another solution for her bipolar disorder.
Joyce's constitutional homeopathic remedy was Lilium tigrinum (derived from tiger lily). This remedy is indicated “predominately for women with hormonal problems who have a wild feeling inside and frequently a conflict between their spiritual and sexual natures,” says Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman.
Joyce's symptoms began to improve within a month. Her moods felt more stable, and she was sleeping better. It is not possible to determine whether this improvement was the result of her homeopathic remedy or the psychiatric medications. If the remedy was working, however, it would be expected that her periods would return, notes Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman, which they did in three months from the start of treatment. This meant that the remedy had helped her body restore the hormonal imbalance that her symptoms clearly evidenced.
In her second follow-up appointment, six weeks after the first, Joyce reported that her anxiety and panic had disappeared and her night sweats had nearly stopped. Her psoriasis was under control. Under her psychiatrist's supervision, she had stopped taking the Depakote.
By seven months from the start of homeopathic treatment, Joyce was tapering off the Paxil, again with her psychiatrist's oversight. She reported that her moods had stabilized; she was “neither depressed nor destitute,” she said. She was feeling much better in general, had had four normal periods, and her digestion was improved.
Sandy, 44, diagnosed with bipolar disorder and borderline depression, had a history of suicide attempts.222 The first was when she was 14 years old. It was not long after her boyfriend at the time had broken up with her, and she had gone from “one relationship to another, looking for love.” One night, after her mother got angry at her for staying out too late, she “took a bottle of antibiotics on impulse,” she says.
Impulsivity and the “horrible pit” of severe depressions plagued her life from then on and were deeply disturbing to her. In her case, lithium proved unhelpful, and over the years she took “more medications than I can even remember.” She cites her impulsiveness as responsible for her being scattered, having trouble sticking with anything, changing jobs frequently, and conducting relationships characterized by turmoil.
“I'm impulsive in my attention, parenting, eating, spending,” Sandy told Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman during the initial intake. “You name it, and I do it impulsively. … I have a shotgun approach to everything.” Her impulsivity led to overspending and financial disaster. Angry outbursts were also a characteristic of this end of the mood spectrum.
She experienced drastic fluctuations between the impulsivity and anger, with its debilitating effects in her life, and deep depression, which was debilitating in a different way and made her feel trapped. Her third suicide attempt came after the death of her mother, who was “the pillar of her life.” With her mother gone, Sandy felt as though a door had slammed shut and a part of herself had died, too.
Fortunately, Sandy survived the attempt, but it was not until ten years later that she found a solution to her problems in homeopathic treatment. At that point, she was on the antidepressants Zoloft and Paxil, along with Ambien for when she had trouble sleeping. Her mood swings were still running her life.
In getting the complete symptom picture of Sandy, Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman learned that while she liked being a mother (of two children), she resented having to mother her husband. She was afraid of falling and of the dark, and had “vivid, disturbing dreams about ghosts, of fighting evil forces, and of losing her soul.” Insomnia was an ongoing problem, as was biting her nails, which she had been doing all her life. Her food cravings ran to very salty French fries and bread with butter. Stimulants such as caffeine and amphetamines held a strong attraction for her.
On a physical level, her libido was very low, she suffered from premenstrual irritability, and had a rash near her lips. Hot weather made her feel nauseous and gave her a headache and diarrhea.
Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman prescribed Lithium muriaticum (derived from lithium chloride), as indicated by “her debilitating impulsivity, changeable nature, history of manic and depressive episodes, issues with mothering and her own mother, food cravings, and aggravation from the sun.”
It is important to note here that homeopathic Lithium is not necessarily indicated for people who have received a bipolar diagnosis. Again, remedies are not prescribed based on diagnostic labels. Bipolar disorder, like any other condition, is highly variable in the homeopathic medicines indicated in individual cases. Lithium is actually not a very common remedy, says Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman. It just happened that Sandy's profile called for its use, and, interestingly, while conventional lithium did not help her, homeopathic Lithium restored her to what she considered nearly her normal self.
Two months after beginning treatment, Sandy reported that her impulsivity had been reduced by 90 percent. As the most telling evidence of this, she could shop “without going crazy.” Nail-biting was also no longer a problem, and she had gone off caffeine, which she found left her feeling more energetic. In addition, she had lost weight because she was not eating as many carbohydrates.
A month later, Sandy's impulsivity remained improved, but irritability before her period was still a problem, along with other PMS (premenstrual syndrome) symptoms, including fatigue, bloating, tender nipples, and constipation. Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman asked her questions in order to clarify her current symptom picture and learned that Sandy had suffered from serious depression when she was pregnant with each of her children. She described her present sexual interest as “nearly nonexistent.” Other new information that emerged was a love of dancing and a craving for chocolate.
Based on this, Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman changed Sandy's remedy to Sepia (derived from cuttlefish ink), which was particularly indicated by mood shifts due to hormonal changes. “We generally find success with one homeopathic medicine to treat all of an individual's symptoms,” she notes, “however, this was a case where two different medicines in succession were quite beneficial.”
At her follow-up consultation two months later, Sandy relayed that her PMS irritability, fatigue, and nipple soreness were much less of a problem, and the rash near her lips had disappeared. Her tendency toward anger was greatly reduced.
After another four months, Dr. Reichenberg-Ullman gave Sandy a higher-potency dose of Sepia because her low libido was still distressing her. Four weeks later, she reported that the remedy had worked “miraculously.” She credited it with dramatically decreasing her depression.
At a little past a year after the onset of homeopathic treatment, Sandy “continues to feel quite well.” Rage is not a problem for her anymore, her PMS is now at a low and manageable level, and mood swings are no longer making her life and marriage miserable. In her case, she is not completely off her medication. At this juncture, she places the percentage of improvement she has experienced as 85 to 90 percent, depending on how much stress she is experiencing.